I would avoid Budget at Hilo airport unless you have a lot of time and patience. The lines are long whenever I rent a car there. I travel weekly for work and usually rent from Dollar/Thrifty but rented from Hertz just this one time. I accidentally went to the Budget counter to return my key rather than the Hertz counter (one over). As soon as the female employee realized I had the wrong company her smile disappeared from her face and she said, rudely and loudly in front of other customers, "This is not our key. Move along!" She shooed me by pushing the key back and waving her hand dismissively. Wow. Now I really won't rent from Budget. I was offended as I was kind to her and even apologized. Someone needs customer service training. read more

I'm sure the cars are good but we were in line to get our car for over one hour. There was one person behind the desk to take care of 30+ people who just got off of a very long plane ride. Ridiculous wait. The car rental is on site at the airport. My tip to you: have someone wait for luggage and the other get in line for your rental car. Not one person came to help the poor woman behind the counter.....poor management. I do have to say that, Elisabeth, was delightful. God bless her! read more

I don't usually have a good experience getting my rental car at the Hilo Airport but this time it was just painless. Sometimes there is only a couple of people in front of you but that can take a long time until you are helped. This time there were two Budget reps and one of them was free. These two reps were the nicest people, also rare at rental car businesses. Best part was that I scored a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee, a beautiful ride. All the stars lined up for me on this trip and I hope for experiences like this in the future. read more

Budget Car Rental - Beautiful Jeep Grand Cherokee - Car Rental Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Auto rental is a necessity for traveling, and agencies should work to make it as painless as possible. Well, Budget kinda failed in that. Only one person at the counter, and it took an average of 4 minutes per customer to sign the dotted line. The one agent processed five clients s ahead of us. I had preordered a Jeep 4WD, but no Jeeps of any kind were available. The agent said they never or seldom had jeeps to rent. So I felt the service was at best 40%. read more

I'd give them zero stars. Such a long line for drop off that we missed our plane and we were hours early. Slowest worst customer service ever. read more

I paid $175 a day plus added expenses for a five-year-old Mazda 3. It's absolutely ridiculous that they even market this.

Thank you Wesley for the great service picking up my rental car from ITO, Hilo International Airport. Total interaction was less than five minutes. By the way, a 250.00 hold was put on my card. I got a mid size vehicle with insurance and it was affordable for the day. Opted to put my own gas, which is 5.00 a gallon right now in Hilo. Car was smooth driving, low mileage, and not clean. So I advise to sanitize and inspect before driving off the lot. Drop off was easy. Just park the car, write down your mileage on the provided paper, and drop that plus your keys at the front desk. Had a great experience and for the price ya cant beat it. read more

Shame on Budget for employing one person to deal with pissed off travelers having to wait an hour for their rental car. Do not rent from them and definitely do not work for them. Greedy scrubs. read more

Budget rental, was deceptive when I was charged for their 27.99$ insurance with out my permission.I originally booked through travelprice.com and bought their insurance @$13.00.. but when I went to pick up Avis/budget-the car, she gave me an invoice which I initialed without knowing, no conversation, about the purchase... until I got my credit statement... There's other ways besides there insurance... shitty deceptive practice. read more

Don't rent from here unless you want to chance being exposed to drugs or fentynal. Picked up my rental only to see a dirty car with vomit on seat white finger prints on doors and a clear bag in glove compartment with drug residue in it. I was appalled. Had to flag down hilo sheriff's to see what was left in vehicle. They wouldn't even touch it with their bare hands. I'm so upset because one of my 3 children could of come in contact with this and possibly became ill or died from it. As I left the vehicle with Sherrifs on the side of the road at hilo airport I went back to rental window to speak with the rudest customer rep named Josh who just handed me over a new pair of keys. Told him what happened there was no remorse...no worry..no shock.No compensation to an over 1000 rental. I would never rent from here again. Especially because lives could of been in danger and no one besides the sheriff's seemed to care read more

Landed at the Hilo airport expecting a mid-size SUV from Payless. I was told a Kia Sportage was considered to be a mid-size SUV. It's not. According to industry standards, it is a compact-size SUV. When challenged, the agent did absolutely nothing. That is very poor customer service by any measure. Researching the issue, I discovered it is likely an industry-wide practice. I support HR-4433 which would address this fraudulent practice in the rent -a-car industry. They are screaming for oversite. read more

Bad service, I was waiting for over 40 minutes in line. No one is at the counter. I made reservations for this about a month ago. This is how Budget will help you waste time on your vacation. read more

Budget Car Rental - We have been waiting over 40 minutes in line ... no one at the counter. - Car Rental Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

The seats were so stained and disgusting with tears that I don't think I will ever rent from Budget again...Shame on Budget for renting a car with 46,000 miles and so much wear and tear read more

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Very welcoming and helpful customer service! I totally forgot the agent's name but she was very nice and accommodating. I opted for pre-pay so the transaction took about 5-7 min. Had to make a few minor adjustments to my reservation but overall they were easily resolved by the agent. They do put a $250 hold on your card, which is refundable I believe 3-5 days once the car is returned. My online reservation stated I would get a Toyota Camry or something similar (full size vehicle with four doors). I got a nice new Nissan Altima, very clean and still with the new car smell. It's also a push start! I return it tomorrow so I might update this review. Mahalo! read more

Triple fail. Rented a Kia sport 2023. Key fob won't open the door. We look it up online and there's a ton of complaints about this, some of them indicating mechanical failure, not just the key battery. We call roadside assistance and tell them we will try to change the battery but might need a tow if that doesn't work. We use another car to go to Budget. Budget tells us we could've remove the door handle and there's a keyhole there (roadside assistance didn't tell us that, fail #1). Budget takes the key anyway to change the battery, which seemed ok but we need to make a flight in 3 hours and the car is now a half hour away. 10 minutes later we ask if we can just have the key back to go change the battery ourselves and try car door handle removal trick. Budget says they sent it to maintenance and "if we are in a rush we should've come in earlier" and to sit down. I said I didn't know earlier that the car wouldn't work! We wait another half hour and I try calling roadside assistance to just go get the car because we have to make a flight, BUT they won't help unless we give them the 8 digit car number on the car key. We wait in line again and ask the budget person, who now says she doesn't even have our reservation. I show her our 9 digit confirmation number on my phone and I guess she finds the reservation, but she gives me back the 9 digit confirmation number. I tell her we need the 8 digit car number and she tells me they can "look it up" with the 9-digit number. I told her I can't get pass the automated prompt without the 8 digit number, so she finally gives that to me. We get through to roadside assistance and they can get a tow truck out in 1-1.5 hours BUT they need us to be there, so we would miss our flight. I wasn't sure what to do and told them if we can get our key back maybe we won't need a tow. They said they'd send a link from which we could cancel the tow. I try to get the key back from Budget. They won't go get the key and said I have to sit down and wait for maintenance. I go into the parking lot and start asking the maintenance people if they have the key and of course they say I have to wait at budget for them to release the key. It's been over an hour and the budget person again tells me I should've come earlier if I was in a hurry to get the key which apparently we are not allowed to get back from maintenance (fail#2). I go try to change our flight (the Hawaiian airlines desk was really nice about it). Then the budget person tells us we don't need to be there when the the tow truck comes so we drive to our friend's house (we have their car) and have them drive us back to the airport. We get on our flight. Meanwhile two tow trucks go to get the car. Budget calls us and says they might charge us for the tow! (fail #3). I used to use Budget because of fastbreak but NEVER AGAIN. read more

Unreliable vehicles - my car broke down within two days of receiving it. After hours on the phone with customer support, received a replacement rental that was not cleaned and reeked of cigarette smoke. Lost valuable vacation time. Terrible customer service - I had to repeat myself to every rep. There was no urgency to help me and had I not been diligent, I would likely still be without a vehicle. Budget needs to step up quality and delivery. I will not be renting a vehicle with them again. read more

Mapuana is attentive and took great care of us during our recent visit to Hilo. The rental desk was busy but she was still friendly and took care of my groups car rental needs super well! We are so thankful for her service with a smile, as our day would not have been the same without her! read more

We had to rent a car to get from the Kona airport home to Hilo. Dropped our rental at the Hilo airport after dark. A bit hard to find a parking spot designated for Budget cars, and the checking process is old-school, unlike many places on the continent. HOWEVER, the staff at the airport and the budget base yard are champions. I left my cell phone and wallet in the car, what a knucklehead; however, the Budget employees searched the car for me and found my lost items. I am so grateful!!! Mahalo nui loa to Elizabeth and her colleagues. read more

This was a quick easy experience with Budget in Hilo. We came in from the cruise and the shuttle took us there and picked us up. Reserved the same day, and it was a smooth pickup process. Nice Dodge Charger. Returned and was equally as smooth. The representatives were friendly and helpful. Would recommend. read more

Wesley really took care of us when our Turo rental fell through and we needed a car last minute. It was late at night, but he was cheerful and kind to us. We appreciated his help making sure we were set up with a good car and were thankful to have met such a quality human! The process was very smooth and easy- he was so quick to run the numbers and give us the paperwork. He's left us with such a great impression of Budget Car Rental. read more

For Pete's sake!!!! There are 2 CSR's and I was Customer #2. My reservation was on Fastrrack as I see my contract on the Fastrrack board. Here is my story: CSR: ok wait, my computer is logging on. Wait ok? Me: ok, but my contact is right there. CSR: I said wait ok? Me: ok CSR: drivers license and credit card please. Doesn't matter about Fastrrack you still need to check in with me Me: ok, but I don't have to speak to a human the LAX or SFO location CSR: well, this isn't LAX or SFO so wait ok? k said wait! Me: reviewing contract I say , this couldn't be right because it's charging my double what my reservation estimate says CSR: well, you must have put wrong times or extra time.. Nuff Said. suffice to say I got the contract corrected and when I got to the car is was DIRTY!!!!! I needed the car for but a few hours so I chose to put up with dirty car than to deal with that koo-koo CSR. I will no longer select Budget in Hilo. I'm born and raised in Hilo and would be hard pressed to blame "small town mentality" I hold the hilo Budget Office management responsible for the lack of attention and correction to their product and customer service and hope they will yield to this as a constructive Critisism rather than a Rant review #improvementplease 94/100 Yelp Review Challenge Los Angeles read more

Was given a car that had just been returned. Dirty, dusty and not washed with trash on the inside. Went back and stood in line another 20m to exchange the car and drove off but about a day into our trip we got a low battery warning on the key fob. Another trip to the airport only to wait another 10m as the agent went to the restroom and there is only one agent in staff. This time though we got a nice clean low mileage KIA for the rest of the trip. Budget is the partner airline for Hawaiian but I'm going with another company next trip to Hilo. read more

Be careful about dealing with this business. I had a fraudulent charge against my credit card from this place. There shady. If I could give them less then one star I would. read more

Rented on May 25- May 30, Covid quarantine still in effect. (Will get back to how we avoided quarantine, later) booked online using Priceline, got a SUV with 3 row for only $188(included tax!!!) thats $20/day+fees. Held reservation, no prepayment necessary. (Now I wasn't sure how this would work knowing there's a quarantine) so I called budget but it only went to the mainland and they weren't aware of local regulations. However two days before our trip we received a phone call from PHYLLIS (Hilo Budget Agent) at Budget saying she noticed our trip was shorter than the 14day quarantine and asked what our trip was for. I told her I was going to pick up my kids. She told me how to petition an exemption with the Governor and told me IF you get it than just show her the email on my phone. Well we got it!!! Got the email exemption the DAY Of our flight at 2am!!! Whoohoo! Thank you Phyllis for informing us the steps of what we needed to do to make our trip possible & not break the law doing it. The car was cleaned they said they disinfect , return was easy, payment was easy, the truck was great! I can't believe the reviews, lol we almost didn't rent here bc of yelp reviews...I'm glad you were wrong :) read more

Absolutely terrible experience. We made our car rental reservation months in advance. When we showed up, they said our rental wouldn't be ready until 3 days from then. That left us stranded at the airport because not a single car rental was available in Hilo. Budget agreed they would drop off and refund us for our taxi to our hotel. In order to get the refund, we had to contact the cooperate office. When we did, they said they would only refund us 1/3 of the bill from the taxi. Leaving US to pay for THEIR mistake! Ridiculous. Don't use them. Our vacation was supposed to be worry free, but it wasn't, because Budget doesn't know how to put their customers first. read more

Didn't get the car I expected. It was advertised as a Toyota Tacoma. Ended up with a Jeep. Extremely slow service both picking up and returning. The vehicle itself worked adequately. Waited in line over 45 minutes. read more

Budget Car Rental - Anything but fast. - Car Rental Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Budget car rental at Hilo Airport is great! The rental office is located just across the street from the airport making pickup & return super easy! I originally reserved the cheapest car online for 3 days for $100.16 including all taxes and fees ($34.58). Then I found out that I needed a 4WD car if we wanted to see the sunrise at the highest point at Mauna Kea so I called the Hilo desk just a few hours before pickup time and requested an upgrade to a 4WD car. I paid only $70 more for 3 days. I used Budget's FASTBREAK service so signing my contract & getting my car keys took less than 1 minute. FANTASTIC service! read more

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Recommend using another provider other than Avis / Budget Due to poor financial practices. Budget charged us five times for the same rental on our Debit Card. Still working with my bank and Budget customer disputes to resolve this issue. Budget also charged our Credit Card for the same rental. Still working with my bank to dispute this transaction. Currently out of pocket approx $4000 for a single $650 rental. read more

Holy moly. I checked in here just to remind myself to write a review. Made a reservation for 8:00 a.m. and not sure what happened here, but we didn't get our car until 9:30. Tons of people waiting outside to pick up their cars. One lady working the desk. She was very friendly and positive, despite being stuck with a million people probably yelling at her, so props to her! But holy crap! Not sure what happened, maybe too many people decided they weren't going to return their cars. But we waited for an hour and a half before we got to pick up our car! I guess if you are a "preferred customer" you can take whatever is on the lot. So a few people that came after us actually just picked up a car the second after they left the desk. read more

We rented a car for a week. Our transaction was quick an smooth. They had everything ready for us and we were out of there in less than 10 minutes. Elizabeth, I believe is her name, helped us. She was very friendly and professional. She answered all our questions and gave us some nice info about The Big Island. I like Budget, I never had a problem. I would continue to use this company in the future. read more

Agent Elizabeth is such a fake bitch it no customer service skills. Why do you need to put a hold on a major credit card? Makes no sense. I can see if I was paying with a debit card. I called previously to confirm if paying with a major credit card requires a hold. The agent replied no. Even when I mention this to Elizabeth she replied there is nothing she can do. I hate rental companies, they make travelers lives a living hell. I'm on a trip obviously I need my funds "you'll get your money back 3-5 business days." Quick to take your money but when returning your money they take your sweet ass time. Never again renting from budget. read more

Can you put zero stars? The only positive part about Budget Hilo is its location.....its across the street from airport check in. That said, so are all the other rental companies...do yourself a favor and choose one of those. Vehicle had been run through the car wash and vacuumed but the rest of the inside was a mess. 23 miles into the drive to Volcano the engine warning light came on, car was overheating...it was 70 degrees and raining. We immediately pulled over and opened the hood. Leaves and debris covered the engine. A local mechanic took a look and determined there was zero antifreeze in the radiator. We filled the reservoir, checked the remainder of the fluids and called Budget for direction. Their answer was to turn around and return the vehicle for inspection back at the Hilo airport. As Mom lives in Hilo we knew that the airport all but shuts down after the last interisland flight of the night. We asked the help line if they could even confirm if the rental desk was even open...he could not. The conversation did not get any better. Upon returning the vehicle we received friendly smiles and hellos.....until we broke out the empty antifreeze container. We were then directed to the back of the rental line. We opted to deal with the situation on a corporate level. read more

Every time I come to Big Island I use Budget. The people are courteous & very helpful. They not only have the best rates, but the best customer service too. One employee in particular, Phyllis Pitoy, goes above & beyond to help each customer she comes in contact with. Always has a positive attitude & puts a smile on your face. Thank you & Keep up the great work Phyllis!! read more

We had no issues. The shuttle came and picked us up like clockwork, and when we arrived there was only one other couple in line ahead of us. After a couple of minutes, it was our turn. A few minutes after that we were in our rental car exploring the island. Since there was no line, the service was professional, and the price was fair...I'd have to give them 4 stars. Budget is usually our car rental company of choice and rarely do they disappoint. read more

The Customer service here is absolutely incredible. Andy who I believe works in lost and found was so helpful and just a genuinely awesome person. The woman who I spoke with in the front when renting car was also so sweet and just the best. The employees who work here really show you what Aloha truly is. read more

On a recent trip to Hilo, I booked a car from Budget through Hotwire.com and found this particular location to be very good. Their convenient location, good service, and in my case - good prices, made for a very good experience with Budget in what can normally be a cumbersome process. This particular branch is located right across the driveway from the main terminal of the Hilo airport. Simply walk out of the baggage claim, make a left and walk across the street to the car rental section. Convenient right? Returning is just as easy, drop off your bags at the check in section, make a quick drive across the lanes of traffic to the rental section and drop off your car! It has got to have one of the most no-brain, convenient in and out processes I have ever seen. The staff are very friendly and informative, while not being pushy. They are in the car rental business, they are trying to get you to upgrade and buy extra insurance (which i never do). However they are friendly when they do it and help you match you needs to what they offer. The car was clean, well maintained, and comfortable. It was as described online and it met our needs very well. Definitely a good experience for my car rental and something I'd certainly consider when in town again! read more

The woman at the Budget booth was very nice, the line was short and went quickly for which we were grateful (after spending a long time in the confusing and inefficient second Covid check line after disembarking from the plane). But the car WAS NOT CLEAN! After all the Covid precautions in place I was very surprised that the inside had not been wiped down but had dust and dirt from normal use. At first I thought some of the dirt might be stains but I was able to wipe it off myself quite easily. Just a little elbow grease! The outside of the car was freshly washed, however. read more

Got the car I was expecting. My mother was paying so the reservation was in her name but she doesn't drive so I presented my license and a major credit card to complete the reservation. Elizabeth said she needed the person who the reservation was under to be there. Fine, mom is right here. She takes both licenses and returns my card. I explain that I'm the only driver and she says ok I can add you. I mention that mom doesn't drive and she assured me it's ok. Leave the place, the car is a little dirty and has some dings but we mark them and move on. The rental was fine. Arrive three days later to return the car and we get a bill. Weird since we prepaid. Apparently telling me it was ok meant I'm gonna charge you to add an additional driver even tho there's only ONE driver. The agent at the desk says you'll have to talk to Elizabeth about that since she was the original person. (This agent didn't seem surprised that we had an issue with Elizabeth) Elizabeth walks through the door and we address the situation. My mom is a little irritated because we told her that I was the only driver and offered payment in my name to match. Maybe it's not a big deal but it would've been nice for her to note the $50 fee and maybe offer to change the reservation to be in my name. She was immediately defensive stating that we had given permission.... which we did, without knowledge of the fee and without being offered any other avenue to use. Needless to say we won't be using budget at hilo airport again. read more

Stay away I got stranded for a car rental. Elizabeth keep asking for alternate card and even my social security for equifax. A waste of my time highly not recommend budget. I had a reservation with Priceline but Elizabeth would not rent a car to me. Me and my wife waiting for a friend that took an hour of our time. Budget customer service is terrible!!!! read more

One person id like to thank at the budget car rental is phyllis! Mahalo for taking care of my family and I.