Maui Car Rental Prices Are Rising Toward Summertime High Season Level
- 4 hours ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
May 31, 2026. This week's Maui car rental prices were mostly up overall, with rates in various vehicle classes surging between 10% and 55% higher in just one week. This is an expected seasonal adjustment as Maui enters the busy summer travel season. But there was one outlier: convertibles were the only vehicles down from the week before, at $523/week from Dollar at Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG). The lowest prices at OGG were for compact cars from Hertz, for $351/week with all taxes and fees included. Prices are expected to continue to rise through the month of June. Keep reading for all the details.
HOW MUCH IS THE CHEAPEST MAUI RENTAL CAR ON JUNE 1, 2026?
Every week, we list the lowest available prices for a one-week car rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), for a selection of vehicle categories, with the company offering the best price. This is our overview of Maui car rental prices for the week beginning Monday, June 1, 2026.
Category Price Company
Economy $351 Hertz
Midsize $394 Dollar
Jeep $923 Dollar
Convertbl $523 Dollar
SUV $481 SiXT
7 St SUV $1,004 Budget
Minivan $860 Budget
The prices quoted here include all applicable taxes and fees. Prices for these vehicle types charted week-to-week for the last 14 months are illustrated in Figure 1.
These are the lowest prices in every car category: The lowest price for a compact car from Kahului Airport (OGG) this week is with Hertz, at $351/week. Mid-size cars are starting at $394/week, at Hertz' sister company, Dollar. Jeeps are starting at $923/week, also from Dollar. The lowest price for a convertible is $523/week, again at Dollar. The cheapest standard SUV's are $481/week, at SiXT, and 7-seat SUV's are starting at $1,004/week, at Budget. The cheapest minivans are $860/week, at Budget.
HOW MUCH DID MAUI RENTAL CAR PRICES CHANGE FROM LAST WEEK?
For each vehicle category, this is how the lowest price for a one week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) starting on Monday June 1, 2026 has changed from the week before:
Category This week Last Change Economy $351 $289 +21%
Midsize $394 $341 +16%
Jeep $923 $597 +55%
Convertbl $523 $709 -26%
SUV $481 $443 +9%
7 st SUV $1,004 $654 +54%
Minivan $860 $781 +10%
This week's lowest prices for rental cars from Kahului Airport (OGG) were up from the week in nearly every category, with the increases from last week ranging from 9% for standard SUV's to 55% for Jeeps, and compact cars, mid-size cars, large SUV's and minivans all falling in between. As we enter the busier summer travel season, prices are expected to trend upward and peak sometime in early to mid-July, and this week's price movement is consistent with that anticipated trend . The only exception this week was for convertibles, that were 26% cheaper than last week. As we've noted previously, convertibles seem to be in a class by themselves and their price movements are often at odds with other fleet vehicles, for reasons that are not clear.
Prices for this week and last week, with the percentage change week-to-week, are illustrated in Figure 2.
IS IT CHEAPER TO BOOK IN ADVANCE, OR AT THE LAST MINUTE?
In mid-December of 2024, we began to track the movement of advance booking prices as the reservation date approaches. Every week, we checked the price of the most affordable car one week out, two weeks out, three weeks out, up to five weeks out, and saved the numbers for comparison.
From mid-February of 2025 until early October, the prices available one day in advance and one week in advance were consistently lower than the price five weeks in advance (see figure 3).
In October this pattern reversed, and prices for last minute bookings were consistently higher than prices booked in advance, with late booking often punished with extreme last minute increases.
The pattern reversed again a few months later in March of 2026. From then on, late booking was again rewarded, with sometimes generous last minute deals.
These price movements and reversals in advance booking advantage versus penalty are illustrated in Figure 3.
This brings us to where we are now. As prices declined from their winter high-season levels, the gap between advance booking prices and last-minute prices slowly closed, and basically for the last few weeks, advance prices have been nearly flat, with only small fluctuations as the reservation date approaches, and there is no significant advantage or penalty to booking earlier versus later.
HOW HAVE MAUI CAR RENTAL ADVANCE PRICING PATTERNS CHANGED IN RECENT YEARS?
Based on historical data, the reversals of advance booking advantage and penalty are seasonal effects that correspond to transitions from busy seasons - where it is imperative to book in advance - to slower seasons where savings are likely for last-minute booking. But there has been one significant change in recent years. In a previous price-tracking study we conducted for five years between 2013 and 2018, last-minute booking was rewarded roughly 80% of the time, in more than 40 weeks of the year. But more recently, the last-minute booking advantage applies only about 50% of the time, or in only about 26 weeks of the year. This seems to indicate that car rental companies are more willing to "hold the line" on pricing, with this change possibly coming with a realization that demand is relatively inelastic with respect to price, in other words, dropping the price does not necessarily yield more revenue, while hurting profit margins. As we've discussed last week, we attribute this change in pricing strategy in part to the advent of AI pricing systems that operate differently than human price managers or human-managed price algorithms. And this difference could also be in part due to a change in incentivization for human rental managers, who are no longer under pressure to produce rental-days, a goal they would achieve by cutting prices. With the responsibility for price-setting and demand forecasting shifting entirely into the hands of AI, the incentives for human managers now shift from producing rental-days to efficient management of operations and cost-control - in which AI will of course play a larger and larger part, until the human managers are entirely redundant, just like human drivers in a self-driving car. Is the future for car rentals in Maui and elsewhere? We shall soon be finding out.
HOW DO WE GET OUR MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE DATA?
Prices for Maui car rentals vary from week to week, and the company offering the lowest price also changes from week to week. Furthermore, one company may be offering the lowest price in one vehicle category, for example mid-size cars, while a different company has a better price on another category, for example mini-vans.
Beginning in July 2024, we've tracked the prices on seven vehicle categories - compact, mid-size, Jeep, convertible, SUV, 7-seat SUV, and minivan - from 10 different companies at Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG): Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Payless, SiXT, and Thrifty. Each week, for every vehicle type, we noted which company offered the lowest price. Our weekly price-tracking for the lowest price economy car category goes back to July 2023 - more than one year. These are the data for the charts we post every week.
Previously we conducted a five-year price-tracking study for the lowest price economy car category beginning in February 2013 and continuing to February 2018. A sample of these results is in Figure 6, that shows the five-year average of the price over a one-year duration. For details of this massive price-tracking undertaking, and the most important findings on how and when to rent a car, see our blog post of July 14, 2024 titled "When is the best time to rent a car in Maui?"
HOW TO CHECK RATES AND AVAILABILITY FOR MAUI CAR RENTAL
Either click through to to our Maui car rental prices and availability section, or check our booking site at rentals.mauicarrental.biz. This site gives you access to all vehicles from eight different companies - Ace, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Payless, and Thrifty - at all their Maui locations, that include the Airport rentacar center, Kahului town locations nearby the airport, and resort locations in Kihei/Wailea, and Ka'anapali. With so many options to choose from, you are assured to find the rental car that matches your preferences and your budget for your Maui trip - and there is never a cancellation penalty if you have to change plans.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Frank Saab is a thought leader in the rental car industry, quoted by influential publications like SFgate.com. He is the editor of this blog published by Frank's Friendly Cars Maui Car Rental LLC, an independent car rental company operating in Maui, Hawaii, since 2006. Frank's offers low prices on used local cars and discount prices on new cars, with a "Lowest Price Guarantee" that assures you of getting the best deal on your rental. Visit our website at www.mauicarrental.biz, or call us at 808-280-1196.
Price Data Sources: rentalcars.com, rentals.mauicarrental.biz
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