Originally Posted by
jpdx
Been to Hawai many, many times during my 20 years on the West Coast, but now based in Europe. I thought Hawaii pricing (specifically what normal people, not FTers pay) was excessive for what you get even before the pandemic, but now, prices have gone insane. Friends from PDX were going to visit me in Europe for the Christmas-NY break, but we called it off a couple days ago due to Covid restrictions/closures/lockdowns. Proud FTer, I told them (before even looking), why not go to Hawaii instead? Umm, not a good idea. Practically nothing on points, many hotels sold out altogether, the Courtyard at OGG airport $850 a night, Andaz Maui $2k. Rental cars, $1200 for 5 days, even with Costco and other discount options discussed here. Obviously, Christmas-NYE is expensive (although I have spent some 15 Thanksgivings in Hawaii, and used to BRG the SR Princeville for $300 a night or the SPK for $100, and there were lots of reasonable options on points, not to mention that cars cost practically nothing). Sorted things out for my friends thanks to Delta vacations, $1300 for two including flights and 5 days car rental, plus a Choice point redemption at a questionable 3* that's asking $850 a night but had "junior suites" for 30k points (~$155 worth of points bought via Discover America). I suspect that's as low as one can go on short notice over the holidays.
So if I'm understanding you correctly, you went to Delta's "travel packages" website and got them a little savings on the car? If so, that's not a bad tip for "regular" travellers.
I assume that the Choice hotel you booked is the
Kohea Kai. I stayed there on less than half-as-many points in 2019 after they joined Choice. It's perfectly fine for what it is: an old school 3 star hotel across the street from the beach in Kihei. Arguably, even at 30K points, it's a good deal now because you're not going to be able to find a comparable hotel on Maui for $155 all in. One tip: they'll probably try to charge your friends their resort fee. That's a gray area in the Choice program now. I haven't paid one yet at their Ascend Hotels on an award stay, but I suspect I'd have to if the hotel insisted.