The BIG Hawaii Five-0 Birthday Trip - Sept/Oct 2024

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by anji

It is! Just posted our pre-trip - can't wait!

See more...

Excellent, off to read it now!

[Sparksy72]

Alicia I love that you can rebook accommodation as the prices drop! More pennies for cocktails. 🍹😍 Lots of great activities planned, it is always a good idea to compare pricing. Hawaii is definitely on the list for us so I can’t wait to see what you all get up to. 💕 xxx

[Minnie Mum]

Looks amazing. We are planning a 2025 trip with stops at Turtle bay, paradise and wakiki so reading along with interest.

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Sparksy72

Alicia I love that you can rebook accommodation as the prices drop! More pennies for cocktails. 🍹😍 Lots of great activities planned, it is always a good idea to compare pricing. Hawaii is definitely on the list for us so I can’t wait to see what you all get up to. 💕 xxx

See more...

I almost always book with Free Cancellation as sometimes the drop in prices is incredible but if they go the other way then at least you’ve locked in a price you’re happy with.
It’s all starting to feel very real now as we leave 4 weeks today! 😱 xxx

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Minnie Mum

Looks amazing. We are planning a 2025 trip with stops at Turtle bay, paradise and wakiki so reading along with interest.

See more...

Oh wow so very similar to us, have you booked any accommodation yet? I hope my report will be useful in your planning, will try and get it written up as quickly as I can 😊

[Minnie Mum]

Your trip planning has been super useful and lead me to change plans. We are now going to Maui for part of the trip!🤣
Can i ask when you booked your Hawaii flights? Did you book them individually or as a multitrip ticket? .

The luggage charges/ seat choices seem to add a lot. Not too bothered where we sit but with 2 kids we need to be together and have no choice but to have checked bags but am going to try and pack lightish.

They seem super expensive currently but our dates are now yet available.



My husband and i are also celebrating our 50th birthdays so keep using this as a reason to add elements on.

Have a fantastic time!

[smithlane]

Hello! 👋
So we are now only 4 weeks away from going 😱
The summer has completely run away with us, I’m not sure where the time has gone!

A few little updates to share with you all.

We have cancelled and rebooked our Waikiki hotel. The more I was thinking about it, we’re not going to be spending loads of time at the hotel as we have 2 busy days planned so we really wouldn’t get loads of use out of the 5 star facilities of the Alohilani. I was looking on my British Airways booking system and found the Hilton Waikiki Beach available for £537 for 3 nights which is saving us over £400 per room!

I think the mini golf swung it for Jim 😂

It is only one further block back from the beach so I’m sure we can all cope with that!

I have booked our Pearl Harbour entry for the 6th October but as of yet no tours. I’m leaving that to the boys to sort which could be interesting!

I’ve recently come across another trail I’d like to do called the Koko Crater Trail which isn’t too far out of Waikiki and the sunset views look stunning so we may do that after Pearl Harbour. This is an abandoned WWII railway track that ascends 1048 steps to the top of Koko Crater.

The next day is Nick’s birthday and we’ll be going to Manoa Falls in the morning then some pool/beach time in the afternoon. I have booked us a table at Dukes for 5pm for an early dinner then the plan is to have drinks in the Mai Tai bar in the Royal Hawaiian hotel.

We have now sorted out our 3 days in Maui. The first full day on the 9th will be chilling and exploring the area, Jim may play a round of golf today.
On the 10th it is Helen’s birthday and if you remember, I was leaving it up to her what we do today as it’s her special day. She has decided on going to Haleakala National Park for Sunrise so I have secured us entry which has to be pre booked up to 60 days before. There is a $1 booking fee per car then we’ll need to pay the National Park fee on arrival.

Jim was trying to get out of going as you know, it’s a sunrise, but as Helen pulled the ‘sister’s birthday’ card he has no choice but to get up at 3am, he’s thrilled 😂😂. Helen and I, however are very excited!

We are hoping we have enough energy to do the Waihee Ridge trail on the way back as this looks stunning!

We’ll probably need a lunchtime snooze after our early start then we’ll head out to Leilani’s in Whalers Village next door where we have a table booked for 4.30pm. This is right on the beach and has a great looking menu!

On our third day we will do the Road to Hana, which will be a full day out seeing some amazing sights! As we only have the one day to do this, we might not actually make it to the town of Hana and we’re ok with that as we don’t want to rush any of our stops.

We have booked our flights from Maui to Vegas with Hawaiian Airlines. The flight leaves Kahului Airport at 10.30am on the 12th October. Because of the 3 hour time difference we don’t land until 19.05 so will check in straight away and head out!
Now we don’t actually have a hotel to check into yet as I haven’t booked one 😬
Im playing room roulette and I’m hoping and praying it works!
Doing a little research it seems that prices drop around two weeks before check in but this plan could of course backfire on us 🙈
I’ve looked on Hotwire which has a few options as we want to stay as central on the Strip as possible. I’ve not ever booked through this website before so unsure what to expect as they don’t release the hotel name until after booking 😳
There are also some options on the booking system I can use through work so I’m sure we’ll be fine one way or another!

Still no firm plans for Vegas but exploring the Strip, going to a hotel Buffet and visiting Fremont Street in the evening will definitely be on the agenda!

Our trans Atlantic flights have been reserved using my standby tickets. I have us booked on the first Heathrow to LA flight of the day at 10.10. The loads look ok so far but it’s still too early to tell, there are 2 more flights that day and we also have the option of San Diego and San Francisco.
From Las Vegas I have us on the Heathrow flight but the plan B will be the earlier Gatwick flight. Cross your fingers for us🤞

I have done a little holiday clothes shopping and bought some Hawaiian themed pieces as my wardrobe was lacking any tropical vibe! All from Shein so very reasonably priced and fit well, the pyjamas in particular are very comfortable!

I think that’s about all for now, I don’t actually need much else apart from doing a Superdrug order for toiletries.
Between flying and clients I’m working for 8 days straight right up until the day before we leave so I’m trying to be super organised in the weeks leading up to going so I’m not flapping, although I’m sure there will be an element of panic the night before 😂
Will keep you all posted on when I eventually pull the plug and book the Vegas hotel 😅

TTFN

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Minnie Mum

Your trip planning has been super useful and lead me to change plans. We are now going to Maui for part of the trip!🤣
Can i ask when you booked your Hawaii flights? Did you book them individually or as a multitrip ticket? .

The luggage charges/ seat choices seem to add a lot. Not too bothered where we sit but with 2 kids we need to be together and have no choice but to have checked bags but am going to try and pack lightish.

They seem super expensive currently but our dates are now yet available.



My husband and i are also celebrating our 50th birthdays so keep using this as a reason to add elements on.

Have a fantastic time!

See more...

I’m so pleased! Adding Maui is a great plan. I know we only have 4 nights there but I couldn’t go all that way and not add a second island to our itinerary. I’m hoping it lives up to the hype, which I’m sure it will.
So we booked LAX-HNL then HNL-OGG in May so 4 months before and we only booked the OGG-LAS flights a few weeks ago. The prices on Hawaiian airlines have been fairly consistent, I think for all 3 legs it’s cost about $1000 for the 2 of us. That obviously doesn’t include luggage which we have had to factor in, I think around another $200 for us both.
We could have booked the cheaper rate but chose the middle option of choosing our seats at booking and being able to change our flights for free just in case!