Booking a luau

[DRUMZ2B]

We will be going to Aulani in January and I was looking to book a luau online.
Germaines seems to have a good one. Anyway to my question. Germaines site has pricing at 72.00 and another 3rd party site Hawaii discounts has them priced at 54.00. I was wondering if anyone has had any experiance dealing with Hawaii discounts?

 

[aymekae]

As a disclaimer, I've never been to Hawaii, but we just bought into Aulani and so I've been doing some preliminary planning. It looks like the "Go Oahu Card" is a really good deal if you're planning on hitting many of the attractions and experiences Oahu has to offer. It says "access to 37 attractions", and includes Pearl Harbor, snorkeling, Dole Pineapple Express Train, Polynesian Cultural Center, etc. When you said Germaine's, it rang a bell. I guess if you buy at least a 3 day pass, you can choose a Germaine's luau as a free bonus attraction. Costco has even a steeper discount on the card, too. I *believe* a 3 day adult card was $145 at Costco, but don't quote me on that. Since this will be our first Hawaii visit, I think we are planning on doing a lot of touring around Oahu, so this card makes sense for us instead of paying at each place, or trying to keep track of coupons for all!

 

[floridaminnie]

Here's some reviews on the cards:

http://www.smartdestinations.com/city-attraction-cards/template.ep?template=productAlt&dest=HIO&prod=HIO_Prod_Go&GCID=GOOGLE-oahu-GOCARD-gbc&gclid=CMm8lYb3na0CFdGR7QodORzqnQ

 

[Dean]

We will be going to Aulani in January and I was looking to book a luau online.
Germaines seems to have a good one. Anyway to my question. Germaines site has pricing at 72.00 and another 3rd party site Hawaii discounts has them priced at 54.00. I was wondering if anyone has had any experiance dealing with Hawaii discounts?

Be careful, some of the discounts for some sites require a timeshare tour. Check with the resort to see if they have any discount options. Tickets at work may have discounts if you have access. Military, AAA, etc should offer discounts as well. It's been a while since I saw 2 for 1 but you might want to look to be sure.

 

[lilpooh108]

I've never used Hawaii Discounts but I've used http://www.fun-hawaii.com/ to book Paradise Cove luau tix last year. It is not hard to find discounted luau tickets once you get to Oahu (mostly in Waikiki, not Ko'Olina).

I've been to the Paradise Cove luau 3 times and have never paid full price. I've only used fun hawaii once in 2010 (bought 6 tickets, worked just fine). The precautions I took were using a one-time use credit card number which my Visa card generates online and buying very close to the luau date so that I could dispute the charge w/my CC company if anything went wrong. No timeshare attendance necessary. I don't work for the company or anything, and haven't used them since 2010 or for any other purpose.

There are a number of reputable tour consolidators in Waikiki that also sell discounted tickets. Do a search on google and you will find them (usually have B&M stores).

Do heed Dean's advice and make sure you don't accidentally end up buying discounted tickets from timeshare salespeople.

On the DVC website, there is a DVC discount of some type for Germaine's. I believe DVC'ers get a free child's ticket w/purchase of an adult ticket. If tour consolidators make you nervous, I'd probably use that discount instead.

Another random tip you didn't ask for: I would find out the dates for the Starlit Hui for your January stay. I've been to a number of luaus on different islands and I thought that the Disney production for the Starlit Hui was one of the better choreographed perfomances I've seen. The show is 45 minutes and the only thing really "missing" (if you can call it that for a free show) was a polynesian fire dance at the end. The production was comparable to some of the best shows that I've seen. I wouldn't pay for a luau and skip the Starlit Hui. In fact, I would do a luau first (if that's what you prefer to do) and do the Starlit Hui second to compare the two.

 

[1EvilQueenfan]

We went to Hawaii about 5 years ago and did Germane's Luau. We really enjoyed it. I did purchase discount tickets on line in advanced. Unfortunately, I don't remember what website I used.

We have an up coming trip in January and I purchased the Entertainment book for Hawaii. In it there is a coupon for 25% off for up to 4 adult tickets.

You can also check out on line Discover-Ohau and Ohau.us

Hope this was helpful.

 

[stitch'sgirl]

I just used Hawaii Discounts for my Paradise Cove tickets. I purchased on my smartphone, and then printed the tickets at the Business Center here at Aulani. Very easy.

 

[NoMatter]

did you have a preference between Paradise Cove Luau and Germanes? Seems like if staying at AUlani we would go to either of these instead of driving back to the city??
Also for those having used the Go Oahu card, it seems like a lot of the perks like bike riding, snorkling, catamarn etc are so far away from Aualni that it would take a few hours to drive back and forth daily. Any opinions if only going to be at the resort for a week with two teens who I know will just love the fun and sun of the resort. As always thank you so much for helping.

 

[Dean]

did you have a preference between Paradise Cove Luau and Germanes? Seems like if staying at AUlani we would go to either of these instead of driving back to the city??
Also for those having used the Go Oahu card, it seems like a lot of the perks like bike riding, snorkling, catamarn etc are so far away from Aualni that it would take a few hours to drive back and forth daily. Any opinions if only going to be at the resort for a week with two teens who I know will just love the fun and sun of the resort. As always thank you so much for helping.

Ratings and reports would normally put the PCC Luau and show at the top with Germaine's second and Paradise Cove and Royal Hawaiian tied for last. I don't know if Sea Life Park is still doing the Luau but if they are, it might be a unique option though about s far away from the DVC resort as possible. We'er generally preferred Luau's on Maui and Kauai and the reviews would often support that impression.

 

[HD1]

We buy the entertainment book for $10-15 before we visit Hawaii every time! save 25% on PC Luau and a lot of other places from golf to Subway sandwiches! It takes about a month to receive it, so plan accordingly! We love it. When we leave, we just find someone and give it away to them!

 

[salemk]

We will be going to Aulani in January and I was looking to book a luau online.
Germaines seems to have a good one. Anyway to my question. Germaines site has pricing at 72.00 and another 3rd party site Hawaii discounts has them priced at 54.00. I was wondering if anyone has had any experiance dealing with Hawaii discounts?

The Fia Fia luau which is at the Marriott 2 resorts down from Aulani blows away both Germaines & Paradise Cove. I been to all 3 luau's & Fia Fia is easily the best. Don't trust me, just check out the reviews online. Only issues people usually have is it's only on Tuesday night's, a bit more pricey & not sure if there are any discounts. Hope that helps.

 

[DRUMZ2B]

The One We ultimately attended was FIA FIA. And it turned out to be awesome. Our whole family was entertained from start to finish. The Chief was LOL Funny . And very Informative about the culture..................I will continue to go to this show on all of our future trips to the area. You can walk there from Aulani.

 

[Dean]

We buy the entertainment book for $10-15 before we visit Hawaii every time! save 25% on PC Luau and a lot of other places from golf to Subway sandwiches! It takes about a month to receive it, so plan accordingly! We love it. When we leave, we just find someone and give it away to them!

They just went bankrupt but it seems there is a buyout in the works and that they will cont to offer the book options. I honestly don't know much more than that though.