Questions from 1st time Aulani visitors

[greenkai3000]

Hello Everyone ,

We are hoping to visit Aulani the first week of September .

We’d love to hear from everyone regarding tips, and recommendations on saving money while there since I hear it’s quite expensive.

Also is it true one way to get cheaper rates is to purchase DVC points, without becoming a full fledge DVC Member?

 

[Noah_t]

1. Costco : Its no exaggeration to say that this could save you thousands of dollars. They not only have all the great food you know and love but they have AMAZING pre mixed cocktails. Phone guest services if your in a studio and have a blender sent up! (We actually bring our own)

2. Aulani has pretty good DVC availability so renting points could save you a lot of money. 25 points a night at 15$/point is 375$ which is half price. You also get parking included which is close to 40$ day I think.

3. Did I mention Costco yet?

 

[JM23457]

Hello Everyone ,

We are hoping to visit Aulani the first week of September .

We’d love to hear from everyone regarding tips, and recommendations on saving money while there since I hear it’s quite expensive.

Also is it true one way to get cheaper rates is to purchase DVC points, without becoming a full fledge DVC Member?

Be careful about renting DVC points. Your stay will be nonrefundable & unchangeable. (And don't count on a refund even if Aulani closes due to Covid.) And in this travel economy, there is the slight chance that the broker company you use could go bankrupt. Very good travel insurance, including Cancel for any Reason coverage, is a must when booking a DVC rental.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We had moved our MAy aulani dvc reservation to September. But decided to cancel last month considering the quarantine rules for visitors still in place. I personally would not make any plans until it is 100% sure the state and aulani will be open. And because you’re from Texas and the virus is spreading rapidly even if Hawaii opens up for visitors there could be quarantine rules in place for certain states that don’t have it under control.

 

[cgattis]

Do you mean this September or another year? In other words, general answers or specific to the current situation?

 

[bunnm09]

1. Costco : Its no exaggeration to say that this could save you thousands of dollars. They not only have all the great food you know and love but they have AMAZING pre mixed cocktails. Phone guest services if your in a studio and have a blender sent up! (We actually bring our own)

2. Aulani has pretty good DVC availability so renting points could save you a lot of money. 25 points a night at 15$/point is 375$ which is half price. You also get parking included which is close to 40$ day I think.

3. Did I mention Costco yet?

Can you book Aulani through Costco? or just the flights?

 

[Noah_t]

I am not sure about booking Aulani through Costco. Costco also has gift certificates for many of the Islands attractions too.

 

[greenkai3000]

Do you mean this September or another year? In other words, general answers or specific to the current situation?

This September ideally

 

[JM23457]

Can you book Aulani through Costco? or just the flights?

You can't book flights alone (that are not part of a bigger travel package) through Costco. I think the PP was just referring to saving money on food & alcohol by shopping at Costco while in Hawaii.

 

[happymommy]

Can you book Aulani through Costco? or just the flights?

Yes you can book through Costco travel.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

I love Costco travel, but right now I’m not seeing the special offer discount for 2020. We booked a very tentative reservation for October with the 35% discount which was about $2000 for 5 days. The same 5 days is showing $3500 on Costco. Shop around. I usually rent points for Aulani because we like the savings and free parking. Things are too unknown right now and it’s is too great a risk. There are lots of desperate folks out there waiting to scam you.

Our plan is to wait and see. If it looks like our trip is a go we might which to rent before our final payment is due. And that’s a big if.

 

[Mamasarges]

We had moved our MAy aulani dvc reservation to September. But decided to cancel last month considering the quarantine rules for visitors still in place. I personally would not make any plans until it is 100% sure the state and aulani will be open. And because you’re from Texas and the virus is spreading rapidly even if Hawaii opens up for visitors there could be quarantine rules in place for certain states that don’t have it under control.

We are supposed to go first week of September as well. Right now it’s not looking good. Aulani has not set an opening date, and as of August 1 the mandatory 14 day quarantine is supposed to be lifted BUT anyone coming from the mainland must have proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival in Hawaii. If you don’t have that you either need to quarantine in your hotel room for 14 days or turn around and go home. We’ll see what really happens as time goes on....we are coming from AZ, so getting a test that quickly may or may not happen.

 

[Daisy7425]

I would also HIGHLY caution against renting DVC points. Yes, you can save lots of money, but it will be nonnegotiable to buy their insurance against cancellations and that insurance then cancels out a lot of the savings. We currently have a WDW reservation with DVC and we are not going anymore due to the covid spike and we are losing all of our deposit. Literally thousands of dollars worth of a deposit. We have planned three DVC trips and recommended them to numerous friends who booked and we will never.ever.ever do that again.

In regards to how to save money at Aulani, there is a small shopping area across the street with a grocery store.

 

[happymommy]

As an owner at Marriott’s Ko Olina resort, (I own two weeks every other year odd years), I’m glad our year is next year (one week is enrolled for points), I am glad I‘m glad it’s not this year. I am waiting until late fall next year where I will likely lock off and do 4 weeks next year. I think this year is iffy.

We always have a car. Last time I did 4 weeks, I got a car through Costco for about $900 for the month. This was 3 years ago (sigh, it was fun, did the first two weeks with my son who had just graduated HS him and me, then second two weeks in the huge one bedroom after older son and DH joined us). I just do not ever recommend not having a car at all.

 

[nkereina]

Also is it true one way to get cheaper rates is to purchase DVC points, without becoming a full fledge DVC Member?

As others have mentioned, renting DVC points right now is tricky. In "normal" times, there would likely not be availability at this point for September. People generally book DVC 7-11 months in advance. But with times being what they are, its possible there's availability due to cancellations. You'd have to be flexible with dates and room types.

The other thing is that I don't think Aulani has announced a re-opening date yet. If you rent DVC points and they are still not open in September, you may or may not be able to get your money back. As mentioned, DVC rentals are typically non-refundable and I don't believe they're covered by most travel insurances. There are third party brokers that help facilitate rental transactions between DVC owners and renters, and a few of them have been giving people the run around about their WDW rentals and I think only credits have been issued. Since its a non-refundable transaction typically, there's been some legal hair splitting about how the resort closures should factor into that.

Also, make sure you understand what renting DVC points means. Non-refundable, can't change dates, no daily housekeeping, and you're making a contract with another person as opposed to a company. There's some risk in that, so due diligence is necessary. For a first timer, I'd always suggest going through a broker, but with the fallout from the closures everywhere, I think they are currently in over their head so I'm not sure how responsive or helpful they'd be at the moment.

 

[Noah_t]

Yes as someone who is renting out some points i would have to concur with the sentiment its a bad time to do short term rentals. Especially at a closed resort. Also Aulani is offering a really good discount (35% I think) that gets you pretty closed to the cost of renting DVC points.

 

[travelplanningnerd]

Just to echo others, I'd seriously reconsider renting points but also the timing in general due the fact that they are just going to have reopened in August. If anything happens to delay that, it's a lot of stress to deal with as far as how it affects your trip. Hawaii is expensive so this wouldn't be how I would want to experience that area for the first time.

 

[greenkai3000]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions so far. I did get in touch with a DVC briker and asked a lot of questions regarding refund policies. I will wait unti August to see if Aulani will re open for sure in September

 

[travelplanningnerd]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions so far. I did get in touch with a DVC briker and asked a lot of questions regarding refund policies. I will wait unti August to see if Aulani will re open for sure in September

This is probably a really good strategy. Saw this earlier that it's a possibility that August 1st day may get pushed back.

https://www.khon2.com/coronavirus/lg-says-governor-will-postpone-aug-1-date-to-reopen-tourism/

 

[Mommy2Logan]

Try to capture a 35% discount. On one trip we booked and then I checked the offers every week and called them back and asked for them to give us their 35% off offer that had been offered after we booked and they did.

Aside form that, I would say that alcohol and food is a huge cost, any way that you can come up with to save there will be important. We don't do a room with a kitchen because it's so much more to rent that type of room and we would rather just pay the extra cost in food at restaurants than cook and do dishes, but we are a small family. Might be worth the cost of a room with a kitchen if you have a bigger family.

Happy hour at Monkey pod and getting pizzas at the Ulu cafe are ways to feed your family for less.