We are heading out to Hawaii Thursday for our annual work on the condo trip. I was surprised to find today that my wife was able to re-book our rental car at a MUCH lower rate than she had reserved initially...making us wonder if people are changing their plans due to the current eruption in the East Rift Zone?

The area where the issue is located is entirely residential and not really on most people's vacation radar. But,do you think the earthquakes and lava are enough to have made people alter their vacation plans? Not maybe cancelling entirely, but rather, rebooking to another island and paying the cancellation fees on lodging / airline change fees and other things like that?

Can't figure out why the price of the rental car would drop so quickly otherwise. Just more curious what you might do if you had a vacation planned right now.

I think you got lucky with your car rental, that's all.

You apparently haven't been following a thread that's been addressing the issue, here, in the later posts including information from residents:
Big Island for Ten Days, with Kids

I had not seen the thread...thanks!

Just heard a story on KGMB from Hawaiian Tourism authority that my suspicions are at least somewhat true...I can't imagine changing my plans, but apparently some people are.

I'm on Kauai and just heard a news report that many people are canceling in areas that are totally unaffected.
Personally, I would probably cancel plans that took me to Volcano and/or VNP. But not anywhere else on the Big Island -- and certainly not any of the other islands.

VNP and Volcano Village are open for business; Leilana subdivision in Puna (near Pahoa, which had an eruption 2 years ago) is the localized zone of eruption.

VNP is only partially open with limited services. Or am I misinformed.

Some main tourist areas of the park are open, but not Thurston, Chain of Craters past Mauna Ulu, and Kilauea iki. They're inspecting the road and checking the rockfall areas. Glad I was there to see the cloud left by the Pu'u O'o crater collapse the other day; the way things change there, you never know what experiences won't be available again (like the loop road around Halemaumau.

I don't know if anyone caught Howard Dicus on the news yesterday morning, but he nailed it when he explained that many mainland visitors can't even tell the difference between Oahu and the Big Island let alone Kona and Puna...it makes sense but folks don't realize both how localized the eruption is (something like 10 square miles) or, possibly if having not been before, how large Hawaii Island is. Or they mistakenly think Kilauea is on Oahu or ??

We've had calls from many of our friends asking if our condo was in danger from this eruption...it's only normal for them to not know the geography. Hawaii Tourism is working overtime to let people know what's going on. VOG is going to be worse on Kona side but for our slice of Kau, thank God for the trades.

All this being said, unless my vacation plan was to stay in the Puna district or anywhere on the East rift zone, I guess, there would be no reason at all to cancel vacation plans. With the discount on the car rental...now I'm hoping for empty seats on the plane!

I checked out car prices for my daughter, early June...prices had gone up (I think it's the usual fluctuations).

We'll be on the Big Island for most of June. I canceled our vrbo reservation at the Kapoho tide pools, and booked a villa at Waikoloa, on the beach side of the highway. (Tsuname!!??) The rest of the month, we'll be around, or north of Kona. Sure, I have ongoing angst, but not my original Henny Penny reaction. I have subscribed to the USGS volcano updates, and am thinking positively that the possible "ballistic projectiles of several tons" will stay in the southeast. That said, all our rentals have air conditioning so, if the air quality takes a turn for the worse, we can stay inside and play board games ...

I just checked the car rental prices, and they're the same as when we booked them, at the beginning of the year. As of last night, BI accommodation rentals sure aren't offering any discounts, though the Kapoho owner was a stand-up guy and refunded me 100%. (And, yes, his house is still standing!)

Glad you got a refund (since you might not have been able to access the roads to your Kapoho rental).
Waikoloa resort is an excellent place to base your travel.

I have been following the Big Island eruption closely because we have a trip booked for late September into October, 4 nights Captain Cook, 4 nights Volcano Village and 3 nights Hilo,
I'm not worried at this time, we have plenty of time to cancel or rearrange what I have found concerning is the very misleading information on many news sites, that is causing friends and relatives to suggest we cancel now.
The concerned friends and relatives are telling me of pictures they have seen that are actually from previous incidents and even worse some are from volcanoes in other parts of the world.
One picture I am seeing repeatedly included in news reports about the Big Island is of a very steep mountain, with a very pointed top with glowing lava pouring down all sides. I think it is probably from one of the volcanoes in the Philippines.
For all the concerned people out there, double check where and when the pictures and accompanying information originated.

I am seeing lots of talk of cancellation and some panic on other travel websites, including from people who will be staying on other islands

Hah. I just received an email from Hawaiian Airlines with an offer for $75 off a flight/hotel package, from now through September ... maybe they'll comp our carry-on bags, instead! We, too, are still being advised by friends and family to cancel our June trip to the Big Island. But, I'm feeling okay about staying on the Kona and Kohala coast, with air conditioning in case of air quality concerns. I should probably cancel our booking at a little B&B on a coffee plantation, in Honaunau, a little south of Kona. It's only for two nights, for my husband and me, before the rest of the family arrives.

I regret to inform you that volcano park and village are now part of the danger zone.

When Madame Pele's a rocking' don't come knockin'

If you want to keep current on actual factual data, visit volcanoes.usgs.gov; for park status (the expected steam event and accompanying ashfall), visit nps.gov.
West Hawaii Today (online) is also very good for current info.
If the park remains closed during a visit, there's plenty else to do and see (but maybe take Lava Tree State Monument off the list&#128566

I haven't seen VNP and village listed on https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes...ea/status.html as on the danger list, other than if the lava level drops to the water table,

No clue where the numbers and smiley face came from!

But right, the danger of blocks flying is limited to the park; the village would get ashfall. Might be in a week or two, might not happen, might be this weekend.