Aulani &/or Cabungahouse Points?

[Genie+]

Have you been before? Hawaii I mean?

Never. So I’m definitely contemplating! We need to go at least once. FOR SURE!

While I’d like to do more of Hawaii, an Aulani vacation alone could still be worthwhile. We are thinking of a DL trip in 2027 and could spring off that maybe. Then we’re also interested in a UK/France trip with 2 days at DL there. And 82 year old PopPop wants to go to Tokyo with my adult kids… soonish. We all recently had a great Italy trip together. The problem is time/money lol. It’ll be a miracle if we accomplish all of this by 2030!

 

[intamin]

I’d like to hear what you think of TT

I'm really excited! Everyone seems to like the new changes and I've prevented myself from watching videos on it so far. I just hope they get the doors working again. I really hate it when they just leave the crash doors open to the outside

 

[VGCgroupie]

Of course I had to go torture myself looking at a flight and AUL availability around Halloween.
I’d take any studio as they seem fairly priced for every view, and it doesn’t have the Fri/Sat surcharge like WDW.

Round trip on Hawaiian out of JFK $722 nonstop with carryon & personal item.

Land 2pm on Thursday, with a flight back home leaving 4pm on Tuesday.

Ocean view available. 5 nights x 26pts = 130pts.

So tempting!!! It’s over 11 hours for the flights - EACH WAY. That flight is tough to swallow. The price isn’t too bad since we wouldn’t need to buy park tickets. The ocean, pool, resort and balcony is all the entertainment we’d need. Well that and our sparkly wristband

For us it the flight time. Only 7 hours but .. ugh so long. If you have miles or points you can get flights much cheaper. You can also setup alerts on Google flights and they will notify you when flight prices drop.

We love the point chart at Aulani since we always have to include a weekend in our stays.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Never. So I’m definitely contemplating! We need to go at least once. FOR SURE!

While I’d like to do more of Hawaii, an Aulani vacation alone could still be worthwhile. We are thinking of a DL trip in 2027 and could spring off that maybe. Then we’re also interested in a UK/France trip with 2 days at DL there. And 82 year old PopPop wants to go to Tokyo with my adult kids… soonish. We all recently had a great Italy trip together. The problem is time/money lol. It’ll be a miracle if we accomplish all of this by 2030!

Lots of flights stop in Honolulu then make their way to Japan. You can often book an extended layover to avoid the price of 2 flights.

 

[Genie+]

Lots of flights stop in Honolulu then make their way to Japan. You can often book an extended layover to avoid the price of 2 flights.

That is a great idea! Maybe we can condense 2 vacations into a 17 day trip. DL 5 nights, Tokyo 9 nights, AUL 3 nights.

It’s 6hrs to LAX, 11.5hrs from there to Tokyo, 6hrs back to AUL, then 11.5hrs home.

35 hours total in the sky. Sounds like alot, but doing Tokyo alone is 28hrs.

Adding the DL/AUL trip only adds 7hrs, when it would be 23hrs otherwise.

Shaves 16 hours of flight time and thousands in airfare. Thanks! It hadn’t crossed my mind, and it helps break up that 14+ hour flight to Tokyo. Let’s see what my family thinks.

 

[VGCgroupie]

That is a great idea! Maybe we can condense 2 vacations into a 17 day trip. DL 5 nights, Tokyo 9 nights, AUL 3 nights.

It’s 6hrs to LAX, 11.5hrs from there to Tokyo, 6hrs back to AUL, then 11.5hrs home.

35 hours total in the sky. Sounds like alot, but doing Tokyo alone is 28hrs.

Adding the DL/AUL trip only adds 7hrs, when it would be 23hrs otherwise.

Shaves 16 hours of flight time and thousands in airfare. Thanks! It hadn’t crossed my mind, and it helps break up that 14+ hour flight to Tokyo. Let’s see what my family thinks.

Sounds like an amazing time

 

[intamin]

That is a great idea! Maybe we can condense 2 vacations into a 17 day trip. DL 5 nights, Tokyo 9 nights, AUL 3 nights.

It’s 6hrs to LAX, 11.5hrs from there to Tokyo, 6hrs back to AUL, then 11.5hrs home.

35 hours total in the sky. Sounds like alot, but doing Tokyo alone is 28hrs.

Adding the DL/AUL trip only adds 7hrs, when it would be 23hrs otherwise.

Shaves 16 hours of flight time and thousands in airfare. Thanks! It hadn’t crossed my mind, and it helps break up that 14+ hour flight to Tokyo. Let’s see what my family thinks.

If you need tips booking for Tokyo Disney lmk! I managed to snag 5 nights at Fantasy Springs hotel for later this summer! The last time I went I swear they locked down that hotel stricter than area 51, couldn't even walk into the lobby without staying there. I thought I had found a loophole by booking a vacation package that allowed me to eat at the restaurant but they literally had security preventing me from being able to enter the lobby. I refuse to be denied entry again

 

[JackosinDIS]

I'm really excited! Everyone seems to like the new changes and I've prevented myself from watching videos on it so far. I just hope they get the doors working again. I really hate it when they just leave the crash doors open to the outside

Better than being allowed to use humans as a bettering ram though
That aside, I can’t wait to try it out in August!

 

[Chili327]

I would go with whichever you can get a sub contract in unless you it will 100% conflict with when you travel. Id have to go some research to see which has mire sub June or Sept

Yes, my busy time of year for business is April - Sept, so I won’t do a lot of vacationing during that time, but Aulani and DLR are definitely more likely than WDW.

Nobody filters for SUB. The first clue is a larger per point cost. 2nd clue is use year. 3rd often brokers will add in the listing notes that it is subsidized. I bought 2 that were not notated as sub but they were.

Jeez, if I could find a sub contract that was priced regularly… AND in my UY, that’s a definite unicorn, holy grail.!!

More likely to be able to use at 7 months at WDW then VGC so I vote September

Sept is priority, but June could work, and technically. April or Aug aren’t the end of the world.

 

[AwfulWaffle]

I feel you. I'd love to go to Aul every year, but that flight is a tough swallow for me.

I feel you. We are a family of five and it does sting quite a bit but if you are real diligent with your search and flexible I have actually
Found cheaper flights from BNA to HNL then I have to MCO. There are deals out there to be found but it’s still a tough pill to swallow.
We usually do countries to LAX and round drip from which ever island is cheaper. We hit up Disneyland from LA for a couple of days then island hop. Last time was Maui but the time before was the big island. Very rarely can we snag a cheap flight to HNL but island hops are cheap and it’s a way we get to see a new part of the map each time we go. Maybe Kauai one day

 

[AwfulWaffle]

I feel you. We are a family of five and it does sting quite a bit but if you are real diligent with your search and flexible I have actually
Found cheaper flights from BNA to HNL then I have to MCO. There are deals out there to be found but it’s still a tough pill to swallow.
We usually do countries to LAX and round drip from which ever island is cheaper. We hit up Disneyland from LA for a couple of days then island hop. Last time was Maui but the time before was the big island. Very rarely can we snag a cheap flight to HNL but island hops are cheap and it’s a way we get to see a new part of the map each time we go. Maybe Kauai one day

And luckily now we own at VGC so it might be a little easier to not stay at the Hilton during our LA layover

 

[intamin]

I feel you. We are a family of five and it does sting quite a bit but if you are real diligent with your search and flexible I have actually
Found cheaper flights from BNA to HNL then I have to MCO. There are deals out there to be found but it’s still a tough pill to swallow.
We usually do countries to LAX and round drip from which ever island is cheaper. We hit up Disneyland from LA for a couple of days then island hop. Last time was Maui but the time before was the big island. Very rarely can we snag a cheap flight to HNL but island hops are cheap and it’s a way we get to see a new part of the map each time we go. Maybe Kauai one day

Woof, I applaud you guys for making the trip out there with 5 people. The flights already hurt with just my partner and I from the East Coast to HNL. Planning to move back to the West Coast in a couple years though so that should cut out at least half of the flight and make directs a lot easier and hopefully cheaper. How is island hopping from HNL? I am still yet to do it, I've been fully exploring Oahu and have a pretty extensive list of food places I still need to eat at

 

[AwfulWaffle]

Woof, I applaud you guys for making the trip out there with 5 people. The flights already hurt with just my partner and I from the East Coast to HNL. Planning to move back to the West Coast in a couple years though so that should cut out at least half of the flight and make directs a lot easier and hopefully cheaper. How is island hopping from HNL? I am still yet to do it, I've been fully exploring Oahu and have a pretty extensive list of food places I still need to eat at

We love it. We do 3 to 5 days of exploring a new island then take a 30 minute to one hour hopper back to Honolulu so we can relax at Aulani for 5 days. We try not to overload with stuff because of how expensive travel here is but we still find a way to have fun and see one thing new. Keeps us coming back if we do it in small doses

 

[Chili327]

Maybe Kauai one day

Kauai is the only island I haven’t done… can’t wait to do it and Aulani on my next trip to Hawaii.!!

 

[Lorana]

Kauai is the only island I haven’t done… can’t wait to do it and Aulani on my next trip to Hawaii.!!

Same!! We did a big Hawaii trip pre-covid and did Big Island, Maui, Lanai, and then ended on Oahu.
Not sure when we'll make it back out again, but Kauai with Oahu/Aulani at the end is the goal.

 

[Chili327]

Not sure when we'll make it back out again, but Kauai with Oahu/Aulani at the end is the goal.

The dream!!

 

[Chili327]

Crunching some numbers… just looking for some confirmation I’m thinking correctly.

A subsidized contract of 160 points is about $9.50 pp different in dues over the 36 years left? ($1217.44 > $1174.40) ***
If that math is correct, that’s all a sub contract is really worth is $10/pp ?? So if you can get Aulani for under $100/pp you’re actually saving in the long run over a sub contract?

*** I can’t figure out how I came up with $9.50/pp, so now I’m lost again. lol

 

[VGCgroupie]

Crunching some numbers… just looking for some confirmation I’m thinking correctly.

A subsidized contract of 160 points is about $9.50 pp different in dues over the 36 years left? ($1217.44 > $1174.40) ***
If that math is correct, that’s all a sub contract is really worth is $10/pp ?? So if you can get Aulani for under $100/pp you’re actually saving in the long run over a sub contract?

*** I can’t figure out how I came up with $9.50/pp, so now I’m lost again. lol

Calculating ...

Nope I dont think thats right. I calculate about $12,061

Edit to add this might not be the exact numbers but pretty close. We haven’t updated the sheet to reflect less years remaining since when we made it.
Edit again: I fixed it in my next posts

 

[Chili327]

Calculating ...

Nope I dont think thats right. I calculate about $12,061


View attachment 983458

First thing I notice is I was using wrong amounts for dues. lol (not $10.12 and $7.61)

Hmm, so about $400 per year x 36 = $14k, which would probably be pretty accurate for the remainder of the contract, but just based on this year alone, that would be $400 in dues / 160 = $2.50/pp? (2.5x36=90… but $90/pp can’t be the answer.!?)

This is crazy. lol
What am I doing wrong here, what is the cost per point difference amount needed to get a regular Aulani contract for to make it worth it over a Sub?

I feel like I’m losing my mind.

 

[VGCgroupie]

First thing I notice is I was using wrong amounts for dues. lol (not $10.12 and $7.61)

Hmm, so about $400 per year x 36 = $14k, which would probably be pretty accurate for the remainder of the contract, but just based on this year alone, that would be $400 in dues / 160 = $2.50/pp? (2.5x36=90… but $90/pp can’t be the answer.!?)

This is crazy. lol
What am I doing wrong here, what is the cost per point difference amount needed to get a regular Aulani contract for to make it worth it over a Sub?

I feel like I’m losing my mind.

I can check that for you. I remember doing the math and it blew my mind.