January Planning

I've just had the most incredible week of vacation planning. I hope that doesn't sound too weird to everybody, but I love planning vacations. Maybe I should have been a travel agent. Anywho, for the past couple of weeks I've been searching the net for bargain flights and nice-looking condos, and I think I've booked some pretty good deals.

We're flying US Air into Maui (OGG) from Cleveland (CLE) with one stop in Phoenix before arriving in Maui. Rountrip cost is $550 + tax per person. Excellent price considering most of the flights from PA/NY/OH area are around $800.

Our condo is in North Kihei at the Kauhale Makai, or Village by the Sea. I struggled with this one a bit...I wanted to make sure we got a price I was comfortable with, but also a condo in which I was comfortable. After e-mailing back and forth with lots of condo owners, I choose a couple who live on the island and do the condo-upkeep themselves. Total price w/ tax for 7 nights is $825. The husband is a contractor who renovates condos for a living, so I think I picked a winner. We'll find out in April.

During our week-long stay in Maui, we'll be taking one inter-island flight to Oahu. Jeff is a history buff, so we can't miss Pearl Harbor. I also figured out the less expensive way to accomplish a side trip. There are many tour companies in Maui that charge upwards of $250 pp to take a day-trip to Oahu to visit Pearl Harbor. Instead of going this route, I booked two round-trip flights and a rental car for the day for a total of $220.

Oh, I also have a Jeep for the week ($399 includes all taxes) in Maui, and have our park and fly booked in Cleveland (Radisson West) for $69 + tax.

All this anticipation has me giddy.