Sorry for the double post... I hate when I do that!

Does anyone know if Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays still provides a lei greeting upon arrival at the airport to their travelers? They did the last time we were in Hawaii, but that was several years ago.

The kids would really get a kick out of that, but I don't see it listed in my travel information. Also, we're initially flying (direct) into Kona, if that matters.

If PHH doesn't do that any more, I'd like to set it up myself for the family.

Thanks!

There is a lei shop at the Kona airport that does lei greetings. I bought leis from them to take home for friends, and they were gorgeous!

When we went in Sept. last year we got a lei greeting from PHH. You should be able to go to there web site and ask just to make sure.

It's one of the options that you add to your vacation package. If your travel info does not mention it, then you probably don't have it. Double check with your travel agent/Pleasant Holidays to make sure.

Ooo... I bet I missed adding it to the package... darn! The travel agent never asked me if I wanted this option (it *used* to be standard as I recall so I didn't think about it). I'll leave the TA an email tonight.

The best rate I've found is $24.95 per person for a standard lei @ Kona... does that sound about right?

OK... I just re-scrutinized my travel paperwork... and yes PHH does list a lei greeting for 4!! Hooray!

Thanks everyone... 27 days until paradise!!!

cawhite,
It sounds like you have a lot of experience using Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays. Have you found better prices with them versus booking everything yourself? Do you arrange interisland flights with them as well or do you only visit one island per visit? How are payments arranged? With an initial down payment and then the balance due shortly before the vacation? Thanks!

Hi Ashley24:

PHH is good for "one stop shopping" and I've used them in the past (even when I was a kid my parents used them)... they're probably as good as anyone else on a package.

After booking this trip and reading this forum (which I started using AFTER the trip was booked) I've found there are less expensive ways to put a trip together yourself. Here_today_gone2Maui has reported all kinds of airline savings through priceline.com and I've seen that by using hotelonsale.com and other sites one can get cheaper hotel stays as well. Plus if you want to mix up the trip with B&Bs, they don't have those at PHH. For my trip (4 islands) I left some "holes" in our itenerary where I wanted to book my own lodging (e.g., so I could book Kilauea Lodge in the Volcano area of the BI... PHH only had lodging in Hilo in 1-2 places and we weren't interested in those particular places).

I booked the interisland flights on my own (can't recall if it was because I had to, or it was just cheaper). As for payment I paid $100 per person as a downpayment and normally would have paid the balance 30 days prior to the trip. But with the increase in fuel prices back in May, I believe, PHH notified everyone that they would have to lock in their price by paying in full (we're going in August) or else be subject to a fuel surcharge... so I paid early.

The other thing that bugged me is that I couldn't make changes to my package unless I increased the $$ value by $200. I would read things on this forum about a better place to stay but I was locked in. Luckily I have been to Hawaii before and knew pretty much what we were looking for... otherwise I probably would have made all kinds of changes after reading the advice here.

The bottom line is to plan early... and then you have time to set everything up yourself.

Oh, also... the PHH price was the best of several packages for the same trip... But our trip involves no longer than 3 nights in any one place so we didn't get to take advantage of any of the "5th night free" hotel stays. Still... next time, I'm planning on my own!!

Carole

Thanks for the information, Carole!

we went during spring break and after you get off the plane we walked out of our gate and saw two people standing off to the side wearing matching hawaiian clothing holding lei's, i just walked up to them and asked if these lei's were for the PHH travelers and they wanted to see my PHH ticket or pass...this was truly different from years ago. so look around for anyone holding a bunch of lei's...have fun

Yes, you'll get a lei greeting. We were there recently - Maui and Kauai - with Pleasant Holidays.