The Days Off - Travel Guide

Hawaii roundtrip airfare from SFO and 3 nights hotel $299 /pp

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:56:50 +0000

Pleasant Holidays is having a sale on their vacations to Hawaii in August 16-August 31, 2010 starting at $299 per person.This includes both round trip airfare and hotel.

We tried some sample dates and got SFO to HNL for $621 after fees/taxes (8/25-8/28) with the Castle Ocean Resort Waikiki hotel. Upgrade to a nicer hotel for a little bit more.

This is an excellent deal if you want to plan a quick trip in late August to Hawaii! Airfare alone is over $300 per person.

Pleasant Holidays Honolulu

Pleasant Holidays Maui

Starwood American Express 30,000 SPG points ends July 6

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:34:41 +0000

Starwood is offering 30,000 points for new cardmembers until July 6, 2010. This is one of the best offers for the Starwood American Express card for signup. Upon approval, $1,000 in eligible purchases need to be made in order to get the 30,000 points credited. If you have been considering this card, now is the time. They usually have the 10,000 point promo, so this is a much better deal.

Earn free nights and upgrades at over 940 hotels and resorts – no blackout dates

Redeem Starpoints to fly on hundreds of airlines with no blackout dates

Earn Double Starpoints on stays at participating Starwood hotels and resorts

Pay no annual fee for the first year (then $45/yr)

https://www143.americanexpress.com/apisites/LandingAction.do?partnerId=95&channel=1000&landingCode=93&IM=SPG_11549424SS_AMEX_US_RSS

What are the benefits to this card? Personally, I like the fact that there a lot of resorts in Hawaii that will accept the SPG points for discounted rooms. Also, rather than only being able to use points to get a room, one can use $$$ and points to get good deals. In most cases, the cash and points offers the best value if you don’t have several thousand points to use. SPG has a wide variety of hotels including the really nice St. Regis Princeville Resort in Kauai, Westin hotels, and Sheraton hotels. Good value properties are the Moana Surfrider and Princess Kaiulani. The Hilton HHonors is also a good card if you don’t want to pay an annual fee, but the points aren’t worth as much.

For more information, visit the FlyerTalk thread at:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starwood-preferred-guest/1100740-spg-amex-30000-starpoints-1000-spending.html

Good analysis on the value of 30,000 SPG points:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/07/01/enroll-by-july-6-for-starwood-american-express-30000-points/

Aruba Guide – Part I

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:55:49 +0000

Aruba is a great destination for travelling in the Caribbean. Turquoise blue water, powdery soft sand, good food, and warm temperature all year round. There are many activities ranging from gambling at the casinos, snorkeling, diving, 4×4 off roading to the natural pool, relaxing at the hotel pools, sun tanning, and the various bars and restaurants. I recently went there for a rest and relaxation trip and it was overall a fun experience.

When to Go?

When to go to Aruba? With Aruba’s location near the equator, the climate is the same all year round. Nice and warm. It also is located in the southern Caribbean, so there is less chance of hurricanes impacting the trip. Aruba’s peak season rates are in the winter time (November – March) so hotel rates will be very high during this time. Off-season rates are very affordable (June – August) in comparison. We went in June and the weather was still very nice and hotels were offering great rates. The upside to going during off season is that the resorts won’t be as crowded and it’ll take less time to get through the airport.

Airfare

The first thing to do in planning the trip to Aruba is finding the airfare. For us, it was the most expensive part of the trip.

Airfare from the west coast (LAX) will require at least one stop due to the distance. I’ve seen ticket prices ranging from $419 to $800 during the off season. American Airlines had the lowest prices the last time I checked.

We decided upon Miami as our stop since it was the shortest distance. The Miami airport is a very large airport with a good selection of restaurants. I recommend the La Caretta restaurant if you have a long layover — excellent Cuban food for the price in North Terminal. There are also many fast food places such as Au Bon Pain, Dunkin Donuts, Nathan’s hotdogs, etc. LAX to Miami was around ~5 hours, so its about an 8 hr. flight + layover time.

From the East coast, the flight isn’t too bad as there are non-stop flights from many cities. For instance, the flight from Miami is around ~3 hours.

Once you arrive in Aruba, its a quick walk through Aruban customs.

Hotels – low rise vs. high rise

There are two main areas in Aruba that have resorts/hotels. The first section is the “low-rise” hotels with the nicest beaches in Aruba (if not the world) – Eagle Beach. The beaches are very wide and have clear water. They generally have less view obstruction since the resorts are generally 3-4 stories high at the most. There are fewer stores/restaurants in the low-rise section, so buses/taxis/car rental may be necessary.

The high-rise section is where the major chain hotels are located. Its a bit further to the north in the windier section in Palm Beach. Hyatt, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Rui, Westin hotels are in the high rise section. These are typically high rises (Marriotts are over 10 stories) with lots of shopping and restaurants nearby. From what I remember, there is a large outdoor mall (3 stories) with a lot of higher end stores. Another advantage to the high-rise section is that some of the resorts have very nice pools.

For instance, Marriott Surf Club has a lazy river where you can float all day long. The SwimWays Papsan floats are excellent to float in all day. Easy to carry in your suitcase and are way more comfortable than floating in an inflatable raft.

Low-rise vs. high rise? Each has their advantages and disadvantages. High-rise hotels are great if you want everything within walking distance and don’t mind larger crowds. Low-rise hotels have a more relaxing atmosphere and closer views of the ocean. Nightlife seemed to be more active in the high rise section with more bars, Hard Rock Cafe, and high end restaurants.

There is also a resort in central Aruba (near downtown) for a different type of experience. Renaissance Aruba Resort is located in the main street of Oranjestad with lots of shopping and restaurants. The shopping in downtown ranges from really high end stuff to bargain souvenirs at the several souvenir shops in the area.

That’s it for the first part of the Aruba Guide. The next section will talk about what to do in Aruba and where to eat… stay tuned.

Entertainment Book Sale 5/11/2010 $12

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 04:37:03 +0000

There’s a sale going on right now for the Entertainment Book. $12 — today only. Its usually over $30 and on eBay for $25+. The Entertainment Book has good deals for activities, such as the AirVentures in Kauai and luau discounts. From my experience, the deals are better than the ads/flyers/magazines at the airports.

The discounts on movie tickets alone are worth the $12. Regal Theaters $7 movie ticket coupons, Free popcorn with purchase of a large drink, and free admission on your birthday. Safeway $5 off $50 coupons are good too, especially when groceries are expensive in Hawaii.

http://hawaii.entertainment.com/discount/browse.shtml

Hawaiian Airlines – $361 LAX to HNL May/June 2010

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 09:38:25 +0000

Hawaiian Airlines has a sale on flights to HNL through June 10, 2010. Sample roundtrip fares in June from LAX to HNL is around $361 after taxes, depending on the departure dates. This is one of the lowest prices of the year.

http://www.hawaiianair.com/specialoffers/pages/inbound-summer.aspx?hacmp=TS_Razorfish_1×1_2010_National_TravelSearch