dina

I plan to visit Oahu, Mauai, Kauai and Big Island. We'll hire a car on the last 3 islands. It is best to hire a car through the hotel or a car hire agency like Alamo ? Someone told me that sometimes - car hire is included with the price of the hotel - is this true???

Lori

Dina,
Some packages include rental cars (hotel & rental car or air, hotel & rental car), you would need to check out the various options. Most airlines handle packages to Hawaii as well as many tour operators. I tend to think you are not from the U.S. since you use the term "hire" (which tends to be a British phrase) whereas we use rental, but where ever you are from you can usually find an all inclusive package for Hawaii. Personally we've always rented separately (from Budget, Hertz, Avis) and never had any problems that way (I make all our own arrangements anyway) but if it is your first time to the islands you may want to look into a package that includes hotel & car rental.

paul

I think that separate works best. When we visited maui, I searched both the car rental websites and travelociy website to find the best offer for the time we were going. We found the Dollar Agency to be the least expensive at that time and had no trouble with the rental.

stevie

Just returned from Hawaii and rented cars from Alamo on all three islands. Very reasonable and had no problems. We used the Entertainment Book coupons and saved money on each island.

Cindy

There are a number of posts on this site - I think the heading is "Is Alamo Really That Bad?" and the overwhelming answer is "Yes, it is!!" Some people had no problems with them but we certainly did and so did others that we met in the line-up at the rental office in Kona on the Big Island. They don't inspect the cars, even though at one point they told us to bring the car in so that they could inspect it. We brought it and they never even peeked at it. They also lied about the insurance coverage we needed. Liability insurance is with the driver, not the car; you can get a clause on your own policy for very little money rather than buying one from Alamo. But they present "convincing" arguments that could cost you a lot of money, e.g. that your coverage isn't valid in Hawaii. The agents are told to say this; I suppose they don't know any different. They aren't insurance brokers. Unfortunately for them, my travelling companion was! We rented a car online through AAA Aloha Cars-R-Us and they did get us a good rate, but it was through Alamo, whom I would never use again. We saw a steady stream of people bringing cars back with bad brakes, etc. - lots and lots of problems. There are many other rental companies there; have a great trip!