T and I took a trip to Oahu back in 2014 and had a great time snorkeling, parasailing, et cetera. We’ve been wanting to get back to the islands because who doesn’t love Hawaii? We also have a Marriott Category 1-4, 7-night stay certificate that we’ve earmarked for the Courtyard in Kaua’i. So, we knew which island we were eyeing. But finding out that we could fly to Hawaii for 7,500 Citi ThankYou points and $5.60/pp each-way was what really got the ball rolling.

Courtyard by Marriott Kaua’i at Coconut Beach

I’d be lying if I said this hotel wasn’t at the center of this trip. It’s not some lavish 5-star hotel, but it’s one of the best places to redeem Marriott awards for a number of reasons:

• Nightly stays seem to average $200 with peak season rates approaching the $400 mark. Redeeming our 7-night and 1-night certificates is getting us over $1800 in value for our 8-night stay.
• Ocean View rooms are currently bookable for the same points cost as Garden View room, adding about $40/night more in value.
• It’s currently being renovated. While this stinks for anyone staying there during the renovation, anyone coming in after its estimated completion time of Sept. 2019 should arrive at a nice, new hotel.
• As part of the renovation, it’s being re-branded as a Sheraton, which means there may be suites and/or a lounge. Our Titanium Elite status means we’d get access to the lounge, plus have a decent chance at an upgrade to a suite for our stay.
• I’m not defending their $20 resort fee, but since so many hotels have them now, I’m trying to look on the bright side. Considering that most resort fees I see nowadays are at least $30-35 for things like a newspaper and 2 bottles of water, I can stomach $20 for:
  • Parking
  • Tennis and basketball court access and equipment
  • Daily beach chairs, umbrellas, and cooler rental
  • Two free Mai Tai’s each night
  • Morning yoga classes
  • $20 in printing/copying
  • And even more useless than that, up to $20 in long distance phone calls within the U.S. or Canada
• Finally, it has incredible award availability. When looking at the award calendar, I was hard pressed to find dates where booking with points/certificates wasn’t possible. This is always great for people that don’t have a lot of flexibility in their travel plans.

Hawaii does have another Category 4 hotel in Kona – the Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach, where you can find similar value. It looks great, but Kaua’i is just ahead of Kona on our list. No offense, Konanites.

Getting to Kauai for 15,000 Citi TYP + $11.20/pp

If you aren’t familiar with this Turkish Miles&Smiles sweet spot, I’d suggest reading my write-up on it. After learning about it a few weeks back, I immediately started looking into United award availability from San Francisco to Lihu’e. I was pleasantly surprised with the abundance of flights bookable with miles, even around holidays and peak season.

Since we didn’t have any plans for Thanksgiving this year, that’s where I started looking. Availability was pretty good, and, while we did get a non-stop on our way out, we had to settle for a 1-hour layover in LAX on the way back.

When I booked, it wasn’t known that flights were bookable through their main call center. So, the other options were via e-mail or phone call to one of their U.S.-based offices. I wasn’t able to get anyone to pickup after calls to several offices, so I resorted to booking via e-mail. The process was a little clunky, but now with several reports that call center bookings are now possible, that won’t be an issue in the future.

What is there to do in Kaua’i?

While all of Hawaii has great nature spots, Kaua’i seems to be the island to go for wilderness. so we have a lot of outdoorsy things on the list: Hikes, bike rides, snorkeling, maybe even a scuba dive or two. Though, with 7 full days to work with, we’ll probably get in our share of relaxing on the beach, as well. And if you have any Kaua’i activities to suggest, please let us know!