Okay, so you’re planning a Hawaii honeymoon and you’ve got your heart set on a luxury Hawaii beach resort experience…and then you see the prices!! Yikes. 

If you’re trying to string together a Hawaii honeymoon on a budget, I’ve got a few tricks for saving money on hotels in Hawaii…my #1 favorite way is “travel hacking.” I’ve been able to stay at some of the swankiest places in Hawaii for FREE by using credit card points. It’s not uncomplicated, but totally worth it (in my opinion). I’ve written a pretty comprehensive guide on my process for that here. 

Hawaii Honeymoon on a Budget

But besides that, there are three big things I do to save money on hotels: 1) Split my stay, 2) Pick the best time of year, and 3) Pick the best specific dates. 

Let’s get into the details…

Split Your Stay

Most people that are traveling all the way to Hawaii, while wanting a beach vacation, also want to SEE Hawaii (totally different from places like Mexico where you’re mostly there to lounge). If this is you, I suggest splitting your trip and spending the first part of your trip at a more affordable place while you do the majority of your activities and exploring. Then move to a nice resort for the last part of your trip to spend a few days just relaxing and “being on vacation.” 

On one of my last trips to Maui, I went with a friend who had never been before so we planned to do a lot of things but we also wanted the big Maui resort experience. We spent the first three nights at an Airbnb on the north shore and did the Road to Hana, sunrise at Haleakala, the upcountry, the north shore, etc. and then moved to the Four Seasons for three nights and did…nothing. 

Just kidding but we really only stayed around the resort doing the beach, the pool, the spa, the tennis, the shopping, the eating. You know. We actually did an early morning snorkeling trip that picked up right near the resort too. You get the idea. It was the perfect trip. We got EVERYTHING we wanted from a Maui vacation and ended up saving a lot of money. 

So it’s not all or nothing when you pick a place to stay. 

Choose the Best Time of Year

Hawaii’s peak season is summer and the winter holidays. There’s really not an off season in Hawaii because the weather is pretty perfect year round and there’s so many international visitors, but the winter months (after the holidays) and the spring months are usually less than peak season. And the end of August (when the kids go back to school) up through the start of the holidays is slower as well. 

Now here’s my secret: the end of August through September is when you’ll find the absolute lowest resort prices of the year. People in the tourism industry call it “couples season” because family travel dries up considerably. Demand is down and prices reflect it. So if you’re dreaming of staying at a nice resort on the beach, but can’t quite stomach the prices you’re seeing during summer or peak winter months, have a look at mid August and September (even through October sometimes). 

Pick Your Dates Strategically

The price of any hotel can change pretty drastically throughout the month and even the week. While September is pretty much the cheapest you’ll find rates for any resort in Hawaii, there’s still a lot of variation within that month and at other times of the year. 

When you’re looking at a specific place, pull up the monthly price calendar where you can see the price for every single night (I do this in the Marriott Bonvoy app, in the sidebar of Google Search in the “Compare Prices” section, etc.)

The prices throughout the month can fluctuate a LOT so if you cherry pick the exact dates of your stay it may be the difference between being able to afford staying at that particular hotel or not. 

Why does the price fluctuate so much? It could be demand pricing meaning dates around holidays or peak travel times are more expensive or it could mean that standard rooms are all booked for certain nights and all that’s available is a suite. 

Remember: If the standard room category (aka the cheapest) is sold out for just one of the nights you’re searching for it’s going to bump you up to the next available category for the whole stay which usually means a significant amount of money.

P.S. One of the reasons I’m able to travel to Hawaii so often is by using credit card points. And right now my go to travel card has a GREAT limited time sign up offer.

If you sign up for this Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll get 100K bonus points to use on travel. 

These are my favorite kind of travel points because they’re so flexible. You could…

Transfer them to Southwest or United to book round trip tickets to Hawaii.

Transfer them to Hyatt to book a stay at the Andaz Maui (such a great luxury resort!)

Transfer them to Marriott for a stay at one of my favorites like the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Royal Hawaiian, or Ritz Carlton Turtle Bay. 

Or book a hotel through the Chase travel portal with a cash value of $1250. 
The 100K bonus point offer is just for a limited time, so if you’re looking for the best travel card, sign up >> here.

P.P.S. Here’s one more really important thing you need to know before your Hawaii trip…

You’ve got your airfare, hotel, rental car and your big activities booked, so you should be good to go, right? Wrong!

Travel is BOOMING in Hawaii and a lot of state and national parks have instituted reservation systems at some of the island’s most popular spots to help manage the crowds and make things a little more sustainable. 

That means that there are now over half a dozen sites (beaches, trailheads, etc.) that require advance reservations. And some sell out well before you arrive on the island so you really need to have some sort of a plan. 

I recently saw somebody in a Hawaii travel group post in a panic that they didn’t know they had to make reservations for things in advance…they thought they could just show up and “go with the flow.” I was tempted to say, well, “as long as the flow doesn’t take you somewhere that requires reservations, you can!” ; )

But I don’t want YOU to be that person, so I’ve pulled together a list of all the places you need to reserve entry in advance (plus all the details on booking windows, price, links, etc.) and a handful of popular tourist hotspots that book out really far in advance too. 
Get that info >> HERE