Hawaii Vacation Specialist-Chris

I’ve had countless calls from people who are shopping the internet and can’t decide where to go on their vacation.  The podcast about over shopping the internet is a great one as I have had so many calls from people who are at their wits end and say they have been surfing the net for weeks and they give up and put it in our hands to do what we do best, which is book hawaiian vacations. 

I also get many calls from people who are deciding what destination to go to and comparing prices.  Well to that I have to say , when booking your hawaiian vacation go in with your eyes open.  You can’t expect to get cancun and mexico pricing for hawaii.  They are no where near the same thing and you can’t compare them to each other.  It’s like going in to neiman marcus and telling the sales lady well I can get a jacket that looks just like that at walmart for much cheaper.  That is something no one would do , well same concept with hawaii compared to other destinations. 

Also another thing I do get is comparing prices for two totally different properties.  There are times when I say to people "What kind of property are we looking for?  5 star resort/ moderate or budget?  Keep in mind budget doesn’t always mean bad.  We try to get properties that don’t cost so much but are still very decent.  Well often times I find myself trying to beat  an online booking agency for 2 totally different properties.  Be honest with your agent, and don’t try to haggle when you are finding a one star hotel online and trying to get them to give you a 5 star resort for the same price.  It’s not going to happen and it’s not fair to the agent to ask the impossible.   Star ratings on hotels are sometimes very different.  What one considers a 1 star another will consider a 3 star.  If you call an agent and ask them they can better tell you what at least they would consider it to be or more info about the property to have you make a more informative choice.  I have looked on some of those websites and they can be extremely deceiving.  In people’s minds they are thinking 3 star should be a good hotel, but in actuality when you get there you see what their idea of a 3 star hotel is, so don’t always go by the star system as everyone rates differently.

Why is hawaii so expensive?  Well it doesn’t  have to be.  We see so many great deals coming in every single day and to all of you that do find a great deal, book it because it’s a shame when someone finds a great deal and it disappears.  When you think about it, there are thousands of people shopping around every day for a hawaii trip.  If you don’t snatch up the deal when you find it, someone else will.

A lot of people try to set a budget for their trip which is a good thing to some extent.  You do have to be reasonable with the budget you set.  Take into consideration the time of year you are traveling, how long your trip will be, what kind of accomodations you want and the views you wish to have from your hotel room.

Another common thing people ask is why is food so expensive in hawaii.  Well it’s not always as bad as everyone thinks.  What I tell people is it really depends on how you like to eat.  I’m not saying eat fast food everyday because of course you are on vacation, but you don’t have to eat expensive meals every single time you have a meal.  Food to hawaii has to be imported obviously for the most part so it is not cheap to get it there, but it’s not outrageously expensive either.  They aren’t trying to get you all the time because you are on vacation, it’s just not cheap to ship food to hawaii.  Land.  Land is not cheap in hawaii.  There is not much of it so simple supply and demand comes into play.  Realize that yes sometimes the resorts cost more in hawaii, but their land is not cheap.  To purchase land in hawaii does cost a lot of money.

Again no passport is needed to travel to hawaii, yes we drive on the same side of the road and car as everyone else.  Well not everyone else, but the rest of America anyways.  Yes we speak english. 

Another misconception I get from people seeing me on the website is that I am from hawaii and I probably look a little different so I am hawaiian.  Just because people are born and raised in hawaii or even just live in hawaii doesn’t make them of hawaiian blood.  That is the great thing about hawaii.  There are so many cultures and races mixed it’s the most beautiful thing to see all these different people living together.  It makes for a great big melting pot.  Just because all of us are not hawaiian doesn’t mean we don’t know the islands, of course we do, we are from there, born and raised for most of the agents with hawaii aloha travel.  Once you live in hawaii, you are an island girl or boy for life I like to think.  It’s always said you can take the girl (or boy) out of hawaii, but you can’t take hawaii out of the girl (or boy). 

So if you are looking for a tropical destination, full of rich culture, great history and a mix of people who have the most beautiful personalities in the world then hawaii is the place to go.  I am one of those agents away from home as bruce mentioned in his podcast and have been away for a few months on a temporary move as my husband is in the military and believe me I missed hawaii from the moment I stepped off that airplane.  It’s not the same and there really is no place like those tropical islands in the pacific.

So if you need some help booking a trip to a place that will always be home in my heart no matter where I am you can call or email me and I would be happy to give you a helping hand!

1-800-843-8771 ext. 32
chris@hawaii-aloha.com