Price of Aulani for a week for studio

[CruznLexi]

We are contemplating going to Aulani if we can get in. Was wondering how much those who have stayed in a studio how much your stay was including flight, rental car, food, extra did it run, thanks

 

[Anal Annie]

The cost of flights will be your biggest line item to budget for and will vary widely depending on the time of year, days of the week that you fly and where you are coming from (ie west coast will be A LOT cheaper than from the east coast). We haven't been to Aulani (yet....going in August) but have been to Hawaii 4x before.

I just booked SOME of our flights and am still searching for a deal on the others. Prices are way up over this same time last year so I am really frustrated. (Let me add that we had orig. booked this same trip last January for LAST August but due to a last minute medical emergency w/ our DS we had to cancel at 8 days out...but this is why I know exactly how much airfare has gone up.) We are coming from the DC area & are stopping in LA to visit DL for a few nights on our way. IMHO it is much too far to go & the flights too expensive to not visit at least 1 more island so we are also adding 3 nights on Maui. I booked one-way DC to LAX and one-way Maui back to DC (with only 1 xfer in Portland) on Alaska Air for $710 pp. I still need to book the LAX to HNL flight....last yr I got it for $272 pp and this yr it has been fluctuating lately between $485ish to $609!!!!! I also need to book our inter-island hop....last yr I got it on Hawaiian Air for $68 and this yr it has been running around $89-98. I have to suck it up tho and book it at that price in the next day or so bcuz our credit from Hawaiian expires in a day or so. I don't know what to do about the LA to HNL one. I can't believe how much more it is. You should set up some fare alerts on kayak or airfare watchdog to get an idea for your city & travel dates.

We are staying at both VGC & Aulani with our DVC points so I can't tell you how much to budget for your accommodations.

Last year I found car rentals for the summer months to run higher than other times of the year....I watched several sites weekly & eventually got a bid accepted on Priceline for a standard or intermediate size for about $172 for a week. (The car on Maui was going to cost about the same even tho it was less nights.)

We will likely eat our breakfasts "in" since we will have the studio kitchenette and maybe some lunches....but I will budget $200 / day for our other meals (for 3 adults as our DS will be 17).

You can figure that excursions will run about the same as on a cruise depending on what you do (ie surf lessons or snorkeling from a boat etc). We booked 2 of our 3 nights on Maui at the Sheraton Ka'anapali with Starwood points & the other night on cash at around $335 with our Starwood rate (would have been $419).

Good luck planning and budgeting!!

 

[Cinderpamela]

We were there for 10 days so to break it down into one week is a little tricky so I will just throw out approximations of some of the categories you asked about.

It of course going to depend on how many people you are talking about and those peoples ages. We have 2 teen sons who eat like adults so that affects our food budget much more than it would if our kids were younger.

You will probably get a better idea by searching online sites for tickets/car rentals for the dates you are looking for. Especially since the cost of the flight really depends on what time of year you are going and where you are coming from.

Our last trip we went during Christmas time from the west coast and flights were pretty pricey.... around $850 per person nonstop. When we went in August 2012 I got flights for closer to $600. You can find them for less but that is going to depend on where you are coming from and can sometimes entail booking before the 7month window opens up for booking Aulani.

The rental car for our stay in August '12 was for 6 days and I got it for around $300 by stalking the Costco car rental website. I felt like that was a pretty darn good price. Christmas was around $600 for 10 days

Food is pretty pricey in Hawaii.... for our family of 4 we figured around $250 per day($62.50 per person), some days we spent a less, and some days we spent more, but I think it balanced out in the end. When we were going to a fancier dinner such as Roys, or the Paradise Cove Luai it was above $250 for that particular day. One could definitely do Hawaii with a smaller food budget than that if you cut corners and had younger kids.

When we first started thinking about going I set up a big spread sheet and added in all the approximate costs for the things we knew we wanted to do and that really helped to get a picture of what the bottom line was going to be.

Hope that helps for starters.

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

I also set up a spreadsheet, and will agree with both PP that it totally depends on time of year and where you are coming from (and how many in your group).

Our airfare has ranged from $400-$800 per person (coming from west coast).

Food depends on whether you want to eat in the studio at all. We have had trips where we are out every meal. This next trip we are doing breakfast each day in our villa and also one other meal (so only eating out once per day).

I found that initially when budgeting, once I made our itinerary, I just looked up menus online to get an idea of prices. I find that helps a lot compared to trying to stick to a daily budget.

We also factor in drinks while at the pool and things- we factor in $11 per drink in case it's a speciality one. We also buy our own alcohol and plastic cups to save money.

Car rentals have varied as well- we need a mini van this time and got one for $475 for 10 days - but that's off season. We paid the same thing for a full size car for shorter time during spring break time.

Also budget entrance fees to anything you will want to do (waimea falls, Pearl Harbor, museums, etc). You can look these up online. I would advise to do things on your own and not book through Aulani as they are very expensive .

Factor in as well as any paid activities at the resort (premium experiences for family or in Auntys beach house). Also budget any meals that the kids might have in the club if you are going out to eat alone ($9 each).

Hope that's helps- sorry couldn't give exact numbers for things but everyone's vacations are so different when it comes to budget and where people spend their money!

 

[Anal Annie]

Our last trip we went during Christmas time from the west coast and flights were pretty pricey.... around $850 per person nonstop. When we went in August 2012 I got flights for closer to $600. You can find them for less but that is going to depend on where you are coming from and can sometimes entail booking before the 7month window opens up for booking Aulani.

The rental car for our stay in August '12 was for 6 days and I got it for around $300 by stalking the Costco car rental website. I felt like that was a pretty darn good price. Christmas was around $600 for 10 days

Food is pretty pricey in Hawaii.... for our family of 4 we figured around $250 per day($62.50 per person), some days we spent a less, and some days we spent more, but I think it balanced out in the end. When we were going to a fancier dinner such as Roys, or the Paradise Cove Luai it was above $250 for that particular day. One could definitely do Hawaii with a smaller food budget than that if you cut corners and had younger kids.

Last time we took DS to Hawaii he was still eating off the kids menus for the most part - glad to hear my $200 / day for meals thinking should be "close" for the 3 of us now that he is 17. In addition to my Disney gift cards that I "collect" I am also collecting some Outback/Roys cards to use at Roys one night.

While I had hoped to find an even cheaper deal on the car rental it sounds like my Priceline bid that I got for $172ish was a pretty good deal (and it ended up being thru National which was my 1st choice). While I hate to pre-pay for that kind of stuff I may try that again this year. (I never did find what I considered a "good deal" on the Maui car.)

Since you are on the west coast what do you think about these CRAZY airfare prices that I have been seeing this year?? I can't decide when to book that LAX - HNL flight. I am still having trouble swallowing that last yr. I got it for $272 and this year it's been hovering around $485 (although THIS MORNING it was $609 - I'm hoping that's just bcuz it's the weekend and that it will drop later this week.) It's just a ONE-way flight - so it's killing me that it's that high - esp. since I got our other flights for $710. It just seems wrong that the 1-way from LA to HNL should be THAT high doesn't it??

Our airfare has ranged from $400-$800 per person (coming from west coast).

We also factor in drinks while at the pool and things- we factor in $11 per drink in case it's a speciality one. We also buy our own alcohol and plastic cups to save money.

Car rentals have varied as well- we need a mini van this time and got one for $475 for 10 days - but that's off season. We paid the same thing for a full size car for shorter time during spring break time.

And since you're another west coaster - what's your thoughts on this crazy high airfare thing?? Do you think it might drop?? Last yr. I booked in January for August and all of our flights only went UP from there (I kept watching it). But this year it's higher than it was last year. I don't know what to do….I nearly choked this morning when I saw $609.

Do you know if there's a liquor store nearby? Where we live we have to go to special county-run liquor stores for "the hard stuff". I can't remember what the law is in Hawaii. DH will just drink beer but I will want some Captain Morgan. I am planning on bringing a small collapsible cooler to bring down to the pool / beach. I WILL NOT pay $11 for drinks every day.

Again, sounds like Priceline may be a fair bet on the car rental. I never did find any Costco deals or Discounthawaiicarrental.com rates to beat it.


OP - I just wanted to mention that when I priced out various dates to travel this year I found that our return flights home were a couple hundred dollars less to travel on Mon./Tues. than on the weekend (we leave Hawaii on a Mon. night and with the time difference arrive home on Tues. evening). So if your dates can be flexible at all you might want to price out your flights on days other than the weekends. I think it's worth pricing the weekdays anyway if you're interested in flying on the cheapest days.

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

And since you're another west coaster - what's your thoughts on this crazy high airfare thing?? Do you think it might drop?? Last yr. I booked in January for August and all of our flights only went UP from there (I kept watching it). But this year it's higher than it was last year. I don't know what to do….I nearly choked this morning when I saw $609. Do you know if there's a liquor store nearby? Where we live we have to go to special county-run liquor stores for "the hard stuff". I can't remember what the law is in Hawaii. DH will just drink beer but I will want some Captain Morgan. I am planning on bringing a small collapsible cooler to bring down to the pool / beach. I WILL NOT pay $11 for drinks every day. Again, sounds like Priceline may be a fair bet on the car rental. I never did find any Costco deals or Discounthawaiicarrental.com rates to beat it.

About airfare, I'm not sure! It has been really unusual.. I live in seattle so we fly direct to HNL in 2012 we flew late march and it was $525 rnd trip on hawaiian (booked 3 months out). Our last trip we booked in Jan for a late April spring break trip and paid $800 something- it was crazy. It never dropped our trip coming up in a week and half we booked in Oct and it was $379 rnd trip. Amazing deal!

The way we got that though was to NOT enter in all 5 of us. They had cheap seats released at 2 at a time. So if I entered all 5 of us, airfare was very high. Only 2 people and cheap seats. It's a gamble and you have to be willing to book the rest if your party at the higher cost if it doesn't work but for us it did. I booked 2 then waited. 10 minutes later 2 more cheap seats opened up. Grabbed those then waited. Another cheap seat opened.

As for liquor you can buy in all the grocery stores. We do one or 2 drinks at the resort price (at dinner and one at the pool) then if we want anything else we get it from our room

As for car rental, it's a gamble too! I haven't found anything cheaper for mine ($343 before all fees, $479 after) using the budget code that's floating around. That's for 10 days. I keep looking and the costs at all other places are close to 1,000! Even discount Hawaii car rental could t beat it (but I've used them in past when I used a smaller car and it was great!).

 

[Anal Annie]

About airfare, I'm not sure! It has been really unusual.. I live in seattle so we fly direct to HNL in 2012 we flew late march and it was $525 rnd trip on hawaiian (booked 3 months out). Our last trip we booked in Jan for a late April spring break trip and paid $800 something- it was crazy. It never dropped our trip coming up in a week and half we booked in Oct and it was $379 rnd trip. Amazing deal!

The way we got that though was to NOT enter in all 5 of us. They had cheap seats released at 2 at a time. So if I entered all 5 of us, airfare was very high. Only 2 people and cheap seats. It's a gamble and you have to be willing to book the rest if your party at the higher cost if it doesn't work but for us it did. I booked 2 then waited. 10 minutes later 2 more cheap seats opened up. Grabbed those then waited. Another cheap seat opened.

As for liquor you can buy in all the grocery stores. We do one or 2 drinks at the resort price (at dinner and one at the pool) then if we want anything else we get it from our room

As for car rental, it's a gamble too! I haven't found anything cheaper for mine ($343 before all fees, $479 after) using the budget code that's floating around. That's for 10 days. I keep looking and the costs at all other places are close to 1,000! Even discount Hawaii car rental could t beat it (but I've used them in past when I used a smaller car and it was great!).

Thanks. So far the prices for 3 ppl are the same as for 1 person for our date. From what I've seen on the fare compare calendars it looks like fares drop by close to $100 for the week AFTER when we are going. I just asked a friend of mine who lives in CA and goes to HI every year what she's been seeing for airfare and she says fares have been super high for almost a year now. I guess I will bite the bullet soon to avoid paying MORE….not sure if I wait for Tues. or Wed. if it will be a few dollars less than today. Fares have been holding steady at HIGH for awhile now.

I DID find a $474 1-way fare on Hawaiian when I booked our inter-island hop earlier today which beats Delta & Alaska by a lot. (I looked at my documents from last year and discovered that TODAY was the last day to use our credit so I took care of that. Got the inter-island hop for $86.20 so had to pay an additional $18 pp over what we paid last January.)

 

[Cinderpamela]

Last time we took DS to Hawaii he was still eating off the kids menus for the most part - glad to hear my $200 / day for meals thinking should be "close" for the 3 of us now that he is 17. In addition to my Disney gift cards that I "collect" I am also collecting some Outback/Roys cards to use at Roys one night.

While I had hoped to find an even cheaper deal on the car rental it sounds like my Priceline bid that I got for $172ish was a pretty good deal (and it ended up being thru National which was my 1st choice). While I hate to pre-pay for that kind of stuff I may try that again this year. (I never did find what I considered a "good deal" on the Maui car.)

Since you are on the west coast what do you think about these CRAZY airfare prices that I have been seeing this year?? I can't decide when to book that LAX - HNL flight. I am still having trouble swallowing that last yr. I got it for $272 and this year it's been hovering around $485 (although THIS MORNING it was $609 - I'm hoping that's just bcuz it's the weekend and that it will drop later this week.) It's just a ONE-way flight - so it's killing me that it's that high - esp. since I got our other flights for $710. It just seems wrong that the 1-way from LA to HNL should be THAT high doesn't it??

I know what you're saying LeeAnne... it seems like the days of finding great airfare deals are gone.... at least while I am forced to only book during the high season due to my kids school schedules!!

That is a great price on a rental car... and that's coming from someone who got her price for our WDW trip wittled down to $19 a day! I have yet to get that good of a rate in Hawaii, but I do understand that some of it is because of when we are going... and the fact that I am not willing to cram us all in a compact! But you have to feel really good about that car rental price.

 

[Anal Annie]

I know what you're saying LeeAnne... it seems like the days of finding great airfare deals are gone.... at least while I am forced to only book during the high season due to my kids school schedules!!

That is a great price on a rental car... and that's coming from someone who got her price for our WDW trip wittled down to $19 a day! I have yet to get that good of a rate in Hawaii, but I do understand that some of it is because of when we are going... and the fact that I am not willing to cram us all in a compact! But you have to feel really good about that car rental price.

I thought it was a pretty good rental price…I think I bid $15 or $16 / day then once they added on the extra fees that's where it ended up….of course that was for LAST summer….now I have to go thru the whole process all over again for this year. I am concerned about luggage space on the intermediate size cars even tho there's only 3 of us and I WILL stick to only 1 checked bag pp. My DH bought a Ford Fusion Hybrid last summer and the trunk space in that thing is NOT big enough to hold all of our bags. So I worry when they say on the description "Ford Fusion or similar size".