Pleasant Holiday Hawaii-Worth It?

Old Dec 5th, 2001, 02:59 PM
  #1  
Paul
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Pleasant Holiday Hawaii-Worth It?

We are planning a trip to Hawaii next summer and are planning on using Pleasant Holiday Hawaiian to book my hotel, air, and car. Their website seems to do a pretty good job of allowing you to play with islands, resorts, and room types but I wonder if the prices are negotiable if I try using travel agencies. In other words, could a travel agent get me better rates putting the same itinerary together piecemeal or are P.H. rates pretty valid. I briefly looked at what airfare would cost from the midwest and then booking the resorts myself, but I am not sure it would be cheaper by the time I factor in car and island jumping flights. The website says I can save 5% through the use of the site, can I do better elsewhere. Thank you in advance for any help/suggestions.
 
Old Dec 5th, 2001, 03:17 PM
  #2  
Susan
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I've not booked with Pleasant Holidays myself but some family members have and I always look at the rates they are offering when planning a trip to Hawaii. I don't think you will find a better deal anywhere. My only hesitation in booking with them is their use of ATA Air which is notoriously unreliable. You would take your chances if this is the airline they offer you but I don't think you'll have much luck finding a better priced package.
 
Old Dec 5th, 2001, 04:47 PM
  #3  
chris
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Do a lot of checking around in the months to come before you decide. Right now many Hawaii hotels are beating tour operator rates. Also, I usually contact a travel agant and say I've found such & such deal from Hawaiian on the internet, can you beat it? They usually do by $100 or $200. Classic customs is usually a little less, can only be booked by a T.A. as of now. Also a sneaky thing Hawaiian does is add on the $100.00 cancel fee after you are given a rate. American and Delta vacations will many times be $100 less because of it. Hope this helps!
 
Old Dec 6th, 2001, 05:41 AM
  #4  
Casey
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I saved $1000 over the price quoted by pleasant hawaiian by booking with Liberty Travel for my honeymoon and staying at the exact same places - Princeville in Kauai and Four Seasons in Maui.

 
Old Dec 6th, 2001, 07:11 AM
  #5  
bob
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I booked a vacation in early may for
kauai and it was about $1000 less that price quoted by pleasant.
I went to each vendors website;
united airlines, hyatt vacations and alamo rental and made the reservations
myself.
 
Old Dec 7th, 2001, 03:58 AM
  #6  
Kristin
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We've used Pleasant through our travel agent for three trips to Hawaii. Each time, our agent was less then the website. I also did checking on the internet with various hotel and car websites and found better deals with our agent. I would check both!
 
Old Dec 7th, 2001, 01:18 PM
  #7  
dave
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I used Pleasant back in 1999 for my honeymoon to Oahu and found them to be a very good value. Plus if it is your first time to the islands, they are usually very helpful and capable of answering your questions and giving you advice on your trip options. Downside for them is that recently I have noticed that they have been a bit pricey. I did better piecing things together on my own and calling around to travel agents. If this is your first time to Hawaii, I think Pleasant is a very good way to go. If you know specifically what you want and where you want to stay, you might save considrably calling around.
 
Old Dec 15th, 2001, 07:37 AM
  #8  
gail
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We spent hours checking around, then called Auto Association and they offered a PH package. ATA was fine. The planes are so big that it does take awhile to get your baggage, but our departure flight was actually early. I found the free breakfast to pitch tours pretty boring and without any REAL discounts that you couldn't pick up on the street in coupon books.
 
Old Dec 15th, 2001, 03:44 PM
  #9  
Paul
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Thank you to those of you who responded to my inquiry. The biggest attraction with Pleasant Holiday was my ability to play with their online pricing system. It does do a good job of allowing you to try several different combinations, islands, and hotels. But I was concerned about the firmness of the prices. At your recommendations, I had a travel agent work on an identical itinerary without giving them my online web price. I told them I really wasn't wed to any tour company, I just wanted good flight times, specific hotels with specific room selections, and a car. From things I read here and other places I really wasn't to concerned with the little so called extras PH offered (like their "pitch" breakfast). After trying a couple of different carriers, my TA came back with an identical trip (adjusting for a slightly different departure date) which was about $500-600 less than Pleasant Holiday. It had great flights using Continental ("onepass" miles!!!) with only one quick stopover. The price got even better when I stopped in to put down my downpayment and found out that she had already included the cancellation insurance, a lei greeting at the airport, and a full size car (there is four of us travelling). This was booked through Classic so I hope I have made a good choice. I will say that when I tried to do it myself the flight costs from Ohio to the islands were killing me. We will see.
 
Old Dec 15th, 2001, 05:17 PM
  #10  
Gerry
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Paul:
I've taken three trips on Pleasant Hawaiian. The last two, I tried to book the trip myself. With best airfare and best hotel rates I could find I called Pleasant Hawaiian and had them give me a rate. They beat the best I could do on my own by a long shot(several hundred dollars.) Be advised they have many options and price ranges. Last year they gave me a 8 day package to Wikiki and Maui air included from SF for $1400 for two. I could not book the same trip on my own for less than $2000. And, we flew Delta not ATA. I told them I would not fly ATA as they are the worst airline I have ever been on. This was a budget package air,hotel and rental car in Maui. But even budget hotels cost over $100/night when you book them direct. Definately avoid the breakfast and the extra excursions. I did all of this on my own. I think that must be where they make their money. On my next trip I will try the same--try booking on my own and compare their price. Don't know yet if they give you as good a deal on the higher end prices.
 
Old Dec 19th, 2001, 02:50 PM
  #11  
Joe
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Watch pleasant hawaiian holidays they are sneaky and lie a lot.Travel agent is your best bet.Watch out if pleasant wants to send you to one of thier properties,they stink.
Good hunting,
Thier business is built on deceiveing people!
 

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