hawaii

[melanieewr]

One more thing that I just did for our upcoming Januaray trip...Aloha Airlines (we always use them for our interisland flights) is a partner with United. It takes 5000 United miles to purchase a round trip interisland flight with Aloha and they allow one open-jaw. Currently United is offering 10,000 FF miles to sign up for their credit card with an annual fee of $60. There are lots of ways to earn bonus miles also. Check their website at United.com

I think the last time that we went it was $360 for 6 one way flight coupons on Aloha.

Melanie

 

[thepoohbear]

I just thought of something that I should have mentioned before. I ordered the Entertainment Book for Hawaii over the internet. It gave me 50% off all of my hotels which ended up being a huge savings. I was able to book hotels that would have been out of my price range.
As far as ocean front, I would really try to swing it at least on Maui. The views there are breathtaking. You can get a really pretty city view on Oahu for much cheaper. The ocean view rooms there are SO expensive.

 

[tkldisney]

We have been to Hawaii lots of times and Maui is our favorite island. We have stayed at at the Maui Marriott several times, the Renaissance Wailea, Kapula Bay Hotel, Westin, Ritz at Kapula, & the Kea Lani Wailea. I have to say we like the Maui Marriott best, (though the Westin' pool bar has the best Mai Tai's we've ever found.) We go there every visit. The Wailea area is very very nice, but is a far drive to Lahaina and there's not much beach. Ka'anapali has the best beach if you want that. The Marriott just did total rehab (changed to include vacation club rentals) and is great. We were there last Nov. and is really nice. Great Pool!!

There's a lot to do and you can island hop to do day a trip like Pearl Harbor which is very emotional and recommended. I agree with JohnG, spend you time on one island.

Are next visit to Maui will be over Christmas in 2004. We will be taking our two nieces for there first trip. They will both be almost 13. We have no children so we get to spoil them.

 

[disneydawn6]

I used my Disney Club card with the Entertainment symbol on the back. They took it all my hotels for 50% rack rate.. We stayed at the Aston Kanapalli Villas for $80 a night Was a nice large studio with a fridge coffe maker etc. Little old but couldn't beat the price.. Could walk to the Sharaton, Westin, Mariott Hyatt etc.

 

[eva]

Hey bluesfan, we are neighbors. We are from Pekin, IL. We are considering a trip to Hawaii next year too. Right now just trying to decide between that or an Alaska cruise. So thanks for asking about Hawaii. This thread has given me a lot of information to help in the decision making.

 

[stlrod]

If you go to two islands, base the number of nights you stay at the island where you are paying cash on the desired hotel's "free night" promotion. Almost every hotel has a promotion whereby if you stay "x" number of nights, you get a free night. In Oahu, it's usually 4th night free and on Kauai and Maui, it ranges from 5th, 6th to 7th (with 5th being a rarity). The inter-island flight using FF miles is a great deal. American offers 2 segments on Hawaiian Air for 5,000 miles per passenger. If you accumulate FF miles, watch for reduced mile specials. We were able to buy 2 of the 4 tiuckets we needed by using only 20,000 miles plus $350. Keep in mind that where you are located, you get two airports to choose from (STL and ORD). American now flies non-stop from STL to Maui and Oahu w/ connecting service through LAX to Kauai and the Big Island. By flying directly to the island of choice or connecting through LAX, you avoid most of the expense of the inter-island flight from HNL (the cost to fly directly to one of the other islands is usually the same price or just a few dollars more than flying to HNL.) To decide what islands you should go to, order the brochures from each island's tourism bureau (www.gohawaii.com) and see what looks most interesting. You can check out the activities available on each island by going to www.hawaiiactivityworld.com, which I have found to be an excellent activity booking agency (Lynn has been wonderful.)

 

[DVC1996]

This is such a great thread! Dh and I are considering making an exchange to Hawaii in the future but instead of using our DVC points we might use our Marriott Reward points. Has anyone here ever done that before and if so.....what Marriott hotels do you recommend for first-timers?

 

[stlrod]

Although I have not stayed at any of the Marriott resorts, I have heard very good things about the JW at Ko'Olina, the Marriott on Maui and the Marriott on Kauai. Big Island does not have a Marriott. There are also two in Waikiki (the Renaissance and the Marriott resort, both of which just completed major renovations.) Prices on the two Waikiki resorts are fairly low and would probably not be the best use of your points. The JW, Kauai and Maui all require the same number of points and you need to book far in advance. The best deal using Rewards is the 7-night multi-hotel award which was 125,000 but I think a little higher now. By this time next year, there will be four Marriott timeshare resorts, Ko'Olina, Maui and two on Kauai including a new one at Poipu Beach. If you are a Marriott timeshare owner in addition to DVC, you can get a 25% discount at the timeshare resorts. I had been able to get it in Maui and Kauai when I first looked into it about 4-5 months ago, but then opted for Hyatts (when is Marriott going to do something about its mattresses?). If not a Marriott owner, you can get some pretty good deals for car/hotel packages if you take a timeshare tour. If interested, you can e-mail me with your name, address and telephone number and I'll turn the information over to Marriott