Great experience and service.

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.

Great! The staff at the store, though speaking English, quickly understood my needs. Communication was smooth. Since Hawaii's attractions are quite spread out, driving yourself is more convenient.

The service was decent. I usually drive a RAV4, and I feel its luggage space is suitable. At the rental store, they gave me a car similar to a Kia Sportage, which couldn’t fit all the luggage. They claimed it was a mini SUV. Eventually, I upgraded to a Toyota Sienna for an additional $150, which had a spacious luggage compartment. By folding down the third-row seats, it seemed to accommodate six 28-inch suitcases and four 20-inch suitcases. In the future, I'll make sure to check the differences between compact, mid-size, and full-size vehicles carefully. Otherwise, substituting within the same class could be awkward.

I compared for a long time before choosing Avis, attracted by the international brand. They didn't disappoint us. The San Francisco airport has a light rail directly to the car rental center with all major rental companies. The big companies have queues, but the speed was acceptable. There was no aggressive push for insurance. After handling the paperwork, they just told us the car slot number, and we went to the parking lot with our voucher to pick up the car. We originally booked a Chrysler but ended up with a Kia. Initially, we were a bit disappointed, but it turned out to drive very well, great acceleration and handling, overall a fantastic driving experience. Returning the car was also very convenient; we just filled up the gas and drove to the parking lot, they checked it quickly and processed our return. Since we returned the car two days earlier, we even got a refund for those two days.