al

Hi all: we could use any info you might be able to provide reguarding these two cards, if it is worth it or not, from what we hear the airport etc has a lot of the same discounts as these cards that you have to pay for.

thanks,Al

Sandi

Al,

I would recommend the Activity Owners Association Gold Card. I used it alot last summer when I went to Maui. You are talking about Maui, aren't you? I'm assuming you are. The thing to do is join before you go and then ask for the half-price discounts a month in advance. I also had the entertainment book, but didn't get my value out of that one. For one thing, my trip was a package and the hotel was included/already prepaid for. I thought I might use it for the restaurant discounts, but ended up not taking the time to stop and eat at nice sit-down style restaurants. Too much fun on the other activities, etc. and was happier eating quick somewhere. But if you don't have a hotel yet the entertainment book would probably be a good deal for you, as well. Hope this is what you wanted to hear. Happy planning!

Sandi

lisa

I think it depends on what you want discounts on (what activities, restaurants, etc. you're interested in), which islands you're going to, and how many people are going. For two of us it made sense to get the entertainment card because we were able to reserve discounted hotel rooms on Maui & Kauai with it (50% off rack rates), so the card is paying for itself several times over. It has some decent discounts for activities on those islands, and a few for restaurants (very few on Kauai), but it would not have been worth it for us to get the card just for the activity and restaurant discounts in my opinion. It has the most discounts on Oahu. You can look online at entertainment.com and see participating hotels, restaurants, merchants, etc. For the AOA gold card you can also see participaiting merchants and restaurants and activites, at maui.org, to see whether it would be worth it for you. The gold card gives some discounts that the entertainment card does not, such as the Trilogy sailing/snorkeling trip from Maui to Lanai and certain volcano biking tours, which might make it worth it if you're planning to do those, particularly if you have several people in your family who are going (the card is good for up to 4 people).

norena

Hawaii was one of the "only" places we have found our Entertainment Card to be worthwhile especially on hotels. Usually when we call about the 50% off rates they use some ridiculous sky-high rack rate to halve and even the AAA or AARP discount is cheaper!

It is always best to check what their "regular" lowest rates are before one takes for granted that the 50% is the best. In the quotes we have received, they are usually higher. I am curious if others have had better luck with the Entertainment card in the US.

Al

Thanks for the info, we have our hotel reservations already oahu,hawaii,& maui could have used ent. card for hotels but the airfare would have been a lot more it was cheaper to pay a little more for the hotel & save on the airfare with a package deal through american airlines air fare broke down to appx 980.00 r/t for 2 from chicago non-stop which saved 5-600 off airfare without pkg deal. we know the cards are worth it but are they any different than discounts you can pick up at the airports free????? thanks Al

Don Smith

I checked out rate for Tucson, AZ this summer. Generally, for mid-price hotels, I could get a rate that was $10 less with the Entertainment Card than I could negotiate on my own.
I found I could get a better deal at low-end hotels by using coupon books I picked up in resturaunts. I use the Entertainment Card a lot for resturaunts which saves me about $10-15 off a meal for two. It quickly pays for itself if you live in an Entertainment Card City.