Anyone have any ideas on how to do Hawaii on a strict budget?

[keagansmom]

Just booked our airfare to Oahu on American Airlines for $370 round trip on Orbitz.com. for September 2006. If you watch the fares you can get a good deal. Don't know if anyone has mentioned this but we always rent a beach house at vrbo.com. We are paying $250 a night this trip for a 4 bedroom house on the beach. Just make sure you get pictures of the house to make sure you don't get a "dog." We don't like crowds so we go and hang on the North Shore of Oahu. We almost always have the beach to ourselves during the week and there are very few there on the weekend, only locals. It's wonderful to get up and drink coffee on the deck overlooking the beach. Plus, we save money by not eating out for breakfast. There aren't a lot of places to eat over there, mostly local stuff, but the food is usually very good and costs less than Honolulu or at hotels. We also rent our snorkel gear for the whole length of our stay and carry it around with us. I couldn't tell you how many times we just pulled over while driving around and dove in! There is nothing as amazing as swimming with the turtles and dolphins! Believe me, the cheapest thing we do is buy DS (8) a shovel and a pail to dig in the sand!

 

[horsegirl]

just subscribing- we are heading to Hawaii, most likely in the fall of 06! SOme great tips here.

 

[chris1gill]

For anyone looking for a cheap car rental, I just booked a car only rental on www.aavacations.com Click on Fly/Drive Vacations, then scroll all the way down for Car only Hawaii/Florida vacations... When you put in your dates, be sure to scroll ALL THE WAY DOWN the next page... There should be a Special Alamo Pricing block.... They have Wranglers & Convertibles for 180/week, 160 for a full size & I forget the other options

Black out dates apply and are June 15-August & the car must be picked up by 12/15....

I was psyched to get a convertible for 180 for early December!

 

[vhoffman]

I'm waiting to buy the Hawaii Entertainment Book until the price goes down. Its now currently at half price, or $17.50, however, I've seen it as low as $9.99. Usually that price is late in the year, around October, since most of the coupons expire in November. Does anyone know if the Entertainment Book has any coupons for the Polynesian Cultural Center, and if so, what are the coupons for--like half off admission, etc.

Also I wish I could find a better rental car rate for Oahu. Our last four nights will be spent at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikaki. We are using Hertz because you can pick up and drop off at the hotel, then just taxi to the airport. Since our plane leaves late (10 pm) we'd be killing a lot of time at the airport if we had to return the rent car there. We got a supposedly discounted Hilton rate, but still it comes to something like $225 total (includes tax, etc) for 4 days for a full size. Seems kinda high? I've tried every trick I know of to lower that rate (AAA discount, etc., however, I can't beat the Hilton rate if we want to pick up and drop off at the hotel. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[robinb]

I just came back from 10 days in Hawaii. We did the Big Island for 6 nights at the Hilton Waikoloa Resort near Kona and then 4 more days in Oahu at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider. Both resorts were great!

The locals call the Hilton "Disneyland West" ... it is a huge complex with boats and a monorail (!) to get from one building to another. They have 3 pools (2 huge and one adult-only) and a protected lagoon that opens to the ocean. It's a great place to get your "fins wet" and snorkel for the first time. Sea turtles live in the lagoon and will often swim right next to you. If you have the guts for a timeshare presentation, you can get 5 nights at the Waikoloa for $799 (http://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/visit/hwaikoloa.html) and $160 per night is a great price for this place. The downside is that the Waikoloa is pretty isolated and food is very, very expensive.

The Moana is a historic hotel right on Waikiki beach. The waves at the beach were great for timid swimmers and kids. They were gentle (no more than 2 feet tall ... during our stay, they are higher in the Winter I think) and the water was quite shallow for quite a ways. You can rent surf boards and boogie boards right on the beach. We also bought an inflated air mattress for $5 (it would have been less from the ABC store) that we used every day. It was hard to leave the beach! I had plans to drive all over Oahu (it was our second trip to the island) but I felt a little sick and my family was perfectly happy to play in the water and sand. It was great to have the relaxing beach on one side of the hotel and the bustling city on the other.

Food was much cheaper on Oahu. We found a diner (the Sunset Diner on Sunset/Kuhio) that served a great breakfast of 2 pancakes, 2 slices of bacon and 2 scrambled eggs for only $2.25! They also had 2-4-1 Orange Juice. There was a place next to it calls Tsunami's that also had great, cheap food but we thought the service was better at the Sunset (although it was a bit more expensive). Try both places and pick your favorite on the 3rd day .

We also stayed at the Sheraton Kauai on a previous trip. I *loved* that hotel which included a full breakfast and daily mai-tai happy hour with entertainment in their extra resort fee (it was $25 per day when we went, but may be more now).

I'll be happy to answer any questions .

 

[Skatermom23]

I'm waiting to buy the Hawaii Entertainment Book until the price goes down. Its now currently at half price, or $17.50, however, I've seen it as low as $9.99. Usually that price is late in the year, around October, since most of the coupons expire in November. Does anyone know if the Entertainment Book has any coupons for the Polynesian Cultural Center, and if so, what are the coupons for--like half off admission, etc.

Also I wish I could find a better rental car rate for Oahu. Our last four nights will be spent at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikaki. We are using Hertz because you can pick up and drop off at the hotel, then just taxi to the airport. Since our plane leaves late (10 pm) we'd be killing a lot of time at the airport if we had to return the rent car there. We got a supposedly discounted Hilton rate, but still it comes to something like $225 total (includes tax, etc) for 4 days for a full size. Seems kinda high? I've tried every trick I know of to lower that rate (AAA discount, etc., however, I can't beat the Hilton rate if we want to pick up and drop off at the hotel. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

Why would you be killing a lot of time at the airport to drop off the car? We are renting from Hertz but at the airport because it is open 24 hours. We arrive really late and most locations are closed then. Have you tried Alamo? They have some pretty low rates, just not an airport location. Hawaii rentals will kill you with all the add ons!
The entertainment book does have PCC coupons. I don't remember how much though.

 

[my3kids]

For anyone looking for a cheap car rental, I just booked a car only rental on www.aavacations.com Click on Fly/Drive Vacations, then scroll all the way down for Car only Hawaii/Florida vacations... When you put in your dates, be sure to scroll ALL THE WAY DOWN the next page... There should be a Special Alamo Pricing block.... They have Wranglers & Convertibles for 180/week, 160 for a full size & I forget the other options

Black out dates apply and are June 15-August & the car must be picked up by 12/15....

I was psyched to get a convertible for 180 for early December!

Wow...It LOOKED like a great deal. I was pretty excited to think I was saving about $75 on my car. BUT while the initial quote page says all taxes are included when you read the terms and conditions it says car taxes are not included. I called AA Vacations and they said no, car taxes are never included in the prices and they would be payable to the rental counter when we picked up the car. I figured in the taxes and we would have paid more if I'd booked with AA vacations. The website is very misleading.

 

[robinb]

Also I wish I could find a better rental car rate for Oahu. Our last four nights will be spent at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikaki. We are using Hertz because you can pick up and drop off at the hotel, then just taxi to the airport. Since our plane leaves late (10 pm) we'd be killing a lot of time at the airport if we had to return the rent car there. We got a supposedly discounted Hilton rate, but still it comes to something like $225 total (includes tax, etc) for 4 days for a full size. Seems kinda high? I've tried every trick I know of to lower that rate (AAA discount, etc., however, I can't beat the Hilton rate if we want to pick up and drop off at the hotel. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

Yikes! $225 for 4 days?!?! I rented in HNL from Alamo using the Vacation Outlet code (http://www.vacationoutlet.com/car/default.asp) for 20% off and a free day (make sure to print and bring the coupon) and I paid $117 including all taxes for a Intermediate Car for 5 days. We were upgraded to a Saturn Vue SUV. Alamo is open until midnight, so you will have no problem returning your car at 8:30 PM. Plus, you'll save on cab fare to the Hilton.

 

[robinb]

Here is a review of the 2006 Entertainment Book:
http://www.andhawaii.com/entertainment_book_2004.html

 

[my3kids]

vhoffman: There is one coupon in the book for the Polynesian Cultural Center. It is for 1 adult admission with purchase of a 2nd. Value is uo to $36, it says.

 

[rparmfamily]

We are going to Hawaii in May for 8 days, I am SOOOOO excited! We've never been. We are staying on Oahu at the Hale Koa. It's going to be DH and myself plus our 2 children, 5 and 3. (active!) My sister and her friend are also going and staying at the Hale Koa. We got AWESOME airline tickets, DH found an error and we got all 4 tickets for $500!! (including tax!!!) That's the only reason we are going to Hawaii! LOL

Any comments or recommendations on:
Needing a rental car
Things to do w/3 and 5 yr old
Visit other islands?

Anyone stayed at the Hale Koa? Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Skatermom23]

Yikes! $225 for 4 days?!?! I rented in HNL from Alamo using the Vacation Outlet code (http://www.vacationoutlet.com/car/default.asp) for 20% off and a free day (make sure to print and bring the coupon) and I paid $117 including all taxes for a Intermediate Car for 5 days. We were upgraded to a Saturn Vue SUV. Alamo is open until midnight, so you will have no problem returning your car at 8:30 PM. Plus, you'll save on cab fare to the Hilton.

Wow when you take into account all the mandatory fees that means you paid about $15 a day! That is an incredible rate. We are paying about $450 for 11 days for a full size car rented at the airport. I could probably beat that price by $30 or so but this place is open 24 hours and I need that.

 

[vhoffman]

Someone asked why we would be killing a lot of time at the airport if we picked up and dropped off our rental car there. Because all car rentals are on a 24 hour clock. We arrive in Honolulu and pick up our rental about 1 pm. OUr plane doesn't leave until 10 pm 4 days later. So, in order to return the rental car on time and avoid another day's worth of charges we'd have to return the rental no later than 2 pm--what to do then? Or, perhaps it might make more sense to to rent a car from the airport for five days, then return it late the fourth day and just forfeit the 5th day. Would still beat taxis to and from the airport, and you can get a much better deal that way with more companies to choose from. Decisions, decisions..............

 

[robinb]

Someone asked why we would be killing a lot of time at the airport if we picked up and dropped off our rental car there. Because all car rentals are on a 24 hour clock. We arrive in Honolulu and pick up our rental about 1 pm. OUr plane doesn't leave until 10 pm 4 days later. So, in order to return the rental car on time and avoid another day's worth of charges we'd have to return the rental no later than 2 pm--what to do then? Or, perhaps it might make more sense to to rent a car from the airport for five days, then return it late the fourth day and just forfeit the 5th day. Would still beat taxis to and from the airport, and you can get a much better deal that way with more companies to choose from. Decisions, decisions..............

You will still save money renting the car for the extra day. A taxi will be about $20 each way and $40 should be more than the price of an extra day. BTW, you may be penalized for returning a car early.

 

[iwannbindisnee]

Robin B-just pm'd you on your previous stay on Kuaui ( I think you stayed there) Feel free to post here I wasn't sure if I should put my specific questions on Kuaui here or not, since alot of peole seem to want to know about Hawaii & Ohau. Thanks!
Also, if anyone else has info on Kuaui--good restaurants or a boat excursion co. that's better than others, etc. Let me know--we leave in 2 1/2 weeks!!Deb

 

[chris1gill]

Wow...It LOOKED like a great deal. I was pretty excited to think I was saving about $75 on my car. BUT while the initial quote page says all taxes are included when you read the terms and conditions it says car taxes are not included. I called AA Vacations and they said no, car taxes are never included in the prices and they would be payable to the rental counter when we picked up the car. I figured in the taxes and we would have paid more if I'd booked with AA vacations. The website is very misleading.

What price are you currently paying for a car rental? I figured a Convertible or Wrangler for 225.00 was the very best I could do? I know the 180 is before taxes, but taxes should run in the 45.00 range.... It was at least a hundred less than other convertible rentals? Is there a better deal out there?

 

[Skatermom23]

You will still save money renting the car for the extra day. A taxi will be about $20 each way and $40 should be more than the price of an extra day. BTW, you may be penalized for returning a car early.

Agreed! We arrive at 11:30PM and I figure we will get the car a little after midnight. We will drop it off around 8-9pm when we leave. It is worth it to us. Not sure about being penalized. I think that only happends when you use a weekly rate and then return it early. If you are up front and get a daily rate (for anything less than a week) you will be okay.

 

[my3kids]

chris1gill: We are getting an SUV in the summer for close to 2 weeks so hard to compare. But, the cheapest anywhere has been through Costco. From the Costco website's travel area I went to Alamo and got the car and a coupon there. It is already at least a hundred dollars cheaper than other agencies so I don't feel too bad. I think we're paying about $550.

 

[crisrn2003]

We got AWESOME airline tickets, DH found an error and we got all 4 tickets for $500!! (including tax!!!) That's the only reason we are going to Hawaii! LOL

I am so envious! That's wonderful--congrats! We're (tentatively) going in summer 2007 with DH, DS 13, DD 8, DM, and my DF. We're going to plan on staying on Oahu where theres alot to do with the kids, lots of time on the beach.
Anyone with great info or tips, please feel free to pass them on. My parents have been 3 times, but they've never been with kids.

 

[dgaston]

Great thread! Wish I had seen this sooner. DH and I decided to cruise Hawaii with NCL. We do know about the down sides to FreeStyle Cruising (sailed to Bermuda from Boston on NCL), but this is our first trip to Hawaii, and I figured it was a good way to visit four islands -- Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai. While I would love to say we'll be back, just can't guarantee that. Our cruise is 7/24 to 7/31