With that, this horizontal growth is much bigger than just Matt and I, and sometimes it directly includes the family and friends that we travel with. But beyond that, we hope that whoever reads this blog would see more of God's glory and beauty through the posts and pictures relating to travel and that perhaps it may just inspire others to step outside their own comfort zones, whether that is traveling to the inner-city or hopping on a plane to travel halfway across the world.
But more importantly, our aim is that our readers would find the place where all the beauty comes from... whether that is through travel and seeing the amazing places around the world or sitting at home reading and relating to our joys and trials. Jesus is the most important thing to us, and we want others to experience freedom from sin, everlasting joy and the eternal hope that we have in Him through the gospel by faith alone.
So Maui.
We love Hawai'i. It is one of those places we would return to again and again, and we would venture to guess that the Hawaiian islands are an aspirational travel destination for many on the mainland, especially for those of us in the Midwest who endure the long, cold winters.
Just like the NYC Budget Breakdown, we share this because we enjoy helping others travel affordably. Sometimes the best way to do this is by using a practical, real-life example to visually see how miles and points fit together to make Maui a somewhat reasonable, budget-friendly travel destination. We will not do this for every trip, but because Hawai'i tends to be quite popular, we thought it may be helpful. Keep in mind that there are several strategies one could take to get to the islands without breaking the bank (including those short-lived, amazing low ~$350-$550 round-trip fares that have been popping up recently and that some of you have booked YAY!!), but that's all figuring out the pieces of the puzzle and knowing your individual travel habits and preferences. :)
All that being said, here are the numbers and expenses for two people from our five day/five night trip to Maui in mid-January. This trip is valued at $3,877.58, but the actual cost out-of-pocket was only $460.77.
Big Picture Overview
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The Specifics
Getting There
Of all the award programs, American Airlines (AA) is one of the best values from the Midwest using the off-peak saver redemption of 17,500 miles one-way. It is not nonstop, but the layover is not too bad. Although Matt just reminded me that using Singapore KrisFlyer miles on United metal is even better because their redemption is low year round at 35,000 miles round-trip. However, from other areas of the country, there are some better redemption options (i.e. using British Avios from the West Coast), so if you are located somewhere else, please don't take this to mean always use AA miles or Singapore KrisFlyer miles. This can be an easy redemption, but we made it a little more difficult than it had to be and perhaps after some explanation, it will make a little more sense.
Last spring, when booking an AA award redemption return from South America to the United States, we tacked on a free one way (no extra points or dollars needed) from the gateway city (the city that we entered in North America). In this case, the gateway city was Miami (MIA). At the time, we could book this redemption to have a long layover between the flights, also called a stopover in this case. The stopover could be a couple of days to months, as far out as the schedule allowed. Since then the rules have changed, and stopovers have to be less than 24 hours, which makes what we did on AA then impossible now. However, that being said, the stopover rules vary from airline to airline, so on other carriers, like using Singapore KrisFlyer miles on United, a stopover could still be accomplished.
Truth be told, we could have used the rest of that award ticket to get us back to our home airport, but we saw more value in adding a flight to Maui (OGG) six months later. Of course that meant we needed to get home from MIA in July and back to MIA in January. So it looked like THIS. Some people would find this to be a hassle, but we saw it as an opportunity. :) We used Rapid Rewards on Southwest to redeem award flights home last summer and Southwest travel vouchers to get south this winter, both accompanied by the companion pass which meant a two for one deal. The other caveat is that Southwest Airlines only flies into and out of Fort Lauderdale (FLL) which meant we needed to find a way to get between the two airports. In July, we used the Metrorail to go from MIA to FLL which worked well. For this trip, we used Uber instead because we flew back into FLL late and wanted to get to MIA as quick as possible to sleep before the next morning flight.
Confused? Don't worry, our flights back home were much simpler. We used 17,500 AA miles per person to fly OGG-DFW-MSP.
One way to avoid baggage charges is by flying with carry on luggage. Personally, we love to travel simple and like not having to worry about lost bags. It really is amazing what you can fit in a carry-on. On this trip, our two backpacks were filled with clothes, toiletries, two sleeping bags, two travel pillows, a tent and two beach towels. Our personal items were a Camelbak full of food and another small laptop sized bag filled with some clothes and two extra pairs of shoes. Of course, it is always important to know your travel style. For some people packing light could add more stress. In that case it might be worth it to pay for checked luggage.
Lodging Accommodations
Maui can be quite pricey for lodging, including points used for hotel award redemptions, so we went with the low cost alternative for four out of the five nights on the island - camping!
Kīpahulu: free with national park day pass
Pāpalaua Wayside Park: technically a permit, but we didn't get one here
Wai'anapanapa State Park: $19.80 for a one-night permit
Hosmer Grove: free with national park day pass
The campsites were beautiful, but we definitely slept better at some than others. Only one of them (Wai'anapanapa State Park) had showers, so we utilized the public beach showers to rinse and wash our hair a couple of times. Again, it all comes back to your travel style. This would not sound like a vacation to some people, but for us, it sure was fun!
Eating
Since we travel frequently, this is one of the areas that we are willing to sacrifice a bit, limiting the number of meals we eat out each trip. Groceries at Costco come in handy, both for meals on the go and for the budget. During those grocery stops, a few meals were consumed from the cafe on this trip too. It was quick, inexpensive, and this pregnant lady sure loved their pizza, hot dogs and frozen yogurt at the time. We ate two dinners out at Lahaina Pizza Company and Flatbread Company (pizza!!), and as the budget reflects, we love our treats as well (coffee stops for M, shave ice and a donut for A).
Seeing the Sights
If you happen to be planning a trip to the islands, we would highly recommend the Hawaii Revealed guidebooks to aid in planning lodging, activities and restaurants. Although the islands can be expensive, there are a lot of free activities to do. Sunshine. Beaching. Swimming in the ocean or at waterfalls. Hiking. The national park pass is also a good value. It is $10 for a three day pass which included the falls and the summit sunrise plus the campsites. Our one excursion was a snorkeling tour, which included some whale-watching as well.
Overall, Maui was beautiful. We had a blast exploring the island and look forward to visiting Hawai'i again, whenever that may be.
If you get the chance, go! And if you have questions, let us know! We love connecting with other travelers and could talk all day about Hawai'i and award redemptions. :)
Your blog is always so interesting. I love to read about all your travels.
ReplyDeleteLove Grandma and Papa