The dark, rainy days of winter have returned to Seattle and I find myself again unprepared for it to get dark at 4:00 pm. My kids come into my office at 4:30 pm and ask, “Is it dinner time yet?” Each winter, as the rain pours down on our car windshield, we throw up our hands and threaten to move to a sunnier location. Fortunately, the Hawaiian islands have been our saving grace to erase our winter blues, our respite, for what feels like a really long, rainy, Seattle winter.
So, this time of year, with a cup (or two) of hot coffee, we start planning our winter break trip to Hawaii and start shopping for airfare. One of the biggest challenges in planning a family vacation to Hawaii is deciding which island to visit. Once we’ve decided on our destination, the hard work begins; putting together a budget and deciding when to fly to Hawaii, where to stay, and most importantly, when to book to find the best deal on our trip to the Hawaiian islands. Last week, we shared the first #ExploreMoreHawaii video in partnership with Alaska Airlines to help you and your family decide which Hawaiian island you want to explore, with a few ideas on what to do on each island. This week, we will dive deeper into helping you through the planning process of booking that trip. Our family has visited Hawaii nearly every winter since we became parents, and along the way we’ve learned some valuable lessons on when to book, when to fly, where to stay and how to maximize our budget during our trip.
Disclosure: This post and video series is part of a paid partnership with Alaska Airlines. As always, the opinions expressed here are my own.
Today, in our next #ExploreMoreHawaii video, I share some of our go-to tips for planning a Hawaiian family vacation that has helped us save time and money. For example:
– Did you know that the choosing the right day of the week to travel can save you hundreds of dollars in airfare for a family of four? We’ve experienced this first-hand and always travel mid-week to the Hawaiian Islands for the most affordable fares.
– Come winter, we are in desperate need of some Hawaiian sunshine. This is also a busy time of year to go, meaning airfares to Hawaii are pretty consistently high. All year-long, we save up our domestic airline miles and the annual companion fare certificates we get with our credit card and use them when we book our Hawaii family vacation. We’ve found this strategy has helped us stick to our budget for our family of four and offset the cost of peak travel fares.
– Where you stay in Hawaii matters. We always look for hotels and resorts that offer daily resort credits to help us save on meals and when possible, share accommodations with another family to split the cost. It also makes vacation so much fun for everyone on the trip!
I hope this second #ExploreMoreHawaii video will help you plan your next family trip to Hawaii, find a great place to stay and inspire you to make the flight to Hawaii fun for you and your kids so you can make memories together as a #welltraveledfamily!
#ExploreMoreHawaii Twitter Chat: Have a Hawaii travel question? Join me @HipTravelMama, @AlaskaAir, @StarwoodHawaii and friends on Twitter this Thursday at 9:30 a.m. PST
Have a question on booking your trip to Hawaii, or your own tips to share? Join us on Thursday November 21 at 9:30 am PST on Twitter for a special #ExploreMoreHawaii Twitter chat. I will be faciliating the conversation, along with @AlaskaAir, @StarwoodHawaii and the team of Hawaiian island hotels and other expert travel friends and bloggers who have a wealth of knowledge to share to help you plan your next perfect family trip to Hawaii! Here’s how to join us to #ExploreMoreHawaii.
