Budget Gods! What's an afforable way to see Aulani!

[CampbellzSoup]

I thought I would come and ask you guys as it just seems like a TON of money for the flight and then to stay there? Someone was telling me about Disney Vacation Club? I can rent points? Can you guys assist me I would love you forever

 

[wvjules]

What do you consider affordable?

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I'm thinking 3 to 4 thousand for 2 people?

 

[*pixie*dust*]

How long do you want to go? Where are you coming from? Flights alone will run around 2K (depending on location) for much of the year.

The least expensive room in the lowest season is 17 points per day. Rentals run around $14-18 per point. So 5 nights would be 85 points or around $1400.

That puts you at $3400 before car rental, food or any activities. Could you wait a bit longer and save up some more?

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I'm not a member yet I wish I could but time sharing is not for me but I thought maybe if people weren't staying there or had no need to use it someone could rent their week from them? 3400 with flight isn't bad as staying on property is good enough no?

 

[JanaDee]

I'm thinking 3 to 4 thousand for 2 people?

Double that and then you'll have a workable Hawaii budget.

 

[FireflyTrance]

The affordable way I will be going there is to use American Airlines frequent flier miles on the flight and car rental, and probably rent a vacation club studio or hotel room, most likely in September or October, when I think there will be more availability. I think we will only stay at Aulani 3-4 nights, and then stay somewhere less expensive for another 3-4 nights.

Aulani Vacation Club Rental 4 nights Sept - $952 - $1008
A second cheaper hotel for 3 more nights - $400ish
Car rental - using AA miles
Flights - using AA miles
Food - $700 (going to attempt to keep this at $100/a day. Hoping to use the rental car to buy some groceries)
Misc spending - $500 (various outings - want to go to the zoo, pearl harbor, dole plantation.)

I am aiming to keep the trip at around $2500, though probably it will go a little over that.

If you think it is difficult to get that many frequent flier miles, it actually isn't, you just need to be willing to open credit cards to get the sign up bonuses. One sign up bonus is usually enough for at least one round trip ticket, and so if you have a spouse and you each do it, that cuts back a lot on your costs. Many of them waive the annual fee the first year, then you can either cancel the next year, or keep it if you think the benefits are worthwhile. If you know what you are doing, the impact on your credit should be minimal, but I wouldn't suggest doing it if you are about to get a mortgage or car loan.

If you have tons of AA miles, you can actually use them to stay at Aulani, or many different hotels, but I don't have enough for that.

 

[*pixie*dust*]

I'm not a member yet I wish I could but time sharing is not for me but I thought maybe if people weren't staying there or had no need to use it someone could rent their week from them? 3400 with flight isn't bad as staying on property is good enough no?

Disney's timeshare (refered to as Disney's Vacation Club or DVC) is point based, not week based. The figures I gave above were if you rented someone else's points for the 5 days in a hotel style room (no kitchen). Aulani is not close to the airport or the city, so you would need a rental car. Also, everything is quite expensive in Hawaii, including food. As beautiful as Aulani is, I cannot imagine not venturing out and seeing some of the island. I think you should consider saving up some more so you have enough wiggle room to enjoy your trip.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

The most affordable way is to read someone's Aulani trip report. A virtual vacation only cost your time spent reading.

 

[platamama]

I would echo Firefly Trance's rec about using miles for the airfare if you can; credit card signups are the fastest way to build those up (assuming you pay off your full balance every month!).

Our family of 3 went to the Big Island for a week this past spring, and including everything (food, activities, lodging, car rental etc.) the trip cost ~ $2300 because we paid for the airfare with miles. Though it wasn't Aulani...

I saw Aulani packages on Costco Travel - you could check that out.

 

[kathy884]

Aluani / flight to Hawaii and affordable? Sound like an oxymoron to me.

 

[AZMermaid]

We are a family of four going to Aulani in June.

Flights $2200, $536 each direct Phoenix to Honolulu 7 nights
1 bedroom villa pool view, 322 points (if I consider 1.5 years dues, approx $1600, DVC is paid off)
Food- haven't calculated this, but we plan on cooking 4 dinners, 4 lunches and 6 breakfasts in our villa
Rental car- hoping for under $200
Extras- 2 cabana days $600 ( we might drop second day, depends on how the chair situation is playing out) surf lessons for my 4 year old and me $200, misc $200

Total factoring dues costs, $5000 plus food, so probably $6000

 

[hopemax]

We used David's DVC rentals to book 2 nights at Aulani. We checked in early, and our flight didn't leave until 10PM, so we essentially had 3 days there. That was early Sept, weekdays, Ocean View Studio and it was $700. New year, new rates, so probably a bit more now. But it was about half of what it would have been booking direct from Disney. I tried to find cheaper hotels elsewhere, but by the time you added parking and resort fees, Aulani ended up looking downright reasonable!

We also stayed 5 nights in a cottage rental in Kailua which was right on the beach, for $135/night. It was an older building, and definitely showed its age in places, but it worked for what we needed. We used Pat's Kailua Beach Properties for that.

Between the two, we were able to balance the costs. Car Rental was pretty cheap, all things considered. Used http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/ and a Premium turned out cheaper than the Compact. But we splurged on airfare, and flew non-stop. You can get good deals flying out of West Coast cities, including Phoenix and Las Vegas, and so if you can get there cheaply via Southwest or something, it can come out cheaper than flying direct from home, but it can take much more time.

 

[TnTWalter]

we did this for our family of 5.

You have to sign up for Alaska Airlines Visa. It has a $99 annual fee that you pay up front. You then get a companion ticket for $118 after tax. So you would buy your ticket and pay $118 [plus $99 annual fee] for the 2nd person. We live in Indiana but drove to Chicago. If you live on West coast, this would be a great deal! Hawaiin Airlines also have a good points system that might be advantageous if you live near a hub. You get this companion fare every year too if you want to keep the card.

My husband and I each signed up for visas. We also each got 30k points for signing up. We paid $99 each for the annual fee, then paid $118 each for 2 kids. We used our points for the 3rd kid. So we spent about $2500 for 5 of us to fly into Oahu and home from Maui in Summer from the Midwest.

Since you are flying in and out of Oahu, you might research flight pricing in your area and if there are typically deals it might be cheaper to do it that way.

Check out the DVC rent/trade board to see what points are going for. Look at the points you would need at tagrel. Or you could always just plan a dinner or something and tour the place.

There's a great thread on here about a gal that went to Oahu/Aulani and Kauai....found it.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2986038

We did 17 days 5 people 3 islands [so 2 extra flights and car rentals more expensive because of 3 islands] for under $15k. We did hotel on Oahu and condos through vrbo on Kauai and Maui. This was a big holiday for us and we saved for several years...but ouch!

book car as soon as you can discounthawaiicarrental you don't need a credit card and can cancel anytime. Check back often and when it goes down book another and cancel the first. [Our Maui car rental went down $100 ].

Good luck and Aloha!

Trish

 

[tlens]

We did Hawaii from Toronto for 4 people for 6K. We didn't stay at Aulani but spent a week on Maui and 4 nights on Oahu.

We bought Go Oahu cards and that saved us $$. We had a great time.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We drive to Seattle or Bellingham for good fares. Often in the $300 range. We rent a house on the North Shore for 7 nights. Then we spend two nights at Aulani on DVC points.

 

[crisi]

Where are you flying out of? - that can make a big difference with Hawaii. Its possible to get bargain flights from Phoenix, LA or Seattle, nearly impossible from Chicago or Minneapolis or Oklahoma City and somewhere in between on the East Coast. I have friends near San Francisco that wait for a deal and hop on a plane - they are a couple and their whole vacation comes in around $2k for a week in Hawaii - but they are retired, can travel on a moments notice, get to take advantage of great airfare, and aren't picky about where they stay. My uncle and his wife go for almost free - she is a flight attendant and they stay with friends.

Aulani is very popular with DVC members, which means that you'll need an Aulani owner and you'll need to book more than 7 months in advance to be sure to be able to go when you want - that means that you can't play with airfare, your hotel reservation will be written in stone. OR, you can go to Hawaii on bargain airfare, then hope that there are Aulani points available to rent when you are ready to book accommodations but the closer you are to travel, the less likely there will be room at the inn.

Frequent flyer miles CAN depending on the program - be difficult to use to get to Hawaii. Are they available to you? If so, which program are your miles on?

Most of Hawaii you'll need a rental car for - and they don't tend to be cheap. Certainly you'd need one if you stay at Aulani. Gas, groceries and dining out tends to be more expensive than the mainland - so be prepared. Although there are plenty of bargains to be found.

Hawaii can be a cheap vacation - but unless you have access to frequent flyer miles or live in a place where bargain airfare happens - transportation will eat up $1000+ a person. Aulani isn't a cheap resort, even if you rent points - there are better bargains in Hawaii - and PLENTY of timeshare rentals. Even at Aulani you'll pay a room tax (its the only DVC resort where you need to), which adds to the cost.

 

[jenniy122]

Become a Disney employee. We get a great discount on rooms at the resort.

 

[TmlndSpdwy03]

I might be in the minority but Aulani is kind of in the middle of no where (IMO) on the Island. I personally wouldnt want to spend a full week there (based on what we enjoyed doing when we went which was hiking, snorkeling, eating at places off the resort, I dont like cooking on vacation).

You have to drive 45 min (at a minimum) to get anywhere (north shore, waikiki, hiking trails, more pupular beaches/snorkle locations) so maybe split your stay? Do 2-3 nights at Aulani (it is a beautiful resort and the coves/beaches it is on are beautiful also) and then maybe do 4-5 nights in Waikiki at a more economically priced resort. When we priced out airfare, it was $400 cheaper per person to travel wed-fri then it would have been to travel sat-sun. So look for mid-week travel dates.

Splitting the stay could make the trip more affordable. A rental car is a must IMO though.

 

[JanaDee]

Where are you flying out of? - that can make a big difference with Hawaii. Its possible to get bargain flights from Phoenix, LA or Seattle, nearly impossible from Chicago or Minneapolis or Oklahoma City and somewhere in between on the East Coast. I have friends near San Francisco that wait for a deal and hop on a plane - they are a couple and their whole vacation comes in around $2k for a week in Hawaii - but they are retired, can travel on a moments notice, get to take advantage of great airfare, and aren't picky about where they stay. My uncle and his wife go for almost free - she is a flight attendant and they stay with friends.

Aulani is very popular with DVC members, which means that you'll need an Aulani owner and you'll need to book more than 7 months in advance to be sure to be able to go when you want - that means that you can't play with airfare, your hotel reservation will be written in stone. OR, you can go to Hawaii on bargain airfare, then hope that there are Aulani points available to rent when you are ready to book accommodations but the closer you are to travel, the less likely there will be room at the inn.

Frequent flyer miles CAN depending on the program - be difficult to use to get to Hawaii. Are they available to you? If so, which program are your miles on?

Most of Hawaii you'll need a rental car for - and they don't tend to be cheap. Certainly you'd need one if you stay at Aulani. Gas, groceries and dining out tends to be more expensive than the mainland - so be prepared. Although there are plenty of bargains to be found.

Hawaii can be a cheap vacation - but unless you have access to frequent flyer miles or live in a place where bargain airfare happens - transportation will eat up $1000+ a person. Aulani isn't a cheap resort, even if you rent points - there are better bargains in Hawaii - and PLENTY of timeshare rentals. Even at Aulani you'll pay a room tax (its the only DVC resort where you need to), which adds to the cost.

We've been pricing out Hawaii airfare at different times of the year and from the middle of the Midwest, it is going to be between $900 and $1200 per person just for airfare. Ouch.