HAWAII: Stretching your vacation dollars

Hawaii is one of travel's best vacation values, but that doesn't mean it's always a low priced vacation. If you want to go to Hawaii but are afraid of what the final "tab" may cost you and your family, here are some proven ways to stretch your Aloha dollars!

One Island Trip: The biggest mistake people make is to try to do 2-3 islands in one vacation. What that means is you'll spend a lot of time packing and unpacking, going to the airports, waiting in lines to board, waiting for lugggage. You'll spend almost 8 hours of transit time to move from island to island. That's time you could be using to see what you want to see!

The Five Day Vacation: That's right -- do you really need a 7 night stay? For most people, a 5 night stay on ONE island actually ends up being a relaxing vacation! Amazing! If  you work it right, you can even get by paying for 4 nights instead of seven.

Fifth Night Free: Make sure you ask me (Rob Godfrey, your travel agent!) to look for hotel and or condo deals where a 5 night reservation includes the fifth night free! If your last Hawaii vacation was 7 nights, switching to a 5 night plan with the fifth night free cuts your hotel expense by some 40%! Time is money and every day in Hawaii comes with a cost.

Avoid Parking/Service Charges: Ask whether the resort you're planning to stay at imposes fees for parking and/or other services. Usually, these service charges are in ADDITION to your regular hotel rate and have to be paid at check out time.

Package Trips to Save $: Air to Hawaii is never a bargain and you can run into some really high priced venues to stay at. Packages including air/car/hotel or air/car can save you some real money by using unpublished "contract" air rates that you won't find on the Internet. The same applies to car rentals and hotels or condos -- the vacation packaging companies have volume buying power.