How to not spend a fortune on a trip to Hawaii
Sunrise at the summit of Diamond Head on Oahu, Hawaii. Taken January 4, 2024 at 6:58am. © The Ultimate Vacation Guide
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Hawaii is a destination millions of people hope to visit one day, whether it’s for a vacation or even for their honeymoon. However, we all know how expensive it is to fly there and figure out where to stay, not to mention restaurants and groceries adding to the total price tag.
I’ve been there. Hawaii has been a place I’ve wanted to visit too, but knowing how expensive it is, I always thought I would only visit later in life and maybe only once in my life. This was until I finally learned some secrets to making a trip to Hawaii less expensive, which I am going to share with you right here!
In this blog post, I’m sharing some secrets (that are probably the most important components to planning a Hawaii vacation) I learned that allowed me to plan and experience the Hawaii vacation I had been dreaming of for so long. I’ll be covering:
• How to spend less to fly to Hawaii
• How to spend less on where to stay
So if you’re tired of just dreaming of visiting Hawaii and want to make those dreams come true, you are in the right place!
How to spend less to fly to Hawaii
Of course, the first thing people do when planning a vacation is booking flights (unless you are driving to your destination). When planning a flight anywhere, not just Hawaii, it’s important to determine when to book to save the most money. A lot of people think that tickets become cheaper the closer you get to the departure date, but this is not necessarily true. The best time to book a domestic flight is usually around a month before your departure date. This might seem overwhelming because then you have to plan where you will stay and book tours/visits to attractions within that month before your flight, don’t worry, it is feasible. My mom and I booked our flight to Hawaii a month before our departure date, and we were still able to book where to stay on the three islands we visited (Oahu, Kauai, and Maui) and book the tours we wanted to go on (continue reading to the end to see how I was able to plan and organize all of the activities we did). For those visiting Hawaii from another country, the best time to book a flight is between 2 and 8 months in advance, which is the standard time frame for all international flights. Of course, something else to consider is what airport you are flying from. When flying on vacation, my family has at times flown from New York (JFK) instead of Newark (EWR) in order to save money. Here is a list of the most expensive airports to fly out of in the USA, as of 2023.
My favorite site to begin research when booking flights is Expedia. On Expedia, it is simple to find cheap flights and filter based on how many stops, the travel class you want, roundtrip or one-way, and what airline you are most interested in flying with. You probably have already heard of Expedia before, but I feel like it is easy to forget about this site and immediately start looking for flights on the airline’s website instead. On Expedia, you can look at prices for all airlines that fly between your departure location and arrival location, whereas on a specific airline’s site, you can only look at what days, times, and prices they offer for your departure and arrival location. Click here to get started researching flights for your next vacation on Expedia!
Another great option for researching flights is Google Flights. Again, we all probably have heard of Google Flights like Expedia, but I also think we forget about using this platform. Google Flights is just like Expedia, comparing prices and days/times of all airlines that offer flights between your departure and arrival locations. You can also filter based on how many stops you want, whether or not you are bringing a checked bag, and even how long you want your layover to be if you have to book connecting flights. What is different about Google Flights, however, is the site shows you how many carbon emissions are released during the flights you can choose from. They also show you what they say are the “best-departing flights” and then show you more below. I’ll show you an example of what I mean. Here is a flight I put in for New York (JFK) to London Heathrow (LHR):
When you Google "JFK to London" for example, the above shows the first result, which is Google Flights. When you click "show flights" at the bottom, what comes up are the images below.
At the top are what they say are the best departing flights and you can see towards the right they list the approximate carbon emissions for each flight.
Google Flights also shows you if the prices you see are higher than average, lower than average, or typical for the departure and arrival locations, flight class, and dates you research.
These features are what sets Google Flights apart and why I love using it. if you are trying to be more environmentally friendly while traveling and/or want to be more conscious about your spending (don't we all?), Google Flights a great source for you to use to research flights!
How to spend less on where to stay
This is arguably the most important part of booking a vacation: where are you going to stay? Lots of people use Airbnb to book lodging on a vacation because it is cheaper than a hotel, but due to all of the controversy surrounding Airbnb, from owners placing hidden cameras and renters having issues being locked out, it is understandable to not want to book with them. So…what’s the alternative? A hotel? Hotels in Hawaii are always super expensive, so when people want to book a hotel instead of Airbnb, they become discouraged and might give up on booking their trip. However, they either do not know or forget about the other option for lodging besides Airbnb: Vrbo! Vrbo is owned by Expedia and is similar to Airbnb, where you rent someone’s property while on vacation. However, at least from what I have seen, there has been far less criticism about Vrbo compared to Airbnb. I have stayed in vacation rentals through Vrbo several times now and have never had an issue.
I’ll admit: I had never heard of Vrbo before my mom talked about it in the past when booking a vacation. Since then, my family has rented properties for vacation through Vrbo in Florida, Los Angeles, and other places and we have never had a problem with them! As my mom and I booked our Hawaii trip, we chose three different condos through Vrbo and never had issues. Their website is also easy to navigate and you can filter results based on what you want, including wanting air conditioning, seeing properties that received 4 stars or higher, setting a minimum or maximum nightly price, and more. You can even search for a place to rent based on the type of space you want: apartment/condo, house, villa, cabin, and cottage.
If you want to save money while experiencing the vacation of a lifetime, be sure to use Vrbo when you book where to stay. Because I (and my family) have been satisfied with all my Vrbo rentals, will continue to use Vrbo in the future when I book lodging for vacations!
I want this for you, too! If you are ready to stop imagining what your perfect vacation in Hawaii will look like and want to finally experience it, I urge you to use Vrbo when booking your lodging now to save thousands of dollars (literally!) on your Hawaii trip.
Click here to get started researching Vrbo properties in Hawaii!
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