Hula Planet:What To Do In Hawaii

A Buffet of Affordable Breakfast Options in Hawaii

Portuguese sausage, egg, cheese, lettuce and tomato breakfast sandwich plus a slice of fresh pineapple for $5.25 from Kauai's Kalapaki Beach Hut Dining at resort breakfast buffets every morning of your Hawaii vacation can quickly become a hidden cost that steals your vacation budget. Most breakfast buffets in Hawaii range from $15 to $35 per person. From my observation, the average breakfast buffet costs around $25 per person. A couple traveling to Hawaii for a week can easily spend $350 on breakfast buffets. To put that in perspective, that’s probably more that what a couple would spend on their grocery bill for an entire month at home. When it comes to buffets, there’s common mentality that you need to get your money’s worth. Well, at $25 per person, that’s a heck of a lot of breakfast calories. Returning from vacation with a larger waistline isn’t the kind of souvenir most of us want to bring home. It’s a treat to splurge on the breakfast buffet one or two days of your trip – you are on vacation, after all. Maybe you’d like to save some money to spend on a  tour or a meaningful souvenir. If you’d like to save a bit of cash and calories on your breakfast in Hawaii,consider these more affordable alternatives: - Many resorts have a coffee shop on-site that also sells fruit cups, yogurt and pastries. Check to see if your resort does. - Ask if the hotel restaurant serves an ala carte breakfast menu. By ordering from the a la carte menu, you can have a nutritious and filling breakfast for a fraction of the buffet cost. - Pick up some breakfast items at the grocery store. Most resort rooms have a mini refrigerator where you can store juice, fruit, etc. - Bring granola and breakfast bars from home. - Find a restaurant that’s a favorite for locals.They know where to find the best restaurants at the best prices. Plus, you get a little insight into the local culture.  (See eat where the locals eat .) - Look for hotel deals offer free daily breakfast. That sort of deal has been fairly common recently. These are strategies we’ve used to save money on breakfasts in Hawaii. What strategies have you used? © Go Visit Hawaii – Republication of this entire post is prohibited without prior permission. Using extracts of less than 100 words are permitted with full attribution and link back to GoVisitHawaii.com .

Continue reading...

Strategies for Finding the Lowest Airfare to Hawaii

View of Oahu from the Air One of the most predictably unpredictable expenses of traveling to Hawaii is the cost of airfare. Fares fluctuate so often that it’s difficult to know when to purchase tickets. Finding the absolute lowest airfare is a mix of luck, knowledge,and skill. In the absence of an exact science, we have make use of the available tools and make some calculated guesses. Here are some strategies to help you make a sound decision on when to purchase your flights to Hawaii. Use Flight Search Engine Alerts To make the best decision on when to buy flights to Hawaii, you need to make an informed decision. The best way to start getting helpful information is to sign up for the free email alerts from these flight search engines: Kayak Farecompare airfarewatchdog Another search engine that I like because it’s very easy and intuitive to use is CheapAir, however, it does not include estimated taxes and fees like the others that I mentioned. See this link for a chart comparing all the major airfare alert sites. If you have the option, get the updates daily. Yeah, it’s going to stuff your inbox, but fares can fluctuate daily, so it’s best to be in the know on a daily basis, especially if you are anxious to book. If you are headed to the Big Island, Kauai, and/or Maui, I recommend that you also check airfare to Oahu. Hawaii’s major airline hub is in Oahu’s Honolulu Airport (HNL), so that majority of flights from the mainland go in and out of Honolulu. On top of that, the vast majority of inter-island flights connect  or originate in Honolulu. Let’s say you are going to Kauai, it’s possible that you could save some money by flying into Honolulu first and getting an inter-island flight from there. So, consider all your options. (See my guide to inter-island travel in Hawaii .) If you come across a great airfare, also check directly with the airline to see if you can find the same or better rate. I prefer to book directly with the airline to cut out the middle man. For example, let’s say that airfarewatchdog found a low fare to Honolulu on Expedia. I check the flights and find that they are all on American Airlines. I’d rather book directly with American if I can get the same fare. If a problem happens with the flights and reservation, that becomes American’s responsibility and that eliminates any finger pointing that could happen between Expedia and American. Check the Crystal Ball of Airfare Purchases After educating yourself with the email alerts from the flight search engines, you’ll get to know when airfares lower. If you think you’ve found a good fare, check with Bing’s Farecast . It’s the closest thing we have to a crystal ball. Farecast recommends if it’s best to wait or to pull the trigger now on your flight purchase. Another useful tool to consult is Hotwire’s TripStarter , which shows the historical average airfares for your particular route. You’ve probably heard the phrase that past behavior is an indicator of future behavior. To some extent, that’s true for airfare. There’s certainly some seasonality to airfare prices that tend to be the same year in year out. Be Flexible If you can be flexible with your travel dates, you can get better deals. Use the flight search engines flexible search features to find the cheapest days to travel. You can really save some big bucks by being flexible. Another way to be flexible is to consider flying from alternate airports. For example, Raleigh-Durham (RDU) is my preferred airport. If I found a fare that’s low enough, I’d be willing to drive to Charlotte (CLT) or Greensboro (GSO) for the savings. So, set alerts up for nearby airports. Aim to Fly on Weekdays Weekend travel to and from Hawaii is in highest demand and therefore more expensive. If you can travel weekday to weekday, you tend to get lower fares and the flight may not be as full. Best Time to Buy In this ABC News article , one of the top airfare gurus, Rick Seaney, says, “Typically, airlines start actively managing their cheapest seats about four months before departure….Don’t buy too early; tickets purchased before this four month window will generally be priced at a midtier level. An exception: shopping for busy holiday times (Thanksgiving, Christmas); due to current price hikes and ever-increasing fuel surcharges, you may want to purchase these tickets earlier than usual, to lock in the price.” Act When You See a Deal When you come across a deal, snag it. Aim to make that purchase as quickly as possible as it could be gone the next day or even the next hour. I’ve experienced “purchase paralysis” and lost deals. I still remember a brief fare war a couple of years ago. I could have flown from Charlotte to Honolulu for around $250 round-trip, but I took too long trying to decide what to do, that I lost the chance to get that super low rate. Beware of Sneaky Snake Advertising When you see exceptionally low airfare, be sure to read the fine print before you get excited. Airlines will try to hook you in with a fly to Hawaii for $379. At first, that sounds great, but what they don’t tell you is that the fare is one-way based on round-trip travel and taxes and fees are an additional charge. So the flights to Hawaii that you thought were $379 are going to end up costing over $800 – not exactly the deal you were expecting. Cheapest Isn’t Always Best All flights to Hawaii are not created equal, so know what you’re getting when you book. Andy and I will often choose a slightly more expensive fare because it offers less stops, shorter overall travel time, and a bigger plane. We fly from RDU and most of the cheapest fares have us going through Dallas to Los Angeles to Hawaii. We much prefer to cut out the Los Angeles stop, fly in the larger planes, and save time. So, spend a little time educating yourself on the shortest routes and aircraft sizes to suit your preference. I wish you the best of luck in finding the lowest cost airfare to Hawaii!

Continue reading...

Listening to Hawaii Radio Stations Online

Whether you’re planning a trip to Hawaii or you’ve just returned from the islands, you’ll enjoy staying connected to Hawaii with Hawaiian music. Fortunately, these days, we have options to listen to Hawaiian music stations online. Here are some of my favorite Hawaii radio stations that play classic and contemporary Hawaiian music online. - Oahu: Hawaiian 105 KINE - Big Island: KAPA Hawaiian FM - Maui: KPOA 93.5 FM Hawaiian Music, Maui Style

Continue reading...

Most Frequently Forgotten Items to Pack for Hawaii

After numerous trips to Hawaii, we’ve almost perfected the packing process down to a science. Of course, we made many mistakes along the way that have helped us become “Hawaii vacation packing pros.” From our experiences and observations, here are the seven most frequently forgotten items: Sunglasses Binoculars (especially useful for lava viewing and during humpback whale season) Light jacket, preferable breathable and rainproof. It’s easy to forget that in the higher elevations of Hawaii, the temperature is significantly cooler. We’ve seen some crazy things in the higher elevations. In fact, the last time we went to the top of Haleakala for sunrise , we saw a guy who apparently didn’t pack a coat or warm clothes at all. He was walking around the summit of Haleakala in a shorts, shirt, flip flops and…a hotel bathrobe. We held back our laughter! Hat and/or visor Lip balm with sun protection Sunscreen – I wish I had a nickel for every sunburned tourist I’ve seen in Hawaii. (See this post on how to avoid a sunburn on your Hawaii vacation .) Cell phone charger If you are headed to Hawaii soon, you’ll appreciate these packing articles: Hawaii vacation packing list What not to pack for Hawaii Why you should pack light Strategies for packing light What other items have you forgotten from your own travels? What additional packing advice would you like to share? Dear Go Visit Hawaii Subscribers: I want to let you know that during the month of January, I will not be able to post as frequently as normal. I’ll be taking a break and doing some research. © Go Visit Hawaii – Republication of this entire post is prohibited without prior permission. Using extracts of less than 100 words are permitted with full attribution and link back to GoVisitHawaii.com .

Continue reading...

Google Brings Hawaii Virtually to Your Doorstep!

&h=75&w=75&zc=1&q=90" alt="Google Brings Hawaii Virtually to Your Doorstep!" class="post-thumbnail" height="75" width="75" />

If you’ve ever visited Hawaii, you’re going to love this new feature from Google Maps.

Continue reading...