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Post by brp on Jul 10, 2024 19:38:44 GMT -5
Alrighty, I am getting down to serious planning for this DCL cruise with an early October Aulani stay at the end. I have rented a car from Costco-have an Intermediate SUV from Oct 3 - Oct 11 and my rate is just under $600. I am picking up and returning from the airport. I see much said about a service fee to return to the airport, what is this? On my list of charges from Alamo, it does not say anything about an extra fee--is it just buried in the fees and taxes somewhere? Do I need to consider other options to lower the price? The primary fees are for picking up at the airport. No additional charge for airport return if picked up there. If you look at the details, you will see a lot of charges on top of the base rate for airport pickup. Things like facility charge, recovery charge, etc. Picking up at the airport is a killer. If you can, pick up off-site.
In that case, there may be a charge to return at the airport. Maybe not. Even if there is, it may well be less than the added charges for the airport pickup. In our case, when we picked up offsite, the guy quoted $150 to return to the airport. We called Avis and it was like $30. So best to explore the options.
Cheers.
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Post by rwethereyet on Jul 10, 2024 20:24:21 GMT -5
So, I guess this is why when I look at Costco's site I see two Honolulu locations. One is the airport and the other I think is a Sheraton, but not sure if I remember that correctly. However, when I compared the pricing, I thought it was the same--going to go back and check again to make sure I was paying attention.
Edited to add: No matter what locations or rental companies I check on, Alamo thru Costco with picking up and returning to the Honolulu airport is giving me the best rate by far.
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Post by brp on Jul 10, 2024 20:26:59 GMT -5
So, I guess this is why when I look at Costco's site I see two Honolulu locations. One is the airport and the other I think is a Sheraton, but not sure if I remember that correctly. However, when I compared the pricing, I thought it was the same--going to go back and check again to make sure I was paying attention. It certainly shouldn't be the same unless the base rate at the Sheraton is enough higher through Costco to make up for the airport fees. We picked up at the Sheraton, and it was a lot less than the airport.
Cheers.
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Post by johnb on Jul 11, 2024 10:28:42 GMT -5
We rented with Alamo (midsize SUV), pick up and return at HNL, 5/30-6/5. Here are the taxes and fees:
CONCESSION RECOVERY FEE 11.11 PCT
CUSTOMER FACILITY CHARGE 4.50/DAY
RENT TAX SURCHARGE 6.50/DAY
VEHICLE LICENSING FEE
GENERAL EXCISE TAX
HONOLULU COUNTY TAX
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Post by johnb on Jul 11, 2024 11:46:16 GMT -5
Are you looking for things to do at Aulani or around Oahu?
Briefly, our favorite off-property things we did:
Kualoa Ranch UTV tour
Dinners at The Pig and the Lady and Mud Hen Water
Walked around Chinatown
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Post by jedimom3 on Aug 17, 2024 15:11:28 GMT -5
I never thought in a million years, I'd be on an Aulani thread, looking for planning tips, but this week, I guess some alter ego took over DH, and out of the blue, DH actually booked a 2 bedroom at Aulani for our Spring break, March, 2025...... Hawaii has never been a place on DH's radar, But his mom has been dreaming of going to Hawaii for decades, and I guess, given her fairly recent health issues, age, etc. I think he finally decided to just make it happen for her.
So here we are, completely clueless about any and all of this. I"m reading through all the threads here on MO that I can find. I'll go back through any trip reports too.
ANY and ALL tips, info, appreciated. Private message if need be. Will appreciate any and all advice.
So far, all we have is Aulani booked from Monday-Saturday. 4 full days, I know, not a lot of time, but it is what it is.
I assume we'll be renting a car. Haven't rented a car in many, many years, so from reading here, we should probably sign up for all of their loyalty programs??? any recommendations?
DH and I are huge history buffs, and one of our favorite subjects is military history, and WWII, we we'll be planning Pearl Harbor. Questions: How best to plan a day there? Are Arizona tickets reserved online? then how to we plan/get tickets for the other exhibits, I see a ticket/passport online? and how much time to allot? getting there from Aulani, touring, and back? I"m thinking all day, DH thinks less, but we are the people whose 3 hour driving tour of Gettysburg went to 5 1/2 hours, and we still werent' finished. We stop and read every sign.
What would y'all recommend for a first timer, once in a lifetime trip, to get the best feel, impression of Hawaii. MIL is mobile, like could do a short, easy walk/hike, and we would all like to see and experience the beautiful scenery. But nothing too strenuous. DD and DS could handle something more involved, so if need be, we might be able to split up some. I read about the state park with the lighthouse. Might see about that. Any must do spots to really take in the scenery, and how far of a drive from Aulani are we looking at?
Also, it makes me physically ill to think about flying.....but any recommendations on airlines, any to avoid, best, etc. from Nashville, TN. We're not doing business/first class, so just economy, and I can't handle more than one stop. I can't really handle that, but I know we'll have at least one. We don't travel/fly much at all, so clueless on airlines and airports any more. We've never flown as a family before. (my phobia is that intense, so I'll also be trying to work on that....)
Don't mean to hijack this thread, so can start another one if need be. I'll be scouring for trip reports also. None of this seems real to me.
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Post by johnb on Aug 17, 2024 16:31:36 GMT -5
We've used Alamo Insiders for years. I think any of the major names will be fine. Definitely join the loyalty programs so you can skip the counter. FYI, when I booked a car with Avis for a work trip earlier this year, I joined their club, but because it was my first time using it, they would not allow me to skip the counter, nd I had to deal with the multiple upsell attempts at the counter. Just what I wanted after a delayed flight and 11 PM landing.
Flights--if possible, break the flights into two days--Nashville to the west coast on day one and west coast to HNL on day two. Same for the return flights. We did straight through with a three hr. layover at SFO years ago and it was exhausting. In May we did PHL-SAN, stayed in san Diego overnight, then SAN-HNL.
Touring to see the island--look at the various tours offered at Kualoa Ranch. It's about an hour drive from Aulani.
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Post by rwethereyet on Aug 20, 2024 11:50:25 GMT -5
Jedimom, you aren't hijacking the thread. I am still following along to see if there are any other tips and suggestions. I ended up using Costco for my car rental. For an Intermediate SUV, I started out at $600 with Alamo, but I have been checking every day and for rate changes and am now down to $450 for an Intermediate SUV with Enterprise. I am coming in via cruise ship, but will Uber over to pick up the car at the airport and will return it to the airport.
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Post by ratfan on Aug 21, 2024 20:07:51 GMT -5
Jedimom, you aren't hijacking the thread. I am still following along to see if there are any other tips and suggestions. I ended up using Costco for my car rental. For an Intermediate SUV, I started out at $600 with Alamo, but I have been checking every day and for rate changes and am now down to $450 for an Intermediate SUV with Enterprise. I am coming in via cruise ship, but will Uber over to pick up the car at the airport and will return it to the airport. Check out www.autoslash.com if you haven't already. You can input your price and itinerary and they'll email you if they find a better deal. I've used them many times. Free of charge too. |
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Post by rwethereyet on Aug 25, 2024 11:12:58 GMT -5
Jedimom, you aren't hijacking the thread. I am still following along to see if there are any other tips and suggestions. I ended up using Costco for my car rental. For an Intermediate SUV, I started out at $600 with Alamo, but I have been checking every day and for rate changes and am now down to $450 for an Intermediate SUV with Enterprise. I am coming in via cruise ship, but will Uber over to pick up the car at the airport and will return it to the airport. Check out www.autoslash.com if you haven't already. You can input your price and itinerary and they'll email you if they find a better deal. I've used them many times. Free of charge too. Thanks, I will check it out.
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Post by rwethereyet on Oct 12, 2024 23:15:06 GMT -5
Just an update regarding my car rental in Oahu for our stay at Aulani. In the process of checking for updated rates, I had a good rate for an Electric Vehicle pop up for the length of our stay. I got a Tesla for 8 days for $375.00. I drive a Tesla at home, so I was very comfortable even though I was not sure just what the model would be. The added bonus would be that we would have no expense for energy as Aulani lets EVs charge for free, along with free parking for DVC members. We were able to find an open charger every time we left and came back to the resort, which was often, even though the chargers were always pretty busy. One day we did a driving tour of the entire island, using the Shaka app, and we were gone almost 11 hours and still came back to Aulani with a 35% charge. I booked this car with Avis thru Costco travel.
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