Good Spontaneous, Bad Spontaneous

We all want to be the cool, spontaneous traveler who likes to pop into local dives and try their unique food, or dance in an unexpected monsoon. However, a seasoned traveler knows the difference between good spontaneous and bad spontaneous.

Example 1: Bob and Betty wake up in Kauai, and decide spontaneously that they want to go kayaking. They drive an hour to the Wailua River to spend a day on the water. Unfortunately, they slept in, the 6 permitted self-rental kayaks per kayak place are gone, and they didn't book a guided tour, so they end up wandering around town and eating some dry burgers before driving back to their resort, having wasted the best part of the day. This is Bad Spontaneous.

Example 2: Bob and Betty have booked a self-rental kayak in Kauai, and have decided to leave for their kayaking trip early in the morning, as they have read that the crowds are thinner and the kayaking better then. Before they drive up to the Wailua River, they grab a delicious picnic lunch at a local deli so they won't starve while kayaking. They pick up their reserved kayak, hit the river, and after paddling for a while, decide to spontaneously jump into the river while they're kayaking. This is Good Spontaneous. (Also part of our upcoming itinerary).
 
I enjoy having a framework and being spontaneous within that. Trying to make decisions about what to do and where to go eat while we are stressed and starving never ends well for us, so below I've shown our itinerary. I do have a short list of places that sound good to eat, (I hate wasting money on bad food) but food plans and the next day's schedule usually get finalized the night before.

Proposed Kauai Itinerary:

Thursday:
Get in late, explore resort pools and hot tub.
Friday:
Snorkeling, check out other beaches, beach walks by hotel, nap, relaxing in Hawaii, sushi supper, evening luau at Smith's. (Show only).
Saturday:
Kayaking and lunch on the Wailua River
Resort in afternoon ?
Sunday:
Sunday drive to explore island and hiking--Austin still has to pick one--Honopu Ridge, Nualolo, Waimea Canyon, Blue Hole
Monday:
Snorkeling, hit the beach before plane leaves at 12.

Austin: Kauai for $11.20

A post by Austin today!

"Next month Anona and I are going to Kauai! I’m a little unsure about Kauai, I’ve only been there once before, and wasn’t super impressed. When I was in Kauai, I was by myself, and stayed at a Courtyard by the airport. It didn't exactly compare to a couple’s vacation at the Andaz in Maui. 

                                    Courtyard in Kauai                                        Andaz in Maui

  

Next month when we go, we’ll be staying at the Grand Hyatt Kauai on the (hopefully) sunny south side. 

This is how we are paying for the trip (total for two people):

Flight there: SLC-HNL-LIH (on Delta/Hawaiian) – 48,640 Citi Thank You Points

Rental Car: (4 days) – 12,196 Citi Thank You Points

Lodging: Grand Hyatt Kauai (4 nights) – 50,000 points and two free night certificates
Flight back: LIH-SAN-SLC (on Alaska Air) – 32,500 American Airline Miles (with AA Aviator card we get 10% of our AA miles rebated up to 10,000 in miles rebated a year)  plus $11.20.

We got the Thank You points by each signing up for the Citi Thank You Premier card (50,000 points per person). The card requires $3,000 in spend in the first three months. For spending $3,000, you get 53,000 points, or about $530 in points if used for travel. So by both applying, we ended up with over $1,000 in points. The nice thing about using Thank You points for flights is that it’s a paid ticket, so we’ll both earn miles for the flights, and medallion qualifying miles that go towards maintaining my Delta Platinum status. Status isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be anymore. Unless you are Diamond with Delta, getting upgrades is rather infrequent. But I do enjoy Comfort + seats, and the (normally futile) hope of getting an upgrade.

The Hyatt stay is compliments of one of us signing up for the Chase Hyatt card and getting two free night certificates after spending $1,000 in three months. The card also came with 5,000 bonus points and a $50 statement credit. The remaining 45,000 points came from our stash of Ultimate Reward points (from the Chase Sapphire and Chase Ink cards). I’ve been Diamond with Hyatt for the last few years, but didn’t travel quite enough in 2015 to maintain the status. If you have Hyatt status, it lasts through February of the next year, so we’ll get free breakfast in the club on this trip which should cut down a bit on the food costs.

The flight home is from the amazing 100,000 Citi Executive American Airline offer from 2014. Anona and I were able to get that card three times each, so we’re still sitting on quite a few American Airline miles. I hope to plan an epic trip to the South Pacific before March 22, 2016 when the miles get devalued. We both have an AA Aviator card from Barclay’s that gives us 10,000 miles on our card anniversary each year and rebates us 10% of any miles used each year (up to 10,000 miles per AA account). So the 35,000 mile cost for two people one-way from Hawaii to the mainland gets reduced to 32,500 miles after the rebate.

All in all, our four day vacation will cost us 32,500 AA miles, 50,000 Hyatt points, two Hyatt free night certificates, 60,836 Citi Thank You Points, and $11.20. Of course, activities while on the island and eating out for four days will cost money, but most of the trip is being paid for with credit card sign up bonuses. Cash flight costs when I booked in November were about $600 roundtrip per person and the hotel we’re staying at was about $500 a night. The rental car was about $122. To save us a total of $3,322, we are using points and $11."

Cheating on Maui

It's a new year and a new adventure waiting for us! Next month, we are using our miles and points to visit the island of Kauai in Hawaii. This island hasn't really been on my radar. In order to even write this post I had to google Kauai to make sure I was spelling it right.

My favorite place to go in Hawaii is Maui. (Sorry Kawai..Kuai...Kuaui...Kauai)

I especially like staying at the various posh resorts in Wailea with Austin. The perfectly manicured landscaping and rich, tan, retired people jogging around give this part of Maui a definite air of paradise. Someday we too could be old, sun-wrinkled, and supremely happy...something to aspire to, right?

In Wailea, for one week, we live the good life. We sleep in the plushest of beds, swim (or read books, in my case) at the loveliest of beaches, eat the most gourmet of breakfasts, and view the most stunning sunsets. And usually for free with points! For suppers, we'll drive into town and mingle with the lowly plebeians of the more down-to-earth Kihei, before retreating back to our citadel of poshness. We've got a good thing going, and I'm not quite sure if we should be turning our backs on Maui to give Kauai a try.

Who knows though? Maybe it'll become our new favorite. I'm going to the library today to get some guidebooks and see what awaits us.

Despite my uncertainty, it's a done deal by this point. We'll be in Hawaii over a busy weekend for travel, Valentine's Day, so it was much easier to use our points to book a place on the less-frequented island of Kauai. However, with weather in the teens and everything coated in icy snow, the thought of going to Hawaii, even if it's the question mark island of Kauai, is giving me the strength to get through the winter. Good-bye Maui, we'll come back to you eventually!