October 5, 2025 - Maui car rental prices usually rise in late September and early October as the busy fall travel season kicks off. But as of last week, there was no sign of rising prices. However, this week, prices have surged upward dramatically and somewhat unexpectedly. Is this the normal seasonal surge? Or are there other factors driving the increase in prices, like, for example, the Maui County Fair? The annual event was interrupted from 2020 to 2024, but just returned this week-end for 2025. drawing large crowds of locals as well as off-island visitors who need rental cars. Is this week's rise in Maui car rental prices just a blip due to the fair, or is it the expected seasonal movement? In this week's blog we take a look at current prices and various indicators to see where prices may be headed. Keep reading for all the details.

Fig. 1. Rental car prices in Maui surge upward in October 2025,.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RENT A CAR IN MAUI ON OCTOBER 6, 2025?

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 October 6, 2025.

Category Price Change Company
Economy $312 +58% Hertz
Midsize $363 +31% Hertz
Jeep $589 +80% Budget
Convertbl $1,196 +64% Payless
SUV $602 +81% Payless
7 St SUV $721 +66% Avis
Minivan $461 +3% Thrifty

For the week of Monday 10/6/2025, the cheapest rental car from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) is $312/week for one week from Hertz - that's 58% more than last week. The lowest price for a midsize car is up 31% to $363/week, also from Hertz. Jeeps, that had been on sale for weeks, jumped 80% to $589/week, from Budget. Convertibles, that had surged 54% last week, surged again by 64% this week to hig $1,196, from Payless. The price for the cheapest SUV also jumped, 81% to $602/week, from Payless. 7-seat SUV's were also up, by 66%, to $721/week, from Avis. Minivans were the only category spared from the big surge, up only 3% to $461week, from Thrifty. All prices quoted here include all applicable taxes and fees.

HOW DO THIS WEEK'S PRICES COMPARE TO THE 52-WEEK MEDIAN PRICE?

We can gain some insight into the current market conditions by comparing the current price in each vehicle category to its median price over the last 52 weeks.

Vehicle Price Median Premium/Discount
Economy $312 $269 16%
Midsize $363 $337 8%
Jeep $589 $539
9%
Convertbl $1,196 $626 91%
SUV $602 $404 49%
7 st SUV $721 $578 25%
Minivan $461 $678 -32%

Last week, prices in every vehicle category except convertibles were at a substantial discount to their median price for the last 52 weeks. But this week, prices in all but one category are at a premium over the median.

For economy cars, the premium is 16%. For mid-size cars it is 8%. Jeeps are 9% over the median. Convertibles are 91% over - nearly double. Regular SUV's are 49% over their median price, and 7-seat SUV's are 25% over. But minivans are at a 32% discount from the median. Why are minivans being contrarian? We don't know.

Fig. 2. Maui car rental prices from the last 13 months, with advance reservation prices for the coming five weeks.

HOW DO PRICES COMPARE TO ONE YEAR AGO?

We can gain even more insight by comparing today's prices in every vehicle category to the prices from exactly one year ago. The price movements over the last year are illustrated in Figure 1.

Vehicle Now Last Year Change
Economy $312 $326 -4%
Midsize $363 $337 8%
Jeep $589 $528 12%
Convertbl $1,196 $701 71%
SUV $602 $421 43%
7 st SUV $721 $471 53%
Minivan $461 $533 -14%

This week's price movement brings prices for many vehicle categories to almost exactly the same level they were one year ago., Compared to one year ago, prices are mixed. Prices economy cars, mid-size cars, Jeeps, and minivans are about the same. But convertibles and SUV's are substantially higher. We have no ready explanation for this apparent divergence in pricing for SUV's and convertibles.

Figure 3. Average car rental costs in Maui from 2013 to 2018 show significant fluctuations, with a notable spikes in late December and mid-February, and a marked increase during the next five-week period highlighted in red.

MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE FORECAST FOR OCTOBER 2025

As of today, October 5, 2025, the lowest advertised prices for a one week rental made in advance, both from the airport rentals and off-airport, are as follows for the dates shown:

DATE OFF-OGG OGG
10/06/25 $258 $312
10/13/25 $198 $239
10/20/25 $165 $239
10/27/25 $165 $216
11/03/25 $195 $265
11/10/25 $223 $312

These advance reservation prices, marked as "Forecast," are illustrated in the area highlighted in Figure 2.

According to the online reservation systems, prices are expected to drop from this week's peak level and remain low until they rise again in early November,

Prices may be about to follow last year's fall roller-coaster ride , with unpredictable surges and drops from October through December, leading up to a dramatic Christmas-time surge.

This is in contrast to historical price data, that rise in early October to a steady level they maintain through December, before surging for the Christmas period. This is based on our tracking rental car prices week-by-week for five years from 2013 through 2018. The five-year average prices showing the seasonal variation throughout a year are illustrated in the price chart in Figure 3.

Figure 4. Price trends for a one-week car rental in Maui from December 2024 to August 2025 show variations based on booking timings: one day, one week, and five weeks in advance.

IS IT CHEAPER TO BOOK AT THE LAST MINUTE?

Beginning in mid-December of 2024, we have tracked 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.

Beginning in mid-February of this year, 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 4) - these last-minute prices are generally lower than advance prices except in periods of very heavy demand driven by peak travel holidays.

Figure 5. Chart of rental costs for economy/compact cars in Maui, showing nearly flat rpices prices for both airport and off-airport locations as the rental date approaches.

This week, for the first time since February, last minute prices are significantly higher than prices booked in advance.

HOW HAVE PRICE CHANGED FOR TOMORROW'S RENTAL?

The progression of advance reservation prices for a one week rental starting tomorrow, October 6, is illustrated in the price chart in Figure 5.

Off-OGG OGG Days in Advance
$258.00 $312.00 1 (last-minute)
$165.00 $242.00 8 (one week)
$165.00 $223.00 15 (two weeks)
$165.00 $223.00 22 (three weeks)
$178.00 $256.00 29 (four weeks)
$199.00 $241.00 36 (five weeks)

The price for a rental from the airport starting tomorrow had been essentially flat through last week, with little variation over the previous four weeks. But prices jumped suddenly this week, Today's price for a rental from the airport starting tomorrow went up 29% from last week. The one week jump for an off-airport rental was even more: up 56%.

This sudden rise in price may have been driven in part by the Maui County Fair taking place from October 2 to October 5, with, according to some sources, 30,000 people attending the opening night - how many of these traveled to Maui from elsewhere, and rented a car? We don't know. But, in possible confirmation of the connection, prices in the advance reservation systems for reservations made for one week from now are dropping off sharply from this week's level.

It remains to be seen whether this week's surge in prices is just a temporary blip or whether it is the indication of prices rising to a higher level for a longer term.

SUMMARY OF THIS WEEK'S MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICING ACTION

To summarize this week's pricing picture, we have a sudden week-to-week increase in pricing. There was no indication of this price increase in the advance pricing data, The increase drove last minute prices above advance prices for the first time in months. And advance prices seem to be returning to lower levels after this week. These factors seem to point to an unexpected event - like the County Fair - driving the price increase. So will prices return back to lower levels now that the fair is over? One year ago, the Maui car rental fall price action was characterized by roller-coaster movement week to week. This is in contrast to historical price data where fall prices were more stable. Which way will prices go this fall? We live in exciting and unpredictable times.

Fig. 6. Price of one-week car rental in Maui, comparing off-airport locations with airport locations for popular vehicle types.

DOES IT COST LESS TO RENT OFF-AIRPORT?

The airport vs. off-airport prices for this week are illustrated in Figure 6.

By conventional wisdom, airport prices are expected to be higher than off-airport prices due to higher airport taxes and fees and a convenience premium .

This week, off-airport prices are lower than the airport in only two categories, economy/compact cars, and SUV's. For mid-size cars, Jeeps, convertibles, and minivans, the price at the airport is lower. For convertibles and 7-seat SUV's, there is no off-airport availability

These prices are from our survey taken on 10/5/25, for a one-week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), beginning on Monday, 9/29/25, 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 .

This week's airport vs. off-airport picture is consistent with the long term picture we've observed over the past year. The only significant divergence this week is with the price of minivans, that are expected to be lower off-airport, but are higher this week.

LONG-TERM ANALYSIS OF AIRPORT VERSUS OFF-AIRPORT PRICES

Note: This is a preview of an analysis that will be presented in more detail in another separate article.

We have completed a long-term comparison of airport prices versus off-airport prices. In every vehicle category, we've compared the the median price over 52-weeks for vehicles rented at the airport to vehicles rented off-airport. The most striking finding of this analysis is that the difference between airport prices and off-airport prices is not consistent over all vehicle types - it varies widely between different vehicles. For economy/compact, regular SUV, and minivan, the off-airport prices is lower, as one would expect. However, for mid-size cars, the price is about the same. And For Jeeps, Convertibles, and 7-seat SUV's. the airport price is lower!

OGG Off-OGG Savings/Premium
Economy $269.00 $216.50 20%
Midsize $337.00 $324.00 4%
Jeep $539.00 $651.50 -21%
Convertbl $626.00 $745.00 -19%
SUV $404.00 $346.00 14%
7 st SUV $578.00 $827.50 -43%
Minivan $678.00 $485.00 28%

As can be seen from the chart in Figure 7 and the accompanying table, on average over the course of the last 52 weeks, the price of a compact car off-airport is 20% less than the airport price. For a regular SUV you save 14% off-airport. For a minivan, the savings is 28%. But for a jeep, the cost is 21% more off-airport. For a convertible, it is 19% more, And for a 7-seat SUV, the off-airport cost is 43% higher. Note that for these three categories, Jeep, convertible, and 7-seat SUV, it is frequently the case that there is no off-airport availability at all. making the airport cost the only option.

IS MAUI THE MOST EXPENSIVE HAWAIIAN ISLAND FOR CAR RENTAL?

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, October 6.

COST CHANGE AIRPORT
$232 0% Honolulu (HNL
$329 90% Maui Kahului Airport (OGG)
$386 33% Kauai Lihue Airport (LIH)
$561 136% Kona Airport (KOA)
$456 73% Hilo Airport (ITO)

This week prices for car rentals at the major airports in Hawaii except Honolulu have surged upward. Honolulu was unchanged from last week. With these price movements, Maui is the second cheapest island to rent a car, after Honolulu. Maui has held the lowest price position it has held for 21 out of the last 27 weeks, and came in second cheapest for the other six. Low rental prices in Maui is another indication of the very slow recovery of travel to Maui following the Lahaina wildfire disaster of just over two years ago.

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.

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 3, 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