Trip report – Maui
Why I Chose United Economy Over British Airways First Class
Trip Report – Maui Day 1
Trip Report – Maui Day 2
Trip Report – Maui Day 3
Trip Report – Maui Day 4
Trip Report – Maui Day 5
Trip Report – Maui Day 6

Months ago when we decided that we wanted to go to Maui instead of Istanbul we checked Delta for award tickets. Finding tickets were incredibly hard to find on the dates we wanted and they wanted a lot of Skymiles for them. I had some United miles in my account and decided to check the availability on United. It was wide open for availability and only 40,000 United miles for a Saver award.

Our flight left from Orange Country at 6:45 am with a connection in San Francisco. The flight from San Francisco to Maui left at 9:10 am on a 757-300.

We had made a car booking through National Car Rental initially and had entered the information into autoslash.com. Autoslash will constantly look for other rental car deals from other competitors and notify you if they find a lower price.
We had been notified a couple of week prior by Autoslash to a deal on Travelocity via Avis. The deal was for a 9 day rental for an intermediate car for $316.96 with all taxes included. We cancelled our National reservation and switched to Avis which saved us $100. Thanks Autoslash!

We arrived in Maui and went to the luggage terminal to pick up our luggage. As we waited for our bag to come around the carousel, a lady in front of us had a very large bag and was struggling to get it off the carousel. As my wrists are much better but still ache when lifting large items, I didn’t assist. As she took her bag off the carousel, she turned to me and said that she couldn’t believe that I wasn’t helping her with her bag and stormed off. I was a bit stunned of how angry she was. My wife raced after them to explain to them about my injury but they were in no mood to chat.

After collecting our bags, we took the shuttle to the Avis terminal and picked up our car. We immediately headed out to Costco to gather supplies for our stay. We purchased fruit, Hawaiian sweet bread, bottled water, a beach umbrella, pool side snacks, and sodas. It’s also the cheapest place to get your souvenirs – they had chocolate covered macadamia nuts, macadamia nuts, and Mauna Loa bars just to name a few. All items at Costco were cheaper than the ABC store.

We had made our reservation at the Sheraton Maui Resort. We picked this property because I have Platinum status with Sheraton, and the online reviews for this property versus the Westin property were equivalent with a slight edge going to the Sheraton Maui Resort. The proximity to the beach and black rock were also deciding factors. They also have a very large pool that was appealing to us as well.

We booked the room with Starpoints for 8 of the nights and paid for one of the nights. We were forced to pay a resort fee each day of $26.04 though we had an award booking.

We parked our car and went to checkin. I had looked on the SPG app prior to arriving to see if there were any suites available but unfortunately there weren’t. We were given a room on the top floor facing the ocean. We were also handed plastic Platinum bracelets to wear during our stay.

A lot of people like to stay in the Black Rock towers because they’re newer but you don’t have walk out access to the beach. We therefore were happy with our room selection as we were closer.

A lot of families had rooms on the first floor with the walk out patios and it seemed that a couple of families had booked rooms next to each other. The kids were then able to run out onto the large grass area and play while the adults would hang out with the tables and read. The downside to having the first floor room was it was difficult to see a proper sunset from the room.

Our room came with a mini fridge which was handy for all of our cold cut meats, sodas, and waters. I wish, though, that management would turn the fridge on ahead of time to our check in so that it was already cold. It was also located in the closet and not under the TV which was convenient. The bathroom was large and spacious and had a separate room for the toilet.
The TV was a flat screen High Definition LG brand. The balcony had two chairs and a table and plenty of room for lounging.

That night, based on a recommendation of a friend, we went to a local restaurant called Aloha Mixed Plate who’s slogan is “tasty dishes from the varied ethnic groups that calla Hawaii home†. Adjacent to the restaurant is a luau area (Old Lahiana Luau) where the food is provided by Aloha Mixed Plate.

I ordered the Kalbi ribs with teriyaki marinade with garlic fries.
The restaurant is located right by the beach and has spectacular views. Our vacation was off to a great start.