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Last year, hubby and I visited the Hawaiian islands of Big Island, Kauai, and Oahu. This year, we decided to do a long term stay in Oahu, and added a trip to Maui. Our in-laws came along for most of Maui as well. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for an itinerary for how to spend 5 days, 4 nights in Maui!
Travel and transportation
Flight, $730 free value (at time of booking), 26,000 British Airways Avios – We redeemed 26,000 British Airways avios for our one way flight from LAX to OGG (Kahului Airport, Maui) because my husband flies British Airways a lot for work and has Emerald Status on One World. This meant he also received access to premium economy seats, free checked bag ($30), and we got lounge access to the American Airlines Flagship lounge at LAX for free (which includes free breakfast… or rather, breakfast and lunch as we loaded up). We booked these flights really late in the game hence the valuation is high.
$120 – flights for two of us from Maui to Oahu
The American Airlines Flagship Lounge at LAX
Car rental, $538 – This was a big category. A combination of renting late in the game (we planned this trip with less than a month’s time worth to spare) and getting full-sized SUVs meant high car rental costs. $238 of this was for an SUV in Orange County that we used during week 3 and paid for in week 4. We split our Orange County time into two rentals – one from a local Hertz, and then a one-day one-way rental from Santa Ana’s airport to take us LAX on the final day for $54, so that we wouldn’t be hit with high airport fees for a one-way rental. The other $300 was for this massive Nissan Armada that we rented in Maui (which has a surround backup camera). I have to fully commend Mr. Savemycents and his driving skills. I don’t know how I would have driven it. This full sized SUV fit 4 adults and our baby in his Doona car seat comfortably, as well as 5 pieces of luggage and other smaller bags. Mr. Savemycents drove this car on the Road to Hana!!!! He swears that it’s better than driving a sedan because it has more horsepower, and that if we were in a car accident the smaller car loses, but parking it is a beast.
Gasoline – $101 – When we were in Maui we had our in-laws’ Costco membership card which we used to help lower the cost of gas significantly, often saving 60 cents a gallon (this is not the case in other parts of the US). We estimate that the gasoline savings for an average family in Hawaii would more than pay for the Costco membership itself.
Lodging
3 nights free at $1,500 value, used 3 Marriott Bonvoy free night certificates – My in-laws as well as both Mr. Savemycents and I all have the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card (no longer available, but Chase offers a similar version). Even though the card itself has a $95 annual fee, I think for beginner travel hackers it’s a great card to start with for the following reasons:
1) Marriott is the largest hotel chain in the world
2) If you plan to travel for leisure at LEAST once a year to an expensive place, the Free Night Award can often more than pay for the annual fee (you can use it to redeem on hotels that are at or below 35,000 Bonvoy points a night).
3) You automatically get 15 Elite Night Credit with this card. If you wish to achieve higher levels of status on Marriott’s program, this card essentially boosts you with 3 weeks’ worth of business travel.
4) No foreign transaction fees. When I was younger I made a huge mistake of getting hit with a ton of transaction fees with a beginner credit card. This is one of those credit cards that you can use abroad without any fear of paying too much in foreign currency.
With this card and our pooled free nights, we got 3 free nights. The hotel itself is the Courtyard Marriott Maui Kahului Airport (see my Instagram about this). The best part about this hotel is its convenience. While it isn’t a resort, it also doesn’t come with resort fees. It is centrally located in the middle of the island, literally minutes away from the airport, and across from a Costco (really important guys, really important). Not only that, it doesn’t take that long to go from this hotel to the Road to Hana or Haleakala, which, when factoring in how difficult these drives are, means less mental strain on the driver and less gasoline being used. We are very grateful for the free upgrade to a junior suite!
The living room area of our junior suite
$440 ($220 for our half) – Hana Kai Maui resort, 1 night – After reading about the Road to Hana and how long it takes to drive it, Mr. Savemycents and I decided it was probably better to add a night in Hana so that we don’t have to rush the road, especially with my elderly in-laws and a baby on board. Again, given how late we booked, I frantically looked for anything in Hana that would sleep 4 adults and a baby and were very lucky to find Hana Kai Maui, which is essentially vacation condos on a private beach. The fully stocked kitchen meant we were able to cook the groceries we brought with us (we got some frozen meals at Whole Foods and banana bread). The resort opens up to an incredible black pebble beach, with sounds of the ocean lulling you to sleep and waking you up in the morning. There was no baby cot, but with a king-sized bed, hubby, BB, and I were able to sleep comfortably. We split this cost with the in-laws.
View from the living room
Black pebbles
Of the $74 in free value, I allocated $20 worth of food we ate at the American Airlines Flagship Lounge, $20 of free food we got on the plane because of Mr. Savemycents having status, then the remaining was a lot of gift cards we used on Jamba Juice because I had a bad cough throughout this week. In Maui, because of me being sick, we utilized a lot of takeout (tip – calling in for takeout allows you skip more of the sitting in line) and Costco, to lower food costs. Here are some highlights
Costco. Because that beef hot dog deal is hard to beat
Hurricane fries, happy hour, Leilani’s On the Beach (do the beachside grill). This is a great place to park yourself for sunset viewing at Kaanapali Beach without having resort access. Plus, they validate you for 4 hours of free parking at the Whaler’s Village shopping center parking garage. The food is pretty decent, and the prices during happy hour are great. Otherwise, Mr. Savemycents and I recognize that most people come to Maui for a resort experience, which we just didn’t want to spend on given how late we planned and how high the hotel prices surged. This is the part of Hawaii I’m not as big a fan of (the insanely high priced hotels that aren’t all that much to write home about). If I were to compare resorts between Maui and Kauai, hands down, I would pick Kauai for better views.
Everyone says to stop for Aunty Sandy’s Banana Bread when driving the Road to Hana. Thankfully we got some – we drove on two incredibly rainy days, which meant many stands and food trucks were not even open for business. Due to construction, Aunt Sandy’s had shorter hours. We missed it on the way out, but got it on the way back. We ate this for breakfast on multiple days
Due to the poor weather, we weren’t in the mood for shave ice most of the time, but we did get some at Maui Gelato. We’d hoped to make it to Ululani’s, which is what everyone recommended, but we just didn’t have the time
Misc – $132
Of this category, $68 was spent shipping a very large FedEx box full of BB’s newly acquired clothing and toys from Christmas gifts, my electric breast pump, and various other items we didn’t want to schlep to Hawaii, back to NYC. Mr. Savemycents balked at the price, but I felt more peaceful having less stuff. Another $40 was spent at CVS on postage stamps, envelopes, and some medicine.
We spent $12 on the Shaka Guide app, the Road to Hana (in retrospect, I wished we’d gotten the Reverse Road to Hana because of how we drove it, but I figured it out anyway). I found out about this app from another travel blogger. I thought it was completely worth it because there are many spots on the Road to Hana that are very difficult to spot. The mile markers aren’t always easily displayed and you really need ideally both the driver and passenger focused on the road for safety reasons. This app uses our phones’ GPS (you don’t need to turn on data – you actually will lose signal on most of the road anyway) to help us figure out where we were.
Week 4 totals: $1,336 cash spent, $2,304 in free value realized
Trip totals: $2,680 cash spent, $7,736 in free value realized
My 5 day, 4 night Maui itinerary suggestion:
Day 1: Get supplies at Costco, and then spend a leisurely afternoon driving to the south side of the island (most expensive resorts in Wailea). Check out Makena Beach.
Day 2: Iao Valley State Park (including the Needle Monument – $5 to enter), and the lower valley park and its gardens. If you have a full morning and the weather is clear, hike the trail at the needle monument. This was actually my favorite sight on Maui the entire trip (I liked it even more than Road to Hana). In the afternoon get to Whaler’s Village (a shopping center) and enjoy sunset by eating at one of its restaurants and get your parking validated.
Iao Valley State Park
Portuguese garden at Iao Valley State Park
Moody mountains
Kaanapali Beach sunset with Mr. Savemycents (better picture coming)
Day 3 – relax in the morning, then grab lunch and dinner supplies and start driving Road to Hana. Our favorite stops are all later. You want to arrive in Hana before sunset. Again we were unconventional and stayed a night in Hana because most of the most beautiful sights on this road are AFTER Hana. Many people don’t make it there trying to do it in one day so I don’t recommend it.
Day 4 – Continue on Road to Hana all the way to Oheo Gulch (and if you can, hike the Twin Falls hike). On our trip the rains were so heavy that you couldn’t really see “pools” given the amount of rainfall, and we couldn’t hike the trail due to my in laws’ physical condition. We did the quick and easy 0.5 mile lower loop to see the gulch. Get back to Kahului and then get an early night’s sleep. Keep your receipt from visiting Oheo Gulch because it’s part of the Haleakala National Park, which you will see next day.
Our favorite stops on Road to Hana include: Ho’okipa lookout (do it on the way back), Ke’anae peninsula, Wailua Falls, Hamoa Beach, Koki Beach, Oheo Gulch / Seven Sacred Pools
Oheo Gulch
Day 5 – Haleakala Sunrise. You need to make a reservation in advance (it’s $1 per vehicle, available 2 months in advance and 2 days in advance). Aim to arrive in the parking lot 60 -90 minutes in advance of sunrise to secure a viewing spot. Bring warm clothes. Unfortunately due to my cough I didn’t go, and in addition due to rains, the sunrise could not be seen anyway and my husband and in laws turned back early.
Other recommendations – for many of these we didn’t have time, the budget, or can’t eat pork / shellfish. Mr. Savemycents and I also didn’t have time to enjoy more beaches (I personally don’t like beaches, I’m more a mountain girl)
- Maui Coffee Roasters – Mr. Savemycents got a lot of coffees here
- Mauigrown Coffee Store – to buy coffee beans
- Go to a beachside bar at any of the Kaanapali beach hotels as well to enjoy the sunset (aka happy hour at the Sheraton works)
- Snorkel with Snorkel Bob, who provides prescription goggles
- Food: Poi by the Pound, Oyako Tei for spam musubi, Gazebo Restaurant (need to arrive 30 minutes in advance), Sansei Sushi (line up 30 min in advance), Big Wave Shaved Ice, Koiso Sushi (reservations needed), Izakaya Genbe, Kihei Cafe (for banana macadamia pancakes), Maui Pie Company, Old Lahaina Luau
- Punakea Palms Coconut Farm tour, Northshore Zipline Co
- SUP whale watching tour
Enjoy this? Follow along live with me on Instagram as we travel the world for 85 days through March 2020!
