January 25, 2026 - Prices for Maui rental cars from Kahului Airport (OGG), averaged over the entire month of January, were much higher in 2026 than 2025. The increase varied by vehicle type, with most categories rising in the range of 30% to 45% higher than they were one year ago. The exceptions were convertibles, up only 14%, and 7-seat SUV's, up more than others, 55%. The average price of the cheapest car was more then $800/week for January - shattering any notion of affordability for an economy car rental. Prices are expected to stay at this elevated level for the remainder of the busy winter travel season. Keep reading for all the details.

Fig. 1. The average rental price for the month of January 2026 was shockingly higher than 2025 for all vehicle categories.

HOW DID PRICES IN JANUARY 2026 COMPARE TO JANUARY 2025?

Our comparison is based on the average of the prices we collected for the first four weeks of January 2026 vs. the first four weeks of January 2025. They are compared in the table below and also in Figure 1.

2025 2026 Change

Economy $615 $809 32%

Midsize $723 $956 32%

Jeep $828 $1,202 45%

Convertbl $1,080 $1,232 14%

SUV $704 $981 39%

7 st SUV $801 $1,245 55%

Minivan $820 $1,188 45%

SAFETY RECALLS DROVE THE PRICE INCREASE

The biggest increases were for the categories directly affected by safety recalls in 2025. By law, recalled vehicles cannot be rented until repairs for compliance are completed. As we've documented previously, hundreds of recalled vehicles are now parked idle in the rental company base-yards. The minivan recall has driven up prices not only for minivans (up 45%), but also for the related categories of SUV's, with standard SUV's up 39% and 7-seat SUV's up 55% from last year. And the Jeep recall has caused Jeep prices to increase by 45% from last year. The pressure on prices spread across the board to the mid-size and compact categories, both up 32%.

CONVERTIBLE PRICES BENEFITED FROM NEW STOCK

The exception to the general increase is convertibles, up only 14%. We've documented previously that a large stock of new convertibles were put into service right at the beginning of January. This is the factor that has dampened the year-over-year price increase for these vehicles.

Fig. 2. Prices for Maui car rental at Kahului Airport (OGG) from November 2024 to now.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RENT A CAR IN MAUI ON JANUARY 25, 2026?

Every week, we list the lowest advertised prices for a one-week car rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), for a selection of vehicle categories, with the change from the previous week, and the company offering the best price. This is our overview of Maui car rental prices for the week of January 26, 2026.

Category Price Change Company

Economy $893 -3% Thrifty

Midsize $1,003 -24% Thrifty

Jeep $1,254 -9% Thrifty

Convertbl $1,244 -29% Budget

SUV $985 -27% Hertz

7 St SUV $1,116 -20% Thrifty

Minivan $1,369 -5% Budget

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 2.

The price for the cheapest car from Kahului Airport (OGG) was $893/week, from Thrifty. The cheapest midsize car cost $1,003/week, also from Thrifty. Jeeps dropped 9%, again from Thrifty. Convertibles fell 29% to $1,244/week from Budget, standard SUV's gave up 27% to $985/week from Hertz, 7-seat SUV's were down 20% to $1,116/week at Thrifty, and minivans dropped just 5% to $1,369 from Budget.

Fig. 3. Maui car rental prices at Kahului Airport (OGG) this week and last week, with the percentage change..

HOW DID PRICES CHANGE FROM LAST WEEK?

This week, the price for the cheapest car from Kahului Airport (OGG) dropped 3% from last week. The cheapest midsize car was down 24%. Jeeps dropped 9%, convertibles fell 29%, standard SUV's gave up 27%, 7-seat SUV's were down 20%, and minivans dropped just 5%.

Prices for this week and last week, with the percentage change week-to-week, are illustrated in Figure 3.

This January, prices have followed the same trajectory as last year, with a dip right after the holiday peak, and a smaller secondary peak for Martin Luther King Jr. holiday week. The difference is this prices are higher across the board, even though they are following the same seasonal pattern.

This week, the percentage drop in price for Jeeps and minivans was smaller than other categories - this is not surprising considering that those two categories are still under pressure due to the safety recalls. However it is surprising that economy cars - the lowest price category - also had a smaller percentage drop in price compared to midsize, convertible, and SUV. It is possible that the extreme high prices for other vehicles are causing a shift in consumer preference towards the economy category - which of course causes its prices to firm up.

Where do prices go from here? Continue reading to find out.

Fig. 4. Maui car rental prices from the last 13 months plus price forecast for the next five weeks.

MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE FORECAST FOR FEBRUARY 2026

As of today, January 25, 2026, the lowest advertised prices for a one week rental made in advance, both from the airport rentals and off-airport, are as follows for future dates one week apart starting from tomorrow:

DATE OFF-OGG OGG

01/26/26 $654 $893

02/02/26 $740 $980

02/09/26 $756 $1,106

02/16/26 $756 $935

02/23/26 $913 $828

03/02/26 $405 $480

These advance reservation prices, marked as "Forecast," are illustrated in the area highlighted in Figure 4, which also shows the evolution of the lowest available price over the last 13 months.

So far in January, prices have followed last year's seasonal pattern that we've just discussed, with a dip right after the holidays followed by a minor peak for the MLK Jr. holiday.

For the coming weeks, online reservation systems are suggesting that prices will continue to follow the expected seasonal pattern - this means they should level off for the duration of February, before beginning to drop in early March. However as you can see from the chart, prices for this February are expected to be significantly higher - in the range of 30% to 50% higher - than they were last year.

Figure 5. Price trends for a one-week car rental in Maui from December 2024 to February 2026 show variations based on booking timings: one day, one week, and five weeks in advance.

IS IT CHEAPER TO BOOK IN ADVANCE VS 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 this year until early October, the prices available one day in advance and one week in advance have been consistently lower than the price five weeks in advance (see figure 5).

However, from October and onward, last minute prices have been higher than advance prices, and the trend continues this week. This indicates strong demand pressure and/or supply limitations driving up prices.

This week, last-minute prices for bookings are again higher than advance booking prices. Peering into next week, the one-week advance price is significantly higher than the price available four weeks ago.

Figure 6. Price for a car rental made in advance varies with how far in advance the reservation is made.

HOW HAVE PRICE CHANGED FOR TOMORROW'S RENTAL?

Prices for a for a one week rental starting tomorrow, January 26, reserved in advance at earlier dates, is illustrated in the price chart in Figure 6.

Off-OGG OGG Days in Advance

$654.00 $893.00 1 (last-minute)

$613.00 $715.00 8 (one week)

$505.00 $911.00 15 (two weeks)

$493.00 $627.00 22 (three weeks)

$429.00 $469.00 29 (four weeks)

$414.00 $486.00 36 (five weeks)

For airport rentals, the price for tomorrow's rental rose week-to-week from its level five weeks ago, with today's price for tomorrow's rental 84% higher than the price available five weeks ago - an increase of $407.

For off-airport rentals, the increase was less dramatic, but still substantial: the last minute price finished 58% higher than the advance price - a $240 increase.

We expect the trend of substantially higher last-minute prices to continue through the end of February - anyone considering a trip in that time frame is advised to book their rental car as soon as possible. Last-minute price drops may possibly return in March as they did last year.

These prices are from our survey taken on 1/25/26, for a one-week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), beginning on Monday, 1/25/26, for seven vehicle categories, Economy/compact Car, Midsize Car, Convertible, Jeep, SUV, 7-passenger SUV, and Minivan. The rental companies covered in the survey are Ace, Alamo, Allsave, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Fox, Hertz, National, NU, Payless, SiXT, and Thrifty. For more info on the companies we cover, see our blog post on customer satisfaction ratings for these Maui car rental companies. 

IS MAUI THE MOST EXPENSIVE HAWAIIAN ISLAND FOR CAR RENTAL?

Figure 7. Cost of one week car rental at major Hawaii airports, from February 2025 to now.

Here's a quick survey of the cheapest one-week rental cost from each of the five major Hawaii airports, for a rental beginning on Monday, January 26, 2026. For each airport, we report the lowest price this week and last week, and the difference percentage between the two. This is illustrated in Fig. 7.

1/26 1/18 CHANGE AIRPORT

$262 $323 -19% Honolulu

$654 $885 -26% Maui

$312 $316 -1% Kauai

$454 - - Kona

$449 $517 -13% Hilo

This week prices for car rentals at all major Hawaii airports have come down from the previous week! In a repeat of last week, this week Maui has the highest price for a one week rental. This is a reversal of the long pattern from March until December of 2025, when Maui had the either the lowest or second lowest price in most weekly checks. The cheapest this week is Honolulu.

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 8. 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 8, 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 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.

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