$8,000 Trip to Hawaii for $360!

We spent 11 days in Hawaii (Maui, Oahu and Kauai). Kevin proposed in Maui!! We have to thank everyone in the 10X Travel Group for all the knowledge and information to make this possible. We got lucky with some upgrades and actually made money on our trip (more on that later).

The "HOW"

One way flight from MCO-SJC-OGG - SW 19k points with companion pass plus $22.40 in taxes; cash value of $578.

2 nights at Hyatt Regency Maui, upgraded to oceanfront room with club lounge access for celebrating an engagement - Hyatt 66k points; cash value of $1,665.

2 nights at Marriott Wailea Beach Resort, upgraded to garden suite since the AC in our original room did not work - 50k free night anniversary certificate from Marriott Brilliant card, plus $153 out of pocket (our original room was $478 but the card comes with a $300 statement credit plus there was a $25 offer for any stay); cash value of $1,642.

One way flight from OGG to HNL - SW 2k points plus $11.20; cash value of $80.

3 nights at Hyatt Centric Waikiki - 15k free night annual certificate plus 30k Hyatt points; cash value of $567.

One way flight from HNL to LIH - Hawaiian Airlines $160 out of pocket.

2 nights at Grand Hyatt Kauai - 50k Hyatt points; cash value of $1,576.

On our return trip home we had to get a little creative since there are not many options flying back to Orlando using points. We originally booked a flight from LIH to LAX via American Airlines using 26k British airways avios and then 6k SW points from LAX to MCO.

Here is the best part. We get to the airport to take the 11PM redeye flight back to LAX and we are literally boarding after the gate agent just scanned our boarding passes. We hear an announcement that they are looking for volunteers to get bumped and are offering $1,150 vouchers per person to take the next flight at 5:30AM. We instantly looked at each other and said we will volunteer. When trying to put us on the next flight, the gate agent realized the next flight would be at 5:30PM and not AM. To make up for this, he asked where our final destination was and rerouted us to HNL-DFW-MCO for free. This flight would have been $683 per person.

They also put us up in a hotel for the night for free. We spent the night at Kauai Beach Resort in a deluxe pool view room- cash value of $309. We went back to the airport the next day and take the flight from LIH to HNL. When we got to the gate to board our flight to DFW, I noticed our boarding passes are not loading on my AA app anymore. We talked to the not so friendly gate agent and it turns out our tickets have been given away due to some system error (A woman in front of us even said "MY CHILD IS NOT KEVIN ENG!" Apparently, Kevin's ticket was given to a little 5 year old girl! HAHA!). Luckily a friendlier supervisor was able to get us on a flight to PHX then MCO leaving 3 hours later. We sent AA a message on twitter about this and we each got an additional $50 voucher. In the end we ended up with $1,200 each in vouchers to use on a future trip!

Summary of points/cash used. SW 21k plus $33.60 Hyatt 146k plus one free night Marriott free night plus $153 HA flight $160 BA Avios 26k plus $11.20

If paid with cash only - $7,940

This was definitely the trip of a lifetime! It was our engagement trip (more to come on that later!), it was such a nice trip and we spent such a little amount of out-of-pocket cash!

Mahalo for reading!

Kevin & Kayla