Morgansmom

Hi everyone! I've been so absolutely delighted to read all of your messages and terrific travel tips relating to Maui that I decided to "register", so I could be involved in some of your great discussions, too! First of all, I LOVE your screen names! Without actually knowing any of you, your writing styles, experiences and personalities come right through your words, making you delightful to read! My husband, twelve-year-old son and I, are going to Maui, for 9 days this coming June. We've been planning this trip for a year! I've been able to do a TON of research with every resource I can imagine, but none of the info has been as valuable as what I've read right here on this site, from you. We are so excited we can hardly wait, and are most anxious to post a trip report when we get back. We never thought we'd be able to afford a trip to Maui. It is a dream come true. Being on a budget is not fun, but it has been very rewarding to score some great bargains on our "basics" as a result of tips we learned from you regular "posters"-THANK YOU! We're flying Las Vegas-Oakland-Maui. Got a fabulous deal- just a bit over $149 each way!! We're still in shock at our luck with this airfare! Staying the first 3 nights in Hana, in an older oceanfront cottage, all to ourselves and barely over $100/night! Rest of stay in Haiku in a "treetop" type cottage, all to ourselves, also barely over $100/night. AND we got an unbelievable deal on a Mustang convertible for a little over $300, yes, only $300 for the entire stay, pick-up and drop-off at Kahului Airport! We are so happy to have saved hundreds of dollars! We're following your advice for Wal-Mart, Safeway and Farmer's Market stops. We bought MR, and are so glad we did! We have completely changed most of our original thoughts for an itinerary, and have, what we feel, is a wonderful, scaled down version full of natural highlights, eliminating almost all of the "commercial" parts we originally thought we'd want to do. We'll write when we return to let you know all the details. THANKS agin for GREAT reading-you are all thoroughly entertaining, informative recommendations!

Idnas71

Hello, Morgansmom. Welcome to Fodors. Reading your message reminded me of the first time I came on here about five years ago searching for travel tips on Hawaii. You are right, I don't think there's any other travel resource with the same wealth of information provided here.

Sounds like you got a steal of a deal on your airfare.

So you're staying all nine days on Maui? Have you thought about an overnight or two in Honolulu to visit the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial? Your nine-year-old might enjoy that.

One of the greatest savings I encountered because of this message board was the Activity Owners Association Gold Card. Saved a bundle for my two friends and I on a luau and parasailing. Not sure if that's still offered but if it is I'm sure you already know about it.

Have fun on Maui... I spent a short three nights at Wailea (+1 in Honolulu) in July, 1999 and it was a wonderful, fun-filled time!

Morgansmom

Thank you Idnas71 for your reply! I appreciate you taking the time to write. We did consider a short trip to another island, Oahu, Hawaii or even taking the ferry to Lanai, but decided in the end to stay focused on relaxing and staying put and concentrating on getting the most out of one island at a time. If we had two weeks I'd definitely want to go to another island, but with only 9 days and two of those "travel days", I think we'll have our hands full. I'll write a trip report when we get back. Thanks again!

pilot67

We just returned from 9 days in Maui on 17 Mar. We started out by doing the Mountain Cruisers bike ride DOWN 38 miles of Volcano. Most fantastic activity I have ever done. Wife and I are in mid 50's but we had a blast. Closest non flying sensation to actual flight I've ever encountered. I am a 32 year pilot /simulator instructor! It is awesome experiance. I would forgo the sunrise tour myself. The later day ride is much WARMER!! You can see a sunrise another day at sea level. The Sunshine Whisper Helocopter Tour around the Island was also a MUST DO ride. The third most memorable event we had was the Triolgy Trip to Lani'. They are the most excellent hosts and kept feeding us all day. WE did the Sunset trip. A suprise to us was the Warren & Annabelle show. Did not expect a magician show to be so GOOD. The drinks/hor dourves' prior to show were OK but not great. Warren was outstanding. Those 4 activities were all superb. If it applies ask for the MILITARY DISCOUNT. While not advertised we recieved up to 50% off some activities. In fact the $180 pp trip to Lani' endded up only $90 pp!!! I'll never ever get that good deal again. My wife is an activated reservist and has been on Active Duty for the past 12 months. All the other normal activities were fine. Whale Watch trip on Monday could have been dropped as the Tuesday Trilogy trip did whale watching along the way. In fact it was much better and more active whales with Trilogy than the official "Whale Watch" was. Enjoy your trip but bring lots of $$$ as nothing is inexpensive in Maui.

Celine

Morgansmom, can you let me know which airline you're flying with, and also how you got such a good deal on the car?

We're also going to Maui at the end of June.

Marilyn

celine, we just did a package with Pleasant Holidays that cost us less than $1200 for airfare for two (SF-Maui) plus car for 8 days. (We had accommodations already.) They do packages with hotel or condo also and I've always found them to be a pretty good deal.
http://www.pleasantholidays.com