Aloha!
If you’ve ever dreamt of taking your family to enchanting Kauai without breaking the bank, you’re in the right place. With the strategic use of points and miles, you could be sipping drinks on the beach in no time! Here’s how our family of four enjoyed an unforgettable Kauai vacation using points and miles.
Planning the Trip
Flights
First off, we had to get here. Here’s the breakdown:
Credit Card Rewards: I transferred points from my Chase Ink Business Cash into my Chase Sapphire Preferred and then to United Airlines.
We booked round-trip economy flights on United Airlines for 58,500 miles and $11.20/person. Total cost to fly to/from Kauai: 234,000 miles + $44.80
Pro Tip: You can find less expensive point flights to/from Hawaii if you know some of the tricks. Last year we booked flights to/from Maui using Citi Thank You points that we transferred to Turkish Airlines and booked United flights with. We were able to book for almost half the points we’re spending to go to Kauai this year. But when the fires happened, we had to cancel those Maui flights and it was a total pain in the butt, so this year we decided to just book straight with United.
Accommodation:
Kauai offers a range of accommodation options that can be booked with points. For our stay, we chose the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa. Again, I transferred Chase points from my Chase Ink Business Unlimited card into my Chase Sapphire Preferred card and out to Hyatt to book this property. We spent 175,000 points for 6 nights. If we had paid cash, it would’ve cost us $5,238 to stay here. This is why I love points and miles!
What We Paid
The resort is gorgeous! We headed straight to the pool upon arrival and spent the first day exploring the resort and lounging around. The kids loved the lagoon!
Exploring Kauai:
For our 1st Full Day –
We explored Poipu beach, which was perfect for our family. Our kids are learning how to swim and aren’t super comfortable in the water yet, so we bought some sand toys at the hotel and just hung out building castles for a few hours. After that we went back to the hotel pool for the rest of the day.
Day 2 – Anahola
We hired Jacob LaForge with Aloha Island Photography to snap some family shots of us and he had us meet him at Anahola Beach. What a cool experience! We trekked down to the photoshoot location through a palm tree forest. After our pictures were done, we stayed and played at the beach for a while. This is a spot I wouldn’t have found without a local leading the way and I’m so glad we got to see it. Jacob was great! If you’re ever in Kauai and wanting a photographer – he’s your guy.
Day 3: Hanalei Bay & Wailua Waterfalls
While we had hoped to go hiking on this trip, our kids weren’t having it this round. So instead, we opted to go on a scenic drive up to Hanalei Bay, stopping along the way to admire the gorgeous Wailua Falls. You can drive right up to the scenic lookout to see the waterfall. You can’t hike down to it, but it’s worth stopping to see. Also, we loved Hanalei Bay. The water was so calm that my kids ventured into the ocean on their own for the very first time.
That night we went back to our resort for a nice dinner at Tidepools. It’s delicious and beautiful, but a bit pricey. I do recommend it, but there are some less expensive and equally delicious dinner options 10 minutes from The Hyatt Regency, in Koloa. We really liked The Tasting Room.
It’s a good idea to make a reservation no matter where you’re going. You need one for Tidepools.
Our hotel offered a luau, which we didn’t do because I didn’t think the kids would sit through it. Turns out I was wrong. We walked past it, and the girls were obsessed with the music and dancing. Total Mom Fail. Should have booked the luau. Oh well – live and learn.
Days 4-6: Swimming at the hotel
We took this opportunity to get our kids comfortable in the water, which was a total success. They’re FINALLY having fun in a pool. Thank you, Kauai!
Also, the hotel had 4 Macaw’s that were a total hit. One in each corner of the main lobby. Every time we walked past the kids would wave hello – on our last day they got to interact with the blue one. Loved it!
Conclusion
Our trip to Kauai was focused on family, water play and relaxation. All with the most beautiful nature surrounding us. We loved every minute and best of all… it was totally affordable thanks to the beauty of points and miles.
Mahalo, Kauai – we’ll be back soon!
