Can we ever relate. Car rentals disappoint, and so do hotels. Plus an entirely different take on airlines. What’s your experience?
50 thoughts on “Hawaii Travelers: Adjust Expectations Amid Industry-Wide Dissatisfaction, Airline Complaints +250%”
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Thrilled with our 2 bedroom ocean front timeshare in Princeville for 1450 a week! Travel to Hawaii can still be reasonable. Just booked RT airfare to Big Island in October for 195 RT. Thanks to BOH for the airfare tip! Andy S
Hi Andy.
Thanks. Glad you got reasonable airfare – Jeff bought it too for family to visit. Have a great time on the BI.
Aloha.
Don’t forget restaurant food is hit or miss and prices have doubled.
I hate inflation.
We are not your usual travelers to Maui. We own a condo in South Maui. We have a car here. For a change United Airlines has been bearable, flying Premium Class. We quit flying first class because of the cost but more importantly, the service was terrible. They ran out of water half way through the Last flight.
Anyway, the prices at the restaurants, what we read about hotel and condo rates and cars is unbelievably high. I don’t know how the average travelers can afford it. Unfortunately it falls into Mayor Victorino’s anti tourist sentiment that they “just want to have the right kind of tourists come” I.e. those that can spend a lot of money and stay in the expensive hotels.
Yes, it’s very surprising for a supposedly democratic state, to be so elitist and exclusionary. Hawaii should be open to people of all income levels, and there should be proper facilities on the islands to support them and the exorbitant taxes they have to pay (17.42%). I do believe there have to be limits, though, in every class of accommodation, so that the islands do not get overrun and make life difficult for the locals. There needs to be a balance.
Just returned from Waikiki. Spent 14 days. The hotel prices are just gouging consumers. Especially, considering housekeeping is only every 4 days. There really needs to be an investigation into the practices of the hotel industry in Hawaii. I didn’t rent a car. I flew on Delta from Minnesota and had no issues. The one area that wasn’t discussed that you need to be aware of is the restaurant industry. I realize it wasn’t part of this report. Be aware it was difficult getting to eat. Lack of workers, some restaurants no longer serving breakfast has made it a challenge to find a place with out wait times to get seated. The Japanese our now coming. Waikiki is not ready for the influx.
Aloha, travel to Paradise will never be as it was prior to the “coof”. Airlines have developed a “better than thou” attitude thanks to their enforcement of mandates, they feel the power that so many elected officials felt dealing out lockdowns and mandates. Hotels trying to recoup losses from the pandemic and the state’s restrictions on rental properties have changed schedules, affordability went from a week to just a few days, and few people want to spend 14 hours in the air for a weekend getaway. I won’t even comment about rental cars, that pile of bull speaks for itself. Ultimately, Hawaii has become, again, a destination for the uber-rich and many Americans who enjoyed Paradise, now seek resolution in less stressful and affordability.
So glad we went last summer (2 times) just after the “false opening” up of Hawaii. Minimal crowds, cheap airfare and plentiful accommodations on the BI. That was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit Hawaii with minimal cost and low crowds. I don’t think we will ever be back there again with the high prices and crowds. We’ll probably go south of the border from now on.
Those complaining about hotel prices – short-term rentals are the way to go! Double the amount of rooms for half the price, even with the added-on cleaning fees, etc. Plus, a full kitchen in most of them. They are the only accommodations that make sense right now!
Not really. On Oahu, u must now stay a minimum of 90 days at a short term rental. Who has 90 days of vacation time ?!! No one I know
There are short-term rentals in some areas of Oahu that do not have the short-term rental restriction. Check the rental sites. Also, Maui has short-term rentals and even more beautiful beaches.
Hawaii is clamping down on STR’s so they too are expensive.
They are still half the price of hotels for double the space. Just take a look at some of the short-term rental booking sites and compare.
This will be our last time to Hawaii. To rent a car in Hawaii for 5 weeks is what some people pay for a vacation.
I will never go back to Hawaii again!! On Oahu, they just passed a law requiring a minimum 90 day stay if u don’t stay at a hotel; u cannot have a photographer take ur picture on most of the beaches there. If you do, u will be fined. And the exorbitant fees for non-Hawaii residents to visit many tourist attractions. Hawaii has become a police state. They do not realize how tourism sustains these islands & are really biting the hand that feeds them.
Anyone contemplating hotel and car rentals, I suggest leasing a condo thru AIRBNB, VRBO, and cars thru TURO. Staying in a condo, you save on cost of meals, if you take advantage of cooking at home. Stock up at Costco and local stores. We spent approx $160 for 4 people for 7 days! Our TURO host could not have been more accommodating.