How I Saved Money on our Hawaii Trip

Getting to the fun, grown-up Hawaii on a budget

Hawaii, for most people, is one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ trips. I have been lucky enough to go twice, and I was INCREDIBLY frugal! 

If you know me, you know that I like nice things (a lot!), but I really want to use a coupon, or get some kind of a hella deal! 

If you are planning a trip to Hawaii, and you want to do it at a reasonable price here are some tips and tricks to get the most bang for your buck! 

1. Time to plan – 

Giving yourself time to plan will allow time to research for best air, hotel flights and itinerary planning so that you can make the most of your hours! 

I began planning our Hawaii October/November 2023 in November of 2022. 

This gave me plenty of time to research and adjust my agenda. Here are some places that I used for research:

• Connect with Facebook groups
  • Big Island Hawaii – All things Big Island!
  • Hawaiian Islands
  • Hawaii Travel Advice
  • Hawaii Volcanoes National Park 
  • Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden 
• I bought Hawaii The Big Island Revealed – The Ultimate Guide Book – This book was so bomb yall! I toted it around with me everywhere, while I was planning. Here is a link if you want to grab it.

2. Flights – 

There are so many caveats to booking cheap airfare. You should consider and look at these options as well.

1. You can book a round-trip to and from your destination to your Hawaiian island. **This is definitely the easiest option, however, without research, you just won’t know if this is the most cost effective option. 
2. Check roundtrip flights from a midpoint city and try different carriers. This is exactly what we did to save moolah/points! NOTE: Check packages too! SOMETIMES packaged deals (flights, hotels, car rental, excursions) are the BEST option, but you won’t know without reviewing. We flew from Orlando to Los Angeles on Delta (round-trip), and Delta also took us home on our return flight from Los Angeles. And we flew Southwest Airlines back and forth between Hawaii and Los Angeles. We got better rates on the different carriers this way, so definitely check options. Here is how our flight itinerary(ies) looked:
   • Oct 26, 2023 Orlando, FL – Los Angeles, CA Delta Airlines
   • Oct 27, 2023 Los Angeles, CA – Kona, HI Southwest Airlines
   • Nov 3, 2023 Kona, HI – Honolulu, HI Southwest Airlines *we spent 1-day in Oahu
   • Nov 4, 2023 Honolulu, HI to Los Angeles, CA Southwest Airlines
   • Nov 5, 2023 Los Angeles, CA to Orlando FL Delta Airlines
3. Use Credit Card Points to Your Advantage
   1. We have a Southwest Airlines credit card, so our Southwest flights were all booked with points. It is a very good card for travel points. I highly recommend that you WAIT for a promotion of 80K-100K points if you are signing up, which you can do here. 
   2. We used Delta points for the remainder of our airfare. We specifically got the Delta Skymiles Platinum card for this trip, because you get a free companion ticket, every year. We also needed to do some home remodeling, so we used the card for our remodel project (I think you had to spend $3K to get 100K in points), and still get our points benefit. Note: we strategically and IMPATIENTLY waited for Delta to offer a 100K in points promotion.  Click here if you are looking at a Delta card. 
   3. If you have the Hilton American Express card you can save mega-money on hotel stays, and we used these points for our LA stays! We once stayed at the Hilton Playa Del Carmen Adults Only, All Inclusive with ALL POINTS! You can check out my review of that property here. It was a lot – like, 300K, but VERY worth it, considering that included room+food+alcohol+nightly shows, etc. 

4. Research your preferred airline/airlines benefits (These are the carriers that we flew between Orlando – Hawaii)

1. Southwest benefits –
   1. One of the BEST benefits, in my opinion, with Southwest airlines, is that you can change or cancel with no penalty. For money savvy travelers, this is AWESOME! After I book a Southwest flight, I watch prices every day. Every, Day! If prices drop, which they do more often than you would think – you can rebook at the lower rate! This is an amazing benefit! And, if you use points off of your Southwest Visa, and do make changes for a cheaper fare, the points just roll back into your account, easy peasy, lemon squeezy. If you are interested in the Southwest Visa Card – click here. Remember to wait for a great promo! 
   2. Free bags (2 per person)! Another huge benefit-sell for me! 
2. Delta benefits –
   1. I like having a seat and not having to pay for it, or rushing to check in on time, or  being in the boarding line on time, in order to get a good seat.
   2. Movie selections on Delta are bomb! There are SO many options! AND, they give you free headphones!
3. Going.com

This website is a traveler’s life-saver and I think you will LOVE it! They scrub for best rates, including mistake fares. We have found some of the best rates here, including Hawaii!  I am a big fan! 

5. Sign up for membership programs with ALL travel carriers that you will be using BEFORE you travel
   1. Sign up for frequent flier miles, car rental memberships, hotel memberships, etc. They are all free and you accrue points. Even airport parking vendors such as The Parking Spot have programs where you accrue days. For perspective, this Hawaii trip (which was 10 days) most of our parking days were redeemed with the points that I had accrued from the membership. We paid $35.00 total (after using our points) to park our vehicle for 10 days, AND, both of our LA hotels (leaving and coming home), were booked using our Hilton Honors points. 

6. Hotel Stays
   1. Check all the main vendors for pricing and availability directly on their websites. Main hoteliers include Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Holiday Inn. It is sometimes very hard to beat their direct rates, unless you are booking a package deal – some of those package deals that you will find are also hard to beat. Remember to take my above advice and sign up for points programs (any and everywhere) too! 
   2. Google Map the area that you want to stay and click ‘What’s Nearby’ and enter Hotels. Reviews are compiled here and you can easily research the hotels that you are interested in..
   3. Check AirBNB options 
   4. Check Timeshare websites like, Go-Koala or Redweek. We stayed at a timeshare called The Bay Club in Waikoloa, which was SO nice! 

7. Extra stuff to consider while budgeting
   1. Make a list of the items that you really want to do while you are there. Several of these can be paid for well before you travel. Below is our list of ‘want to do’s’ that we made sure that we did!
      1. Lei Greeting – They meet you at the airport with a fresh lei. Nice touch! You can go here to book your lei greeting, which I recommend for island first-timers. It is just such a nice, Fantasy-Island-type touch. 
      2. Volcanoes National Park – We didn’t prepay for this (but you CAN here, if you don’t want to worry about that cost later), but knowing the cost ($30 per car) helps you plan your spending. 
      3. Sunset Catamaran – We did prepay for this. And it was AMAZING! Highly recommend. You can do this here.
      4. Luau – We did our luau during our one night at Disney’s Aulani resort on Oahu. Here is the link that we used to reserve the luau. If you want to shop around for cheaper (because….let’s be honest – it was EXPENSIVE, you can look at other options here.
      5. A nice dinner (or two) with great grown-up drinks! Our favorites by far were Browns Beach Club (Sooo romantic! Sooo perfect!) and Lava Lava Beach Club, which had more of a fun, wear-your-bathing suit, beach club vibe. Super enjoyable! And for breakfast! I cannot stress this enough! Hawaiian Style Cafe has the most AMAZING breakfast that we have ever had! We went twice! Soooo stinking, stonking good!

6. Dispensaries – The hubs definitely wanted to partake in what he believes are those finer things in life, and who am I to block the good things? 🙂 He enjoyed visiting Big Island Grown, on the Big Island, and while in Los Angeles he enjoyed visiting The Studio Cannabis Lounge at the Artist Tree and The Woods (Woody Harrelson is part owner here)

8. Find FREE or cheap options in Hawaii 

There are so many options that are free or cheap and make for a fantastic day! Here are some of the things that we did. 

• Waterfalls – These are everywhere and usually include a hike. 
• Hiking – You will, most likely get your hike on while here! Be prepared! 

• Mauna Kea – Head to the tallest mountain in the world to watch the sun set. Absolutely breathtaking and memorable.
• Beaches – There are sooooo many beaches to choose from! 
• Snorkeling – This can easily be combined with a beach day. 
• Lookouts – There are several lookouts, such as Pololu Lookout and Waipi’o Valley Lookout with the most beautiful vistas! 
• Gardens and Bio Reserves (NOT free) – You will see some of the most beautiful flora and foliage that you can imagine. Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve was our favorite  

If you want to go to Hawaii on a budget, you CAN do this, with planning and focus. 

Feel free to post your best tips and tricks for staying, while having your big fun on a budget.