The Winter of 2013-14 is dragging on and on at this point. We have seen storm after storm and bitter cold temperatures this year. I don't know about you but frankly I have had just about enough of this winter. So as I am sitting here looking out my back door at the mounds of snow piling up on my patio furniture, I am thinking of warmer temperatures and places to travel!
Deciding Where to Go
Twenty-seven years ago my husband and I decided to get married in February. We also decided that to celebrate our anniversary we would go somewhere special each year. Now some years have been more extravagant than others but we have been able to find somewhere to go each year and every year we worry about what the weather will be like and ask ourselves who thought it was a good idea to get married in February????? Be that as it may....there is no changing it now so February travel is a part of the Brady tradition!
Florida is always a pretty good bet but we went to Florida on our honeymoon and it was 40 degrees in Orlando when we landed and it never got above 60 degrees the whole time we were there. So even Florida can be iffy. We have gone to Southern California in February. Last time we were in Los Angles in February there was a snow storm in the mountains just outside of town, there was lots of rain and mudslides. You just never know! So we tossed around quite a few ideas and the only place that we could think of that we could be pretty sure that we would have warm temperatures and sunshine was Hawaii.
How to Make it Happen
So Hawaii it is....or is it? Now the research part of the vacation begins. Making the decision is easy....figuring out how to make it happen within a budget is another thing!
With all of the winter weary travelers trying to find some warm temperatures, this is peak season in Hawaii.....flight costs are higher....hotel costs are higher and Hawaii is expensive as it is! I always compare it to a Disney vacation.....you just go into it knowing that you will pay more. But how can you make it more affordable?
If you have read any of my past blogs you know I am a firm believer in loyalty programs and using them to get you to these more expensive places. What I am going to share with you is the very reason that I believe so strongly in this.
We started out looking at flight costs. Flights were well over $1000.00 per person. I don't know about you but that is expensive to me! We checked out flights to the Islands of Oahu, Maui and "The Big Island" to see if there was one that was any cheaper than the others. Turned out that there wasn't....all of the islands were equally expensive. Hotel costs are much higher on Maui than the other two islands. We have been to Oahu before as well as Maui so we started to focus on Hawaii "The Big Island" Once we narrowed down the Island we started to think about award travel.
We had quite a few miles banked in our United accounts. Now to check dates and see how that matched up with reward travel (how many miles it takes for a round trip). These amounts vary depending on how much in demand a certain date is. Be flexible with your dates! We checked several dates in February and found that if you avoid the long President's Day weekend, you can cash in on a flight using fewer miles! We just kept moving things around and settled in on a dates for departure and return that used the fewest miles possible. It was time to book! So for 20,000 miles each way per person (40,000 miles per person Round Trip) and $10.00 ($20.00 total for taxes and fees) we were on our way to the Big Island!
Next up...finding a hotel.....again.....we had banked quite a few Hilton Honors points from other stays. Tip: Pay for less expensive hotels and bank your points to use at a more expensive hotel in a more exotic location. So we checked out our options at staying at a Hilton Hotel on the Big Island. We found there was just one real option....The Hilton Waikoloa Village....it's a large resort hotel near the beach....hmm....I guess we could handle that. We checked our points balance and found that we had banked enough points in the past 14 months (double points, 4X points promotions like that are very helpful...always sign up for any promotions that the company is offering to gather more points) to stay for 10 nights free in a Deluxe Ocean View Room. This sounds good!
So now we are at $20.00 total for 2 Round Trip Flights from Cleveland to Kona, HI and a free hotel for 10 nights. The only thing we are missing is a rental vehicle. Hmm...well we have 3 free days from the rental car loyalty program....might as well use that. That leaves only 7 days of a rental vehicle.
All of a sudden this Hawaii idea is much more doable! Activities, food costs, gas for the rental vehicle, are all still expensive compared to other areas but the budget allows for this now that the big expenses have been minimized.
Planning Our Adventure
Once we had our plans made and itinerary booked, it was time to check out what there is to do on the Big Island.
1. Websites such as www.gohawaii.com are very helpful to give you a lay of the land in the islands. It has things to do and a terrific interactive map so you can familiarize yourself with what there is to do.
2. Buy a "real" book. Personally I like to have a guidebook with me that shows the top rated attractions, has a map and tells you how to go about getting to the sight and what to do when you get there. Call me "old school" but you never know when your wireless connection isn't going to be all that good on a backroad in Hawaii and then the website isn't of any help!
3. Check out www.tripadvisor.com to see what other travelers have rated as "must do" activities or sights to see. This also gives you ideas of things to see that you may not have found otherwise.
Once we took a look at all of the above, we chose some of the things that we definitely want to get to while we are visiting the Big Island. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Kona...to check out how they grow and process their wonderful coffee, the beaches and waterfalls and botanical gardens that are on the island and of course a trip to the summit of Mauna Kea to see the stars.
The Adventure Begins......
February 20th is the day.....the day that we leave the cold and snow of the winter behind and start our adventure to The Big Island of Hawaii. Come along with us as we explore the Island together!
