A trip to Hawaii can be one of the most memorable times of your entire life - here's some tips to help make sure what you remember it by are pictures and not bills.
I added up costs based on the way I travel and averaged out the savings for a typical seven day Hawaii vacation.
Strategy 1:
Start watching airline fares. No matter when you are planning your trip for, go to Expedia or another flight comparison service and find out what your airfare is likely to cost you. Then watch it for a week. See if the price fluctuates. Look for low prices.
I have seen one airline, for no obvious reason, offer a flight that is half the cost of the average of what all the other airlines are offering - and then the next day of the next week the fare is the same price as all the other airlines are offering.
If you know what everyone is offering, you'll be prepared to spot and jump on these great low fares when they happen. They do happen. Average strategy savings: $200
Strategy 2:
Check the Trend Tracker at Expedia to find out when the flights are historically lowest and try to plan your trip for around that time. I can give you a heads up as to when the flights will be the lowest - any time the kids are in school.
Which means Autumn and winter and early spring. January is a great time - fares will be normally at LEAST half off what they would be in July.
However, don't plan to fly anywhere within 2 to 3 days of Thankgsgiving, Christmas, New Years, or Spring Break. Average Strategy savings $350
*** Extra tip - when you know what airfare will cost you, call or e-mail a travel agent and see if they can beat it. They might be able to and you might save even more! Only do this if you are comfortable saying 'no' if they don't come up with something better for you.
And don't use anyone that wants to obligate you to use them before they tell you what they can get you.
Strategy 3:
If you are a very active traveler, look into the Go Oahu Card http://www.gooahucard.com/ or the Go Maui Card http://www.gomauicard.com/. See this writeup http://www.andhawaii.com/gooahucard.html to learn how these discount cards could save you almost $200 over a vacation and fill your days with activities.
Average strategy savings: $100
Strategy 4: If there are 2 of you, consider the Hawaii Entertainment Book http://hawaii.entertainment.com/discount/browse.shtml for the islands of Oahu and Maui and maybe the Big Island.
The savings on dining out alone will save you big money. Average strategy savings: $122
Strategy 5:
Never pay full price for any activity. You can almost always get a 10% or more discount off the 'quoted price'. Look in the Hawaii Entertainment Book, or in one of the multitudes of coupon books available outside of most hotels and restaurants that cater to tourists.
You also can look on the web site - many have a booking online savings. If all else fails call them up and ask. Say "Do you have any discounts that I can use to make this more affordable for me?" Average strategy savings: $74
Strategy 6:
Book flight, hotel, and car as a package using Orbitz, Expedia, Hotwire or another consolidator. If you do the comparison, you really will save money. Average strategy savings: $190
Strategy 7:
Check priceline - Name your own price really does work. I live in Hawaii so I have access to Kamaaina rates. I could have gotten a room at the Royal Kona Resort for $79 with my Kamaaina Discount, but I named a price of $55 a night with Priceline and they gave it to me! I still marvel over this.
On a 7 day vacation with an average rate of $200 a night before naming and getting a half price room you could save $700!
Strategy 8:
Make your first stop when in Hawaii the grocery store or Walmart and get all your bottled water and snacks you will need at local prices, instead of convenience store prices.
With a bottle of grocery store water and a stop at Subway you could have a nutritious, yummy breakfast for $4 or so, rather than $8-$15 at the hotel buffet or room service.
Have a wonderful time in Hawaii! It's a beautiful place and the people want to show you the time of your life!
About the Author
Lisa Weber has lived in Hawaii for 15 years and loves to travel around the islands with her husband and her son. Visit her site at andHawaii.com - she even answers Hawaii questions.
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