Great vacation. Can you beat this?

[Snorkey]

:whoopie: Less than $1000 for 5 (air) to Hawaii including 2 wks at WKORV. Flew from East Atlantic coast area to Oahu and then to Maui. excluding car rental.

What is the best deal you got for your vacation?

 

[CATBinCO]

Hawaii for me too

Two adults, one child age 8.
16 days spread over 3 different islands: Oahu, Big Island, Maui
Including all airfare AND interisland airfare
Including car rental on all 3 islands
Food, Meals, lodging, activities, souvenirs, shopping, attractions
$5000 all inclusive
I booked everything myself (no middle man or travel agent) and we traveled with carry-on luggage only.
And I was 6 weeks pregnant during the vacation!

(Our airfare was not as good as yours, but still good nonetheless. $342 RT from Denver to Honolulu.)

 

[Snorkey]

that is great deal. Ours was using FF miles.
Where did you stay in Hawaii?

 

[danb]

Great Deal

We (2) are going to Oahu in Dec flying from Newark $572.10 total. Staying at HHV. Couldn't pass this up.

 

[CATBinCO]

Oahu: 3 nights in Waikiki, 2 nights on North Shore (Turtle Bay) - look for internet only specials online for all hotels
Big Island: 2 nights in Volcano (south end of island) to see Hawaii Volcanoes Nat'l Park; 1 night in Hilo
Maui: 6 nights in Maalaea, which is central Maui; great for driving to both Kaanapali (west end), Hana (north) and Wailea (south end). We stayed in a vacation home that belonged to a Northwest flight attendant, found her online. It's breezy in Maalaea, so we didn't use AC. Opened all the doors/windows and enjoyed the tropical breeze.

 

[JudyH]

1998-2004, put two kids college tuitions on the NEA FF card.
Three of us used those tickets to fly to London/Spain/Portugal, stayed in TS for the trip, just had to rent the car and eat. Great trip (and not such great food

 

[Snorkey]

Great trips.

My 2 weeks in WKORV is included in less than $1000. I traded two weeks of my TS. Includes MF and exchange fees.

I am sure there are others who had better DEALS. Anyone?

 

[nazclk]

Cheap

How about flights, LAX to Cabo for two and a room for a week at PB Sunset Beach for $700

 

[Toughbeat]

These deals are great! Where are you all finding these? Are these recent deals? If so, considering the increase in fuel prices for airfares, the deals are even sweeter.

Ok so, where can I go to find these?

 

[CATBinCO]

My Hawaii stuff was summer 2006, so 2 years ago.

I was a little nervous booking everything myself, planning it all myself. But I saved a ton of money that way. I priced things with AAA, Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays, travel agents, it just added more $$ to the trip cost.

My advice is, if you have a particular destination in mind, to check out Tripadvisor.com and start reading the forums for that location. That is what I did with Hawaii. Lots of forums, had to read Maui, Big Island, Oahu. But there are locals on there who can tell you cheap or free things to do in your destination, how to find bargains, or even will post bargains when they find them on a website.

Now I am planning Arizona for June 09 - no comparison to Hawaii, but still unfamiliar territory. I highly recommend the Tripadvisor forums. And START EARLY with your research. If you are looking for airfare deals (and do not have FF miles) I recommend putting a FareWatcher alert for your cities on there and Travelocity will email you when the price of the ticket falls below a certain $ amt (whatever you designate). For Hawaii, we traveled in July 06. I put my Farewatcher Alert for DEN to HNL in October 05. In February 06, I got the magic email that summer dates were available. I booked the tickets. Later that afternoon I went back to check and the summer was gone. It happens that fast. So, if you get emails from Travelocity about your FareWatcher Alert(and you will get several) just pay attention to the dates and I recommend jumping on it ASAP! It was a Sunday morning when I got the email. Now I am doing the same for DEN to PHX - should be much cheaper

 

[sun starved Gayle]

Four bump tickets on Southwest from Portland OR to Washington DC and five nights at the Renaissance Marriott in DC that I Pricelined for $58.00 an night.