Out of all the major car agencies, Budget is the one that I've probably used the most for personal use. It is one of the 4 car agencies that Costco travel uses, and like the other times we used them, it turned out just fine. Budget started out in 1958, and became part of the Avis Budget Group in 2002. It has over 1,300 locations in the U.S., with quite a few outside of airports (where the cost can be lower). This location in Lihue is part of the airport complex, within walking distance of the airport curb, but also providing frequent shuttle service. I booked a week rental (since once you pass 4 days, it is just as cheap to rent for a week) through Delta Travel this time (mainly to get matching MQDs), and didn't have to prepay. Using a Sapphire Reserve credit card meant getting primary collision/comprehensive insurance automatically. Budget does not charge for a second driver if spouse, and doesn't require their identification. Thus, I took off after deplaning, to see if I could beat the rush of people to get in line. Ended up walking to the location with luggage: wouldn't recommend it, just better to take the frequent shuttle. There were 3-4 associates working the counter, but the car rental just takes time so ended up waiting in line for a bit. My fastbreak number did not transfer through, as I later found out, so not standing in the fastbreak line was the right call. My biggest issue was that after I was done checking in, was told to wait at the curb for the car to be brought to me in 5-10 minutes. Ended up being almost 40 minutes...just wish I had been told that upfront. Got a Chevy Impala, which ended up being a good car for the week, as long as you stay on paved roads. Returning the car was similar to other busy locations: the check-in folks couldn't keep up with returns, so just told us to leave the key and go (didn't ask us any questions). I'm always hesitant about doing this (just feel better if I can get a receipt stating that I returned it on-time, and full)...but there really isn't much choice. I did get a receipt about 1 hour after the return, with the charged price being about $4 over the quoted. The shuttle driver to the terminal was pleasant and helpful, which made the last interaction with Budget being an agreeable one. read more

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PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT get a rental from budget in LIH Wait time is more than 4 hours (no kidding) and the car was dirty read more

Pure nightmare. Endless wait, slow service. Fastbreak 2 ladies , no costumers not accepting anyone but " blue Fastbreak " Total disorganization read more

Dear Budget, I am writing to inform you that our second visit to the Lihue, Kauai location has been, once again, a complete nightmare. My husband and I travel to and from across the US and always use Budget. We have been Fastbreak members for a while now, and I have to say that there is a serious issue with the Lihue location. I Strongly suggest that you send someone from your team to evaluate the overall performance and function of this particular location. It should not take 2 hours to receive a reserved car (a man said he had been waiting for two hours), and it certainly should not take over an hour for a Fastbreak member to receive a reserved vehicle. The overall operation seems to be chaotic and unorganized. Customers are clearly unhappy and frustrated. There is always a crowd of people waiting outside, waiting for their rental vehicle. Many people speaking amongst themselves, complaining about the wait time. Many visitors to Kauai have check-in times to hotels or Airbnb's. While others have reservations to dinner or activities. Due to the major delay, many customers grow stressed that they will miss their reservations. After our last visit to this Budget location, we started to pay attention and observe. It doesn't make sense to have a parking lot full of rental cars sitting there, but not being assigned to customers. The routine seems to be that the employees are only assigning the rental cars that pull in to the lot to be returned. Cars are pulled into the Return lanes, processed or checked in, then immediately ran through the car wash, and then pulled up front to waiting customers. What about the cars that are sitting parked in the rental car parking lot? Why aren't those cars being utilized? There are MANY cars just sitting there in full view. They only utilize the cars that are being returned right then and there. We watched. We walked to the back of the building and watched the process. Literally, cars are pulling up to be returned, they go through the car wash, and then they are pulled up front to the waiting customers. This is not a good system. The wait time is unacceptable.The cars that are finally assigned to customers are still wet and dirty after being rushed through the car wash. Customers do not pay for dirty vehicles. There are not enough cars being returned to keep up with demand, hence, the ridiculously long wait time. Customers are basically waiting for someone to return a car and then waiting for that car to be rushed through the car wash. Also, there is no difference or benefit to having earned the Fastbreak status at this location. There is no difference between the Fastbreak line and the regular line. There is no real system in place. They need help. Please! A Budget Car Rental Team needs to go there and retrain everyone and revamp the system. ***I will say this to potential customers: please do not lash out at the employees behind the desk. It is out of their control. They cannot assign cars when there aren't any to assign. The process is messed up. They can only do so much. Corporate needs to go out there and improve efficiency! read more

If you'd like to spend the start of your vacation waiting and waiting and waiting some more, then by all means book your rental car through Budget. Otherwise go elsewhere. There is a crowd of people surrounding us waiting for their cars so at least we're not alone in our misery. When we arrived, there was only one person ahead of us in line so we thought awesome, we'll be out of here in no time. But no, unlike other places where you go out and get your car once you check in, you have to wait for them to deliver your car to you. When I finally found a worker to ask what was taking so long, they said they didn't have enough workers in the back. Alrighty then. Lovely. read more

Budget Rent a Car - Crowd of happy people - Car Rental Near Me - Lihue, Hawaii

Only two people working the car rental counter and at least a dozen customers waiting to get their rental cars!!! Service is terribly slow ... each customer taking about 10-15 minutes to process! This is terrible. read more

Budget Rent a Car - Long lines at Budget/Payless car rental, Lihue, Kauai. - Car Rental Near Me - Lihue, Hawaii

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5 stars all the way! Jesus help me and was helpful and pleasant to deal with. Heading back again for work and will rent from here again.

Awful, expect to wait 1-2 hours for your car, workers are over worked, tired, and grouchy. How can Budget adford to let their business and reputation suffer. read more

Just a quick compliment The first car we got had a transmission issue and smelled like cigarettes. We traded it out for another car, only to realize it had an ant problem like, a full-on ant infestation So we returned that one, waited 30 minutes for a new car, and while inspecting it before driving off, we found a nail in the tire Now we're on our 4th car. We've been to Budget 3 times in the last 2 days and have yet to even see the beach lol read more

I would give zero if I could. Poor service and long lines. I signed up with precheck and was told it could be used on the next rental. Do not go here if you value your time. This place is a joke. read more

It took over 1 hour to get my car. Long lines No real directions on where to wait for car the gas was 3/4 full upon receipt. Took a video to let them know. I submitted a lost item report. Tried calling immediately. NO COMMUNICATION read more

Grouchy people at the counter. Over 30 minutes wait to get your car. Car still needed to be cleaned. Horrible. Allow extra time to get to and from the counter. Definitely pay a bit more for a better experience. read more

I actually had a pretty decent experience here. I rented a Corolla type car but they ended up giving me an Mazda SUV, I guess end of day it was better. Picked up the car with ease and it worked well no real complaints besides the windshield wipers did not work super well. Return was a bit weird as they told me to leave the car with keys and they would email me the receipt later so hopefully they do so. On the way back to the airport on the bus another couple said their car was infested with cockroaches so that was interesting to hear. Hopefully your experience is as decent as mine! read more

Budget Rent a Car - Car Rental Near Me - Lihue, Hawaii

One star is too much for them. Very very very slow staff. It took 1 hour 45 minutes to get the car mind you I have a reservation 2 weeks ago. read more

If you do it right you won't have an issue. Booked through Costco signed up for Fastbreak. Pulled up to budget and the line looked awful. Fastbreak line completely empty, gave them our name they pulled up the reservation, keys ready, car washed and cleaned. Under 15 mins from walking in to getting into the car. read more

We fly to Kauai several times a year and this is the first time we used budget rental for a rental car- it was a bad choice. We had 7 people so we chose to rent a mini van. Upon arrival they had rented them all and didn't have a mini van in stock- they choice was to drive two cars, which is double the cost of gas, or to drive an SUV with a 3rd row- so no room for luggage - if you're going to Kauai I would rent with any other company at all on the island. Why make a reservation if the company isn't going to keep the car in stock. read more

Awful service. First car was full of roaches. They switched out for another car worse with roaches. They were crawling on me while driving. Almost wrecked. Called customer service said i needed to go back and switch out for another car. This is ridiculous wasting my vacation time. They move slow to get you a car. Avoid tgis rental place read more

Please do not rent a car from Budget in Lihue! We pre-registered and then waited in line an hour and a half just to get up to the desk and then another 45 minutes for them to bring us our car. We wasted half the day trying to get the car. Wha a waste of part of our vacation! Very disappointed! read more

They deserve ZERO stars. My MAIN concern was that we reserved car seats, and they didn't have them. What's the point of a reservation system if you're not going to actually reserve them?? We were able to get a booster seat, but they didn't have the cross body strap adjuster, rendering the booster seat useless for the child intended. When I brought this to their attention, SHOWING THEM THE MANUAL ONLINE, they simply said they don't have it. What a huge liability to offer car seats that are unsafe. We ended up needing to purchase new ones at Walmart, since there are no last minute rental companies on the island. Terrible system and terrible service. They need more staff and a much better system. The line was incredibly long and slow, reaching far out the doors to get in. After an hour in line you finally get checked in, only to wait another hour for them to actually bring your car. They pull the cars around and just yell out the license plate. If you don't hear them or you were in the bathroom, you may be waiting longer because you don't even know your car is there. We witnessed this multiple times while waiting for our car. read more

If I can do no star, I would. From minimum number of shuttles from airport to the rental car, to the wait time... it couldn't be worse. My reservation was at 2:30PM. We got off the plane on time. Waited 3 shuttles and still couldn't get on. Too many people, not enough spaces. They don't have a specific place to park, so I can be at the front of the line, then next minute, I'm at the back of the line. So we ended up walking to the place. Took 10 minutes to walk. Then stand in line waiting for our turn took another 2-1/2 hours to get to the front of the line. Then after we're done with the paperwork, another hour of waiting for the car to be ready. Only 1 person work. Occasionally, 2 people. DO NOT book here unless you don't mind the hassle and the wait. read more

Very slow. Unorganized. Barely functioning. I have purchased a car faster than it took me to pick up my rental Update: had to return first car due to bug infestation. The second cars key fob died after 24 hours. After I was on the phone for an hour and a half, I was told the only way to get a new key fob was to uber back to budget to get a replacement or pay to have to car towed read more

Processing is terrible. The line is easily 100 feet long and barely moving. It's hard to believe that customers have to stand in line for over an hour to leave with a car that you prearranged. C'mon Budget, you can do better. read more

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I'm sitting at the airport waiting over an hour for my car to be delivered. No one at the counter is friendly or willing to help. I can't believe Costco included such a poor performing car rental company as part of their vacation package. I will never use Budget again. Their management team should be ashamed! read more

This was the worst car rental experience of my life, and I've had some bad ones. Waited more than an hour in line to get to the counter, only three people working. I believe the general definition of "reservation" means something is kept specifically for you, but hey, car rental companies play fast and loose with definitions, so we accepted a different vehicle than the one we reserved. No biggie. We were told a 20 minute wait, which seemed doubtful considering the large crowd waiting outside, but ok, we've already waited well over an hour at this point so 20 minutes is doable. We wait. And wait. And wait. Another hour goes by. We walk the entire property multiple times to see if our vehicle is even there. It's not. We ask the desk agent and they say it's actually coming from Avis, it's on its way and should be here in five minutes. Another hour goes by. My husband gets on the shuttle and goes over to Avis to get the car. The car isn't there either. I go in and talk to Budget again, they call Avis, Avis says it's on its way. Thank goodness my husband calls at this point and says he got a car at Hertz (at a much higher cost) within minutes, so I cancel with Budget and confirm there are no fees because we hadn't pre-paid anything. The car finally arrives at Budget when my family is loading our luggage into the Hertz rental and I'm waiting to confirm the cancellation. So we've lost nearly four hours of our vacation at this point, missed planned activities, our kids are starving, and we had to pay significantly more for a car at a better rental company. Then we get home to find an email from Budget stating that we were going to be charged a $50 "no-show" fee. 0/10, would never recommend renting a car here. read more

I read all the bad reviews and thought my experience would be any different. Be prepared to wait roughly 2-3 hours in line and for your vehicle. They do not clean the vehicles interior and only wash off the car. They will try to upsell you at the counter. Enjoy your vacation and stay away. read more

Unfortunately our first car they gave us (Nissan Altima) only lasted us a few hours before it wouldn't start. We had only made it 6 miles away from the airport when the battery died on us. Had to call emergency roadside support which the guy was nice on the phone. When we backtracked and drove to the rental office, the guy gave us an upgraded SUV same price luckily but it did hinder our experience and we lost a few hours waiting for the tow truck and having to drive backwards back to the airport.... Unfortunate experience. PS the tow truck who came told us he'd been seeing problems with Nissans all week...beware if you're renting one. read more

After 6hours flight came here and wait for an hour to pick up a car ?!!!! You have two options either we can do everything online or have more people to help !! read more

Horrible. Do not rent from Budget at LIH airport. Dirty car, gas tank almost empty. We complained to staff, told us to call 800 number. We sent pictures to Budget and still no response. read more

Budget Rent a Car - Car Rental Near Me - Lihue, Hawaii

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This is currently taking place on April 7, 2026 at 4 PM. Not something I'm particularly excited about after enduring a 10 hour travel day of flying with a one year old. No sense of urgency from staff. There's probably over 100 people here. If a manager wants to find me outside, holding my baby to help expedite our registration process and experience I'll be happy to change this review to five stars.! read more

Budget Rent a Car - A crowd of people inside waiting to be helped. - Car Rental Near Me - Lihue, Hawaii

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Wait time to get checked in took over three hours. Standing in the sun half that time. Not enough agents to handle the number of people. Suggest you book with a different agency like Hertz. read more

Do not book here. Takes hours. They overbook. Slow and rude too, absolutely a terrible start to our trip. Edit: after inquiring whether it may take 4-5 hours to get a car, the "fast break" line manager shrugged and said "yea, sometimes." No one here cares. read more

A total nightmare. Rent elsewhere. We have been waiting to get our car for 2.5hrs now. It took 5.5hrs for us to fly here and it's going to end up taking 3.5hrs just to get our car. Absolutely ridiculous. The staff is slow as can be, hate to think they'd do that on purpose. read more

Read all these reviews, it takes Everyone over two hours to get a rental car here. They are so disorganized it's ridiculous. Stay away from this rental car company, at least in Lihue!!! read more

The service desk representative was the most racist person i ever met. She talked down to me as if i was giving the car for free. She told me i have to wait for 1 hour for my rental and DON'T COME BACK asking for a different car. She never asked anything about additional driver even when i was waiting with 2 more people to be added to the rental. She was frustrated after I told her i need to add additional drivers to which she said NOW I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING AGAIN. Very very bad customer service read more

This is both the worst car rental experience and worst overall customer experience I have ever had. Waited 2.5 hours to get our rental, only to drive off and realize that there's a problem with the car's brakes. Called customer service and was told that we could return it for another car but would have to wait in line again (and potentially for another 2.5 hours) for a new car. No apology given at any point, no empathy shown at all. No attempt to fix any of the issues. Zero stars. Do not recommend. Rent elsewhere. read more

Rented through Costco Travel and after long wait to check in was told they only had a mini van or sedan instead of intermediate suv I had reserved. I reluctantly took sedan and it was old and windshield wipers would not clear window and could barely see in rain. Next day I took it back and the gal who received return was very helpful and assured me of no problem and sent me to office with picture of license and miles. Gal in office was very understanding and got me a newer intermediate suv and took care of all paperwork with ease. Good customer service from these two employees. read more

Wait time well over 2 hours only 1 or 2 workers. Nothing says welcome to Hawaii like this place It took the smile right off my face. The only saving grace was the vending machine. Stay far away! read more

The worst car rental experience we've had. 2.5+ hour wait for a car. "Ran out of cars ". Tells us they have a car coming in 10-20 minutes ends up being an hour + Would give 0 stars if I could. You'll waste time on your trip if you come here. read more

People are waiting 2 hours plus for a car. You think they would have figured this business out by now. It is always the same on Kauai. Can't reccomend today. Sad face. Not the way to start a vacation! read more

From start to finish our car rental experience took over two hours. Understaffed in every aspect. Not enough people at the desk, not enough people cleaning the cars. One bright moment was the woman who we actually did talk to at the desk. She was lovely. But that was it - that was the only bright part of this horrible experience. The car looked like it had been in a demolition Derby. Really bad shape. We will not be renting from budget anywhere ever again.. read more