KONA AIRPORT CAR RENTAL REVIEWS

Everyone there was super friendly and welcoming.

Pick-up and drop-off were both really quick.

Really great experience, the service was top-notch.

They offered extra insurance and roadside assistance, I said no and they didn’t push it or try to upsell.

Pick-up and drop-off are at the same place, and there’s a shuttle that takes you to and from the airport, super fast and convenient. We rented on the Big Island for 6 days over the Spring Festival, booked early, and full coverage was only about 2,100 RMB. Even when the volcano erupted, they still kept our car for us, which was really reassuring.

Loved the car – big, comfortable, and easily fit four suitcases. Really smooth to drive too. Only downside was having to wait in a super long line to pick it up.

Super simple, efficient, and great value for money.

Fantastic experience. Everything was confirmed smoothly through QEEQ, pickup and return were super efficient—only about 5 minutes to pick up the car and 1 minute to drop it off. The car was practically brand new with just 1,000 miles on it.

Pretty happy with the whole experience!

Super convenient.

The car ran great and was really clean.

Overall service was great. There weren’t too many people, but I still had to wait in line for a bit. The staff processed everything super fast and they gave me exactly the car I wanted—a red Wrangler that looks amazing in photos.

They were a bit short-staffed, so after finishing the paperwork I had to walk over and get the car myself. Luckily there was someone in the lot who walked me through all the controls and features one by one.

Staff are really professional – no hard selling, no nonsense. They just follow your reservation, you fill out the paperwork in a few minutes, pay the deposit, and you’re done.

The Kia 4WD didn’t have enough power for the volcano drive or the trip up Mauna Kea to stargaze, so we couldn’t make it up the mountain.

Got off the plane at Kona, waited just a bit at the rental car shuttle stop and the shared Avis/Budget bus showed up. Avis is the first stop at a nearby lot, so it was pretty easy to find. Just note: if you’re not an Avis VIP customer, you have to go in through a different entrance to get to the counter. There were almost no other customers, so I was first in line and didn’t have to wait at all, which really surprised me.

I specifically wanted a Ford Explorer (mainly because it’s 4WD across the lineup), but the Avis rep clearly didn’t want us taking that kind of car up to the observatory. He kept insisting there were no Explorers available and tried to put us in a “similar” KIA. Since it wasn’t 4WD, we refused and said we’d rather come back early the next morning to see if an Explorer showed up. After going back and forth for a while, he suddenly said he’d “go check the garage” – and magically found an Explorer. Honestly, it felt like he’d been bluffing us from the start. Anyway, we ended up getting what we wanted, so at least it all worked out in the end.

That said, the car itself was clearly on the older side and not in great condition. The third row was supposed to fold flat, but the headrest release was broken, so it would never go fully down. We had to wrestle a few 28-inch suitcases into the trunk and ended up sweating through the whole process. Over the next few days, once we drove over to Hilo, the screen suddenly started showing a “Tire Pressure Sensor Fault” warning, which gave us quite a scare on the road. Thankfully it was just the sensor – the tires themselves were fine.

Super efficient—my deposit was refunded the very next day.

Everything went super fast from start to finish, and the deposit was refunded really quickly too.

Really good experience! My English isn’t great, but they were so patient guiding me through everything. I’m really grateful—the pickup and return were super smooth, and I’m very satisfied!

Service was pretty good.