February 2, 2025 - Prices for the cheapest car categories are nearly unchanged from last week, while most other categories are up from last week's level. The cheapest car to rent this week is a compact car for $519/week from NU off-airport. The costs for most other vehicle types were in the range of about $700 to $1,000 per week. The priciest rentals were Jeeps with the lowest price at $1,279/week from Budget. Continue reading for all the details on Maui car rental this week.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RENT A CAR THIS WEEK?

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.

Category Price Change Company
Economy $688 2% Thrifty
Midsize $861 25% Thrifty
Jeep $1,279 62% Budget
Convertbl $891 -4% SiXT
SUV $762 7% SiXT
7 St SUV $1,250 44% Budget
Minivan $971 26% Thrifty

Fig. 1. Rental car prices in Maui are showing relatively small changes this week after dropping from their holiday highs previously.

For the week of Monday 2/2/25, the lowest price for renting a car from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) for one week is $688/week from Thrifty, up 2% from last week. A lowest price for a midsize car is $861/week also from Thrifty, up 25% from last week. A Jeep is $1,279/week from Budget, up 62% from the week before. Convertibles are $891/week from SiXT, down 7%, and SUV's are $762/week, up 7%, also from SiXT. Minivans are $971/week from Thrifty, up 26%.

MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE FORECAST FOR 2/2/25

Based on five years of price tracking and analysis, we expect prices to rise to holiday levels going into February. This is illustrated in the five-year average weekly price chart in Figure 2. Over the five-year period or our study, it was normal to see a mid-February high point in the prices coinciding with the Valentine's Day to Presidents' Birthday stretch at mid-month. This is the secondary price peak for the year, smaller than the Christmas peak, but well above prices for the rest of the year.

Fig. 2. Maui Car Rental Prices: A Historical price trend for one-week rentals highlights a significant price spike for the holidays, followed by a steep decline.

For the coming five weeks that cover what's left of the month of February going into early March, online reservation systems are showing only a relatively small price peak in mid-February (see Figure 3). Note that last-minute prices may ratchet upward from these advance prices, as they usually do in periods of peak demand, with last minute prices higher than advance reservation prices.

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

DATE OFF-OGG OGG
02/02/25 $519 $688
02/09/25 $552 $507
02/16/25 $510 $674
02/23/25 $510 $674
03/02/25 $475 $502
03/09/25 $400 $473

Fig. 3. Maui car rental prices from the last 13 months with forecast of the coming five weeks.

HOW ARE PRICES IN 2025 DIFFERENT FROM LAST YEAR?

These advance reservation prices, marked as "Forecast," are illustrated in Figure 3. The coming five-week period for the forecast and the corresponding five-week period from one year ago are both highlighted in red. Last year, the mid-February peak was the high point for the entire winter season, including the Christmas holiday period. Christmas 2023 visitor levels were down at unusually low levels because the then-recent Lahaina wildfires of August 2023, and this was reflected in lower than expected rental car prices over the holidays.

DOES IT COST LESS TO RENT OFF-AIRPORT?

Most of the time, Maui's off-airport car rental 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.." But this week, we are seeing a price inversion with off-airport pr ices higher than airport prices in some categories. This is due to the smaller stocks of off-airport locations, that sell out sooner than their airport counterparts. The convertible category is showing zero availability for off-airport rentals. (See Figure 4).

Fig. 4. Maui car rental prices compared - Airport vs. off-airport, for seven vehicle types.

Depending on the vehicle category, there may be savings to be had on the rental price for anyone willing to endure a short shuttle ride from the airport terminal to the rental location.

These prices are from our survey taken on 2/2/25, for a one-week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), beginning on Monday, 2/3/25, 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. 

Exceptions do occur from time to time and we do report them when they do.

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?" 

IS MAUI THE MOST EXPENSIVE ISLAND FOR CAR RENTAL?

Here's a quick survey of the one-week rental cost for the five major Hawaii airports, for a rental beginning on Monday, Feb 10.

COST AIRPORT
$308.01 Honolulu (HNL)
$604.26 Maui Kahului Airport (OGG)
$624.85 Kauai Lihue Airport (LIH)
$686.54 Kona Airport (KOA)
$362.78 Hilo Airport (ITO)

The cost for a car rental in Maui is nearly twice the cost of Honolulu or Hilo, but in the same range as Kauai or Kona.

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