Hellobee

I went to Maui 25 years ago and it was amazing! I also went to Waikiki 20 years ago and I much preferred Maui’s vibe too.

We are going to Oahu in a week with a 8 and 10 year old – this list was perfect. Thank you so much!!

Totally saving this for some day Looks like an amazing vacation and I have all the heart eyes for that spreadsheet; that’s totally up my alley!

Omg your post makes me miss Hawaii sooooo much!!! Maui is my favorite island but I agree that the food in Oahu is amazing. We took the kids (4 year old and 16 month old at the time) and we had the best time. DD still asks to go back for the pineapple ice cream at Dole Plantation. Another favorite food spot of mine is Ramen Nakamura in Waikiki. It’s a small place and always a line out the door but they have the best oxtail ramen.

Looks like an awesome trip and your amazing spreadsheet gives me both inspiration and anxiety! I’m type A and would love to be that organized, but I also know how quickly my littles would get us off schedule! I think I may give it a try for our next trip anyway

@Mrs. Bee: Yes! I was not feeling Oahu’s traffic situation. Maui just made me feel peaceful all the time.

@Ek: Ah, it will be so fun at those ages – they can do so much more!!

@snowjewelz: Hahah I’m a total spreadsheet and lists person and always feel an immediate connection with fellow spreadsheet lovers.

@dolphin: Oxtail Ramen!? How did we not know about this place?? Adding it to my list for the future!

@peachykeen: The original spreadsheet starts off largely empty with just spots for the arrival/departure times, and a general idea of mealtimes… and it starts getting more filled in as we go. At the end of our trip, I’ll fill it in accurately to reflect what we actually did on the trip so I have a memory of it! So you’re looking at the end result here, not the initial work in progress.

We went to Oahu for a 10-day trip back in 2013, before kids. We were visiting great friends and it was amazing! So much hiking and swimming and in general outdoors activities, and the water really was crystal clear turquoise like it is in the pictures! I was floored.

I love the idea of using Google Sheets a spreadsheets to plan out the itinerary. I normally do a lot of in-depth planning for all of our vacations, but I haven’t tried it out in that format before, it looks like a great way to see the trip at a glance

Great post of places on Oahu. I love all of those and usually take my visitor friends there when they arrive. We have been to Kauai, Lanai, Maui and Big Island in the past 8 years and I love them all so much as each have so much to offer. I have a hard time picking a favorite. I used to go to Maui a lot in my 20s, Kauai throughout my 30s and lately I’m on a Big Island kick. Molokai was a little to slow for me. Maybe I’ll finally adore it like the others when I am in my 50s.

Perfect timing! We’re headed to Oahu in 2 weeks for spring break with my 4 and 7 year old. I think I’ll have my older one try snorkeling with DH after reading your post.

Thank you for the food list….gotta try some of them. My DH and I were last there about a decade ago, and I remember eating at Giovanni’s and Matsumoto’s. Amazing that they’re still there.

The shrimp trucks on the north shore are the best! I am partial to Maui, but Waimea Bay is my favorite spot on Oahu! Can’t wait to go back!

That calendar spreadsheet is the best thing I have ever seen!!!! I am absolutely doing that from now on when I am planning a vacation!!!

Did you find that you stuck to the schedule pretty well? Did you make reservations in advance for any of those lunch/dinner restaurants?

@DesertDreams88: I would love to have 10 days to do and go wherever I wanted! There is so much to do, see, and eat on this little island.

@808love: Wow, you really have been to them all! Do the smaller islands like Lanai just go completely dark and dead after a certain time? Even in Maui, it was hard to find places to eat after 7:30 – I remember one night we drove and drove and just ended up at a Zippy’s. I really want to check out the Big Island. We went to Kauai for our babymoon, and want to take the kids when they’re older and can do more outdoorsy excursions.

@DisneyBee: Yes, give it a try and have a great time!

@crazydoglady: I think I’m more partial to Maui too! I remember feeling so at peace there. I want to go back!

@Adira: Yea we did! The main things were pretty set (like day 2 was always going to be a Honolulu/Waikiki day, and we knew we had to make it out to Kailua/Lanikai Beach, and Waimea Valley, but everything else around those things were flexible). Turtle Beach wasn’t on our radar at first, but we happened to drive by it, had some time, and made a stop. And originally we were thinking Dole Plantation Saturday afternoon, but as you can see from the spreadsheet, we opted to just relax, hangout, and swim instead! So we had a plan in that we weren’t wondering “what should we do today” each day, but with built in flexibility.

All the places we ate at were really casual, so no need for reservations/they didn’t take reservations. I have a separate tab in the spreadsheet for food places we wanted to try, but we usually didn’t make a set/final decision on what we were eating until the day before. The only place we really had to wait in line for was Marukame Udon.

If I can find some time, I’ll try to guest blog about the Big Island…..I had amazing adventures there and took my good camera. Lanai is dead but gorgeous and secluded. If you are at a resort and it’s romantic, you don’t mind. Probably not the best for a family unless you have a baby and just want to go to relaxing places. It’s perfect for someone who doesn’t want to ‘plan’ a vacation but just hang. One transport shuttle back and forth to two resorts and the only town is walkable within a square half mile or less. We rented a jeep and explored, then did some clay shooting while we were there. You really don’t need a car though.

That looks like an amazing family vacation! I

@808love: I’d love to read a guest post from you on the Big Island!

Is Hanuma Bay open for snorkeling again? It was my favourite place on Oahu when I went 12 years ago, but I heard it had closed to preserve the fish.

This post was perfectly timed since we just booked a trip to Oahu!

Question about food, your daughter has a peanut allergy right? Did you have trouble finding places to eat that were accommodating/safe for her? My daughter also has a peanut allergy and that’s the most stressful part of vacation is trying to plan food.

@Grace: I didn’t know it was ever closed, but yes it looks like it is still open.

@Aria: She does have a peanut allergy, but we haven’t had trouble as long as there are no actual peanuts/peanut sauces in the dish and nothing gets ingested. We’ll usually just double check with our server to make sure nothing has peanuts. For the most part, I think Hawaiian dishes are pretty void of nuts – I’m racking my brain and things like shrimp trucks, udon noodle soup, ramen, spam/spam musubi, shortribs, poke, etc. were all pretty clear. Hope you have a great time in Oahu!

Nice post! I live on the Big Island of Hawai’i. I also love the Maui vibe. I lived on Oahu for 8 yrs in college… too busy, makes me stressed! But sounds nice that you got to experience both country and city.

I know this is off topic, but you did mention both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve cards. Do you have either? I’m looking at the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and I see a lot of benefits, but not sure if it’s worth it if we only travel once a year domestic and international every few years.

@DisneyBee: Yes, we currently have the reserve, and it has been so worth it. With the $300 travel credit, it is essentially a $150 annual fee card, and you get 3x points (not the same as a 3% cashback card bc these points can be worth so much more when redeemed) for dining/eating out, global entry or TSA pre-check, priority lounge access, primary car rental insurance, no foreign transaction fees, etc.

It is really great especially when paired with other Chase cards. We are really strategic with which cards we use when – we use Chase Freedom’s rotating categories per quarter to get 5x UR points, and Chase Freedom Unlimited as our “daily” card for most purchases to get 1.5x points. These points are then transferable to the Chase Reserve (or Chase Sapphire), and you can get a lot of redemption value on those points.

If you can be strategic with how you use the card, it is really worth it (don’t add an authorized user though – that’s an extra $70). We are also not super heavy travelers – like you, we usually do one domestic trip a year and an international every couple years. Just the sign-up bonus when we got the Reserve was 100k points (though I think now it is 50/60k points) – that covers 4 roundtrip Hawaii tickets. If we paid out of pocket over memorial day weekend, it would’ve been $675/per ticket. We saved ~$2500 just from the sign-up bonus.

But some people sign-up for the reserve for the first year just to get the bonus points and extra perks (global entry, $300 travel credit), and cancel after.

@Mrs. High Heels: Thank you so much for your input! I already use the Chase Freedom for their rotating 5% categories and use the Costco Citibank Visa for everything else. I love your strategy in utilizing each card with its perks. Plus, you can transfer points from each of the Chase Cards, so I guess it makes sense to try the Chase Sapphire Reserve, especially with the $300 travel credit, plus TSA Global Entry, no foreign transaction fees, priority lounge access, etc. I wish there was still a 100K bonus, and now I’m wondering if it’s going to come back (since it’s 50K right now). Do you get any good deals on flights using their Ultimate Rewards portal?

Also, does the person who dines out more carry the Chase Reserve? Since you only have one card.

@DisneyBee: Actually the best way to get deals on flights is NOT through their portal, it is through transferring to their partners. For example, to fly to Hawaii – if I used their portal, I would’ve only been able to cover 2 of the tickets with points (my friend accidentally did this and I was like noooo). However, I transferred to a partner (Korea Air is in an alliance with Delta who is a transfer partner), and was able to get all 4 tickets covered. It sounds confusing until you do it for the first time, then it will all make sense! Another example for hotels – Hyatt is a transfer partner, so I would transfer my points to Hyatt, then book a Hyatt hotel using those points through the Hyatt website. Hope this makes sense, but there are a lot of great, helpful articles out there if you google something like “how to get the most value out of chase ultimate reward points”.

@DisneyBee: yes, the person who dines out more should probably carry the card. DH and I figured that we’re almost always together, and that when we dine out it is as a family on weekends, so it works for us. I’m the cardholder for our reserve, so if DH goes out on his own, and we know he’ll be eating out, I’ll try to give him the card when I remember.

Our first year holding the card, we actually both opened individual cards. If you and your husband do this, you can each get the 50,000 points and you can combine them to one account. Then you would also both get the $100 credit for global entry and the $300 travel reimbursement. After the first year, DH downgraded his card to a no-fee one and we just used mine. It is better to get two separate cards at $150 at least for the first year, than to get only one card with an authorized user ($75) and the authorized user doesn’t even get any of the extra perks.

About the sign-up bonus – I don’t think Chase will ever go back as high to a 100k sign-up bonus because they actually lost a ton of money the first year they released the card. The demand was so much higher than they had initially projected. Here’s a good article on it – http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/07/28/is-chase-losing-money-on-the-sapphire-reserve/

@Mrs. High Heels: Thank you so much for your tips! Just took the plunge and enrolled my DH. I’ll probably wait a few months and open my own account. Hopefully, we get some good use out of it.

Did you end up signing up for Global Entry? Did you have to sign up your kids, too? Was it worth it? I’m sorry for the many questions, and thanks for answering them.

@DisneyBee: hooray!! We did sign up for global entry, and yes for all four of us. You need to schedule an interview though, and your kids also need to be at the interview. We think it’s worth it. It lasts 5 years and also includes TSA pre-check and we usually do at least one big trip a year. We haven’t had a chance to use ours yet though!

Did you have any issues booking flights for specific dates with Korea Air? We have the housing booked for Hawaii already later this year (yay!) and have been hoarding points on the Sapphire Reserve, but I’ve never tried booking outside their portal. When would you recommend booking for a late November flight?

@Christina: you have to be flexible with the dates to get award booking because not all dates will work. The portal is definitely the most straightforward, easiest way to get what you want if you need specific dates… but here is a good post on how to book the Korean air way and save a lot of points if you have some flexibility to work with! https://www.milevalue.com/guide-to-booking-delta-flights-to-hawaii-for-25000-korean-miles-roundtrip-45k-in-first/

For a late November flight, I would start searching now! I booked our Oahu flights in late October for a May vacation, which I think was when they first opened up the award flights. If you don’t find anything when you search, you can call Korean Air and ask them when they’ll open up flights for award booking and they should be able to tell you.

Awesome – thank you!