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Reader request: Frugal tips for trip to Hawaii

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Published: 2012-05-02 12:05:18
Updated: 2012-05-02 12:05:18

Posted: May 2, 2012

 

One of our fellow blog readers has an opportunity to go to Hawaii for the wedding of a friend. She is looking to make it as frugal a trip as possible. Please share your suggestions to help her save money in Hawaii and have a great time! I have never been to Hawaii but have heard that everything is very expensive. Here is her question:

"My sister presented a potential trip to Hawaii for a wedding of a friend of ours. I would like to make that happen. The wedding is July 7th. We were thinking of flying out June 30th and flying back July 7th. Do you have any suggestions for making this trip cheaper? I've read about the entertainment book for Hawaii. Just wondering how valuable that book would be since we will only be there one week.  Any suggestions you have for making this trip as cheap as possible would be greatly appreciated."

I read recently that using an agent for booking travel to some destinations is less expensive with the right package deal, than trying to book yourself. If you have a recommendation for a travel agent, please share that information, as well.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer her!

Copyright 2012 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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17 Comments


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We went to Maui for our honeymoon (6 years ago this month), and the biggest budget saver was renting a condo. I searched a million websites before booking and only remember it was through a VRBO type site. It let us prepare some meals/snacks/drinks ourselves instead of going out and the place was actually less expensive than a hotel would have been.
mikke114
May 2, 2012 12:10 p.m.
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I would recommend a condo as well, and if it is several people in a group going you could divide the cost among everyone. Also rent just one car. We stayed on our honeymoon as well, and the condos were not much more expensive than a hotel room. You could check on the VRBO and you also may want to check on BJ's travel. They have some really good deals on condos or condo type hotel rooms as well.
bcde
May 2, 2012 12:15 p.m.
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I listen to the Clark Howard radio show and he discussed a frugal trip to Hawaii in the last week or so. You can check the "show notes" on his website.
efsmiths
May 2, 2012 12:28 p.m.
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When booking flights, I usually start out with a site like kayak.com to get an idea of what airlines fly to the destination I have in mind, then go directly to the airlines' websites to see what fares they are offering. Very often, the airlines' sites have the best prices for flights. Same goes for car rentals. For discount codes, AAA or AARP can be helpful if you are a member, or check retailmenot.com and look up rentalcarmomma for car rental discount codes. One other thing, flights tend to be cheaper on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturdays. Make sure you book at least 21 days in advance.
jdouglas13
May 2, 2012 12:30 p.m.
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Sign up for Groupon and Living Social deals now so that you get some offers that you can use while you are there. We do that before every vacation and get to eat out at really nice restaurants for half the price.
Click to view my profile erinlikescoupons
May 2, 2012 12:44 p.m.
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I just got back from Maui 2 months ago....like others said rent a condo that way you can save money by grocery shopping rather than eating out (even fast food restaurants are more expensive than here; a big mac sandwich is like $6...for just the sandwich). There is also a great "app" available for Maui called "Maui Revealed" (I am sure that there are ones for the other islands as well) that has information about everything and tells you about all the locals spots. It helped us find lots of free or close to free places to go and "reasonably" priced places to eat
kjohnson0131
May 2, 2012 1:44 p.m.
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Many shopping centers and hotels have racks with discount coupon books. Read them and try to memorize the different stores! If booking activities, the coupon books sometimes have the best price and booking online sometimes has the best price. Check both but never book on-site - that is the most expensive. If you have a Costco card, some islands have the stores and you can save by buying some groceries or alcohol there. (You don't need the Costco card to be allowed in to buy alcohol though.) We got our car rental through Hotwire and saved more than by booking with the rental place directly. There are a lot of free activities. Check out TripAdvisor.com too for hotel/activity/restaurant referrals. Have fun!
vogelkb
May 2, 2012 3:10 p.m.
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I highly recommend VRBO.com (vacation rental by owner). I have found renting a condo or even a house, with other people, is less expensive than a resort or hotel room.
Click to view my profile sunandsea
May 2, 2012 3:12 p.m.
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If you are flying from the east coast, you'll want to calculate air fare two ways: A) fly directly from east coast to Hawaii (via whatever connections are available) or B) calculate what it would cost to book to separate flights (1) from east coast to a city on the west coast and then (2) from a west coast city (i.e. LA, San Francisco, Seattle) to Hawaii. Because so many west coast folks "hop" over to Hawaii for short trips, there are often highly discounted airfares from west coast cities to Hawaii. IF you can get a decent airfare from the east to west coast, it might be cheaper to make these 2 separate flights. Also, if flying from the east coast, would highly recommend staying overnight on the west coast and flying to Hawaii the next day. Flying straight through from NC to Hawaii is rough and you'll arrive exhausted and need at least a day to recover. But if you stay overnight in LA (or any other west coast city), you'll arrive rested and ready to sightsee.
sfivers
May 2, 2012 3:39 p.m.
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Which city and island are you planning to spend your time at? Are you going to more than one island? or spending the entire stay at one location? If you like, I could find out if one of my condo's is available to rent to you between June 30 through July 7. How many bedrooms are you looking for. (No guarantees, but would be happy to check availability for you!) I've been to Hawaii 3 times and love it! Each island is so different. If you can manage to get away from work, I would suggest making it a two week trip and try to see at least 2 islands (one week on each island lets you explore what's unique about each island). Because of the time-zone difference, your body might need a day or two to adjust. (i.e. If you go to bed at 10 pm in Hawaii, it's like going to bed at 4 AM on the east coast!!!) Hope you can make the trip; you'll love it!
sfivers
May 2, 2012 3:49 p.m.
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