The Days Off – Travel Guide

Here’s a photo of what Hawaiian Airlines served for dinner on a flight from LAX to HNL in Oct 2009.

Roast Beef Sandwich with chocolate chip brownie. It was actually pretty good for being a complementary meal. Oat bread, roast beef, and a slice of cheddar cheese. The brownie was really filling, good size too. The packaging is 100% made from recycled material. Its nice that Hawaiian still serves meals on their flights from mainland to Hawaii.

In terms of “premium” meals, they offered sushi rolls with chicken teriyaki or chicken caesar salad for $10.  Hawaiian Airlines was very generous with serving drinks. We recieved a drink after take off, another drink with the meal, and coffee/tea/water afterwards.

Popularity: 19%

Pleasant Holidays has a really good deal for airfare and economy car rental to Hawaii. I tried some dates in November and December (depart on a Tuesday-Thursday)  The airfare alone is around $360 per person x 2 = $720 + the cost of a rental car.

http://www.pleasantholidays.com

• Click on “Book Now” under “Hawaii Deals from $399″
• Choose Sheraton Princess Kaiulani from LAX/SFO option
• Under select a combination choose “Air + car”
• Choose “United Fly/Drive – LAX & SFO” option
• Choose dates  (preferably pick a departure between Tuesday and Thursday)
  I tried November 10-13, December 1-December 4, December 2-5  for $570
  including economy rental car!
• Choose San Francisco Airport for departure.
• Choose Honolulu arrival airport
• Select No for Trip cancellation insurance option. 

Rates will change depending on what is left/etc. The earlier you jump on the deal, the better the price. You can also try getting airfare from SFO to Maui for $535 for 2 (or less!) including car rental. Follow the steps above, but select “Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa” instead.

For hotels, I suggest using Priceline to get the best deal.

Popularity: 11%

One of the best ways to get deals on Hawaii attractions and restaurants is to purchase the Entertainment Book for Hawaii. For Oahu travel, the main coupon in the book is the Buy 1 get 1 free at Polynesian Cultural Center. (up to a $45 value!)  There are many free coupon flyers at the airports, but the discounts aren’t as good as the ones in the Entertainment book.

My favorite coupons in the 2010  Hawaii Entertainment book are the following:

• Polynesian Cultural Center (buy 1 get 1 free)
• Safeway $5 off $50 grocery purchase (restrictions apply)
• Buca Di Beppo $10 off $20 purchase or more
• Kailua Sailboards & Kayaks Inc. Rent 1 kayak, get another free.
• 20% off Borders books coupon (usable anywhere in USA)
• $10 off $40 Radio Shack coupon (usable anywhere in USA)
• 4 Discounted Regal Cinema tickets ($7 supersaver or $8.50 unrestricted)
• Maui: 50% off Boss Frogs weekly snorkel rental
• Many coupons for food/attraction discounts

If you plan to go to the Polynesian Cultural center, this will basically pay off the cost of the book. The Entertainment website sells the book for $35, but there are ways to get it for less. I got my book through eBay for $28 shipped through this vendor. There are some other ones that remove the good coupons and the card from the book and charge less. Make sure you read the description since I’ve seen auctions that say “Polynesian Cultural Center not in book” etc. Also, make sure you get the 2010 edition since the 2009 one expires November 1, 2009.

Popularity: 25%

I recently booked most of my hotel rooms for a Hawaii trip using Priceline. You can get some great deals on the Marriott Kauai resort, Outrigger hotels, and many others. Overall, Priceline offered savings between 30-50% over the hotel’s website.  The secret to bidding on hotels is to

1. Stick to resorts or 4 star hotels. This will offer the greatest amount of savings. You cannot choose the hotel you want to stay in with Priceline, so its best to stick to a hotel class that will offer consistent rooms that aren’t going to be a big disappointment. The caveat is that resorts will require a “resort fee”, which isn’t covered by Priceline. This resort fee covers the usage of the pool, amenities in the room, etc.  In some cases, Priceline bidders get rooms that as designated as “Priceline rooms” which don’t have ocean views, older towers, etc. So, best to aim for the highest room class you can afford.
2. Best time to bid is  either a month in advance or within a week of the reservation. Always book a cancelable reservation at the hotel’s website in case no more rooms are available at the desired price. During slow seasons, you can get some real great deals within the week of the reservation since hotels would prefer to get money vs. an empty room.
3. Don’t bid too high. Two resources that I find useful are biddingfortravel and betterbidding. Better bidding actually is my preferred resource since they seem to have a bigger community for Hawaii hotels. Bidding for Travel is a solid resource, great for many cities. You can also get an idea of what to bid by looking at Hotwire and matching the amenities with the lists on betterbidding.
4. Flexibility. If you need cancelable reservations, then Priceline or Hotwire isn’t the best idea. If you can’t get a winning bid, try breaking a longer period of dates into multiple reservations.

Popularity: 12%