What's going on with Hawaii availability for summer 2014?

[T_R_Oglodyte]

We go to Hawaii every summer, and we have a pretty normal routine we follow. One year out we secure our reservation at Point at Poipu. Then about this time of year we decide how we want to flesh out around that, meaning how and where we are going to spend our second week. I start looking around at various sites to identify what our options are for places to stay. I look within DRI, at TPI, at HTSE, and II.

Usually there are quite a few options available in the various spacebanks, but this year there is scarcely anything. The only 7-day availability that DRI is showing is at Ka'anapali Beach Club. That's understandable given that Poipu is undergoing repairs and has a number of units out of service. But TPI as hardly anything except for hotel units a Kahana Falls (and plenty of those) and Makaha on Oahu, and HTSE has almost nothing either except for a smattering of Waikiki. In ten years of travel to Hawaii I've never seen anything like this.

Are the renovations at Poipu and Hanalei Bay drying up that much inventory? With spillover effects to the other islands? Are people suddenly flocking to Hawaii in numbers never before seen despite the higher costs of getting there and the increased on-island costs? Or am I missing something?

 

[billymach4]

We go to Hawaii every summer, and we have a pretty normal routine we follow. One year out we secure our reservation at Point at Poipu. Then about this time of year we decide how we want to flesh out around that, meaning how and where we are going to spend our second week. I start looking around at various sites to identify what our options are for places to stay. I look within DRI, at TPI, at HTSE, and II.

Usually there are quite a few options available in the various spacebanks, but this year there is scarcely anything. The only 7-day availability that DRI is showing is at Ka'anapali Beach Club. That's understandable given that Poipu is undergoing repairs and has a number of units out of service. But TPI as hardly anything except for hotel units a Kahana Falls (and plenty of those) and Makaha on Oahu, and HTSE has almost nothing either except for a smattering of Waikiki. In ten years of travel to Hawaii I've never seen anything like this.

Are the renovations at Poipu and Hanalei Bay drying up that much inventory? With spillover effects to the other islands? Are people suddenly flocking to Hawaii in numbers never before seen despite the higher costs of getting there and the increased on-island costs? Or am I missing something?

What about foreign tourists from Asia? I know when I went last month I personally was overwhelmed on Oahu by the amount of Japanese tourists. That pushes the mainland US tourist to the other islands.
Hawaiian Airlines is expanding its reach both East and West on their new A330's. They serve China, and direct daily non stop service to JFK. No other airline offers direct service from JFK to Honolulu, only from EWR. Now you know I am not going to EWR with all the traffic on the GW Bridge.

As HA buys more A330's I would not be surprised if they added a second daily flight from JFK. Maybe in a few years?

My family now has the Hawaiian bug so count me in. But I generally don't travel in the Summer.

Where can we get some metrics to support your theory?

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Where can we get some metrics to support your theory?

I don't have any specific metrics because I haven't stored information from previous years. All I can say is that traditionally at this time of year I'm presenting to DW specific options of what our options are for places to stay. We've never had to do an ongoing request because there has always been plenty of unclaimed inventory eight months out at this time of year. But this year, almost nada.

 

[LLW]

We go to Hawaii every summer, and we have a pretty normal routine we follow. One year out we secure our reservation at Point at Poipu. Then about this time of year we decide how we want to flesh out around that, meaning how and where we are going to spend our second week. I start looking around at various sites to identify what our options are for places to stay. I look within DRI, at TPI, at HTSE, and II.

Usually there are quite a few options available in the various spacebanks, but this year there is scarcely anything. The only 7-day availability that DRI is showing is at Ka'anapali Beach Club. That's understandable given that Poipu is undergoing repairs and has a number of units out of service. But TPI as hardly anything except for hotel units a Kahana Falls (and plenty of those) and Makaha on Oahu, and HTSE has almost nothing either except for a smattering of Waikiki. In ten years of travel to Hawaii I've never seen anything like this.

Are the renovations at Poipu and Hanalei Bay drying up that much inventory? With spillover effects to the other islands? Are people suddenly flocking to Hawaii in numbers never before seen despite the higher costs of getting there and the increased on-island costs? Or am I missing something?

What about foreign tourists from Asia? I know when I went last month I personally was overwhelmed on Oahu by the amount of Japanese tourists. That pushes the mainland US tourist to the other islands.
Hawaiian Airlines is expanding its reach both East and West on their new A330's. They serve China, and direct daily non stop service to JFK. No other airline offers direct service from JFK to Honolulu, only from EWR. Now you know I am not going to EWR with all the traffic on the GW Bridge.

As HA buys more A330's I would not be surprised if they added a second daily flight from JFK. Maybe in a few years?

My family now has the Hawaiian bug so count me in. But I generally don't travel in the Summer.

Where can we get some metrics to support your theory?

Possibilities:
1. Marriott holding off Hawaiian inventory until the last minute due to their new points system (I noticed more Newport Coast deposits).
2. Starwood doing the same with their new depositing system.
3. Wyndham doing the same for their Club Wyndham Pass program to be implemented in June. (Doesn't TPI have a lot of Wyndham properties?)
4. Increased demand from people who are hungry for Hawaii after several years of abstaining due to the economic downturn.
5. Compounded by the renovations at PP and Hanalei and increased demand from Asia.
6. ?

Wait about 2 or 3 more months, with a Plan B in hand?

 

[BocaBoy]

I think it might be very simple. More people have recovered somewhat financially and now feel more confident again in their economic circumstances and are willing to consider Hawaii again. And those with kids in school often go in the summer.

 

[MOXJO7282]

I had read an article that stated overall visitor numbers were down slightly in 2013 but the average spend per person for those that came was higher, which was the gist of the article, that the increase spend average was seen as a big very positive even though visitors we down slightly.

 

[Roger830]

As HA buys more A330's I would not be surprised if they added a second daily flight from JFK. Maybe in a few years?

Be careful if booking from JFK to HNL.

In Oct I booked leaving on a Wed April 2, made all of my resort and island hopping reservations, then they cancelled Tue and Wed direct flights for that week and others. To compound the problem, without notifying me they assigned my seats for Thursday in the center section. I was fortunate to discover it and picked the only two window section seats left. Also, I believe they canceled Mon and Tue on return flights.

It also had happened on tripadvisor in the past.

I better go check my reservation.

 

[PamMo]

Your question made me curious. We've noticed planes are packed and resorts are brimming full with guests the last few times we've gone to Hawaii. Looking at Hawaii's Annual Visitor Research Reports (http://dbedt.hawaii.gov/visitor/visitor-research/) it looks like it's not just our imagination. 2012 was a very good year for the Hawaiian tourism industry, and the 2013 report is expected to show even better numbers.

2011-2012 Visitor Days +8.8% / Visitors +10%

2010-2011 Visitor Days +4.6% / Visitors +4%

2009-2010 Visitor Days +8.7% / Visitors +8.7%

I think limited exchange availability involves additional factors as well. Huge numbers of delinquent weeks have been cleared off the books, and owners are using weeks now that the economy has started to improve. Developers have tweaked their systems to control deposits, and seem to be slowly dribbling out prime Hawaii weeks to exchange companies, and they get picked off by ongoing requests. Owners see revived interest in their Hawaii units (by family, friends, and rental market), and try that route before depositing in exchange companies with their ever escalating fees.

There will always be deposits available for exchange, though, so I hope you DO get what you want!

 

[Smokatoke]

I am trying to book my 2nd week as well for Hawaii and hoping there are still major deposits to come. From what I recall of last year, wont HGVC be depositing soon? (RCI)

 

[chellej]

We were there in early Oct and were suprised how busy things were. I just booked 3 units for early April and rci was the only place I could find anything. Not. my first choice of resorts (Bali Hai) but still a nice resort.

 

[lcml11]

We go to Hawaii every summer, and we have a pretty normal routine we follow. One year out we secure our reservation at Point at Poipu. Then about this time of year we decide how we want to flesh out around that, meaning how and where we are going to spend our second week. I start looking around at various sites to identify what our options are for places to stay. I look within DRI, at TPI, at HTSE, and II.

Usually there are quite a few options available in the various spacebanks, but this year there is scarcely anything. The only 7-day availability that DRI is showing is at Ka'anapali Beach Club. That's understandable given that Poipu is undergoing repairs and has a number of units out of service. But TPI as hardly anything except for hotel units a Kahana Falls (and plenty of those) and Makaha on Oahu, and HTSE has almost nothing either except for a smattering of Waikiki. In ten years of travel to Hawaii I've never seen anything like this.

Are the renovations at Poipu and Hanalei Bay drying up that much inventory? With spillover effects to the other islands? Are people suddenly flocking to Hawaii in numbers never before seen despite the higher costs of getting there and the increased on-island costs? Or am I missing something?

Wyndham Club Plus/Access is still showing some availability in Summer 2014 for HI. For those wanting the summer, maybe the time is right to posted a wanted ad in the TUG Marketplace. Happy hunting.

 

[lcml11]

Spot checked the RCI site. Some availability in the Summer.

 

[daventrina]

Possibilities:
6. ?

Folks going to Hawaii instead of Mexico...

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I ended up finding a unit through RCI at the Makai Club that matched up with what we were looking for. First time I've used RCI in about eight years. Used the RCI points through the membership have in RCI via Raintree.

 

[danb]

Hawaii availability

China has now started flights to Oahu. This will decrease availability even more. HA will start their flights to China as well.