If some of you are wondering why I haven’t posted in a few days, I just got back from a weeklong vacation in Hawai’i. It’s so beautiful. However, what almost ruined the trip was the annoying annoyance of trying to rent a car.
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Hawai’i’s Car rental problem has been known for a while now. And while it’s always better to try walking or cycling somewhere like an island, if you want to go far or do some grocery shopping if you’re there for a long time like me, you need a a vehicle. And with us wanting to get to O’ahu’s North Shore beaches, we needed a way to get there.
My attempts to rent a car took me through two big dealerships, a few loopholes, and then going back to the big companies before I could actually get one. car. I tired Hertz first. Yes, I know me mention all bad crap they get people through, but when they really do what they’re supposed to, they’re pretty easy to hire, especially when you’re a Gold Member like me. I checked out Hertz’s main location at Honolulu Airport. I was surprised that I was able to make a reservation. But this is where I burned.
A major flaw in Hertz’s rental reservation system is that it allows customers to reserve cars they may not actually have. And while the system will stop you if the vehicle is booked on any of the dates you’ve selected, it won’t stop you if the location you choose isn’t outside of the vehicle or vehicle type you choose. It’s weird and doesn’t make sense that their system isn’t connected to some kind of vehicle inventory system. So because of all this, I ended up taking $25 Lyft to the airport for nothing. It took another $22 to bring a Lyft back to my hotel. Now wasted nothing.
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The next day, I decided to try my hand with Enterprise. And before looking to reserve, I called to make a reservation. The problem with this route is that calling means nothing. Like Hertz, if you call Enterprise to check anything, from vehicle inventory to rates, you’re not actually talking to someone at the location you’re trying to reserve at; you’re speaking to someone in a call center somewhere. This is annoying because there’s a disconnect between what the call center says and what actually happens at the location; they’ll tell you one thing that’s not necessarily the case once you get there.
With Enterprise, the issue wasn’t that they didn’t have a vehicle, they just didn’t have the vehicle I needed. Enterprise seemed to have more of an awareness of what vehicles were actually available at the airport. I needed a minivan, so I reserved one after I was told that the airport had some available. Another Lyft ride down to the airport, and I found out that the biggest vehicles they had available were “large sedans;” in their case that meant Chevy Malibus and Toyota Camrys. More time and money on Lyfts wasted.
I decided to try and rent from one of the few local places I saw around the city. While these places were locally owned and operated and had vehicles available, they were sketchy as hell. I found one place that was directly across from a hotel one of my family members was staying in. But its whole operation was run out of a gravel-covered lot surrounded by a chainlink fence with their “offices” being tent-covered picnic tables and a tool shed that looked like it came from Home Depot. And the cars were old. We’re talking last gen, early 2010s base Toyota Siennas, Camrys, Corollas, a random NC Miata that needed a wash, and what looked to be a 2016 Chevy Camaro RS convertible that had duct tape on one of the side mirrors.
Suffice to say we decided to bike that day. The other locally owned rental spot I found had cars just as old. One of my cousins actually rented a Sienna from one of these places. It nearly left her stranded after it struggled to start. Twice.
I decided to give Hertz one more go on the third or fourth day. I was actually able to get a vehicle. I was counting on a Chrysler Pacifica because of how good and comfortable they are. But my dreams have been strangled. Unlike here on land, where when you’re a Hertz Gold Member you get to choose the type of vehicle you want, my truck was delivered to me by Hertz.
“Your car will be in 62, Mr. Hodge,” Hertz’s agent told me. I was furious when I stepped out into space 62 and found a red Dodge Grand Caravan GT that was at least two to three years old. It had nearly 43,000 miles on it, had shrapnel from the seats and some floor coverings that could be folded and moved, and made noises when we went over bumps. It took us to the North Shore beaches, but I hated every minute of it.
Because of all of this, though, we ended up walking and cycling nearly all of the time we were there. That’s not a bad thing. Our hotel was centrally located, close to many bars and restaurants etc. And all that walking and biking made me lose 5 pounds so that’s a win. But just know, if you are planning on vacationing in Hawai’i, try and set up a rented path before you get there, or take the eco-friendly and healthy route and walk or ride bicycle. Otherwise, you will get a headache.
