I am Canadian and am retiring the end of this year and will be given two air tickets to anywhere in North America. My husband and I have always wanted to visit Hawaii and go somewhere warm for Jan/Feb to get out of the cold! So our dilemna - we'd like to rent a condo/apt. - doesn't have to be fancy. But with the Canadian dollar we do have to be somewhat frugal. I think we can swing it if we can do a lot of local shopping and cook at home. Is there anywhere you can suggest where we can park our old bods for two months and do it on a budget that won't break our Canadian bank account? Somewhere where we won't have to rent a car but will be central enough to keep us from being too bored? Or should I pack our bags and head for Mexico??

Hawaii will be more expensive than Mexico, no doubt about that, but you won't have to deal with Montezuma in Hawaii either.
If you type "Hawaii condo rental" or similar cues in the text search box you'll find some web addresses for condo rentals. Good luck.

Oahu has very good bus service , so you can manage pretty well without a car, esp. in the more urban areas.

If you don't have to be right on the beach, there are many reasonably priced condos with monthly rates.

Maximizing local produce and seafood in your diet and minimizing grocery items imported from the mainland will help keep your costs down. Try to bring as many non-perishable boxed and canned goods as you can with you.

It might be worthwhile for you to use
http://www.akamaigrocerysvc.com/ for your grocery needs, if you don't have a car. Akamai shops for and delivers groceries to you for a 17% flat-rate. They use club cards at major stores to get discounts and when you combine that with what taxi fare would cost you to bring the groceries home, it would very likely make more sense to use the svce.

There are many agencies that rent-out condos in Waikiki, which would probably be the best location for you. A few suggestions:

1. The condos. at the Ilikai are supposed to be a good value. Call the Ilikai hotel and ask for the condo. desk.

2. Try http://www.captaincookresorts.com/, which I think is one of the more reputable agencies and they have some very good rates at several properties.

3. Search the accomodations directory at the HCVB website: gohawaii.com

4. Try the B&B agencies, as they often represent accomodations in residential areas that have kitchens.

3. Look under vacation rentals as well as condos. Consider vacation rentals in the Kailua and Lanikai areas.

Jack..thanx for all the good info..I'm on the hunt! A friend of mine goes to Barbados for 2 months every year and boxes up all her meat - steaks, hamburg, chops, etc. She freezes them of course and then wraps them in newspaper and puts in a box that she checks thru. Says she's never had a problem and theyre still frozen on arrival. Can you still get away with stuff like this now?

Maui I would rent a condo in Lihiea (sp) did this about 6 years ago. Oahu is fun but if this was a once and only trip I would head for the wide open spaces of the outer islands. Another option is Big Island. Heads up retiree. So far El Nino forcast are for a dry winter (MAUI Great for whale spotting that time of year) so don't be put off by talks of rain. I would still avoid Kauai that time of year.


ON THE OTHER HAND Oahu does have activity, for expample; not sure if you like to dance but Oahu has a very active ballroom dancing organization. People from all age groups join this but not so many 20 or 30 year olds. Dance classes are cheap and it will give you a chance to mingle with locals. Many chapters you will always be in large groups, can be fun. Local highschools often offer evening classes for free or little money, where you can learn everything from a language to Haiku lei making. Perhaps these opportunities exist on the outer islands as well seems that often these are state sponsored projects. Dancing is a non profit organization and on of the largest ballroom dancing organizations in the country.

This sounds like a heavenly retirement thing to do...not knowing anything about Hawaii..where would you go? I've heard Maui and Kauai are good choices. How can we find out a place that we could rent from an owner for a couple of months?

I'd strongly recommend Grand Champions Villas in Wailea, Maui. Just put Grand Chgampions rental condo Wailea Maui in any search engine and you'll find condos at Grand Champions for rent directly thru an owner.

You said that your tickets will be good for anywhere in North America.
Sadly, HI doesn't count for that. Maybe you can get vouchers toward HI
airfare!

Sorry to be the worm in your lei, I hope you have a marvelous
retirement!

visitor,

You might start with www.vrbo.com

That is brazen Cindy think you knows more about retiree's FF allocation than she does.

was it even a FF alocation seemed like a gift

If you have a Costco card forget about bringing a "whole side of frozen beef" with you. Many retirees, I notice, make a weekly bus trip out to Hawai'i Kai to stock up on provisions. Also, Foodland (at least in Hawai'i Kai) has a section for outdated meat that goes for anywhere from 25% to 75% off. Don't be put off by the fact that it's outdated. For beef connoisseurs, it's aged properly and is just as good and safe and tastier! Agree that O'ahu's the best for someone w/o wheels. The bus system is terrific. There are monthly bus passes that you can inquire about....

xxx ([email protected]),

I apologize if I sounded unpleasant. My objective was to help stave off a huge disappointment. The original message says, "...two air tickets to anywhere in North America".

Cindy maybe you were thinking she had these tickets for the Northern U.S?North America, the 3rd largest continent includes Canada, Greenland, Mexico, the United States, all the countries of Central America and the island countries and dependencies of the Caribbean. Hawaii is part of U.S
Go online if you need to confirm this.

Just to clarify..it's not FF points..my company will give me these two tickets as a gift. Previous recipient went to Hawaii.

Retiree, check this website
www.slowtrav.com
they have some great tips on long-term rentals in Kauai and other tips on longer stays on that island (check the US section).

Retiree! Thank you. My concern is bread from being burned in a similar situation. The only exlusion on mine was HI. Sorry for the digression.

Have a wonderful trip and a delightful retirement!

Oops, excuse me, I meant "bred".

Cindy usually when something it excluding Hawaii it will say something to the effect "anywhere in the continental U.S". Think that is what you need to look out for.

For the record, Hawaii is part of the United States, but is NOT part of North America. The Hawaiian islands are in the Pacific Ocean, and not on the continent of North America.
Retiree's case aside, often there are separate rules for using FF miles to Hawaii, and you always have to use more miles to fly to or from Hawaii. It burns us up that it costs 10,000 more miles to fly from HNL to Lax than from San Diego to Maine and they are farther apart with more connections. I know, I know...Price of Paradise. (Still isn't fair!)