• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Kinney Chaos

Experience the Ordinary

  • Email
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • About Us
  • Travel Tips
  • Restaurant Review
  • Experience Review
You are here: Home / Archives for cheap flights

cheap flights

5 Tips for Planning the Perfect Cheap Hawaii Vacation

January 16, 2019 By Jason Kinney 1 Comment

Previous posts I have always listed as something like “Las Vegas on the Cheap.” Unfortunately, there is nothing cheap on the islands of Hawaii.  So the biggest thing is reducing the costs.  This article covers some of our favorite cheap Hawaii vacation tips.

1. Flights for your Cheap Hawaii Vacation

When Joni, Cheyenne and I flew out to Hawaii, we did this on miles.  Luckily for us, we found an excellent redemption deal on United Miles for 45,000 miles each round trip for a non-stop flight from Chicago.  This still took a long time to save up for, but this also gave us time to plan out our trip.

Southwest Airlines is currently looking at having flights for Hawaii.  Rumors are that they will be available within the next year and that will most likely cause more significant competition meaning more affordable flight costs. These new flight option will be great for anyone trying to plan a cheap Hawaii vacation.

2. Plan for Parking Concerns

Something we learned while we were out there is that the cost of driving in Hawaii is unreal.  We did get a rental car deal going through Enterprise with our work account which was better than anything else I could find.  The rental cost isn’t the issue; the cost killer is the parking. 

With the island being so tight for space, parking costs are at a premium.  Most hotels charge for parking which will add another $40 a day to most hotel stays.  Vacations are also meant to be relaxing.  The bumper to bumper traffic that is so bad, that even the interstates have speed limits of 45 MPH makes it a pain to get from point A to point B. 

We ended up returning our car several days early because of this and the upcoming hurricane.  We did not want to deal with any weather damage claims and saved ourselves the extra parking fees as an added bonus.  The best benefit of the car was those off the path restaurants (Like KoKo Head Cafe) and getting to some of the tourist destinations (Like beaches and Shaved Ice) we wanted to see again.  

3. Best deals for Hotels in Hawaii

With Hawaii being so famous, you have many choices when it comes to booking your hotel stays. Options ranging through Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton are plentiful. Almost every major hotel chain has a hotel and many let you use points you have accumulated.

We ended up staying at a boutique hotel that is part of the Marriott group right of Waikiki Beach.  Not only is this a great tourist destination it puts a lot of things within walking distance.

4. Best Tourist Destinations

Luckily Joni did the research on the site seeing and the best deals. If you don’t plan ahead and just show up at the events day by day, you will find the costs to be huge, or not even able to get access as entrances at certain items are limited. 

The “Go Ohau Card” is part of the “Go City Cards.”  These cards allow you to visit several tourist stops throughout several days depending on the options you purchase. Usually, these are a good deal if you plan to visit a number of the locations the cards offer anyway.

Our Go Oahu card gave us a choice of using a premium feature such as swimming with dolphins.  We were able to then purchase these cards through a shopping portal through Groupon to get even more travel points instead of getting them through their website alone.  The tours are highly recommended, especially the circle tour at the beginning of the trip.

The tours gave us a chance to see some of the tourist places around the island and even if we didn’t stop during the tour we were able to take our car and visit the next day. The things we did were:

  • Pearl Harbor
  • Oahu Hidden Gems and Snorkeling with Turtles
  • Makani Catamaran Sail
  • All of Oahu in one day Tour
  • Iolani Palace
  • Bishop Museum

5. Be Patient

This trip took almost two years for me to plan out and ten years of Joni asking for us to go to Hawaii. The biggest and probably most important tip is to be patient with your planning. Maximize your points and take advantage of points deals to get bonuses and extra savings. If you are looking for a cheap Hawaii Vacation, you will probably need to plan it for several months.

Filed Under: Travel Tips Tagged With: cheap flights, cheap or splurge, frugal, hawaii, hawaiian islands, oahu

Travel Hacking: How to Fly Delta Cheap

March 15, 2018 By Jason Kinney 1 Comment

Which Airline?

Everyone has their own favorite airlines.  I prefer to fly Southwest and Delta airlines.  I like Southwest due to their flight cheap redemption options for direct flights to Las Vegas and Orlando from Milwaukee.  Another reason is due to their nonstop fights for Cancun out of Chicago Midway. However the other airline that I like to use is Delta.  So one of the first things I had to figure out was how to fly Delta cheap.
Delta has a very heavy presence in Minneapolis.  You can get many different nonstop flights to areas throughout the US.  Delta has to compete against Spirit, Southwest, and Sun Country for Minneapolis travel.  Because they are up against these ‘low cost carriers’ they tend to have cheaper rates for travel. This allows you to fly Delta cheap without putting in a lot of extra effort right off the bat.  I have been able to book several trips now for as low as 12,000 miles round trip from Minneapolis to Vegas or Phoenix which would be over 30,000 miles from our local airport.
A big feature I enjoy of Delta is being able to book my trip 300 days in advance. I was already able to book my Las Vegas trip at the end of December 2018 during the busy holiday season.  By booking the travel this far out, you do receive better redemption options.

Why Not United or American?

I hate flying out of Chicago O’Hare mostly due to the flight delays. According to multiple articles on www.insuremytrip.com, Chicago O’Hare consistently appears in the top three airports for flight delays.  That airport is a main hub for American and United Airlines.

How to fly Delta Cheap?

Due to enjoying the Delta flight options one of the first travel credit cards I got was the Delta Amex.  Delta charges for bags as part of your flight reservations but with the Delta Credit Card I am able to check my bags for free.  The annual fee for the card is $95 however they do not charge an annual fee for the first year to allow you to get a good feel of the card.  I am going to assume that I will have two round trip flights each year. By saving the money for baggage, I have already covered the cost of the annual fee. One of the benefits I consider priceless is the better boarding position.  Nothing is worse than getting on the plane, and having to put your carry on bag rows and rows away from where you are sitting.  Being one of the first several groups on the plane with your Delta Amex almost guarantees you will have your bag near you.
Right now, by using my referral link, you will receive 50,000 miles after spending $2,000 in normal purchases in the first three months.  This is enough miles for 2 round trip tickets to many areas throughout the continental United States when flying out of Minneapolis.  You also have an option for a $50 credit if you have to do a Delta purchase and 10,000 more miles with $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days.  The fact that American Express does have the no annual fee the first year, this is a great starter card to consider.  Another huge perk is that Delta Miles, unlike other airlines, do not expire due to inactivity.
If you enjoyed this article check out these others you may enjoy.
  • What is Travel Hacking?
  • How to get free flights with Ultimate Rewards
  • Travel Hacking: All Reward Points are not Equal

Thank you for reading, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Please Share!

Travel Hacking: How to Fly Delta Cheap #travel #travelhacking #delta #cheapflights

Filed Under: Travel Tips, Money Saving Tips Tagged With: cheap flights, delta, fly cheap, money saving, southwest, travel hacking

Footer

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 · Kinney Chaos

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT