Hawaii on Points

If you're a recent visitor to my blog you may not know that we typically travel using rewards points. We stick to using points with United, Delta, Marriott and IHG (Holiday Inn) programs. 

This trip to Hawaii was no different, we used the following points:

• 135,000 United MileagePlus Points + $33.60 (45,000 + $11.20 per person)
• 220,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points + $150 for hotel parking (for a 5 night stay)
• $360 for rental car

Adding all of that up we're looking at $543.60 for a 6 day/5 night stay on Hawaii Island for three people.

Of course we had other expenses like renting snorkel gear, whale watching tour, manta ray snorkel, food/drink and gas. But our starting point was just under $550 when it could have been between $5,000 - $6,000 if we had booked hotel, air and car individually. 

I highly recommend reading posts from The Points Guy and One Mile at a Time if your wanting to learn more and are interesting in taking vacations for next to nothing! If you're interested in starting the points and miles game use my referral links below to start collecting points! I can be rewarded too if you apply here and are approved for the card. 

United | Marriott | Delta | IHG (Holiday Inn) | Chase Ultimate Rewards

Hawaii Island: 2021 Edition

Our most recent trip to Hawaii Island marked our third visit to this wonderful place (and fifth trip to the state). We absolutely LOVE Hawaii! Our favorite island is Hawaii Island (aka the Big Island) and our second favorite would probably be Maui. What is nice about Hawaii is each island is so different from each other and offers different things. 

Since we could probably start being considered frequent visitors to Hawaii, this trip was purely about relaxation after a stressful year (here's lookin' at you 2020). We stayed at the Mauna Kea Beach Resort which has an amazing beach and that is where we hung out for most of the trip! 

On days one and two the northwest coast had some horrible winds, so we headed south and hung out in Kona one day, walked Ali'i Drive and had some shave ice and the next day we visited Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park and Hōnaunau Bay for some snorkeling. After snorkeling we headed out for some whale watching and saw nothing but spinner dolphins. We did see whales from our hotel lanai (aka balcony) every morning! We even saw a baby humpback. 

***Tip: If you plan on visiting Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park and Volcanoes National Park you might want to look into a National Parks pass. Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park has a $20 entry fee and Volcanoes National Park has a $35 entry fee. An annual National Parks pass is $80 so if you think you'll visit any other national park in the next 365 days it might be worth it to just get an annual pass. 

On our third day we had great weather and the rain seemed to break on other areas of the island so we headed over to Waipi'o Valley to FINALLY hike down into the valley and back up. On our previous two visits we haven't been able to do this hike. The total road portion down and back is about 2.6 miles with some areas estimating to be at a 45% incline and it averages 25% incline. We were both so impressed that out daughter, who is just shy of 6 years old, was able to accomplish this hike on her own! She did have some candy bar incentives along the way and there was minimal amounts of "can you carry me" but she did it! 

One of the negatives we experienced due to COVID was no grocery store or gas station would let us use their bathrooms. And when a kid has to go, they gotta go! It was really frustrating! Because of this, we decided to skip our planned day in Hilo and just stay at Mauna Kea and enjoy the beach and hotel. It was a nice way to spend our last full day on the island.

On our last night my husband went night snorkeling with the local manta ray population at the resort. He said it was amazing and that I should do it the next time we are there! Just another reason to go back. 

Due to some flight schedule changes on behalf of the airline and our horrible 2+ hour wait for our rental car, we only had 4 full days on the island. I wish we had had one more day. In the past we have done anywhere between 6 to 10 day trips so this one ended up being a little short for us (arriving on a Sunday and leaving on a Friday). Had our car rental not taken so long on our arrival day, we could have enjoyed a walk on the beach, dinner and the sunset...but instead we arrived after dark on our first night. 

{How it started vs How its going}

Traveling to Hawaii During COVID

The last flights we took we were to coming home from Australia back in January of 2020...and we hadn't flown since. That is until last week when we took a much needed family vacation to Hawaii (rescheduled from June 2020)! 

Traveling to Hawaii right now can seem a little daunting due to all the extra requirements you need to meet prior to arrival. But once all is done you're relieved and ready for travel!

Testing for Hawaii

First you'll need to create an account with the state of Hawaii's Safe Travels website; here you'll input all your personal and flight information, you'll also upload an up-to-date picture of yourself and upload your negative COVID-19 NAAT test results once you have them.

For us, at the time, our only testing option was Walgreens. This was due to location and our daughter's age (she is under the age of 12) and we needed a NAAT test in less than 72 hours from our departure to Hawaii. Walgreens has a 24 hour NAAT test for ages 3 and up. We tested at 9:15am and had our negative test results in hand by 11:30am the same day. We also chose to test within a 48 hour window of our departing flight to Hawaii due to possible weather delays (we were flying through Chicago and Denver in early March). 

At the Airport

Due to where we live we visited three airports on our way to Hawaii (ugh, connections). The main two were O'Hare and Denver. Both airports made frequent announcements about keeping your mask on, washing hands and social distancing. Many shops and restaurants were closed but the basics were open like fast food places and news stands. I would suggest packing your own food if you have a short connection or don't want McDonalds. 

We ended up literally running from Concourse F to B since our flight arrived late and we already had a short connection. And we did this in masks, which immediately made my mouth and throat dry up. 

Everyone was wearing a mask unless actively eating or drinking.  

On the Plane

Everyone complied with the federal mask laws/guidelines and the flight attendants were constantly making sure people were wearing them properly. 

We flew United and I felt like they were doing a good job with making sure people were wearing their masks properly and that the planes were clean. I could smell the cleaner as we boarded and they handed out a sanitizing wipe as you entered. You also got another wipe in your snack bag. 

Business class were the only passengers that received actual food and I think it was just United's snack boxes that you can normally purchase inflight. Economy was only offered the snack bags that included a wipe, two snacks and a small bottle of water. They also offered beverage service as usual but just gave you the can vs pouring the drink for you. They also had PLENTY of additional snacks in the back should you want more food.

Our flights to Hawaii were fairly full. We had a 2-2, 3-4-3 and 3-3 configurations. One the 2-2 my husband did not have to sit with anyone and since we're a family of 3 the 3-seater options were perfect. And our flights home were fairly empty which gave us some room to stretch out. 

United Clubs

The one thing I don't understand about the airline clubs is why close all but one? Then you're funneling all your passengers who have passes into one area...not good for social distancing. We visited the United Club in SFO from 8:30pm to 11pm and it was empty. Warm food offering was a bean burrito and other options were pre-packaged snacks like chips, crackers and string cheese. Here you also had to ask the bar tender for any beverage, whether it was a beer or water. 

We also visited the United Club at ORD from 5:45am to about 8:30am. It was empty when we first arrived but around 8am it really started to fill up. It started to get really busy to the point where you couldn't social distance and the noise level was getting annoying. So we left and headed to our gate a little early. The warm food here was an egg and cheese burrito or a warm bagel (warm, not toasted) and they had the dry packages of oatmeal you could make with hot water. They also had cereal and fruit. And unlike the club at SFO, you could get your own soda, juice and water at this club. 

Sydney Sights

 Arriving in Melbourne | The Great Ocean Road | Melbourne Sightseeing | The Great Barrier Reef

Fraser Island | Australia Zoo + Brisbane | The Blue Mountains

Sydney was our final city before we departed Australia. We landed around lunch time and headed to our hotel. After checking in we headed out to explore the harbour. We took in the sites of the famed Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the Royal Botanic Gardens. Our hotel served high tea at their club starting at 2pm. We enjoyed our treats, drinks and sights from above. We were getting ready for bed and watching the news and we saw that they had lit up the Opera House with pictures of the dedicated fire fighters that had been working tirelessly to put out the bush fires that had ravaged the country during the summer season (starting in our fall of 2019 for the US and continuing into 2020). So we quickly got dressed and headed back up to the club to see the memorial. 

{views from the hotel rooftop club}

The next day we met our tour that would take us to the Blue Mountains in hopes of seeing the rock formation known as the Three Sisters. Please read about it ---> here!

On our last day in Sydney (and Australia) we were fortunate enough to have clear skies and amazing weather! We took a bus to Coogee Beach and started the 3.5 mile walk to Bondi! This a great and amazing walk and I highly recommend it, especially if you like to watch the waves. We started at Coogee and walked past Gordons Bay, Clovelly Beach, Bronte Beach, Tamarama Beach, the famous Boni Icebergs and finished with a swim at Bondi Beach. After a dip we had a snack and some drinks nearby and took the bus back to the hotel. We were able to freshen up and take part in tea time again! I am loving this afternoon snack situation that is "tea"! 

{Coogee to Bondi Beach walk}

{exploring Sydney and "The Rocks"

We didn't really have any plans for the rest of our afternoon, we debated taking the ferry to Taronga Zoo or Manly Beach but we decided to stay put and walk the other side of the harbour and walk around The Rocks district. We finished the evening with dessert and drinks back at the hotel, with these views where else would we have gone?! And we packed for our mid-morning flight the next day. 

The Blue Mountains, Australia

 Arriving in Melbourne | The Great Ocean Road | Melbourne Sightseeing | The Great Barrier Reef

Fraser Island | Australia Zoo + Brisbane

The only excursion we took while in Sydney was to the UNESCO World Heritage site, The Blue Mountains. Our trip was covered by a thick fog/mist so we didn't get the views that we had hoped for. But our tour guide Jed kept us entertained!   

We started the day at Featherdale Wildlife Park. This was a great, local wildlife park that had all the Australian animals you know and love. This is also where we heard the call of a koala, they don't sound as you would expect!

Then we were off to explore the Blue Mountains. We made a quick stop for lunch before we made our way to enjoy the area's three most popular attractions: the Scenic Cableway, the highest cable car in Australia (and where we got great views of the Three Sisters rock formation), the Scenic Skyway and the Scenic Railway, the steepest passenger railway in the world! 

On our way back we skipped Sydney's rush hour by taking a river cruise! We ended up with amazing views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. The only thing that would have made it better was if we had had a sunny day!

Valentine's Day 2021

Happy Valentine's Day! We do not typically celebrate the holiday in any big way. But ever since having a child I feel like we need to make an effort to celebrate holidays like Valentine's Day, Easter and even the 4th of July. I got both my daughter and husband a card and my daughter some flowers. 

This year I made some cookies and I successfully sold them on my personal Facebook page (which I was really excited about). And we celebrated most of the day by hanging out inside due to the below zero outside temperatures and eating heart shaped pancakes for breakfast! I also went for a run in the sub-zero temperatures!

How did you celebrate Valentine's Day. 

Australia Zoo + Brisbane

 Arriving in Melbourne | The Great Ocean Road | Melbourne Sightseeing | The Great Barrier Reef
Fraser Island

CRIKY! We made it to the Australia Zoo! What an amazing day! We left Hervey Bay early so we could arrive as close as we could to when the zoo opened. I checked off a few bucket list items during our time at the zoo, holding a koala and interacting with some wombats! What an experience! 

We also got pretty luck because the Irwin Family did the croc show that day! So it was like watching their new TV show! The zoo was amazing and I feel like if we had taken our daughter we could have spent two full days there! If we are lucky enough to visit again I would love to do more animal encounters! 

After the zoo we headed back to Brisbane for the next three nights. We stopped for dinner at a relatives house before heading to our AirBnB for the night.

The next few days were pretty relaxing. I had originally wanted to head to Lamington National Park but it was a 2.5 hour drive and driving on the opposite site of the road is no easy task. Matt found it mentally draining since he had to concentrate so much more than if we were driving at home in the US. So we just walked around Brisbane, enjoyed the pool at our apartment rental and relaxed with drinks on the river. 

We also took some time to head down to Surfers Paradise. This area seemed VERY touristy and busy and more of maybe a Miami vibe (which is not our scene).