Beat of Hawaii and Beyond: Travel Deals, Tips, Events, Culture

Beat of Hawaii landed in New York early Wednesday morning. After a staggering 5,000 plus mile, two flight journey in coach on United, we arrived Newark at 6 am. We love islands and they don’t come any more culturally different or geographically remote than Kauai and Manhattan.

Once we’re back home we’ll tell you about the best money saving strategies we found for entertainment, food, lodging and transportation. And we’ve got a surprising report on United Airlines.

We’re really excited and looking forward to a great week in the Big Apple. Stay tuned for more posts.

I’ve been very fortunate to spend the majority of my life’s flying time in the front of the plane. It started decades ago and I’ve rarely flown in economy since. One of those rarities is pictured above when we made the mistake of flying economy from LAX to Bangkok. I’m not sure however that the photo does justice to exactly how uncomfortable it was.

We’re off to New York this week, and we’ll be flying in economy. This tide may now be shifting not only for us, but as an industry trend.

Why are we flying economy?

We aren’t premium passengers with United Airlines, with whom we’ll be flying, although we once were. We haven’t flown UA in years, and do not have any of their miles. So for us, the cost to upgrade from economy to Economy Plus was several hundred dollars and to upgrade to First, over $1,200. We decided to take our chances and spend the money on a better hotel and more theater.

I’ll report back on how this 5,000 plus mile journey in UA Economy works out.

Why does this look to be an industry trend?

USA Today is reporting information from American Express Business Travel Monitor, saying that as air travel becomes more expensive, passengers are choosing to upgrade less often than before. Will this be an industry trend? If our plans are an example, I’d say the answer is yes, which will hit airlines hard.

The report says that the number of international business class seats is down 2 percent recently, compared with last year. At the same time, the number of first class seats sold for North American travel dropped from 4 percent to 3 percent. Since domestic First travel typically yields airlines hundreds of extra dollars per seat and international First yields thousands of extra dollars, if this trend continues, it will be yet another blow to the airlines’ coffers.

I think that we as passengers as well as the airlines are in uncharted waters.

I’ve been following a recent controversy between the Skin Cancer Foundation and Environmental Working Group over how sunscreens are tested. Beat of Hawaii previously wrote about sunscreens back in May.

According to the New York Times, the Skin Cancer Foundation, which also tests sunscreens for safety and effectiveness, complains that the testing done by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is “junk science.”

EWG concurs that they are using their own system, inasmuch as no formalized standards of evaluation presently exist. EWG , however, questions the objectivity of the Skin Cancer Foundation by stating:

At a cost of $10,000 to the manufacturer, the Skin Cancer Foundation endorses sunscreen products based on an evaluation that fails to consider two critical factors: whether or not the product protects against UVA protection, and whether the ingredient soaks through the skin and raises health concerns.

Based on my read, it certainly appears that there is a conflict of interest vis-à-vis the Skin Cancer Foundation and the manufacturers who are footing the $10,000 bills.

Moreover the controversy speaks to the clear-cut need for a standardized system of evaluating sunscreens in relation to all aspects of their effectiveness and safety.

So where is the U.S. government when we really need them? The FDA has yet to approve a set of final sunscreen safety standards, a project which EWG says was begun three decades ago.

If and when they do, we understand the standard will likely remove the importance of current SPF ratings on sunscreens, and replace them with a new rating system.

One star would signify the sunscreen offers the lowest protection, while four stars would mean the highest level. It isn’t clear to me how product safety concerns will be addressed by the FDA standards.

As EWG points out, “with more than a million cases of skin cancer diagnosed each year, people can’t afford to wait any longer.”

I concur and again suggest you check the EWG’s Skin Deep database, in order to find safe and effective sunscreens.

Back in June, I mentioned mentioned TripHub, a site which I’d used previously for group trip planning.

Well frankly I haven’t used it in a while, and so was sad to see a post on TechCrunch today, which lead me to TripHub’s site:

“TripHub’s trip planning service will no longer be available after Friday August 22, 2008….”What happened?” There is no single, simple answer to this question. Certainly we made mistakes, and unfortunately we were impacted by factors beyond our control including the current economic environment and state of the travel industry….”

I’m sorry to see TripHub go, but at the same time I’m not surprised.  They simply ran out of money, and there was nothing adequately distinguishing about it to attract either users or investors.  There are just too many Web 2.0 travel sites, and TripHub won’t be the last one to close.

Whole Foods Markets will soon be joining Hawaii’s established health food stores. If you’re looking for healthy grinds during your stay in Hawaii, here are some of our favorites to consider:

• On Oahu and Maui, try Down to Earth, which has nice moderate sized stores and a good selection.
• Big Island scores with Kona Natural Foods in Kailua-Kona (two locations), Healthway in Kamuela, and Abundant Life in Hilo.
• Kauai has Papaya’s in Hanalei and Kapa’a, Koloa Natural Foods in Koloa, and Vim ‘n Vigor in Lihue.
• Molokai’s small Outpost Natural Foods in Kaunakakai has great produce.

Whole Foods will join our line-up on September 10 when their first store opens at Oahu’s Kahala Mall. It’s occupying the space where Star Market used to be.

There are three other Whole Foods stores coming over the next two years. Look for them in the future at Ward Village Shops near Waikiki, the Maui Mall and Big Island.

Whole Foods had originally planned to open its first store at Ward Village Shops. That was delayed, however, when they discovered more than 50 sets of native Hawaiian remains on the property. Originally scheduled for 67,000 square feet, the store has been reduced to half the size due to the downturn in the economy.

Will Whole Foods Put the Smaller Stores Out of Business?

We are big fans of and support local producers and retailers. At the same time the existing stores are relatively small. So I’m excited about the potential impact in both consumption of organic foods and promotion of local organic farming that Whole Foods may have here in Hawaii.

Whole Foods philosophy is to support local, organic and sustainable products. The $6 billion retailer is committed to selling locally available products, whenever possible. They also supports humane treatment of animals.

We think that there’s room for both Whole Foods and the smaller, local health food stores here in Hawaii.

This isn’t exactly the deal we’ve been waiting for (from California cities), but is an excellent airfare nonetheless.  It represents a savings of at least $200 off the next best fare.  Travel is via Denver or San Francisco.

• United Airlines
• Advance purchase:  21 days
• Travel dates:  September 1 through December 16
• Minimum/maximum stay:  3/60 days
• Availability:  Excellent!