One-Way Car Rental (ITO to KOA)

I am struggling trying find decent rental car rates for a pickup at Hilo and dropoff at Kona. It would be a 4-day weekday rental. Normally I would use Priceline or Hotwire, but they don%26#39;t have one-way rental options. Does anyone have any tips for getting discounted one-way rates on the Big Island?

One-Way Car Rental (ITO to KOA)

hawaiicarrental.com

discounthawaiicarrental.com

or Costcotravel.com

Going direct through Alamo with the discount code %26#39;hipromo%26#39;.

There may be an additional charge for the %26#39;drop off%26#39;.

Be aware that rental car fleets have been reduced. Rental rates can change daily - some types of vehicles may not be available.

One-Way Car Rental (ITO to KOA)

We rented through National who doesn%26#39;t charge a drop off (or didn%26#39;t when I was looking a couple months ago). My plan of attack when renting is to look at www.carrentals.com . They%26#39;ll show you the end price including all the taxes and fees that you%26#39;ll be charged. I then will do a search on the web for discount codes for a particular car rental company to apply when booking. I%26#39;ll book and then keep checking every few days for rate changes.

I guess first you need to let us know what you consider decent. You might incur a drop off charge depends on the rental company. Most all of the sites I have ever used do have one way options, you fill out the pickup location and the drop off if it is different. I know for sure Orbitz does that.

discounthawaiicarrental.com is great. When are you visiting?

Dear Toronto:

If you want best beaches w/ only 4 days I recommend staying Waikoloa (best beaches) or Kona (good snorkeling and site seeing) and ranging from Captain Cook in the south to Pololu Valley in the north.

If you want to focus more on waterfalls, gardens, Volcano then maybe range from Black Sand Beach east to Waipio Valley north (staying in Hilo or Volcano).

That avoids the car drop off penalty if any. Remember the Big Isalnd is 220 miles around on the main road not including side trips, so there%26#39;s no way you are gonna see everything in 4 days anyways.

Happy Planning, TheodoreJay

TJ has just pointed out why it is a good idea to rent in ITO and drop off in KOA if you are coming for a short trip. The 3 hour prime time driving is very valuable time when you are here for a short trip.

Thank you for the feedback. I guess I%26#39;m used to getting great rates thru Priceline, so my definition of ';decent rates'; may be skewed. For instance, for the other Hawaiin islands I%26#39;ve been able to get a compact for around $12/day+tax and SUV and convertibles for around $25/day+tax. The one-way rates I%26#39;m finding for the Big Island are around $50/day for a compact and around $100/day for an SUV or convertible (car rental dot com). Crazy! Before I bite the bullet and pay these insane rates, I thought I%26#39;d better do some more digging.

That sounds a bit high but it depends on when you are coming. If it is during Ironman in October those would actually be decent rates and I would book them, they tend to run out of cars during that timeframe.

We are visiting for four weeknights near the end of May. I don%26#39;t believe there are any large events going on during this time.

No events... hmmm did you try the web sites we gave you? Did you check what a weekly rate would be? Sometimes it is less than a 4 day rental..