It’s time for our final installment of ”How to Save on Hawaii”! You can see our first How to Save on Hawaii Post over here. And the second How to Save on Hawaii Post is over here. Although there are tips for just Hawaii, a lot of the tips you can use on ANY trip to save money. So I hope they help you when you plan and book your next vacation!
In Part 1, we talked about saving money by using Vacation Rentals. It is usually the cheapest option. However, there may not be any rentals available in your area or you may want the comfort and reliability of a hotel. So I’m gonna share how we save money on actual hotels.
SAVING MONEY ON HOTELS
If we are vacationing somewhere we haven’t been before, I don’t even know what is available. So that is why I use sites like Expedia.com or Orbitz.com to search my area and get a quick idea of what is around where I want to stay. I also get a really good idea of prices for the nights I want to stay.
After I have a few hotels picked out that would work for our family, I start heading to each hotel’s direct website. Hotels will offer special discounts that are only available on THEIR website. And these are not typically offered on travel sites.
On our trip to Hawaii, I did this exact process and found the Koloa Landing Resort in Kauai. Most hotels during our trip (remember, it was Christmas Break and “high-season”) were $400- $800 per night…even the 2 star resorts. When I actually went to the Hotel’s Website, I saw that they were taking 30% off all rates because they were in the middle of a big expansion–which means construction. After realizing that the construction only took place between 9am-5pm, I knew it would never even bother us while we stayed there. So getting 30% off was a great discount in itself. However, they were also offering a Black Friday Sale price too. They gave us an Intermediate Car Rental from Enterprise for all 4 days of our stay for FREE! ($280 value) And we also had a FREE Cook-to-Order Breakfast each morning! ($200 value)
If you have more than one couple going on vacation, another tip would be to find a 2 Bedroom or 3 Bedroom Suite option instead of booking different single rooms. Typically they are less expensive. (Our hotel room had 2 Huge Master Bedrooms, Full Kitchen, Dining Area, Living Area, 3 Bathrooms and the coolest sliding glass doors that open the entire room.) Instead of booking individual rooms with the extra 30% off and freebies I mentioned above, we opted for a 2 Bedroom Suite instead. Total cost ended up being $240 per couple, per night!! And that price included the Car Rental and Daily Breakfast! Sweet, right? I realize that hotels could have been even cheaper if we traveled during an off-season period… but unfortunately that wasn’t an option for us. And when you have to travel at a specific time, you just have to find the best deal possible.
SAVING MONEY ON FOOD:
Food is another cost that adds up quickly on vacation. Because we had the Breakfast already included with our hotel stay, that cost wasn’t something we had to worry about. Since we had a full kitchen, we were able to stop by the grocery store and grab items we could easily throw together for Lunch. I’m not picky. If I am going to be at a pool or at a beach all day, a sandwich and some chips is all I need. 😉 If you travel internationally, this is one of the best tips to save money. Even if your hotel only has a fridge, you can still grab snacks or lunch items to take with you on the go. We did this in Tahiti and shopping at their Grocery Store was a total adventure! They had foods I had never seen before and food labels were in 3 different languages. I mean c’mon, have you ever seen people pick out live chickens to have butchered right then and there??
We personally really like to eat all of the “local” food and try new things out. So having that as part of our vacation experience is a must-do. One way to do that in Hawaii and still save money is to eat at the Food Trucks! In Oahu, they have food trucks all over–especially North Shore area. If you are new to eating at food trucks, food trucks with long lines are a really good sign. 😉 And if you see locals in the line, you know you are gonna get great food! (This truck pictured above was the Giovanni’s Shrimp truck and had a long line every time we drove past it. Super yummy too!)
Use Yelp.com to find restaurants in your price range. Whether you want to eat at a chain restaurant or a local favorite, use Yelp to find places in your area and for the right price. You can easily do this on your phone while you are out driving or on a computer before you leave your hotel.
Yelp will tell you how many dollar signs each restaurant is:
$= under $10
$$= $11-$30
$$$= $31-$60
$$$$= above $61
And you can search or filter for exactly what type of food you want, how close it is, how many dollar signs it has and if they have any current promotions!
It will also give you reviews and a rating. We did this on our trip every day to help us find new places to eat that we KNEW were going to be good based off the reviews. If we were out sight-seeing or at the beach, we would just input our location, look at reviews and take the dollar signs into consideration. One place we found on Yelp was in Oahu called the Kona Brewing Company. The food was great! I mean, when a place has over 500 reviews, you know you can’t go wrong. 🙂
SAVING ON FUN
I already posted about how to get discounts on fun things to do in “How to Save on Hawaii, Part 1”. But I also wanted to touch base on comparing free vs. paid.
Our view while hiking the Kalalau Trail on the Napali Coast in Kauai.
When you travel to a destination like Hawaii, they have waterfalls you can hike to that cost money through the State Parks. Or you can find a TON of waterfall hikes that don’t cost a penny. We wanted to do Waimea Falls while we are in Oahu. But after finding out it was $16 per person just to hike up to it, we found other hikes to do instead. For example, we hiked the Kalalau Trail on top of the Napali Coast for free. (pictured above) I had NO idea how hard this hike was going to be. I mean super steep up and down and walking in straight mud, trying not to fall over…. Definitely pushed my limits and we only went 4 miles total. But the views were absolutely AMAZING! And everyone should definitely do this hike, or at least part of it if you ever go to Kauai!
They also have drives (like this one for Waimea Canyon) that are equally stunning, without park entrance fees. So if you aren’t a hiker, that’s a free option for you.
Wailua Falls in Kauai was the same way. It was a drive–no entrance fee at all.
Those are just a few of the “free” things we did on our vacation. Obviously, we had fun excursions we did as well and other activities we paid for. But if there are options that don’t cost, you will definitely want to look into it. (You can search for hikes, waterfalls and other free places to go online or on your phone. Or you can also use Yelp.com to search for hikes and waterfalls too!)
Hopefully these tips will help you save even more on your next vacation. If you have more tips, feel free to comment below and let everyone else know what you to do to save!
**Sidenote: I am giving away Southwest Gift Cards over on my Instagram Account to go along with the Travel Posts this week. (GIVEAWAY ENDS TOMORROW) If you are an IG user, definitely head over, follow me and get entered. (If you are on your phone, just search for @Freebies2Deals.)
Julie A (@thatjuliegirl on IG)
I’ll just plug the BEST food on the North Shore – Tita’s! It’s a little hole in the wall building before you get up to the food trucks. Oh man, their shrimp plate is THE BEST on the island!