HAWAII - What is a reasonable budget?
 

I am planning our 20th anniversary trip in mid July. We have always wanted to go to Hawaii for this trip, preferably Kauai or Maui. Obviously, airfare is a huge consideration since we live in the Midwest. What is a reasonable budget to start with to even consider Hawaii? The accommodations should be safe and nice, but don't need to be extravagant. Which websites offer the best deals, and am I too early in planning this trip to get a good deal? Thanks in advance for helping!

If you will provide some more information, you probably will get many responses from this board.

How long are you planning to be in Hawaii? If it's a week, pick one island. If it's 10 days to 2 weeks you could do both Maui and Kauai, if you want.

Do you want to stay in a resort hotel, a condo, a b&B or a cottage/house?

What types of activities are you interested in? Those that have a cost--helicopter rides, snorkeling cruises, luaus--or those that are free--snorkeling and lazing on a beach.

Do you want to eat out for all/most/some meals?

What type of restaurants do you prefer?

It is not too early to book accommodations or car rentals. Mid July is a busy time in Hawaii. Airfares are a real crap shoot now so don't know how to advise you there.

I would say at least $400 a day, likely more. Basic condo at $200 a day ( nicer condo at 250), rental car, meals out, activities...
Start planning with $400. If you like nice hotels, then maybe $600 a day.

I think I read sometime ago that the average family of 4 spent something like $638 a day, not including airfare.

Our two week trips to Kauai run us between $5000 and $6000 for two all inclusive.

We get by on an average of $100 a day for food, around $200 a day for a cottge in Hanalei, around $350 to $400 for a rental car and around $1200 airfare from the west coast.

We usually don't do any paid excurions and that keeps the cost down.

Another thing that keeps the cost down is that we eat breakfast in and make lunches to take to the beach and then eat dinners out.

We go to one island for five nights twice a year, usually once over Christmas.

I won't step foot on the plane unless the air/hotel is under $3000 for the 5 nights, and we like resorts.

You can save about $600-$800 in a week by downgrading to a small hotel w/pool or doing a condo rental. There are always cheaper options, we just don't pick them.

We use Expedia to get a sense of the price, then see if the hotel web sites are lower (they always, always are).

VRBO is the popular choice for condos.

The car is always a little under $200 (a weekly rate) but then factor in gas so call it $200).

Meals - We're not big breakfast types. Lemme just guess that our late breakfast/early lunch is about $30 for the two of us. Dinner is what it is at home: we eat out all the time or carry out- so in five nights, lets; say 3 dinners are $60-$80 (destination dining), other nights L and L drive in or local cafe ($10 - $30).

So, that's a long way of saying....

You can do it for under $4000 for a week on one island.

I want to add, that the first time we went when we had less money and more time, we never spent more than $150/ night on a place to stay, and never went out to "dress up" dinner and did 10 days and three islands for under $3000(in the late 90's), so it really depends on what experience you want to have.

Planning ahead? Airfare (on sale)~$600-700 pp; reasonable condo (2 bdrm in Kihei, for example, across from Kamaole Beach Parks, $150 [try VRBO], possibly less for 1 bdrm). Out to dinner, sunset supper at Surfside, VERY reasonable. Go to Safeway (or even Costco for steaks and seafood to grill)for food and wine (or mai tai, colada fixings;)remember to plan for picnics). Enjoy space, privacy, dining when you want. Can be done nicely for a very good price (done it many times)

Where did that weird little winky face icon come from? It seems almost to be appropriate, but it was typed as a semicolon! Because there's nothing funny about certain neccessities...

Go to Kayak.com and fill in your dates to check airfares. You can check hotel rates there, too. If you get a car, look at whether you have to pay for parking--lots of hotels charge quite a bit for that.

Another idea is to look at airline-hotel package deals. There are lots of threads here regarding hotels, and you can also look at biddingfortravel.com for recommendations.

We're not big foodies and so don't spend a lot on meals. I do like to find a room with a fridge in order to have my coffee and some breakfast before getting dressed to go out for the day.

Congratulations on your anniversary! I'm sure you will enjoy celebrating in Hawai'i ((r))

I don't think it is too early to plan for July; that is a peak travel time to Hawai'i.

Overall budget really depends on what kind of accomodations etc. you want. I'm in MO and for several years I have felt if i could find airfare to Honolulu for $600 per person it was a great deal. Last summer for July it was about $800 per person.

You can get an idea of cost for airfare/hotel/rental car by a quick consult with a travel agent. They can book thru companies like Blue Sky www.blueskytours.com/ (which we have had great results with on a couple of trips) and may be able to do it cheaper than you can yourself.

Also, you may find good deals by checking the vacation packages on the websites of the airlines that serve your closest airport.

I don't know how these offers are "handed out", but last summer we stayed at the Marriott Waiohai in Poipu on a "timeshare visit" deal, and it was fantastic. 5 nights in a 2BR, 2BA condo (full kitchen) with a car for something like $700. Yes, we did have to sit through a timeshare presentation, which I usually detest, but this was very tolerable, and the deal made it worthwhile. The condos are very nice, the grounds are gorgeous (look on Trip Advisor - lots of pictures), the property is on the beach and across from a small shopping center with restaurants (Roy's, Keoki's, Puka Dog, etc.) Maybe someone will know how you can get this offer. (You won't get the best view on this deal, to say the least - our room overlooked the parking lot, but outside was so beautiful).

It is never too early to start planning. I'd suggest a good starting point for your whole trip plan as the Revealed guidebooks. http://www.wizardpub.com/. Then you'll have a lot more specifics to ask about.

Aloha, Jeff
beatofhawaii.com