Nancy

We are trying to book our honeymoon and thinking of using Pleasant Hawaiin Vacations to do it. Has anyone ever used them? What did you think?

gail

Since no one has responded I will pass on second hand info...They are less expensive, but the price to pay is delays and cancellations. So if you can be flexible it might work on a budget.

paul

It's been 13 years, but we used Pleasant Hawaiian for our honeymoon, and were very pleased...Perhaps it helped that I had been to Hawaii before and was familiar somewhat with at least Honolulu and Maui. If you can, don't skimp on the hotels --- PHH had a package that included some first class hotels and resorts. Anyway, I hope that you can take some assurance from the fact that PHH has been around awhile.

Joe

Nancy,
I just got back from a short vacation to Kona and I used Pleasant Holidays vacations. Without much research I thought I knew what I wanted and called our travel agent to book it. I had seen Pleasant's ads in the Sunday paper travel section. Our package included air/hotel/car. The downside was the flight routing was not the most convenient. For example we were booked on a flight from Honolulu to Kona that stopped in Maui. Were there other non stops around that time? Yes. It took us as nearly as long to get to Kona from Las Vegas (9hrs) as it did last year to get to London (10hrs, granted it was non-stop on Virgin out of Las Vegas). Secondly the section of the hotel used (The Royal Kona Resort) was very shabby. It is known as the former Hilton. I guess now I know why it is a "former" Hilton. There were 3 buildings and we were in what appeared to be a side building used to house tour package customers. I say this because I saw the bus loads of tour groups drop of at our building. The main building overlooked the pool, was decorated nicer and over all seemed to be a better section. We had a great time in spite of the hotel and air so I really can't complain much. However, next time I will research the air and hotel costs myself without relying on a quick fix like Pleasant Hawaiian. I am not certain, but I just don't believe that the cost savings is that much. At least that is my opinion. Generally, booking the air yourself online is a bit cheaper than calling the airline, so start there. Hope this helps.

Diana

Like the earlier posting, it's been some time since our honeymoon (10 years), but my husband booked it through Pleasant Hawaiian and it worked out great. I'm usually the retentive planner but with all the wedding stuff... I let it go and he took care of it. It was a full package deal with air car and hotel in Poipu (Kauai) at some beach hotel that got blown away in the hurricane. We only paid about $1200 for the whole thing, so I can't imagine we would have saved much going any other route. And we actually ended up in first class on the plane!

Joe

A previous poster said, ten years ago, she had a good experience. Mine was just last week. However, I am sure there are some good packages offered by Pleasant Hawaiian Vacations. My only advice is to check what you are paying for. I should have checked the hotel better. All I had to do was check this forum and would have found out that the resort Pleasant was booking us into had received some poor comments from other fodorites. I have always relied on this forum and the knowledgeable people in it for advice. I have no clue why I didn't this time. (Can you spell D-U-M-M-Y?) Won't make that mistake again. I would also suggest you check the flights they are offering. Are there other options. Bottom line is that while it is easy to just let Pleasant do it all, I still had the responsibility to investigate what they were selling. Just don't take it for granted.

Jan

Hi,
We have used Pleasant twice; Once 3 years ago and last Dec. We did research which hotel first; settled on the Outrigger Islander on Lewers St one block from the beach. It was very clean and the staff was exceptional. We flew from CO Springs; had no delays, and overall the experience was perfect. I would not hesitate to use Pleasant again, and will continue to use the boards to gather info on hotels, just because I like to try different hotels. Our entire package was $1700. for two of us; we had a partial ocean view on the 15th floor. Not much of a view, but we didn't stay in the room much. We are planning another trip for next January, and I haven't been able to beat Pleasant's prices yet, but I'm still looking!

Kathy

Has anyone visited the Aston Maui Islander in Lahaina recently? Pleasant is booking there. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Eke

Aloha Nancy! We've used Pleasant Hawaiian tha last three years. I found the their airfares were cheaper than what the actual airline was charging.On our last trip in August I saved $150 each for the three of us on Hawaiian Airlines. It was the same flight and date.These are bulk airfares. Apples to apples! Also, we received a free room upgrade at the Sheraton in Maui from Ocean View to Ocean Front. I believe that was a difference of about $100 a day! I booked directly with them instead of using a travel agent. What islands are you looking at? Our favorite is Kauai. We've been there 3 of the last four years. The sunsets on the North shore are fantastic! Rent a copy of South Pacific with Mitzi Gaynor to see what the North shore looks like. It's changed very little since that movie was done there in 1957.If you have any questions about either Kauai or Maui I'd be more than happy to answer them for you. Aloha, Eke