When I saw that renting a car for one week at the Kailua Kona airport on the big island would cost…read more$566 using Discount Hawaii Car Rental, I checked out other alternatives.
We were staying at Hilton Waikoloa Village, where parking the car would cost $33 a day, with no street parking nearby. $231 a week, plus $566 a week is $797.
Looked up taxi fare calculator at https://www.taxifarefinder.com/
for going from the 20 miles from Kailua Kona airport to Hilton Waikoloa Village, and it's $104!
Uber X is $43 if you can find one, as only recently has Kailua Kona airport accepted ride sharing, and that's assuming no surge pricing due to shortage of available drivers. And getting a ride back from the hotel in the boon docks to the airport might be questionable using ride sharing.
Checked Roberts Hawaii web site at https://www.airportshuttlehawaii.com/shuttles/hawaii/ , and it's $32 per person, or $64 for the wife and I, to go that distance. Sliding scale from $20 to $36 per person depending on distance from airport to hotel. Made reservations online, listing date, time of arrival, and flight number.
Hours before the flight, get a text message confirming the arrival.
Got in to the airport, after a 6 hour flight from California. There at the gate is an attractive young lady with my name on a placard. Christiana is wearing a spiffy Roberts Hawaii uniform top, and the usual black pants and shoes of Hawaii tourist industry associates.
My wife goes up to her, and says yes, she's Robert C. Yeah, sure blond haired lady with Chinese last name.
We go a short ways around the airport, and there's our wheels -a full size, state of the art 56 passenger touring bus just for the wife and I!
Driver Sun M. was taking the bus back to the depot near Hilo, but dropping us on the way at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Yes, he cleaned all the windows just for us. Exchanged life stories during the 30 minute trip, with wife and I sitting in the front seat.
Door to door service with a smile, which got bigger with the $10 tip.
One week later, hotel pickup at 8:15am. Full size touring bus arrives at 8:14am, with 4 people already on the bus, from an earlier pickup point.
Bus driver waits and waits for another missing party. Finally at 8:27, a missing party of 6 Japanese tourists from the same party arrive. An adult male leads the party through the bus, apologizing in Japanese to the 4 Japanese and myself. Not the first time I was mistaken for a Japanese!
8:58am the bus arrives at the airport. No pickup stops in-between, in fact no civilization, let alone hotels, in-between HWV and the airport 20 miles away.
Paying $797+ for a rental car and parking for a week, is a lot, about the price of seven all day Roberts Hawaii "Grand Circle Hawaii Island Tours", after the 15% discount coupon code they gave me.
How could I not give 5 stars to the company named after me?