Air/lodging/car Maui this July
 

My wife and I are baby boomers. Our kids, 22 and 18, are graduating from college and high school, respectively, and we want to celebrate the achievement with a long-awaited trip to Hawaii. Everyone seems to want to go to Maui, and because of schedules, it appears we must go this year in mid-July (less than three months from now). We plan to be there for a week. I know, I know, peak season, but there's nothing I can do about it...

We live in the Portland, OR area. How do we find the best air/lodging/car deal for our family of four? I'd like to keep the total budget (including food and activities) under $7,000. Something between $5,000 and $6,000 would be even better, of course. I don't want to be cheap because this is a special trip, but I do want good value for the money, especially in lodging. We're probably going to stay at a condo so we can make some of our meals. Where should we go that offers a great beach and good accommodations for $200/night or less?

We've worked some with a local travel agent but I'm not too satisfied with what we're getting. Your insights into how to make this a highly memorable yet cost-effective vacation would be most helpful!

I just looked at Pleasant Holidays website. www.pleasantholidays.com

You could go for around $5900.00. Includes car, condo and 4 airline tickets out of Portland for 7 nights. Wednesday to a Wednesday, mid July. Full size car, United Airlines and 1 bedroom garden view at the Kaanapali Alii. Includes trip insurance and taxes. Try the website and then call your travel agent tell them the price you found and they can usually bet it by a few $100. You will pay more if you want to fly on fri, sat, sun. The Alii is a great condo on a great beach. This is a great area for your young sons. We use Pleasant Holidays for our Hawaiian vacations. Good Luck.

We spent a week on Maui last September and did it very reasonably, although we were lucky to have plenty of miles saved up so the flight (bizclass) was free. Used the Entertainment card and paid $149 per night for 2BR 2 bath very well-equipped condo at Maui Hill (do a search on this site for comments about Maui Hill - we've stayed there several times and love it). Maui Hill is on the Kihei/Wailea border, and close to some great beaches, although across the road from the ocean. Our son and his girlfriend joined us, also using our miles. Rented a Sebring convert from Alamo for $205 plus all the taxes - maybe $260 or so total. The kids rented their own compact from Alamo for somewhat less. It was one of the more economical trips we've taken.

I've always found the best price to be the packages that include airfare, condo, and car. It's hard to beat that on your own. Pleasant Hawaiian is good, and there are others. Look online and also in your Sunday newspaper travel section. I've never asked my travel agent to match a price, but it couldn't hurt.

If you don't want to do the research and leg-work yourself, I don't think you can beat Pleasant Holidays for their Hawaii packages. *pleasantholidays.com*........ I've never heard ANYTHING bad about these people. I find that I can do best by using the Entertainment Book, my AAA card, going in off-season, and doing lots of reseach myself. But it's a lot of work, and I can understand why someone would rather let someone else do it!