Aulani Owners Thread - ALOHA!

[TagsMissy]

I just bought resale for 170 points.

Welcome!!

 

[e46m3]

Welcome!!

Thanks! I am super excited. We will be going in Sept for the very first time.

 

[TagsMissy]

Well everything is in order with our new purchase... I see dues owing... lol time to pull out the visa again.

 

[lchute1158]

Just toured aulani yesterday... That place is Spectacular

 

[TifffanyD]

We just landed in Honolulu and I saw Aulani from the plane!

We don't check in for 8 days tho... sniff

 

[lodge]

What side of the plane were you on... I plan on getting some good pictures!

 

[TifffanyD]

What side of the plane were you on... I plan on getting some good pictures!

We were on the left side facing the front (port if talking about a ship...lol) on Delta

I didn't take pics since it was during "turn electronic devices off" time

 

[lodge]

We were on the left side facing the front (port if talking about a ship...lol) on Delta

I didn't take pics since it was during "turn electronic devices off" time

Such a good passenger!! Thank you for the info.... that's funny you think in maritime language!

 

[Sir William]

Such a good passenger!! Thank you for the info.... that's funny you think in maritime language!

We sat on the starboard side and all the good views were on the port side as we landed.

There are a lot of "nautical" terms used in aviation, to include "port" and "starboard" when referring to the wings and engines.

 

[luv2sleep]

Bought Aulani points last year. Went once on the 2 week Hawaii Disney cruise. It's beautiful but I am feeling buyer's remorse. Oahu is just not my favorite island and the beach was actually disappointing. Maui beaches are so much nicer. I just went to WDW and stayed at BLT for a week. I loved it so much. I especially loved the airfare. I keep searching for decent airfare to try to make a trip there (I live in CA) and the lowest I can find is $600pp. My round trip for 2 to Orlando cost that much. I've been pricing Christmas and it's $1000pp. I'm limited to school holiday travel. I'm getting so disappointed. I'm paying this high dues and can't enjoy it because of the airfare. So I'm thinking of selling and buying something at WDW where I can get to for less money. Anyone been through this? I'm so bummed.

ETA: when I bought we'd just gone to Hawaii that previous year. I got great prices on flights. Since then prices have seemed to go up. We went mid summer. It seems way more now. ??? Weird.

 

[e46m3]

Bought Aulani points last year. Went once on the 2 week Hawaii Disney cruise. It's beautiful but I am feeling buyer's remorse. Oahu is just not my favorite island and the beach was actually disappointing. Maui beaches are so much nicer. I just went to WDW and stayed at BLT for a week. I loved it so much. I especially loved the airfare. I keep searching for decent airfare to try to make a trip there (I live in CA) and the lowest I can find is $600pp. My round trip for 2 to Orlando cost that much. I've been pricing Christmas and it's $1000pp. I'm limited to school holiday travel. I'm getting so disappointed. I'm paying this high dues and can't enjoy it because of the airfare. So I'm thinking of selling and buying something at WDW where I can get to for less money. Anyone been through this? I'm so bummed.

ETA: when I bought we'd just gone to Hawaii that previous year. I got great prices on flights. Since then prices have seemed to go up. We went mid summer. It seems way more now. ??? Weird.

Oahu is not my favorite island either but I hear that Ko Olina is beautiful. I think fares are high right now but I think the airfares fluctuate through out the year. I am also from California so I feel your pain on that. Maui is even a more expensive flight.

I just enrolled in the Alaska Airline credit card. You get an annual companion pass for around $100. I just bought my wife and son tixs for around $600. I had enough miles for a free flight for myself. So $600 for 3 tixs ain't that bad. Plus $1000+ maintenance fees for $3800 worth of hotel stay at Aulani gets me really excited.

 

[luv2sleep]

Oahu is not my favorite island either but I hear that Ko Olina is beautiful. I think fares are high right now but I think the airfares fluctuate through out the year. I am also from California so I feel your pain on that. Maui is even a more expensive flight.

I just enrolled in the Alaska Airline credit card. You get an annual companion pass for around $100. I just bought my wife and son tixs for around $600. I had enough miles for a free flight for myself. So $600 for 3 tixs ain't that bad. Plus $1000+ maintenance fees for $3800 worth of hotel stay at Aulani gets me really excited.

It's great you got that card! I applied last year but was turned down. I think it has to do with my divorce unfortunately. Anyway I don't like to depend on stuff like that. I'd rather feel like it was fairly easily affordable. Yes, Maui can be more but I don't feel I "have" to go. Kwim? Ko Olina is beautiful. Aulani is beautiful. I've been watching these prices for a year and it's not getting better. Thank anyway. Enjoy your trip!

 

[e46m3]

It's great you got that card! I applied last year but was turned down. I think it has to do with my divorce unfortunately. Anyway I don't like to depend on stuff like that. I'd rather feel like it was fairly easily affordable. Yes, Maui can be more but I don't feel I "have" to go. Kwim? Ko Olina is beautiful. Aulani is beautiful. I've been watching these prices for a year and it's not getting better. Thank anyway. Enjoy your trip!

Best of luck to you! You are right that Orlando flights are cheaper but I think you also have to factor in the park tickets in that cost equation as well. In any case you have a lot of options with DVC. You will be fine.

 

[luv2sleep]

Best of luck to you! You are right that Orlando flights are cheaper but I think you also have to factor in the park tickets in that cost equation as well. In any case you have a lot of options with DVC. You will be fine.

Very good point! I spent $800 on tickets. That makes a lot of sense. So glad I posted! This is helping!

 

[TifffanyD]

Do you have a kayak fare watch up? I did that And picked a few dates and bought when I got a reasonable price

 

[luv2sleep]

Do you have a kayak fare watch up? I did that And picked a few dates and bought when I got a reasonable price

Yes. I watch Kayak constantly and have been doing so ever since I bought.

I think the issue is that when I can go the airfare is higher. I think what I will do is also buy WDW points and just not plan on going to Aulani every year. That way I can afford to pay more points for peak times and then just budget for that high of airfare less often.

 

[TifffanyD]

Yes. I watch Kayak constantly and have been doing so ever since I bought.

I think the issue is that when I can go the airfare is higher. I think what I will do is also buy WDW points and just not plan on going to Aulani every year. That way I can afford to pay more points for peak times and then just budget for that high of airfare less often.

We have 100 at boardwalk and 100 at aulani. Only planning on Aulani every 3-4 years

 

[luv2sleep]

We have 100 at boardwalk and 100 at aulani. Only planning on Aulani every 3-4 years

Ok that makes me feel better. I was thinking with paying all those dues I should be using it yearly. Thanks!

 

[Sir William]

Ok that makes me feel better. I was thinking with paying all those dues I should be using it yearly. Thanks!

We are similar. We have points at Saratoga Springs and Aulani. We were just at Aulani in April but don't plan to return for at least another 2 years as it is a long haul from the east coast.

 

[SueTGGR]

I, too, am from California and we also own at Aulani (and VGC, AKL, SSR ) may I ask if you rented a car or did a bit of exploring on Oahu? We found some beautiful spots on Oahu. We also LOVE Maui but since we have bought Aulani we have decided to give Oahu a good try. With a little research (I LOVE trip advisor) and a good GPS Oahu was full of adventure but alas traffic, too. I think there is hope though. We, too, will probably only go every 2-3 years.

As far as Kayak, make sure you look at individual sites as Kayak does not have an agreement with all the airlines. Hawaiian and Alaska are 2 major airlines to Hawaii from California (we are Nor Cal but I have seen specials all over Calif) now and they have deals all the time. Signup for their frequent miles and you get e-mails all the time on deals on flights. OH and "like" them on FB and if you twitter some will have specials that way. We got a great deal a couple of years ago with Hawaiian at the last minute over Spring Break in February to Maui but Oahu is typically included in those specials.

Don't give up hope. If you can financially afford to keep your contract, I say give it a chance.
Later,
Sue