Young driver car rental in Hawaii

January 23, 2009 12:35 PM

Are there any car rental companies in Hilo, Hawaii that will rent to a 18-20 or 21-24 year old driver?

I am 20, ideally I would rent the car to my name. I will be in Hilo with a friend who is 21, who could potentially also rent the car.

Is it worth trying to talk any car rental companies into it?

posted by Jsn7821 to travel & transportation (8 comments total)

Hertz will rent to a 21 year old, but you have to pay extra.
posted by birdherder at 12:54 PM on January 23

The 5 major car rental agencies (Hertz, Avis, Dollar, Enterprise, National) will rent to people between 21-24, but you will have to pay an extra $25 per day. I don't know of any companies that won't require a fee for drivers under the age of 25.
posted by muddgirl at 1:21 PM on January 23

Gah, the fee is variable, but recently has been $25 or thereabouts.
posted by muddgirl at 1:23 PM on January 23

FYI, Hawaii is one of the last places in the U.S. that you can hitchhike and be pretty safe. Just so you know, haoles (tourists/mainlanders) don't usually get rides from native Hawaiians and vice versa.

I'm not suggesting that instead of renting because it's obviously not as fast, but if the extra $25/day is a problem, maybe you could do that for one or two days to make up the difference.

If you can afford it, I recommend a Jeep or the like so that you can go out to the lava flow which (if it's flowing, of course) is NOT to be missed.

Also, you might try couchsurfing.com. If you find some cool young folks to stay with, they would probably help you out.

Have a great time! I lived in Hilo for awhile in college, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my young life.
posted by nosila at 1:42 PM on January 23

Oh, and the Jeep will allow you to go down (er...get back up from, really) into Waipio Valley, one of the most bizarre and beautiful places I've been.
posted by nosila at 1:43 PM on January 23

Sorry no advice - just 2nding the comment that Hilo is a truly wonderful place. I went to school there also and it pulls at my heartstrings still. Have a great trip!
posted by Craig at 2:42 PM on January 23

If you work for a major company that has a contract with one of the big rental firms you can probably get around the restriction by throwing the company name around. It used to work for me, although that was quite a few years ago.
posted by COD at 4:39 PM on January 23

Is there a Rent-a-wreck there? They seem to be much nicer about renting to under-25s than most rental companies.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:21 PM on January 23