June 23, 2024 - For a one-week rental beginning June 24, 2024, the lowest advertised cost of renting a car at Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) was $218.60. This puts it just $3 above the median cost of renting a car from 12 other popular U.S. travel destinations, all listed below.

About four months ago, for the week of February 26, the cost of a one-week rental in Maui was $165.92; for that week, this was the median car rental cost for the same 12 destinations that we surveyed again this week. This survey was featured in our blog post on February 25, 2024, Are Maui Car Rental Rates The Highest In the USA? 

So, in two separate surveys, taken 16 weeks apart, the cost of renting a car in Maui was at or near the median cost of renting a car from 12 other popular U.S. travel destinations. We take this to mean that car rentals in Maui are no more or less expensive than car rentals anywhere else in the U.S.. In fact they fall right in the middle. In case you missed it, here it is again: "Car rentals in Maui are no more or less expensive than anywhere else in the U.S."

WHY DO MAUI CAR RENTAL COSTS HAVE SO MUCH VARIATION?

Maui car rental rates are seasonal and can vary during the year. Over the past 50 weeks, the cost of renting a car for one week in Maui has ranged from a low of $146/week to a high of $447/week, with the median cost over the 50 weeks being $181/week, and the average cost $197/week. This variation between high and low may seem unusual, but not if you consider that, over the last 16 weeks, the cost of rentals from Portland's PDX ranged between $143/week and $608/week, or for Seattle's SEA it went from $201/week to $551/week, and so on with similar variations for many of the other airports in our survey. So the variability of car rental cost in Maui is no more and no less than anywhere else in the U.S. - at least not based on our survey of 12 popular travel destinations nationwide.

WHY DO PEOPLE THINK MAUI CAR RENTAL RATES ARE SO EXPENSIVE AND VARIABLE?

People seem to think that Maui car rental rates are more expensive and more variable than they actually are, when in fact they are on a par with cost and variability at other popular destinations all over the U.S,. The reasons for this are manifold:

1. Everyone loves to complain about high prices, whether they are high or not.
2. People are in general not well informed about prices and variability at multiple locations and at multiple times, so they sometimes jump to incorrect conclusions.
3. Periods of high prices and low availability tend to stick more in people's memory.
4. Temporary shortages and price shocks are sensationalized in the media (and on social media!), so people come to think of these unusual occurrences as the rule rather than the exception.

This last point is particularly true with Maui being an island in the middle of the Pacific, where an imbalance between supply and demand of rental cars can take longer to correct itself than other locations that are more easily accessible. You cannot just make rental cars magically appear here at the push of a button. First they have to be taken by rail or truck to a major seaport, then they have to be loaded onto ocean-going barges, that take weeks to make a crossing from the mainland to the island, then unloaded, then processed and put into service - just getting them registered with the local DMV can take months and cost hundreds of dollars. By then the demand surge due to a holiday or other event is over.

WHO HAS THE CHEAPEST CAR RENTALS IN AMERICA?

Based on our survey, some of the lowest car rental rates are consistently available at locations in Florida, Orlando and Miami. And, even if not quite as low as those two, Los Angeles also has consistently low rates. Based on our survey, those three locations - Miami, Orlando, and Los Angeles - are consistently the three cheapest places to rent a car in the U.S. from among popular travel destinations.

HOW TO GET THE BEST RATE ON A MAUI CAR RENTAL

We offer you a choice between cheap used cars from our local fleet, or new cars we've negotiated at special discounts with top-tier rental providers that include Ace, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Payless, Thrifty. Book your car on our website, or phone us at 808-280-1196 and we will find the best deal for you with our unique lowest price guarantee.

OUR WEEKLY SURVEY OF MAUI CAR RENTAL RATES

These are the lowest advertised rate for a one-week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) beginning on Monday, June 24, 2024. Rates are increasing in advance of the July 4 Independence Day holiday, which is the kickoff for the summer high season for Maui.
Off-airport (with shuttle): $218.76 (up $47)
Airport Rentacar Center: $279.65 (up $25)
Sources: rentalcars.com, rentals.mauicarrental.biz

OUR DATA COMPARING CAR RENTAL COSTS IN MAUI WITH OTHER DESTINATIONS.

These numbers are for a one-week rental beginning on a Monday and ending on a Monday. They are the lowest advertised rate at each destination, according to the Online Travel Agency website that we used for this research, which is rentalcars.com. The rates include all applicable taxes and fees for each location. The rates are the lowest available from all locations listed, including airport locations and off-airport locations.

Car rental cost survey - Week of 2/26/24

Median: $165.92/week (Maui)
Average: $176.86/week
Rank/Rate ($/week)/Airport
1 $32.16 Miami International Airport (MIA)
2 $115.72 San Diego International Airport (SAN)
3 $121.42 Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
4 $139.65 Orlando International Airport (MCO)
5 $143.02 Portland International Airport (PDX)
6 $153.14 Denver International Airport (DEN)
7 $165.92 Kahului Airport (OGG)
8 $178.90 Las Vegas International Airport (LAS)
9 $187.08 Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
10 $201.11 Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
11 $260.87 Honolulu International Airport (HNL)
12 $287.36 San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
13 $312.89 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

Car rental cost survey - Week of 6/22/24
Median: $215.60/week (San Diego)
Average: $260.58/week
Rank/Rate ($/week)/Airport
1 $60.48 Miami International Airport (MIA)
2 $70.00 Orlando International Airport (MCO)
3 $93.35 Honolulu International Airport (HNL)
4 $101.42 Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
5 $157.01 Las Vegas International Airport (LAS)
6 $205.77 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
7 $215.60 San Diego International Airport (SAN)
8 $218.60 Kahului Airport (OGG)
9 $278.49 San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
10 $346.41 Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
11 $480.78 Denver International Airport (DEN)
12 $551.09 Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
13 $608.53 Portland International Airport (PDX)