Hawaii is one of the top destinations people want to travel hack and one of the most popular destinations for family vacations. Travel hacking with a family obviously takes more points, which makes it even more important to keep going after those signup bonuses. Despite it costing more points to visit with a family, it is totally doable. Let’s review a few ways you can travel hack Hawaii as a family. You can listen to this episode of our PODCAST to hear more about travel hacking to Hawaii.

 

Flights

Southwest

If you’ve been following for a little while then you know it’s no secret that Southwest is my go-to airline for family travel. When we took the kids to Maui in 2021 we flew on Southwest. I love Southwest for flying to Hawaii for a few reasons.

First of all, I love that they have the Southwest Companion Pass. With the Southwest Companion Pass, we are able to fly one of our kids for free. When you are flying with a family, it is huge to be able to get a free flight!

Southwest also offers great sales at times. We’ve been able to get roundtrip flights from Salt Lake City for 20,000 points per person at times. If you live on the west coast, then you can really score some great deals!

We also love that it is so simple to change our flights and get the difference in points refunded if the price drops on a flight we booked.

 

 

United Flights Booked Through Turkish Airlines

You can book flights to Hawaii for just 15,000 points per person roundtrip through Turkish Airlines, but you’ll actually be flying on a United Airlines plane. I’m not going to tell you this is the simplest way to book but we have had many readers who have had success with this! My mom has booked these flights and has written her experience down. If you follow her instructions it will make the process so much easier!

To get the points to book with Turkish Airlines you’ll need a Citi Premier, Capital One Venture, or Capital One Venture X card as these points transfer to Turkish Airlines.

 

Leverage Cheap Cash Fares

In the last few years, we’ve seen airlines offer really cheap flights to Hawaii thanks to airlines competing for business. When these cheap fares come around you have a couple of options. You can use the Capital One purchase eraser, book in the bank portal (our favorite is the Chase portal), or simply pay cash and earn a bunch of points by putting it on your credit card.

 

Hotels

Hotel rooms with a family are another story. When you have three or more kids it makes it tricky. Most hotels have an occupancy of four. We are a family of six and are now at the point where, most of the time, we need to get two hotel rooms. This means we need even more points! We prefer to stay at Hyatt hotels when traveling with the kids and love to use our Chase Ultimate Rewards to book those rooms. Both my husband and I also have World of Hyatt cards.

We stayed at the Hyatt Residence Club in 2021 and it was perfect for a family. The cost was 48,000 points a night and we had a 2 bedroom/2 bath unit with a full kitchen. They also have a one-bedroom unit that is 30,000 points a night. This is a timeshare property so finding availability here is tricky. I recommend searching one night at a time. I’ve also heard availability can open up last minute. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t find anything here- just check back periodically and be flexible with your dates. You can check out this video for some tips on how to book Hyatt stays.

 

 

Condos/Airbnb

When traveling with a family it can be really nice to have a condo or Airbnb with a kitchen. If Airbnb is your thing then a Capital One Venture or Venture X card is a great option. With those cards, you can book your Airbnb on the card and then log into your account to erase the purchase, or offset the cost depending on how many points you have.

 

If you’d like to book a condo you can also do that through Vacasa. Vacasa has partnered with Wyndham Rewards and your points from your Citi Premier card as well as your Venture Miles transfer to Wyndham Rewards. Vacasa rentals start at 15,000 points a night for a one-bedroom unit. What’s great is you can find 1 bedroom units that have lofts and sleep more people! Check out this post to learn more about how Vacasa rentals work.

 

Bottom Line

Traveling with a family is expensive, whether that’s in cash or in points but it is still doable! There are many ways to travel hack Hawaii as a family. These are just a few of our favorite ways. Look into Southwest and see if it’s a good option for flying to Hawaii for your family. Turkish Airlines could be a great option to get your family roundtrip flights to Hawaii as well. When it comes to lodging, Airbnbs and condo units could be the best bet. If nothing else, look at using your points to offset and save on costs if getting the points to pay for all the flights and lodging seems a little overwhelming.