Our last three big trips have included a road trip through Colorado and New Mexico, Manhattan during Christmas time, and three weeks visiting family in central Europe. My daughter pointed out that we haven’t been on a relaxing vacation in a long time, so we decided to head to Maui for spring break next year. Sunshine, beaches, pool time and tropical drinks all sound perfect for next April after what will likely be a rainy Northwest winter.
I start by glancing at the airfare options to decide the best dates for us to fly. By design, I work in the same school district my kids are at, so the three of us share the same dates for spring break. Vacationing over spring break can get expensive since it’s such a popular time. The most expensive flights are on the weekends, so we try to fly out on the Thursday before and return a week later on a Friday. This works for us because we have the Thursday and Friday prior to spring break off from school because of conferences, but if we didn’t, I would try to book an evening flight out on Thursday and have the kids miss one day of school. Flying home on Saturday is most expensive so we save quite a bit by heading home on Friday. While I would love an extra day in Maui, everyone likes having a couple days at home before heading back to school again.
Since we don’t have an unlimited budget for traveling, I always look for the best way to book flights for the least amount. We live in Seattle, the hub of Alaska Airlines, and my husband and I both have the Alaska Airlines Visa card. This card does have a $75 annual fee, but I feel like the benefits definitely make up for the annual cost. We both use this card for almost everything we pay for so we accrue a fair number of miles. If you manage this card by paying off the entire balance every month, then it makes financial sense to use it for everything so you can accrue miles. But if that isn’t possible and you end up paying the interest rate on balances you carry over every month, then this probably wouldn’t be a good option. That said, a few of the other benefits this card includes is the $121 companion fare that you get every year and the free checked bags. For this trip to Maui, I am booking my daughter and me using the companion fare (I pay full price for my ticket and $121 for hers), and booking my husband and son using miles. This is how I typically book the four tickets for our family since my husband and I each get one companion ticket every year. We will pay about $1000 for airfare for the whole family, plus about 120,000 miles. Getting to Maui for Spring Break isn’t cheap, but there are definitely ways to make it affordable.
When considering where to stay in Maui I ask everyone what is on their lodging wish list and to name the ONE thing that is most important to them. On the list in order of importance are great pool or multiple pools, easy beach access, with “ocean view” and “three beds” tied for third place. The hunt begins. A condo suits us best, but it isn’t easy to find a condo with a really great pool. I came across a few properties that are almost perfect except the price. Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club has units available on Air B&B and VRBO and the property looks amazing! But the $400-$500 per night for a one bedroom garden view unit that only gives us two beds isn’t quite what we are looking for. Honua Kai also looks perfect for us, meeting everything on the wish list, but again at that $400+ per night price point for the smallest unit, it’s just out of reach. A couple more weeks of searching and research brings me to Kaanapali Shores Resort. I like that it has a resort feel with a beach club restaurant next to the pool by the beach, allowing us to order drinks and food poolside. And also has a meandering pool with a waterfall and bridge where you can bring your own drinks and snacks. You can book rooms for this property on Costco’s travel site, but I found the best deal on VRBO, where I booked a two bedroom condo (one king, two twins and a pull out sofa), on the sixth floor with an ocean view. It is newly remodeled, gets great reviews and looks perfect. Kaanapali Shores seems to have all the resort amenities we are looking for with the two bedrooms and ocean view for the same price as a one bedroom parking lot view at the properties mentioned above.
With airfare and lodging secured, now comes the fun part of learning about all the different things to do on Maui and thinking about what would be best for us. One of my students just returned from a trip to Maui and said his favorite part was a sailing snorkeling trip they took on Trilogy. That does look wonderful!
What have you done on Maui that you would recommend? Any favorites or places we should avoid? I love to hear other peoples ideas, so thanks for sharing!
