Kauai package: Is this a good deal?
 

Trying to decide if we should wait to book our honeymoon to Kauai in case flight rates drop closer to our departure date (October 2).

I have a quote from AAvacations for $2563 that includes 2 tickets from LAX to LIH, a rental car for 8 days, and 3 nights at the Hyatt (we're booking a condo for the other nights). The quote includes all taxes and fees except for local taxes for the rental car.

Packagewise, this is the cheapest I've found after looking at cheaptickets.com, orbitz.com, unitedairlines.com, and even AAA rates.

Any advice/ideas on whether we should grab this now or hold out for better airfare rates?

Thanks!

-Sandra
224 days...

Might depend on whether thats a room at the hyatt or some kind of honeymoon-suite. Last August,air rates from LAX dropped to between $400 and $450 in October. Call the Hyatt, check on their regular AAA rates for that period and see how it all adds up. The rate you quote doesn't look too great to me so I wouldn't lock myself into that package this far ahead if it wasn't a steal. Also, check with AA to see if their newly advertised "fare structure" allows for a refund from the package rate should airfares go down.

Have you checked with Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays?

I think it sounds a bit high. That is not high season and I think airfares will drop over the next couple of months. What type of hotel room and what type of condo really factors into this, so give us some more information if you have it available.

Sesamee

Ok, we made a change to the flight and now the package is $2446.44 total. The breakdown is:
$882 for flights (including $77 tax)
$1082 for 3 nights at the Hyatt with breakfast buffet in a garden room (this comes out to be about $360 a night)
$282 for Compact rental car from Alamo.

The condo is $750 for 5 nights in addition to this package from AA, condo from vbro.com which I discovered thanks to you folks here :-)

Similar package from Pleasant Holidays (and other places I mentioned in my original post) are several hundred to one thouand dollars more than the package from AA.

Thanks again,

Sandra

Check orbitz and similar places for airfare. I'm sure you can do better for the air. Of course, if you are doing a package, you may be locked in. For lodging check:
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-1915...kauai_hotels-i

I think $282 is a bit high for a compact rental.

I also think $360 is high for a garden room, but the breakfast buffet is a nice bonus as their buffets are huge and you probably wont need to eat lunch. You can cross your fingers that you will be upgraded to an ocean view room if your travel agent notifies the hotel in advance that it is your honeymoon; that would be a nice surprise. (It all depends upon occupancy rates, also the Hyatt does a lot of big-group convention business.)

I think the package price is slightly high but not outrageously so. It may be too early to be nailing down a final price for October.

Sandra_E
I went to Hyatt's website and got quoted a "Fall Fun" rate of $340 a night which includes the buffet breakfast for a garden view room.
-Bill

The airfare to Lihue is often more than just flying ti to Honolulu International Airport, so with tax included it isn't too bad. Is this a direct flight? Flying interisland is not cheap.

The rental car amount is probably a little high for that category car. The $360 for a garden view room is the red flag. I think that is high and I'd ask for an upgrade to ocean view for that price. My only other question is the condo. How big is it and in what complex? Is this ocean view or ocean front?

My suggestion:

Check prices for RT tickets on your own.
Check rental car prices for your week
Look at one of the major vacation rental sites for the entire length of your stay at a private condo that you find on your own. For what you are paying for the hotel room with no view, plus the condo later in the week, you could probably find something cheaper on your own. 8 days = 7 nights. This means you are paying $1832 for a week if you combine the cond and the hotel. I'd ask myself, 'do I really want to be in a hotel for the fist 3 nights, and then have to move to a condo, wasting a day packing and switching'? If the answer is no, go to one of the big rental by owner sites like vrbo.com, cyberrentals.com (there are lots, just do an internet search) and see what it would cost to go condo the whole time. You might end up with a better acommodation and a lower price overall.
Figure out what area you want to stay in and take it from there. I think you will find a much nicer place on your own, but it would mean not booking a hotel. If that is important, stick with the original plan.

Sesamee

Priceline the car rental. Go to www.biddingfortravel.com to see previous winning bids. You will definitely be able to save there. Price and air/hotel combo through Pleasantholidays.com and then price air alone. Check the Hyatt's website direct and price your hotel again seperately.

Hotels in Hawaii are going through the roof because Americans are staying home due to the lousy exchange rate and more foreign tourists are coming here.

The last few times I've priced Pleasant Holidays they have been higher than the hotel direct, that may be the case for aavacations.com too.

Another Hawaii consolidator is funjetvacations.com. There is also Creative Leisure but you will need a travel agent to get a quote from them.

Oops, I wanted to add that Pleasant Holidays gets consolidated fares through ATA Airlines on certain days of the week. Midweek is usually lower.

Thanks everyone for your help!

We decided to book the rental car on our own through Avis with my Costco card for $214 (including all taxes - as compared to the $282 price from AAvacations which did NOT include taxes). So we really saved there!

I did check funjet, pleasant holidays, orbitz, and so on for airfare and for package prices. The only place that had a comparable price was Costco - they were $120 lower on the hotel but $150 higher on the airfare. We checked different departure days as well (Tues, Weds) and the difference was not significant ($20 -$30).

We considered staying in the condo the entire time, but we decided we (1) want to stay on both sides of the island, and (2) want to spend some time being pampered at a resort.

When I checked Hyatt's prices at their website, their rooms started at $450, so we're happy with the $360 even though in any other circumstance (i.e., not our honeymoon), we wouldn't even consider paying that much for a hotel room.

Anyway, here's a summary of what we booked this morning:

RT air from LAX to LIH $882.44 (including taxes/fees - LAX to LIH connects through Honolulu, return trip is nonstop from LIH to LAX)

5 nights at condo in Princeville (with amazing ocean view) $ 827.08 (including taxes/fees)

3 nights at Hyatt Kauai $1082.00 (including breakfast buffet - we will ask about an upgrade, I've heard that they often upgrade honeymooners - if they don't no biggie, we will have had 5 days at the condo with a killer view)

Rental car (compact 4 door)$ 214.48 (including taxes)

Total $3006.00

Again, thank you all for your help!

-Sandra
223 days to go...

Did you try signing up for Hyatt's frequent guest card and get a quote direct? There are also discounts that way too sometimes.

According to biddingfortravel.com there have been several bids accepted for a mid-size car at $15/day, which is $22/day taxes included. A compact was won for $12 which is $18 per day with taxes.