Aulani in August

[lovetotraveltx]

Anybody going to Aulani in August

 

[Anal Annie]

Hoping we will "get in" once our 7 mo. window rolls around in a few weeks. We were lucky enough to be able to book both VGC and Aulani for this past August but 8 days out our DS had a medical emergency and wasn't allowed to fly for 3 weeks so we had to cancel the whole trip:worried. I am worried that we won't have the same luck again 2 years in a row...

 

[TinkandGoofy'sMom]

We are!! August 9 to 19th at Aulani, then a week on the Big Island. Can hardly wait!!

 

[lovetotraveltx]

We are!! August 9 to 19th at Aulani, then a week on the Big Island. Can hardly wait!!

We'll just miss you we leave the 9th for Maui!

 

[lovetotraveltx]

Hoping we will "get in" once our 7 mo. window rolls around in a few weeks. We were lucky enough to be able to book both VGC and Aulani for this past August but 8 days out our DS had a medical emergency and wasn't allowed to fly for 3 weeks so we had to cancel the whole trip:worried. I am worried that we won't have the same luck again 2 years in a row...

I remember that last year what time frame are you trying to get at Aulani?

 

[disneypoor]

We will be there August 2nd-8th. Can't wait!!!!

 

[Spokavegas]

We're hoping to book Aug 25th-31st for the Washington vs Hawaii football game- been planning it for FOUR YEARS, and scared that I should have rented home resort points, but keeping my fingers crossed for January!!

Go Huskies!

 

[Anal Annie]

I remember that last year what time frame are you trying to get at Aulani?

I haven't really gone over the plan yet with DH but he won't care how I plan it I don't think. I think our best plan will be to try to visit DL for a few nights then fly to HNL and check in at Aulani on Thurs 8/7 and leave for Maui a week later on the 14th… From the sounds of this thread so far it sounds like those dates will overlap with a lot of ya'll here.

I think this year with the higher airfares we can't afford to fly on the weekends. I was looking at air this morning (we HAVE to use Alaska Airline for SOME of our flights as that's what we did last year so that's where the bulk of our credit is coming from). It is about $200 cheaper pp to leave to return home on Sun. vs Sat. It would go down even more if we waited until Monday BUT that would mean checking into Aulani on a Friday and I hear it gets pretty booked up for the weekends so I am afraid that the availability for the lower views could be gone - I think our odds will be better to try to check-in on a weekday. Last year we had enough pts. to book an OV but this yr. we have 100 fewer pts. to work with so I have to plan a little harder.

I went ahead and called Starwood this morning and took care of booking 3 nights on Maui and now I have to hope they will work out with the rest of the plan. We only had enough SPG points to book 2 nights at the Sheraton Ka'anapali so I did that then I added 1 more night on cash. Last yr. I waited to book it until after I had booked VGC and Aulani and by then there was no availability left for rooms on points so we had to book the Westin. They increased the point requirements there since then so now we don't even have enough pts. to book ONE night there. I was afraid to wait any longer and risk losing the Sheraton again as it was the only Starwood property that we had enough pts. for. I booked the cash night as the 3rd night but can always move it to the front end of the ressie if I need to juggle the dates a little bit.

Such stress!! I am so, sooo tempted to book airfare while I see a good rate but I am afraid to jinx the whole plan. I just need to hope it holds steady for a couple more weeks...

 

[lovetotraveltx]

We will be there August 2nd-8th. Can't wait!!!!

Exactly like us! You booked already? Who is in your party?

 

[disneypoor]

Exactly like us! You booked already? Who is in your party?

Hi! It will be myself, my husband, my best friend, my daughter and her boyfriend, and my son. We are so excited!!

We booked the second that we could! We have a one bedroom and a studio booked. I'm debating on changing to a two bedroom when the seven month window gets here but don't want to use my BLT points. My friend owns at Aulani too, so I used my Aulani points and she used hers so we can't combine since some are banked and borrowed.

Susan

 

[lovetotraveltx]

Hi! It will be myself, my husband, my best friend, my daughter and her boyfriend, and my son. We are so excited!!

We booked the second that we could! We have a one bedroom and a studio booked. I'm debating on changing to a two bedroom when the seven month window gets here but don't want to use my BLT points. My friend owns at Aulani too, so I used my Aulani points and she used hers so we can't combine since some are banked and borrowed.

Susan

We are very excited too. Just hoping we can book on the 7-month window.

If you got a 2-bedroom lock off, which would be the same configuration, is it a lot more points?

 

[JessLCH]

Crossing fingers (depending on 7 month availability) that we will check in at the end of August for 6 nights following stays on the Big Island and Maui. Three weeks in Hawaii planned for this summer! Cannot wait!

 

[lovetotraveltx]

Crossing fingers (depending on 7 month availability) that we will check in at the end of August for 6 nights following stays on the Big Island and Maui. Three weeks in Hawaii planned for this summer! Cannot wait!

That's awesome! Where are you staying on Maui?

 

[disneypoor]

We are very excited too. Just hoping we can book on the 7-month window. If you got a 2-bedroom lock off, which would be the same configuration, is it a lot more points?

Our issue is that we are using our points, and my friend is using hers. We can't combine all of them for a 2 bedroom because we bother either banked or borrowed for our reservations and you can't transfer banked or borrowed points. I could use our BLT points at 7 months but don't want to run myself short for future trips.

The answer to your question--I wish we could do the two bedroom lockoff but no way to do it with the points we currently used.

No matter what, we will be in Hawaii. Heck, I could sleep on the beach and be happy! Counting down our days!!!

Susan

 

[JonLouisB]

While you can't transfer banked or borrowed points, you can link two reservations together. This means you would book as many days as you can with your points and your friend would book the days immediately after the days you booked, then you can ask member services to link the reservations. We did this last year at Aulani. I booked 3 nights and my mom booked the following 3 nights, our party had a 2 bedroom for 6 nights total. You should ask about this option.

 

[disneypoor]

While you can't transfer banked or borrowed points, you can link two reservations together. This means you would book as many days as you can with your points and your friend would book the days immediately after the days you booked, then you can ask member services to link the reservations. We did this last year at Aulani. I booked 3 nights and my mom booked the following 3 nights, our party had a 2 bedroom for 6 nights total. You should ask about this option.

I never would have thought of this! Thank you SO much for posting this! I think we will be calling member services to see what we can figure out. I sure love the DIS. You learn something new all the time on here. Thanks again!

Susan

 

[disneypoor]

JonLouisB,

My friend and I are in the process of combining our reservations like you suggested. We have a question though---did you have to check out and check back in and switch rooms, or were you able to stay in the same room the entire time? Thanks so much!

Susan

 

[yitbos96bb]

Anybody going to Aulani in August

We are if we can get a room... Planning last few days of Aug and first week of September for our 10th anniversary

 

[Anal Annie]

Just booked VGC and will be able to book Aulani next week. Have been stalking the website and I "think" that we will be able to get in….hoping for an IV studio with a PV as choice # 2. If both of those are booked will book an OV and wait list the IV. I feel pretty confident that we will be able to book ONE of those.

I have also been stalking the airfare - found what I considered good airfare to not fly on weekends from DC to LA and then home from Maui which is what influenced our decision on dates this time around. I had initially booked 3 n on Maui a few weeks ago with a best guess on our dates and was able to change those around yesterday to reflect this new airfare / dates. I had booked 2 n. on Starwood points and 1 night on cash at the Sheraton Ka'anapali on Maui - when I called yest. the girl who helped me was surprised at the rate they had given me for the cash night & she said she thought she might be able to do better given that we were Starwood members. She tinkered around for a few minutes and finally found a rate that was $84 less for that last night than what I'd paid before!! I WILL TAKE EVERY PENNY I CAN SAVE!! She also asked me if I still wanted a 3:00 check-in or did I want earlier and I said EARLIER as I didn't know that was even an option!! So we now have a Noon check-in there - so I will book like a 9:00 or so flight over. Anyway, since things seem to be falling in line I went ahead this morning and re-booked the 2 flights on Alaska Air that I'd found - they came in $28 pp less than what we'd spent last year so I didn't have to shell out any more money other than the $100 pp penalty they charged for our cancelation last year. It felt good to at least have the credit to use for those. Now I just have to wait for our Aulani window next week. Still a little nervous and hope I didn't jinx anything yet but feeling better that we'll be able to get something even if it's more pts. than what we wanted to use.

NOW I have to watch for a good airfare for that flight from LAX to HNL. It is still running about $180ish more pp than what we paid last year so I am hoping I will luck into a sale on SOME airline. Likewise, the inter-island hop from from HNL to Maui has gone up from $68 to $92 pp since last yr. - but at least we have that $68 pp credit coming to us too on Hawaiian Airline (as long as I book before Jan. 27th).

This vacation planning is hard work!!!

 

[lovetotraveltx]

Congrats on VGC! Good luck with Aulani. Hope we both get what we want

When you say stalking you mean putting in pretend dates for Aulani??

Just booked VGC and will be able to book Aulani next week. Have been stalking the website and I "think" that we will be able to get in….hoping for an IV studio with a PV as choice # 2. If both of those are booked will book an OV and wait list the IV. I feel pretty confident that we will be able to book ONE of those.

I have also been stalking the airfare - found what I considered good airfare to not fly on weekends from DC to LA and then home from Maui which is what influenced our decision on dates this time around. I had initially booked 3 n on Maui a few weeks ago with a best guess on our dates and was able to change those around yesterday to reflect this new airfare / dates. I had booked 2 n. on Starwood points and 1 night on cash at the Sheraton Ka'anapali on Maui - when I called yest. the girl who helped me was surprised at the rate they had given me for the cash night & she said she thought she might be able to do better given that we were Starwood members. She tinkered around for a few minutes and finally found a rate that was $84 less for that last night than what I'd paid before!! I WILL TAKE EVERY PENNY I CAN SAVE!! She also asked me if I still wanted a 3:00 check-in or did I want earlier and I said EARLIER as I didn't know that was even an option!! So we now have a Noon check-in there - so I will book like a 9:00 or so flight over. Anyway, since things seem to be falling in line I went ahead this morning and re-booked the 2 flights on Alaska Air that I'd found - they came in $28 pp less than what we'd spent last year so I didn't have to shell out any more money other than the $100 pp penalty they charged for our cancelation last year. It felt good to at least have the credit to use for those. Now I just have to wait for our Aulani window next week. Still a little nervous and hope I didn't jinx anything yet but feeling better that we'll be able to get something even if it's more pts. than what we wanted to use.

NOW I have to watch for a good airfare for that flight from LAX to HNL. It is still running about $180ish more pp than what we paid last year so I am hoping I will luck into a sale on SOME airline. Likewise, the inter-island hop from from HNL to Maui has gone up from $68 to $92 pp since last yr. - but at least we have that $68 pp credit coming to us too on Hawaiian Airline (as long as I book before Jan. 27th).

This vacation planning is hard work!!!