Priceline Hotel: Honeymoon Help

[PricelineForHoneymoon]

I got engaged recently, and have started looking for differant places to go on a honeymoon.

I was thinking hawaii would be really nice, though I've never been there. I've been researching it all day.

I'm really excited about the trip but I have a lot of questions.

Here's what I have so far. We're getting married in Gatlinburg, TN on Aug 12, 2006 (saturday), we'll spend a night or 2 in a cabin in the area (around $100 a night as advertized). Then, fly to hawaii (not sure which island) and stay from Aug 13th or 14th till the 20th or 21st. We could fly out of Knoxville or Nashville. We would like to stay in a 4*+ hotel in hawaii. The total budget for the trip is about $3,000.

We are both really active and like hiking, site-seeing, the beach, etc, but would also like a couple of days just enjoying being newly weds.

So here are my questions:

1. Should I use priceline for all 3 of these places? The cabin, airline, hotel, or just some of them?

2. When should I buy the tickets for these places? As soon as possible, 6-months away, a week before?

3. Which island should I go to? Is it expensive to island hop?

4. Whould it be feasible to split the hawaii part into to 2 smaller parts. One that was more commercial, and one that was more authentic Hawaii (with hiking to valcanos, and that sort of thing)? Would this make the trip more expensive or cheaper?

5. Will I need a rental car?

6. Are the package deals on Priceline, Hotwire a rippoff?

7. Can this be done with only $3,000 bucks?

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

If I end up using Priceline I'll let you know how it went.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

1. Should I use priceline for all 3 of these places? The cabin, airline, hotel, or just some of them?

The bigger the area the better the Priceline deal. If you are looking for a cabin you're not likely to get that thru Priceline. Priceline the hotels in Hawaii, but not the airfare as you can't choose the specific times on airfare.

2. When should I buy the tickets for these places? As soon as possible, 6-months away, a week before?

You first need to firm up your dates and your plans before talking about when to make your purchase.

3. Which island should I go to? Is it expensive to island hop?

Island hopping is reasonable. I recently returned from Hawaii and if you like to hike i would definately include Kauai.

4. Whould it be feasible to split the hawaii part into to 2 smaller parts. One that was more commercial, and one that was more authentic Hawaii (with hiking to valcanos, and that sort of thing)? Would this make the trip more expensive or cheaper?

This is what we did... half on Kauai and half on Honolulu. Hawaii is just expensive, so it's all relative and i don't recall either being cheaper than the other.

5. Will I need a rental car?

Yes.

[thereuare]

6. Are the package deals on Priceline, Hotwire a rippoff?

Ripoff?NO... but you can usually do better putting the components together on your own

7. Can this be done with only $3,000 bucks?

I don't know what airfare costs from your area, and there are too many components and possibilities for us to begin to price it for you with your plans so up in the air. You can start by using our Airfare Checker to price air from your area.

Congratulations on your engagement.

[LoneStar]

If you buy carefully, you can probably get tickets to Hawaii for $650 each from your area and resort hotels for $150. Budget $30/day for a car. I have paid less for all of these components, but I think that's a good baseline. So you can do it for less than $3000 for air, hotel and car, but you'll slightly exceed that budget when you include meals (which will cost more than on the mainland) and attractions/entertainment.

[PricelineForHoneymoon]

Thanks for your help. It looks like Airfare Checker will be really helpful. And thanks for the heads up on the extra food costs. :)

Also, has anyone had experience with Condos in Hawaii?

[LoneStar]

Condos are obviously popular in Hawaii (often in timeshare resorts). I'll defer to others on the best strategy for booking them, but you can certainly get an idea of what they cost by calling Aston/ResortQuest (which does both hotels and condos) and asking them for their 50% off Entertainmenet Card rate. There are also some condo deals on hotwire.

Generally, if you can get a good price on a hotel through priceline, that will beat the pants off most condo rentals (unless you need to sleep a large group).

[PricelineForHoneymoon]

ok so we've changed our minds. We are now pretty sure we are going to Cancun!!!

we've decided that Hawaii was a little more than we wanted to pay for. I since I've always wanted to see the Mayan ruins we've decided that Cancun would be an excellent choose.

After checking the Mexico forums it looks like people are getting some deals on the JW Marriott but its not listed on priceline right now because its closed, though it should be available by Aug (they plan on opening in May).

Thereuare, did you say you know somebody that can hook us up with some good deals on Palace hotels?

We were also considering the Aventura Spa Palace.

Thanks for the help.

PS When I post again I'll move over the the Mexico forum. :)

[thereuare]

I'll move this thread to the Mexico forum and you can continue it there....

After your next reply (so i know you'll have found this thread) i'll also edit the topic title.

I'll PM you the Cancun info.

EDIT: just checked and the website we used for Cancun no longer exists :)

[PricelineForHoneymoon]

Alright, Thanks :)

[PricelineForHoneymoon]

I'll PM you the Cancun info.

EDIT: just checked and the website we used for Cancun no longer exists :)

well that's too bad...

I guess I'll have to wait for the JW to be back on line.

Let me know if you run across any more good deals in the area.