When winter feels like a burden you can’t bear a day longer, the thoughts of many Americans and Canadians turn to Maui, which offers year-round tropical temperatures. In a weak economy, more people make last-minute decisions on vacations, and they have more options doing so because head counts are down. Still, there are some things you should know to get the best deals and make the best choices when deciding on a trip to Maui with less than two weeks to go before leaving home.
1. Choose your place to stay by location as well as price. Don’t assume you can reserve a rental car with little lead time. During high season, all the rental cars on the island from the major companies can be spoken for. When that happens, it’s too difficult for the rental car companies to bring in additional cars from the other Hawaiian islands or from the mainland.
If you’re planning to spend much of your time on the beach and break that up with touring activities, you’ll want to book a location that is on or very close to a nice beach, with a variety of shops and restaurants nearby. The Kamaole Beach II area, with condo complexes such as the Maui Banyan, Kihei Kai Nani and Kihei Akahi, fits that description exactly.
2. Check local car rental companies. Besides the national car rental companies like Hertz, Avis, National, Budget, Thrifty and Alamo, Maui has several locally based rental car providers who offer older cars at about $25 a day. Since they’re a well-kept secret known mainly to part-time residents and repeat visitors, they may have cars when the famous name companies don’t. Some are situated near the airport and will meet your flight at no extra cost.
3. Look for owner-rented condos. If you’re having trouble finding a place to stay when time is short, look at vacation rental web sites for Maui, which will show you availability for the exact time period you want to be on Maui. It’s true that many of those condo units have been booked 9-12 months in advance. But new units are always coming on the market, and some owners have last-minute cancellations and changes.
4. Call condo management companies. Maui-based vacation rental companies like Bello Maui Vacations and Maui Aloha Condo Rentals manage a broad cross-section of vacation properties. Call them and they will be able to tell you which of their rentals are available for your dates, including in some cases properties that haven’t even been advertised yet.
5. Ask tour operators for last-minute discounts. To get the best prices on activities like bicycle tours of Haleakala, zipline tours, kayak rentals, whale-watching boat rides and so on, call the afternoon before. Another benefit of taking care of such bookings at the last minute is that you’ll have a better handle on the weather conditions, which may not always be optimal for your chosen adventure activity.
Things may not go totally smoothly during your last-minute trip to Maui. For example, one European couple attending a conference in California decided to take a side trip to Maui with just four days’ advance notice. They booked a studio condo unit in a great location at a good price but were unable to secure a rental car. They did a lot of walking and rented bicycles. They could also have rented scooters, taken local busses or booked with tour vendors who offer hotel pickups.
With a little ingenuity and research, anyone can have a great vacation in Maui even planning it at the last minute.
Melinda Makawani loves Maui. Find out about an ideally located owner-rented condo in South Maui that is just steps from the beach, within easy walking distance of shops and restaurants and often has last-minute availability for beach-loving vacationers: http://www.mauibanyancondorental.com



