May 18, 2025 - Maui car rental prices are up mostly from the the 52-week low levels that we reported last week. The cheapest economy car for Maui's Kahului airport is at $227/week with all taxes and fees included. Many other vehicle types are also up, but Jeeps are staying at a record low level of just $305/week. Based on our indicators, over the next few weeks prices overall should stay in a narrow range with equal possibility of moderate upward or downward movement.

Fig. 1. Rental car prices in Maui are in the off-season range going into May 2025.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RENT A CAR IN MAUI ON May 19, 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 May 19, 2025.

Category Price Change Company
Economy $227 +34% Dollar
Midsize $268 +28% Thrifty
Jeep $305 0 Thrifty
Convertbl $497 +4% Thrifty
SUV $285 +27% Thrifty
7 St SUV $322 -15% Thrifty
Minivan $354 +43% Thrifty

For the week of Monday 5/19/2025, the lowest price for renting a car from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) for one week is $226/week from Dollar; this is up 34% from last week. The lowest price for a midsize car is $268week from Thrifty; this is also up, 28%. Jeeps were unchanged at $305/week from Thrifty. Convertibles went up just slightly, 4% to $497/week, also from Thrifty. The price for the cheapest SUV was $285/week, up 27% week-to-week, from Thrifty. Minivan prices were also up, a hefty 43% increase to $354/week, again from Thrifty.

Four of the seven vehicle categories in our survey saw an increase, in the range of about 30% to 40%, one category was unchanged, and two went down. Broadly this can be seen as a correction from last week's low prices that were at or near 52-week lows. It is not surprising that prices are firming up

With the Memorial Day holiday just a few days ahead, and the summer travel season right around the corner beginning in mid-June.

Fig. 2. Maui car rental prices from the last 13 months with forecast of the coming five weeks.

MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE FORECAST FOR 5/19/25

Online reservation systems are showing prices trending upward from their current level. As of today, May 18, 2025, 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
05/18/25 $211 $227
05/25/25 $211 $234
06/01/25 $237 $267
06/08/25 $227 $264
06/15/25 $248 $269
06/22/25 $248 $269

If booked today, the price for a one-week rental starting five weeks from now at OGG airport would be $269/week, which is $42/week or 19% more than a rental starting tomorrow. The off-airport price for a rental starting in five weeks is $248/week, $37/week or 18% more than a rental starting tomorrow. So there is an overall modest upward trend in prices over the next few weeks.

These advance reservation prices, marked as "Forecast," are illustrated in the area highlighted in Figure 2. They show a steady upward trend in advance prices taking place over the coming weeks. This is an expected firming up of prices in advance of the summer travel season getting under way.

Fig. 3. Maui Car Rental Prices: A historical price trend based on five years of averaged prices highlights low prices in April and May.

WILL BOOKING IN ADVANCE SAVE MONEY FOR UPCOMING RENTALS?

For the coming weeks, advance reservation systems are showing moderately increasing prices. however, the signals for the coming weeks based on other data are mixed. Let's review four broad indicators of price movement for the next few weeks.

Indicator 1. Historical Last-MInute Price
Looking at historical data, prices bottom out in early June. The average weekly price chart from our ground-breaking five-year price tracking study carried out from 2013 to 2018 is illustrated in Figure 3. It shows last-minute prices staying flat or decreasing as the date progresses from mid-May into early June, before rising again for the summer travel season beginning in mid-June.

Fig. 4. Average cost trends for renting a car in Maui over five years show varying prices based on booking time: renting last-minute typically leads to lower rates, except for peak periods around Christmas and Presidents' day holidays. Booking at the last minute typically offers the most savings.

Indicator 2. Historical Advance Price Movement
In our previous five-year price study, not only did we track the last-minute price, we also tracked the prices one month in advance and three months in advance over the same five-year period.

The difference between last-minute prices and advance reservation prices is an indicator of the state of supply and availability from the car rental providers. When supply is limited, last minute prices ratchet up from their advance levels. When there is over-supply, prices drop at the last minute. These changes follow a seasonal pattern that we covered in a blog post titled "When Is The Best Time To Rent A Car in Maui?" Based on the data, the peak travel period s of winter are the only time that it makes sense to book in advance. This makes up about five or six seeks out of the year. For the rest of the year - or nearly 90% of the time - booking at the last minute saves money.

On average, based on five years of historical price data, for the period of mid-May to mid-June, the last minute price is lower than advance reservation prices during this period (see Figure 4). So, going by this indicator, prices for the coming weeks should drop from their advance levels.

Figure 5. Price trends for a one-week car rental in Maui from December 2024 to May 2025 show variations based on booking timings: one day, one week, and five weeks in advance.

Indicator 3. Recent Advance Price Movement
More recently, starting in mid-December of 2024, we have tracked the movement of advance booking prices as the reservation date approaches.

No only did this week's prices increase broadly over last week, but also, this week the last minute price was just slightly more the price booked one week in advance. A reservation made today for a rental starting tomorrow is $227/week. Had the reservation for tomorrow's rental been made a week ago, it would have cost $5 less, at $222/week. This is an indication that prices may be firming up.

For Memorial Day, which is one week from tomorrow, the price for a one-week rental would have been $383 if booked four weeks ago. If booked today, it would be just $234. But if the movement of the last minute price is an indication, there is a likelihood that the price of the Memorial Day rental could increase between now and next week. Therefore it would be advantageous to lock in the current rental price for Memorial Day now, before a possible price increase. So, while the advance price bump for Memorial Day has all but evaporated, now may be the best time to book for the biggest holiday savings.

How about the weeks after Memorial Day? The five week advance prices show a steep decline right after Memorial Day (see Figure 5). Based on historical advance price movement data, it is unlikely that prices will rise up above those levels as we move closer to those dates. So it's smooth sailing ahead with prices staying in a very moderate range through early June.

Indicator 4. Last Year's Price Movements

Just like the weather today is the best predictor of the weather tomorrow, last year's car rental prices can be a good predictor of the prices coming this year. Last year we saw flat prices in May-June leading to a sharp spike for the Fourth of July holiday (see Figure 2). If this pattern repeats, prices should stay on the lookout for lower prices coming in early June, but lock in low advance rates for the Independence Day holiday.

WERE THERE LAST-MINUTE PRICE SAVINGS FOR THIS WEEK?

For the cheapest one-week rental starting tomorrow, the advance price five weeks ago was $292. Then it fell steadily week-to-week until it hit a low of $222 last week. From there it went up $5 in the last week, to a price of $227/week for a rental starting tomorrow. Savings from booking at the last minute versus booking five weeks in advance were $65/week or a drop of 22% compared to the earlier price. However, had the reservation been made last week, it would have cost $5 (or 2% less). One week in advance would have been the best time to book the reservation.

Advance Price Diff. % Saved
1 day $227
1 week $222 -$5 -2%
5 weeks $292 $65 22%

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?

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."

Throughout the past winter and spring season, we have seen a disruption of this pattern due to unexpected strong demand and limited supply at off-airport locations, with the off-airport prices in many cases higher than airport prices.

This week, the normal pattern of prices lower off-airport is in effect for most vehicle type, with some exceptions. Jeeps and convertibles seem to be in short supply off-airport, resulting in lower prices at the airport for these two categories. And 7-seat SUV's are showing no availability at all at off-airport locations. For economy, mid-size, SUV, and minivan, the prices off-airport are lower than the airport prices.

These prices are from our survey taken on 5/18/25, for a one-week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), beginning on Monday, 5/19/25, 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, 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 .

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:

Higher mandatory taxes and fees that are added to the cost of an airport rental, and
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.

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, May 19.

COST CHANGE AIRPORT
$341 44% Honolulu (HNL)
$227 38% Maui Kahului Airport (OGG)
$332 -9% Kauai Lihue Airport (LIH)
$231 0% Kona Airport (KOA)
$255 -4% Hilo Airport (ITO)

This week prices for car rentals at Hawaii's major island airports are mixed. For both Honolulu and Maui, the price of a one week rental has gone up about 40%. But prices at the other airports - Kauai, Kona, and Hilo - saw only small changes. But rates at Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) remain the cheapest of all the islands, if only $4/week less than the runner-up, Kona.

W 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.

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

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