luvtravelin2

Ok, I would love to go to Hawaii this year for my 10 yr anniversary. I notice so many people on this board are going to Hawaii. I've looked at prices for the fall either October or November and they are high. Airfare alone can cost $700-$800. What am I doing wrong? I would love to go to Maui for my anniversary, but don't want to go into debt for it. Any advice? How do you all do it?

Meesthare

The last time we went (about 3 years ago) we had been saving airline points for quite a while. We flew out there on points and stayed at a B%B on a coffee plantation in the mountains in Kona. We had a kitchenette and made most of our own meals. We weren't really interested in the resort experience, and found that reasonably-priced restaurants had excellent food.

iamq

On our last trip, FF points, Hyatt points and staying at a friend's house in Poipu helped a lot. On our next trip we plan to stay in cottage rentals on the north shore and south shore of Kauai, use FF points, drive a compact (convertibles are nice, but $$$) and eat in to save $$. The Aston Islander on Kauai has very reasonable rates as well. On Maui, there are many reasonable and nice places stay in Kihei and Napili. There are several condos in Napili for around $150.00 - $200.00 a night. Another way to save $$ is to rent condos directly from the owners at places like cyberrentals and vrbo.com. If you are flying from the west coast, flying on Suntrips can be a good way of saving $$. I have flown on them several times and it is usually the cheapest way to go. Many posters here use priceline and luxurylink auctions, however I have not done this yet. Good luck.

luvtravelin2

I'm flying from the mid-west (10 hour flight) and only have 52,000 Northwest frequent flyer miles. I believe I need 70,000 for 2 free tickets to Hawaii. Darn! Close but no cigars. I would love to stay in a condo property. This way we can save on meals.

abbekit

We also used FF miles the last time we went. Saved lots of money by staying in a condo with a kitchen (ours was a timeshare trade but there are many nice condos that you can get for a week for around $100-125 per night, maybe less).

We've never booked a package but you can often get package deals that include hotels and car rental for just a little more than the price of stand alone airfare. Search Orbitz, Expedia, etc.

Do lots of research in travel books (you can do this cheaply by using your local library) and on the web. You'll find good ideas for nice vacations that don't cost a lot.

And remember, once you get to Hawaii some of the best things to do are free. Beaches, hiking, just taking in the fabulous views. Resort hop for free, maybe stop for a drink (not cheap at resorts though but a nice way to soak up some luxury atmosphere for a small price). Often hotels and shopping centers have free hula shows (or again for just the price of a drink at the hotel bar).

Go for it and have a great anniversary.

crazy4Hawaii

I make it a BIG priority for one thing. I'm also willing to go into debt for short periods of time. I use a low interest credit card and then pay it off as soon as possible. What's the difference in that and doing a timeshare - or buying a car, for that matter? Priorities...
I'm putting my next trip (for our 20th anniversary) at a cost of about $6000. on a 3.9% card and making a plan to pay it off within six months. When it's paid off, I'll start planning my next trip to Hawaii.

Marilyn

Have you checked packaged from companies like Pleasant Hawaiian? (Airfare/condo/car) I've always found those prices to be much better than putting it together myself.

nytraveler

There was a thread on the europe board not that long ago asking how people manage to travel and what most people said is that its really easy to do. You just need to make travel a priority vs other things in life. For instance, get a smaller car vs an SUV snd keep it a couple of years longer. If you make those kinds of choices its easy to have the money to travel regularly.

tropicalbreeze

been to hawaii twice (oahu and kauai) with all 5 (our three kids and spouse) with ff miles. we flew american as usair honored them for two years. and, this june we are going united as usair honores them this year. again, with ff miles. my son moved there for a two year commitment. even had enough to bring him and fiance home at christmas. i use my credit card for everything, even paying college tuition and you knoew much $ that is, or mega points towards ff seats.

bonniebroad

nytraveler, you are so right! I always say *you can have everything you want if you don't want EVERYTHING!*;-)

Mary2Go

Marry a workaholic who travels all the time on business, gets lots of hotel and airline rewards and is still willing to fly somewhere and stay in a hotel on vacation!

kikahead

We found that the biggest way to save money was a condo. This way we save money on the meals for breakfast (which I don't eat), can pack picnics for hikes and the beach, and then just eat out for dinners. This previous year we booked our condo on Kauai through vrbo.com and couldn't of been happier!!!

In addition, we saved money taking ATA (which for us is not worth it--never again).

Marilyn

luv, I just checked Pleasant Holidays (Pleasant Hawaiian) and here's what I found:

1. You didn't say which midwestern city so I plugged in Chicago.
2. You didn't say which island so I plugged in Maui
3. I used Nov 6-13 just to have some dates in the time period you specified.

I got prices that started at under $1200 per person for airfare, hotel or condo, and car. There were a number of choices at that price, even more if you add an extra $100-200 per person.

If you fiddle around, you may find a different island or different dates are less expensive. You can also call them and ask what the best deal is.

Good luck! Hope we'll be saying Aloha to you next fall!

sk84fungirl

I have very little advice to offer.

But, I went to Oahu for the first time in October. Great advice on this board. Posted my trip report back in late October.

Used frequent flyer miles for my trip. However, found all kinds of airfare deals beginning in September for the months of October and November. I have miles to use again and will likely go again during the off months in 2005.

Booked my hotel via Priceline. It was a great deal

dcespedes

Mary2Go--you, too? Me, too >-

luvtravelen2, though it may be too late for this trip in the future if you don't already have one join a frequent flier program for when you do fly, or, if you use a credit card switch to a card that gives you miles for dollars spent. I hope you get to Maui for your anniversary--good luck!

sandyca

I go to maui a couple of times a year I have found that Suntrips.com has the cheapest airfare, they also have packages. If you wait until about a month before you go to book air, you can always find great deals from oakland,CA for about $279-300 Round trip, maybe take jet blue or south west to oakland. Condo's vary in price, you can get a 1 bedroom for as little as $100 a night in Kihei. I Love this end of the island near Wailea, All the beaches are public so you can use the beach in front of the "four seasons" its great there is a public parking lot right before the Grand Wailea. There is Costco near the airport where you can buy your food for the condo. Aloha

luvtravelin2

Thanks for all the advice. decepedes, I have frequent flyer miles- 52,000 total on Northwest airlines. I need 70,000 for 2 free tickets to Hawaii, I believe? I checked out Pleasant Holidays, but unfortunately, it looks like they don't fly from Detroit, Michigan? Any other good websites I could look into specializing in Hawaii air?

aloha

I'd suggest you look into travel packages through Northwest, or other airlines that use Detroit as a hub. Last May we used an American airlines package (flying out of St Louis) and spent 9 nights in Kaua'i (Aston Islander on the beach) and 2 nights in Waikiki (Ohana Waikiki Tower) for $2667 for 2 people. that included a rental car on Kaua'i--that was for the least expensive car, and we did upgrade one category for $90. The package also included transportation between Waikiki and the airport, and of course the interisland flights.

I have never added up what we spent for meals, but the most we spent was about $45 for a meal with a couple of drinks each, and almost every meal was under $10/person (I am including tip amount) . The best 2 meals we had were takeout , eaten on the beach!

It doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive to go to Hawai'i. And, personally, I think if you really want to do it, it's worth incurring a little bit of debt. Like crazy4hawaii said, a lot of people are willing to carry debt on things like a car--or even furniture or other major purchases--so why not for a trip you'll reemember the rest of your life?

dcespedes

Have you tried priceline.com? I haven't used them but friends of ours have with success--you may need to be flexible with dates. The cheapest I found for your route was $781 I would further investigate sandyca's suggestion.

abbekit

You also don't have to get TWO free tickets with miles. We often don't have enough for two tickets so we book one with FF miles and pay for the other. That's automatically half price airfare! And that way you can GET miles on the cash ticket to use for the next trip.

I second the idea of Priceline, at least for a good hotel deal. I used them for our Waikiki 2 night layover last month and got a great price. Study the biddingfortravel.com site before venturing into Priceline however.