Worth going in the next year?
 

All kinds of stories about packed planes over the summer. Also stories about huge increases in hotel rates and rental car rates, long queues in restaurants, etc.

Also locals hostile to tourists.

I had considered going in May or June, to Oahu and Kauai -- having only been to Maui. But the rates started going up and then Europe signaled that they would open up to Americans this summer so I took 3 trips to Europe over the summer.

I've been tracking airfares and they're down to where they were last spring before they shot up for the summer, with everyone trying to get into Hawaii. This would be for late January to early February.

But the hotel rates are still very high and so are the car rentals.

Guess demand will always be high even in winter months as people from cold weather states and Canadians look to escape the cold. Also the rental car situation won't improve any time soon.

Has anyone been in the past year?

I am not traveling yet. I just don't want the extra hassles. Then limitations upon arrival. I'm in Seattle so Oahu is always a good place for me. I'd usually be planning a Nov. trip by now but am waiting a bit longer as in next spring or later. Everything is just too much in 'crisis mode'. For me, I don't need a vacation that bad. But it can be done. Plenty of people are making it happen... mask up, get vaxxed, get tested, etc. etc.

Has anyone been in the past year?

To Hawaii? No, gave up on Hawaii years ago. If I'm going to jump through the COVID hoops, it'll be for somewhere outside the US.

Also locals hostile to tourists.

While I have not traveled since the pandemic (last trip Nov '19 in Waikiki) I feel confident to say depends where you go and what you do. I feel fairly certain within Waikiki you would be unlikely to encounter "hostile" attitude unless it was a one-off street person kind of encounter or you tried to surf someone's wave (just kidding).

I don't need a car for solo on Oahu myself. Hoping to travel by next year but not yet making reservations. Things are still changing month by month for restrictions and rules. Hoping for that to calm down by next year, would make me more comfortable making plans. I don't feel the need to plan way ahead, because I know which airline I fly and which hotel(s) I'd stay at, so can plan a trip quickly. I know others might need more lead time.

Well they're going through their delta wave with the hospitals full. I've been monitoring a couple of FT threads.

Looks like they are telling people not to come now or were a couple of weeks ago. But they're not putting up more travel restrictions, though I think they limited some restaurants and public venues.

Some suspect the governor will keep things open because the hotels want it and they supposedly backed him in the past.

Unless there's another big variant even worse than delta, the hope is things calm down. For a period, they were very low in cases and then they couldn't avoid delta. However, they say that most of the cases are community spread or residents catching from the mainland and bringing it back. They said from contact tracing only 1-2% from out of state tourists.


Also the story was that the big resorts are jacking up prices, even if they have a certain amount of vacancies, just to take advantage of the demand and people willing to pay higher prices.

DW and I have purchased tickets to/from HNL in early November. We have reserved a rental car. As it stands now, we have to show our vaccine cards and say where we are staying. We have a daughter and son in law that we haven't seen in more than 2 years. They moved from Maryland to Oahu last November. As an RN, our daughter has treated many Covid patients in both Baltimore and Queens Hospital in Honolulu.
Ten days in Hawaii will be a good break before returning for a long cold winter in Oregon.

We went to the BI for ten days in May. We stayed in a condo and got a good rate. We reserved a rental car early through Costco and got a decent price on it.

We didn't eat out much so I don't know whether there were long waits in restaurants. It wasn't very crowded or busy when we went.

Yeah I had looked at dates in May and early June and then it just flipped at some point and the rates went crazy.

Also looked at going to Iceland in early June too.

Then Europe opened up and it was a much better value -- and really my first choice anyways. That and I had a lot of hotel credits from trips I couldn't take in 2020.

I'm planning a trip for the period after Thanksgving and before mid December, taking advantage of low airfares. I've been able to book car rentals so far, except I couldn't find a car in Lihue on 11/30. I'm not going to Maui, and am doing Big Island through Hilo instead of Kona.

Hawaii is nonstop from Long Beach so easier for me than Europe. I went to Europe too much in the '80s and '90s and have little interest in returning. I think the trip I did a few years ago will be the last one there.

I'm sure Hawaii will be a shock for me. The last time I went my nephew was a toddler, so probably about 1990. We had a condo at Poipu Shores, and they hadn't even built the big Hyatt yet.

I'm watching how things are going in Hawaii regarding the pandemic, but have not made any definite plans yet. My last trip was Nov '19 to Oahu. I'd love to return this November but feel it's too soon (only because I really don't want the extra hassles, capacity limits, cancelled events, masks, testing, etc.) but am keeping an eye on May/June 2022 or fingers crossed that by fall next year things will be more normal than they are now.

Plenty of people are traveling already, as is shown by the problems with rental cars, dinner reservations, no tickets for a luau :-) etc.

The forums for each island on Trip Advisor have lots of trip reports from people who are traveling now.

I went to Europe over the summer when I was thinking of going to Hawaii in May or early June.

Just comparing hotels in Kauai say with Wenger in February, a lot of places are already booked up in Wenger yet the ones remaining are better values or just generally lower in price. Obviously extremes between tropical and winter.

Thanks for the background (sorry I wasn't following!).

So on Kauai, I see a couple of AirBnbs which seem reasonable. A lot of places jack up various fees so they're like 50% of the listed per-night fees, so say there's a $200 a night place. Well the total comes to $1200 for 4 nights.

In any event, most of the lower-priced places, those under $200 a night not including fees, show up in Princeville.

There are also a couple around Kaa'pa but almost none down in Poipu.

Seems to a first-time visitor, Kaa'pa would be the most convenient location for getting around to different sites. Princeville is far removed from the southern part of the island. I'm mostly thinking of Waimea Canyon. Looks like it would cost $10 per car and $5 per person.

However, even from Poipu, it would be almost an hour drive versus 2 hours from Princeville? There are tours where they pick you up, but only as far away as Kaa'pa. However apparently these tours are suspended because of covid.

Hmm, looks like in addition to travel restrictions for people from out of state, there might be restrictions on specific sites.

I have a few airbnbs booked, and also a friend offered his family place for several nights on the Big Island if it is available. I have never been as far as Kapaau before so that will be interesting if it works out.

Yes on Kauai there are new restrictions to be aware of, such as a need for a reservation at Kilauea Lighthouse. It may be that some of the hiking trails in Kokee State Park are closed, and reaching some of the other popular areas requires a reservation.

I am staying in Princeville, Kapaa has gotten very expensive since Sheraton took over Coconut Beach, but you could try Hotel Coral Reef.
Even the old Tip Top Motel which honestly isn't even as nice as a Motel 6, is over $150 a night with taxes.

Hmm, fares I've been watching have been edging up.

United has two nonstop flights to Lihue from SFO, one is departing in the morning and the other is departing at 6:30-7 PM at night. The morning flight has much higher fare.

I guess if I want it badly enough, I have to bite the bullet. Either save a couple of hundred leaving at night and paying for costly lodgings with the first night you just arrive and drop on the bed or pay more for airfare and arrive in the afternoon, have time to do something that first day.

We went to the BI in August and it was great. We got decent airfare and rental car prices had come down to pretty much normal. Earlier in the summer there were shortages and high prices for rental cars, but when we went, there were plenty of cars on the lots. We had to upload our vaccination info to the Safe Travels web site and show that before boarding the plane, but that was straightforward and easy.

We didn't experience any hostility from anyone when we were there. Everybody was fine - just normal behavior from people like you would expect anywhere.

Our experience on Maui in late August was similar. Do make restaurant reservations way in advance if you’re going during any high season (the first week we were there there were hour-long waits at restaurants that did not take reservations, but waits dropped off noticeably the second week).

Still been looking at this.

Fares aren't too bad but the hotels and rental cars are crazy.

It seems like about $400 a night when you add up all the taxes and resort fees and parking. A bit less with Airbnb but not much less.

And most of these properties are nothing special either.

A 10-day trip in February, split between Oahu and one other island, would come to at least $7000. Or cut about $900 if flying coach.

I've spent about the same for a 2-3 week trip to Australia or New Zealand.

Europe for 10 days would be less, though obviously wouldn't have Hawaiian weather in February.

Thinking it's not worth it for a short trip, in the offseason without optimal weather.

You might want to head south to St. Lucia. No jet lag, lower prices and just as fantastic scenery.https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...As0ug&usqp=CAU

I've been to Hawaii a half dozen times and don't spend anywhere near what some people are saying. My hotel in Waikiki comes in around $200/night all in. That said Hawaii does have winter! Right now there are a bunch of surprised people posting on Trip Advisor about Oahu because it's cool and rainy (which is typical and to be expected).

Well the last time I looked at Hawaii, before the last few months, was in 2017 and prices are definitely way up.

On Airbnb, there are hosts offering campers in SUVs for up to $300 a night. Before taxes and fees. That is on Maui and a few on Kauai.

They seem to be in prime locations though, close to beach and amenities. I don't know if they have a permanent parking spot? If you do sleep in a vehicle of some kind, is that allowed?

You'd have to have some kind of water and sewer hookups?

Yes, it's ridiculous how high the hotel rates are now. I live on Oahu and one of the partners in our firm needed to be on Kauai for a short 2 day trial. The cheapest hotels convenient to the courthouse were charging around $700 a night, which the client refused to pay. There were no reasonable Air B&B type rentals available either, so the partner had to stay with the client at his home.

My nephew recently got his private pilot's license and so my sister was thinking about them flying over to Maui for the weekend (they would only pay for the actual flight time, not the entire time they have the plane over the long weekend) - but the hotel rates were so expensive it was cheaper for the 3 of them (BIL, sister and nephew) to do a long weekend trip to San Francisco instead.

My DW and I were on Oahu from 11/3 to 11/10. The Travel Safe Hawaii website was a PITA trying to get them to accept pictures of our CDC vaccination cards. We had to get cleared again to get on the Southwest plane from Las Vegas. We came back home (PDX) by way of Oakland. Our DD and SIL moved from Maryland to Oahu last November. We had a great place to stay with them so no hotel bills. The best deal I got on a rental car was through Amtrak Guest Rewards which was about half what I had originally booked.
On the North Shore of Oahu are some cheaper motels that some of the surfers use. I don't know about the quality of those motels, but it has to be better than a camper/van.
I got 2000 AGR points for renting a car through them that I can use on a future Amtrak train trip.

Maybe one of the things which is happening is that Australia, NZ and SE Asia are closed (though you can get into Thailand by jumping through some hoops). Those are destinations which would compete with Hawaii in our winter for comparable weather and water views and activities

I think I might have spent $10k once for a trip to Australia but it was like 3 weeks and it included a $5k business class ticket and rental car.

Be careful if you do decide to do the camper/van rental. I know it's weird, but sleeping in your car in a public place is illegal in Hawaii. There are very few places you can camp in them legally, unless you are on someone's private property. Even in some of the few state camping spots, you are only allowed to sleep in a tent, not in a vehicle. The van rental places sort of gloss over this, but also assume no liability. Make sure you have confirmed places to spend your nights before you rent one.

Oh no chance I would pay over $200 a day for renting one.

Maybe I should actually post a trip report. I was there from Dec 2 to Dec 13 leaving from Long Beach California.

Actually had really nice weather, but I was lucky to dodge most of the rain.

My trip report is up. I'd recommend going to the Big Island and staying in Hilo, if you are cost-conscious. There was no issue with rental cars from Hilo airpot. I wouldn't say the prices were "reasonable" but they aren't much different than what is being charged around the US. Gas was about the same as in Los Angeles ($4.30 a gallon). Oahu was more expensive.

With the Saddle Road being upgraded, it is easy to visit the Volcanoes National Park and stay in Hilo.

Kona is more typically touristy, like Maui or Waikiki, not really my thing. If I want golf in a desert, I can drive two hours to the Coachella Valley although there is no turquoise ocean water. The Kona side really wasn't on my to-do list although I did drive over one day.

Still not on my to-do list.

Well now there are predictions of possibly 15k cases a day in January.

No changes in restrictions yet.

Decision not to book looks better now.

Virtually all of the COVID cases are in Honolulu (Oahu).

So far so good on Big Island.

But I deliberately went as soon as I could after Thanksgiving, expecting that there would be a post holiday surge.

Hawaii County is doing better than my zipcode in Long Beach.

Sadly, the COVID cases numbers are exploding on Kauai. With only 9 ICU beds on the entire island, it used to be disturbing if we had 10 cases. Now, we have had 18 deaths and there are more than 250 active (reported) cases. Apparently, the majority of cases are from residents who travel to the mainland, then return and cause family and community spread especially among the 30% who remain unvaccinated.

Well flights I've been tracking are trending down.

May be a drop in demand.

I heard predictions of 15,000 cases a day in January for the islands.

The cluster reports are always illuminating.

I've never really understood why people think that drinking and dining indoors with a lot of other people is safe during outbreaks. They still haven't invented a mask that you can eat through AFAIK.

https://www.scribd.com/document/5490...021#from_embed

Worth place to spend a pleasant vaccant
 

Bali

Airfares have come way down. Maybe the Omicron wave is making people not buy plane tickets.

Accommodation prices are still high but seem you can find a few where you end up spending $300 a night all-in between the hotel rates, taxes, resort fees and parking. That would be in Kauai and Waikiki.

That's despite $40-50 parking rates in some Waikiki hotels.

So it's a little better, might be possible to do a 10-day 2-island trip under $6000 compared to it approaching $8k or more when I was checking in November and December.

Would probably wait until the end of February or March.

Did someone say they are upgrading Saddle Road? We are staying near Hapuna beach and driving to VNP and may take that route. We have been on it before but 8years ago.

It's all paved now, scubachick18.

Still windy sections but not bad.

Lots of traffic from the Kona side.

I would recommend doing VNP from the Hilo side, or book a night in Volcano. The issue right now is that the lava flow comes and goes so no predictions as to what you might see when you visit. The viewing is MUCH BETTER late at night.

Case numbers are no where near 15000 a day but any need for hospital is a burden (that includes non COVID accidents, for example).

Thank you! Good info to know!

I might wait until things settle down in terms of COVID. Even international flights are getting turned around because of some lunatic on a plane now. Then there's the restrictions as to what you can do depending on where you're going. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by locals being hostile to tourists though .... where are you planning to go that this is a concern?