$399 Kauai Sheraton Plus Air; Good And Not So Good
Pleasant Holidays has some of the best Hawaii air plus hotel packages around. In part the Automobile Club of Southern California-owned company does it by purchasing blocks of airline seats from San Francisco and Los Angeles.
1. Good deals.
These are basically the same great deals from San Francisco and Los Angeles that we saw earlier this year. The only extra is tax of approximately $50 per person. It would be a good price for air only, and yet amazingly includes 3 nights at the beautifully located Sheraton Kauai on Poipu Beach.
2. Other islands available.
These prices also include air and 3 nights hotel based on two people.
- Maui $399
- Oahu $349
- Kona $399.
3. Very limited travel dates (at least to Kauai).
Checking last night for 3-day itineraries, below are the only dates I found. It should also be possible to stay longer, but likely these are the only departure dates.
- From San Francisco to Lihue: Departures on 8/21, 8/26, 8/27, and 8/28.
- From Los Angeles to Lihue: Departures on 8/16, 8/20, 8/21, 8/22, 8/23, 8/28
4. Pleasant’s unpleasant website.
I take exception to a company offering such great Hawaii deals while having such a poor website. There is at present no flexible date search and no easy or reasonable way to determine which dates will yield the bargain prices offered. Many dates within the stated available date range returned prices two times the bargain price or more. It probably took me 20-30 minutes just to ferret out available dates for Kauai.
Rather than just complaining, I contacted Pleasant Holidays’ director of strategy and business development, Roseanne Landay. She was very helpful and explained that Pleasant is in the process of a website and booking engine redesign. Roseanne assured me that the new website will allow you to quickly locate which dates yield the best deals. In the interim, she suggested that if you’re having difficulties finding the deal, the best solution may be to give them at call at (800) 742-9244.
