ahself

My wife and I will be celebrating our 20th in 2018 and are planning a trip to the Big Island and Kauai next May. We went to Kauai and Maui for our 15th and Oahu, Kauai, and Maui for our 10th. We love Kauai and decided to also try the Big Island on this upcoming trip.

I have already booked Delta Skymiles saver flights into KOA and out of LIH, and we are planning to spend 3-4 days/nights on the Big Island and 5-6 nights on Kauai.

For our last trip, I was able to apply for the Hyatt and the Sapphire Preferred credit cards (CC) for each of us. With the bonus points I received for those cards, I was able to book the Grand Hyatt Kauai for 4 nights and the Hyatt Regency Maui for 4 nights. That was ~5 years ago, but I kept the Hyatt card for myself and downgraded the Sapphire card to the standard version...but my wife no longer has either.

For this trip, I would like to do something similar (since staying in nicer hotels for free is great), but I'm trying to figure out what the best CC bonus point / hotel options are before I take any action. To be clear, I have no real status or balance of points with any hotel program other than Discoverist with Hyatt due to the CC.

At this point, I'm still considering the Hyatt CC for my wife and the Sapphire Preferred for each of us. Assuming I'm successful, those would net me 6 nights at the Grand Hyatt in Kauai. However, since there are no Hyatt properties on the Big Island (in case I wanted to save some points or only stay 5 nights on Kauai), I'm not sure how to tackle the hotels on the Big Island. Also, I'm open to other suggestions on Kauai...although we loved the Grand Hyatt.

Since the Fairmont CC is no longer an option for a stay at the Orchid on the Big Island, I'm considering the Marriott Premier CC with its 80k points offer to try and accumulate enough points for a stay at either the Mauna Kea or the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort (for slightly less points/night). However, since we might stay 4 nights on the Big Island, I'm not sure if we should split our time between the Kona and Hilo areas (e.g. 2 and 2), especially since we know we want to explore the East side of the island, e.g. volcano, beaches, etc. If we do, then maybe a Hilton card would be worthwhile to stay at the DoubleTree in Hilo. Unfortunately, the Hilton cards don't offer near enough bonus points to help with a stay at the HGV or Waikoloa Village resorts.

I realize that this email and request may seem like I'm trying to find someone to do research for me, and that is not the case, as I am an avid researcher (to a fault)...and I scoured the several points/travel blog posts to no avail with anything somewhat current matching my situation. Rather, I'm hoping some on this board have gone through a similar process and can share their experiences, e.g. CCs applied for, points used at specific hotels, and even preferred areas/hotels stayed as a base on the island.

BTW, I debated long and hard about where to post this question since it could probably fall in one of many existing threads, but since I think it touches on multiple areas and is more about overall CC / hotel strategy across multiple islands, I decided to start a new thread. If a thread already exists to support what I'm asking, please feel free to merge or point me in that direction.

Also, I know I'm planning way ahead, but if I have to apply for multiple CCs and meet the minimum spend over the course of this year, I'd like to plan that out. And, I am very familiar with how CCs and credit scores work, as I've played the CC game for many years and have an excellent credit score.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I wanted to get everything I could think of that might be helpful out there.

3hearts

We recently came back from our 2nd trip to Hawaii - Kauai this time (previously Oahu and Maui). We stayed 3 nights at the Grand Hyatt Kauai using 2 free night certs and points, and the Sheraton Kauai on points.

I absolutely LOVED the Grand Hyatt. The property was beautiful, rooms spacious, and great service. Small touches made a difference, like staff coming around every night to see if you needed extra towels or anything. The restaurants had typical exorbitant resort prices but everything we had was good. The kids loved the pool and we could always find a few chairs. Staff would come around every hour or so and take abandoned towels (if there were no personal belongings) to free up space. There was a convention and wedding, but the resort didn't feel crowded. I would definitely come back.

The Sheraton Kauai, while adequate, felt like a step down. The property itself is very nice and has a great beach, but the rooms were very small and dated and had a motel-like feel. I chose this because we did not have enough Hyatt/UR points and didn't feel it was worth the amount of points paid, plus resort fee (Hyatt resort fee is waived if paying with points). We would not stay here again.

We also looked at the Koala Landing Marriott condos next door for friends considering staying there. Again, it looked perfectly adequate, but could use updating. The outside looked more worn than some of the other vacation rentals/condos if you were considering going that route.

Sorry, can't help with the Big Island. Enjoy your trip!

BOSOGG

You have it figured out pretty good. If you can swing GH Kauai and Mauna Kea Hawaii, don't look any further.
Only suggestion I would make is to consider 5 nights at Mauna Kea.........
The beach at Mauna Kea is much nicer...you are going to spend a whole day driving to Volcano and back.....and, if using points, the 5th night at Mauna Kea is free! 4 nights cost you 180,000 or 5 nights cost you 180,000. Plus, you would now need fewer Hyatt/UR points.
To get the Marriott points, in addition to the Marriott cards from Chase, consider the Amex SPG cards which offer the ability to transfer from SPG points to Marriott points at a 3-1 ratio. 25,000 SPG points transfer to 75,000 Marriott points. Good luck.
Aloha

ahself

Thanks 3hearsts. I definitely agree about the Grand Hyatt. When we stayed in 2013, I was able to work my way into Diamond status via the Diamond challenge beforehand and that made our experience even better than I could've hoped, primarily due to our use of the club. I don't think I'll be able to swing that for this upcoming trip, but the property was so great that we're hoping to stay there again.

BOSOGG:
Thanks for the info about the 5th night at Mauna Kea being free...didn't realize that. I'm not sure I'll be able to convince my wife to stay there 5 nights vs. Kauai, but I may try considering that option. We really like to explore, snorkel, hike, etc. vs. sitting by/on the beach or pool at a resort. That being the case, would you still recommend the Mauna Kea and the Big Island vs. the Grand Hyatt and Kauai? And, would the Mauna Kea still be a good base of operations for the Big island considering the island's size and the drive you mentioned?

Also, we've both had the SPG Amex cards (personal and business) before. It was 10 years ago, but from what I understand they only offer one bonus per lifetime. However, I suppose I could use UR points gained from the Sapphire Preferred or a similar card to transfer into Marriott since I won't need as many points into Hyatt if I go that route. For that matter, I suppose I could try for the Marriott personal and business cards.

Thanks again for the 5th night tip.

tatterdema

Mauna Kea is a good location (on that side) if you are driving to Volcano. I stayed next door at Hapuna Prince for 6 nights last month, and its an easy drive either over the Saddle Road, or the more scenic drive around the Island. Also decent location for things like the different waterfalls, Waipo Valley, etc. It makes for a LONG day though. Pretty much a LONG day going anywhere on the BI. It didnt bother me, as I like to drive. I put 800 miles on my car in 4-5 days.

Make sure to do the Night Manta Ray snorkle trip. There really are not any beaches on the East Side to explore. With your basically short stay, I would just do Volcano, and skip anything else on the East Side. If you come back for more time, then spend a couple days over there exploring Lower Puna, Hilo, etc. Just a word of warning if you have never been to the BI, the stretch of road from the airport to Mauna Kea is in my opinion the ugliest place in Hawaii I have ever been. Make sure to get out and see the rest of the island, and dont let that area form your impression of the entire island. I know several people that have, unfortunately.

Arthurrs

If you're going to visit the volcano or hike down Waipio Valley, I'd spend the night at the Doubletree Hilo. We did after our late afternoon/evening adventure in the lava fields at Kilauea, and were most grateful to have a hotel close by to rest for the night. They've done a pretty good job renovating the hotel and keeping the classic vibe of the place, and the end suite we had on the top floor offered some amazing views! The Big Island is....BIG! So much to see and do!

ahself

Thanks for the additional feedback on the location and other things in the area. We read about the Manta Ray snorkel trip and I wondered if it would be worth it considering how many people they crowd out there.

Thanks. Part of what I'm considering is what you went through, e.g. doing the lava hike at night and then having to drive back to a hotel. The Doubletree looks so much more convenient. However, because I have very few Hilton points currently, I'd have to do a Hilton CC just for this stay since I don't plan on staying at any other Hiltons due to their poor (high) point values compared to Hyatt or Marriott. Then I also have to weigh whether I want to trade off one or two nights at the Doubletree vs. the Mauna Kea.

tatterdema

I did the location at the Sheraton. It was a zoo, and we only saw 2 Manta's. Even with that, it was worth it to me, and is one of those things you do in life that you will never forget. I cant imagine how awesome it would be to see a dozen of them like some of the trips do.

tatterdema

Waipio Valley is halfway between the Mauna Kea and Doubletree Hilo, and personally I think the road is better between Waipio and the Mauna Kea at night, so I definately would not stay in Hilo to do this hike.