A Christmas vacation in Waikiki, or coming home to Honolulu for the holidays, is a merry occasion — unless you need to rent a car.
A survey by an online car rental search firm found that the average daily car rental rate at Honolulu Airport is about three times higher at Christmastime.
The rate was the highest among 30 cities surveyed by CheapCarRental.net.
The company found that the average daily rate for the cheapest available car Dec. 23-28 was $147, compared with $50 in January.
"Travelers who are yearning to be home for the Christmas holiday in the Aloha State better make sure they have some extra cash handy," the company said in announcing the survey results Wednesday.
Katelyne Phan, a visitor from Sacramento, Calif., said she was quoted $800 for a six-day rental, or $133 a day. "That was a rip-off," she said. "It’s horrendous."
Phan and her family balked at the quote, and instead arranged a shuttle into Waikiki, where they picked up a car Wednesday from a small rental company for about $46 a day, or $182 for four days. "It was worth it," she said. "It’s so much cheaper."
The American Car Rental Association said industry pricing is generally based on supply and demand. So prices go up as reservations rise and car inventory falls. Spikes can occur near big events or major travel holidays, and tend to be more volatile in Hawaii because rental car companies can’t routinely shift inventory between markets.
"That’s just the dynamics of our industry," said association president Bob Barton. "It’s a very fluid pricing system."
Barton said two weeks ago someone could rent a car in Florida for $10 a day. "The industry is very supply-and-demand-driven," he said.
Booking agent Discount Hawaii Car Rental is advising customers that cars are in short supply on Oahu and are sold out on the neighbor islands during Dec. 23-30.
A search Wednesday found cars available from Hertz during CheapCarRental.net’s search period Dec. 23-28 starting at $113 a day, compared with $50 in late January. At Alamo, the respective results were $120 and $40.
However, booking well in advance of a holiday trip is a good way to capitalize on low rates.
Sunnyvale, Calif., resident Wayne Kuramoto reserved a car back in October for use Dec. 24 to Jan. 1 and got a rate of $39.75 a day.
"I try to book as early as possible," said the retired Japan Air Lines employee and former Hawaii resident, who visits family here three to four times a year.
CheapCarRental.net used online car rental booking engine CarTrawler to search rental rates in early December for pickup and drop-off at airports in 30 cities for Dec. 23-28. Results were compared with rates for January.
CarTrawler claims to be the largest provider of car rental booking systems to the airline industry.
The survey found that Christmas holiday car rental rates declined in eight of the cities sampled. The biggest decline was in Indianapolis, where the Christmas rate was 34 percent lower than the January rate, or $25 compared with $38.
Rates more than doubled in five cities. Miami had the biggest increase at 268 percent, with the average daily rate hitting $111 in the holiday period compared with $30 in January. Honolulu’s rate increase was the third biggest.
Honolulu and Miami had the two highest rates for the holiday period, followed by New York at $99.
For January rentals, Honolulu’s average price of $50 was third highest behind New York at $58 and New Orleans at $55.
