November 24, 2024 - This week, prices for most vehicle types increased, with the biggest increase for Jeeps, hitting record highs of $1,710/week for a Jeep Wrangler rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), and $1,310/week for a Jeep Wrangler from a nearby off-airport location served by shuttle.

WHY ARE PRICES SO HIGH?

This is the week before Thanksgiving, which is one of the busiest travel holidays of the year, with record numbers of travelers predicted nationally across the US. It's not surprising for the higher travel numbers to be reflected in higher car rental prices, but what is surprising is the size of the increase. Maui car rental prices at these levels have not been seen since the acute rental car shortage that followed the COVID-19 travel interruption, and the record high prices when travel resumed in 2021. It seems likely that the reason for the extraordinary high prices we are seeing now is that rental companies have down-sized their Maui fleets for the 2024-2025 travel season in anticipation of low travel numbers due to last year's disastrous Lahaina wildfires, and these lower fleet numbers are not adequate to meet unexpectedly high demand, which leads to surges in prices.

WHICH COMPANY HAS THE BEST PRICES?

This is a summary of this week's lowest advertised prices for a one-week car rental from OGG, for a selection of vehicle types, with the change from the previous week, and the company offering the best price.

Category Price Change Company
Economy $546 7% SiXT
Midsize $558 -5% SiXT
Jeep $1,710 128% Budget
Convertbl $792 32% Dollar
SUV $600 -3% SiXT
7 St SUV $744 21% Dollar
Minivan $1,082 66% SiXT

This week SiXT is offering the best price in most vehicle categories. Last week it was Dollar.

HOW DID WE GET THE 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.

DOES IT COST MORE TO RENT FROM THE AIRPORT?

Normally, off-airport prices are lower than airport prices due to a number of factors that we have covered in a previous blog post, titled "Is It Cheaper to Rent a Car at the Airport in Maui? Updated for 2024." This week, the airport price is higher than off-airport for nearly all vehicle categories, with the only exception being the 7-seat SUV's, that are priced higher off-airport (See Figure 2).

These prices are from our survey taken on 11/24/24, for a one-week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), beginning on Monday, 11/18/24, for seven vehicle categories, Economy Car, Midsize Car, Convertible, Jeep, SUV, 7-passenger SUV, and Minivan. The rental companies covered in the survey are Ace, Alamo, 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 .

As we've noted in previous blog posts, the price for an off-airport rental is usually lower than an airport rental, due to two factors: 1. Higher mandatory taxes and fees that are added to the cost of an airport rental, and 2. A discretionary "convenience premium" that rental companies charge at the airport. For details, see for example Is It Cheaper to Rent a Car at the Airport in Maui? Updated for 2024.

HOW HAVE PRICES CHANGED COMPARED TO LAST YEAR?

This week the cheapest price for a one week car rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) beginning on Monday 11/25/24 is $546/week, up $62 from last week. For a rental from nearby off-airport locations served by shuttle, the cheapest price is $484/week, up $99 from last week. These prices are close to the previous highest prices for the year, that we reached during the February 2024 peak travel season (see Figure 3).

The prices we report include all taxes and fees, but they do not include insurance or any other optional add-ons like roadside assistance or re-fueling.

Compared to one year ago, for the week of 11/27/23, today's price for an airport rental is $240/week higher than last year, and the price for an off-airport rental is $318/week more than last year - in both cases more than double the price last year (See Figure 3).

We monitor Maui car rental price data as part of our weekly survey of car rental prices for a one-week rental. Every Sunday, we check prices for a one-week rental beginning the following day, Monday. The lowest advertised rate week by week for the entire last year is shown in the accompanying chart (Figure 3), for both airport and off-airport rentals.

Usually, more than 90% of the time, this last-minute price is the lowest available price for the rental, lower than a price booked in advance. See our research on When is The Best Time to Book 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.

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