Mar. 22, 2026. Maui car rental prices just fell to a new low for 2026. Two powerful storms, one week apart, have spread destruction across the Hawaiian islands and disrupted travel. As visitor cancellations have mounted, the back lots of Kahului Airport (OGG) have gone in just days from completely empty to completely full of idle rental cars. This is happening at what is normally the peak of the busy Spring Break travel season that usually pushes prices up to a temporary peak. But this is not the story for this year. The storms hitting Hawaii have dumped the heaviest rains recorded in 70 years, and visitors are staying away. As a result, the cheapest car available from Kahului Airport is now a very affordable $230 for a one week rental, which is 38% less than what it was one week ago, and 71% less than two weeks ago. Booking this week's rental about one month ago would have cost $497, nearly double of what it cost today - anyone holding a reservation for the coming weeks should be checking rates and re-booking if their terms allow. Continue reading for all the details.

Fig. 1. Prices for Maui car rental at Kahului Airport (OGG) from December 2024 to now.

HOW MUCH IS THE CHEAPEST MAUI RENTAL CAR ON MARCH 23 2026?

Every week, we list the lowest available prices for a one-week car rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), for a selection of vehicle categories, with the company offering the best price. This is our overview of Maui car rental prices for the week of March 23, 2026.

Category Price Company

Economy $262 Dollar

Midsize $303 Dollar

Jeep $409 Alamo

Convertbl $654 Alamo

SUV $310 Payless

7 St SUV $423 Payless

Minivan $548 Alamo

The prices quoted here include all applicable taxes and fees. Prices for these vehicle types charted week-to-week for the last 14 months are illustrated in Figure 1.

These are the lowest prices in every car category: The lowest price for a compact car from Kahului Airport (OGG) was $262/week, from Dollar. Mid-size cars started at $303/week, also from Dollar. Jeeps were starting at $409/week, from Alamo. The lowest price for a convertible was $654/week, from Alamo - this was the highest of the categories we track. The cheapest standard SUV's were $310/week, from Payless, and 7-seat SUV's started at $423/week, from Payless. The cheapest minivans were $548/week, from Alamo.

Fig. 2. Maui car rental prices at Kahului Airport (OGG) this week and last week, with the percentage change..

HOW MUCH DID MAUI RENTAL CAR PRICES CHANGE FROM LAST WEEK?

This is how the lowest price for a one week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) starting on March 23, 2026 has changed from the week before, for every vehicle category:

Category This week Last Change
Economy $262 $424 -38%

Midsize $303 $516 -41%

Jeep $409 $929 -56%

Convertnl $654 $636 +3%

SUV $310 $468 -34%

7 st SUV $423 $1,005 -58%

Minivan $548 $1,343 -59%

Compared to last week, this week's rental rates for many vehicles fell in the range of 35% to 60% from last week. The price for the cheapest car from Kahului Airport (OGG) was down 38%. The cheapest midsize car also fell, by 41%. The starting price for Jeeps was down 56%. Standard SUV's fell 34%, 7-seat SUV's were down 58%, and minivans were down 59%. But convertibles were outliers, actually rising 3% from last week.

Prices for this week and last week, with the percentage change week-to-week, are illustrated in Figure 2.

As we noted last week, we expected strong Spring Break demand to drive prices upward during this mid-March period This would have been consistent with the same seasonal trend usually seen every year. But the two powerful storms that hit Hawaii back-to back two weeks in a row caused a massive disruption to travel for all Hawaii - and car rental prices moved downward, against expectation. At their current levels, prices in all vehicle categories are the lowest they have been in all of 2026. After months of being significantly higher year-over-year, Maui car rental prices are now roughly on a par with what they were at this time last year. Continue reading for the details.

Figure 3. Price comparison for Maui Car Rental as of March 2026 shows mixed changes by vehicle type compared to the year before

HOW DO MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICES COMPARE TO ONE YEAR AGO?

We previously, reported that average Maui car rental prices in 2026 had been running significantly higher than the year before. On average they ranged 30% to 45% higher during January, and more than double the year before in February. They continued at an elevated level in the first two weeks of March. But last week's powerful storm brought a reversal of this trend and this week's follow-on storm drove prices down even further, to the lowest levels seen so far in 2026.

This is how Maui car rental prices look in the fourth week of March 2026, beginning Monday March 23, compared to the corresponding week of last year, that began Monday March 24, 2025:

Vehicle Now Last Year Change

Economy $262 $241 +9%

Midsize $303 $307 -1%

Jeep $409 $430 -5%

Convertbl $654 $758 -14%

SUV $310 $365 -15%

7 st SUV $423 $595 -29%

Minivan $548 $394 +39%

These numbers are charted in Figure 3.

This week, the prices for most types of Maui rental cars were down from one year ago. Mid-size cars were down 1%, Jeeps were down 5%, convertibles were down 14%, standard SUV's were down 15%, and 7-seat SUV's were down 29%. This is a striking reversal of the pattern of higher prices year-over-year that we've seen since the Christmas holidays, and it speaks to the depth of the disruption caused by the two back-to-back storms that have struck Hawaii. The only two exceptions to the overall price movement were economy cars, up a modest 9%, and minivans, up 39% over last year at this time. Minivan availability is still being affected by last summer's safety recall that is still side-lining a significant number of these vehicles.

Figure 4: This graph displays the minimum advertised prices for a one-week rental, emphasizing trends for reservations made one day, one week, and five weeks ahead.

over

IS IT CHEAPER TO BOOK IN ADVANCE OR WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE?

In mid-December of 2024, we began to track the movement of advance booking prices as the reservation date approaches. Every week, we check the price one week out, two weeks out, three weeks out, up to five weeks out, and save the numbers for comparison.

From mid-February of 2025 until early October, the prices available one day in advance and one week in advance were consistently lower than the price five weeks in advance (see figure 4). This indicates excess inventory that companies compete to thin out with lower prices.

However, from early October and until just two weeks ago, bookings with short lead times - 1 week or 1 day in advance - have been consistently and sometimes significantly more expensive than advance bookings. This indicates strong demand pressure and/or supply limitations causing prices to ratchet up as the reservation date draws closer.

The last two weeks have brought another reversal - once again, there are significant savings from booking closer to the reservation date.

For tomorrow's rental, booking today versus five weeks ago would have saved 56% or $307/week for an off-airport rental, and the savings for a rental from OGG would have been 47%, or $235/week.

Prior to this reversal, prices had been ratcheting up from advance levels as the reservation date grew closer.

Where do we go from here? Even without the passage of the storm, this time of year is a transitional period from the winter high season to a spring shoulder season. Normally, from here, the general trend in Maui rental car prices is downward, and last-minute savings become more frequent and more significant - as they were at this time last year. Will we continue into the seasonal pattern of last minute savings in the spring season, or, after the storm damage is cleaned up and travel numbers recover, will we return to the supply-limited pattern of ratcheting prices that we've seen so far in 2026? With all the unusual and unexpected events of this year, it is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.

HOW DO WE GET OUR MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE DATA?

Prices for Maui car rentals vary from week to week, and the company offering the lowest price also changes from week to week. Furthermore, one company may be offering the lowest price in one vehicle category, for example mid-size cars, while a different company has a better price on another category, for example mini-vans.

Beginning in July 2024, we've tracked the prices on seven vehicle categories - compact, mid-size, Jeep, convertible, SUV, 7-seat SUV, and minivan - from 10 different companies at Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG): Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Payless, SiXT, and Thrifty. Each week, for every vehicle type, we noted which company offered the lowest price. Our weekly price-tracking for the lowest price economy car category goes back to July 2023 - more than one year. These are the data for the charts we post every week.

Figure 6. Week-by-week variation of Maui car rental prices averaged over five years, from 2013 to 2018.

Previously we conducted a five-year price-tracking study for the lowest price economy car category beginning in February 2013 and continuing to February 2018. A sample of these results is in Figure 6, that shows the five-year average of the price over a one-year duration. For details of this massive price-tracking undertaking, and the most important findings on how and when to rent a car, see our blog post of July 14, 2024 titled "When is the best time to rent a car in Maui?" 

HOW TO CHECK RATES AND AVAILABILITY FOR MAUI CAR RENTAL

Either click through to to our Cars & Rates section, or check our booking site at rentals.mauicarrental.biz. This site gives you access to all vehicles from eight different companies - Ace, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Payless, and Thrifty - at all their Maui locations, that include the Airport rentacar center, Kahului town locations nearby the airport, and resort locations in Kihei/Wailea, and Ka'anapali. With so many options to choose from, you are assured to find the rental car that matches your preferences and your budget for your Maui trip - and there is never a cancellation penalty if you have to change plans.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Frank Saab is a thought leader in the rental car industry, quoted by influential publications like SFgate.com. He is the editor of this blog published by Frank's Friendly Cars Maui Car Rental LLC, an independent car rental company operating in Maui, Hawaii, since 2006. Frank's offers low prices on used local cars and discount prices on new cars, with a "Lowest Price Guarantee" that assures you of getting the best deal on your rental. Visit our website at www.mauicarrental.biz, or call us at 808-280-1196.

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Price Data Sources: rentalcars.com, rentals.mauicarrental.biz