For the first week on Earth’s most popular island I did have a rent-a-car.

But I gave it up for my second week.

Why?

Normally I feel it’s essential to have your own wheels when traveling in the U.S.A., but (hopefully) Maui is different. They have a pretty good public transportation system called Maui Bus. And I’ll be several days this week on foot in the middle of a volcano in Haleakala National Park.

The cost of a rent-a-car is about double what I paid only 2yrs-ago. Over $50/day … plus fuel. The agent at Dollar insisted I buy the $13/day extra insurance. INSISTED.

Fuel is US$3.24 / American gallon. But I had to pay $4.39 in distant Hana. (Don’t you wish you owned that service station, the only one on that side of the island.)

The average holiday maker in Maui spends $171/day. … My target budget is about $40. Ha. So far I’ve spent at least $70/day despite sleeping in a tent.

Yesterday I moved into the Banana Bungalow hostel. Nice.

They offer “free” tours each day. Have a great kitchen. Free WiFi.

The location is in historic (rundown) Wailuku town, the administrative centre of the Island. Low rent. There are no suitcase tourists here. We mingle with locals, a racially diverse crowd of Asian, European and Pacific Island descent.

It will be a different Maui experience. I won’t be able to stop and gawk anywhere as I did with the car. Tooling all over the island. The highlight of Maui so far has been the motor touring, actually.

Having a rent-a-car was a worry though, in the States. I don’t trust insurance companies to deliver if I did have a major problem. They’ve been devaluing the payoff for claims in recent years. And I don’t really understand the specifics of …

Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) or Loss Damage Waiver (LDW)
Personal Accident Insurance (PAI)
Additional Liability Insurance (ALI)
Personal Effects Coverage (PEC)

Do YOU have confidence you’re actually covered when you rent a car?