If you’ve ever been to the islands of Hawaii, you might be familiar with Merrie Monarch festival that takes place in Hilo, Big Island. This year, it’s set to begin on April 5th and end on April 11th. It’s a huge event that includes hula competition and other festivities. Many Hawaiians fly in, and the area gets packed for several days.
About 12 years ago, we booked award tickets to Maui and wanted to do a day trip to one of the other islands. But which one? Through my research, I’ve discovered that we would be on Maui while the Merrie Monarch festival was taking place in Hilo. Naturally, I wanted to go. But I also wanted to visit Kauai. Which one to choose? Well, if it was up to me, we would have done both, but my husband wouldn’t even consider it.
So, I decided to go with whatever itinerary had the most convenient flights, and Kauai day trip won. We ended up taking a private plane tour of the island. Why not helicopter? Plane was cheaper and safer. 
But mostly, because it was cheaper.
View from the wing.
We actually liked it so much that we came back to Kauai several years later for a weeklong vacation. But we never made it to the Merrie Monarch festival. It only happens on certain dates, and planning is a bit tricky, especially now that we’ve got kids and have to fit it around spring break dates.
I look back and wish we would have just suffered through the slightly inconvenient schedule in order to see this important cultural celebration. I recommend you also make an extra effort to attend special events in the area you vacation in.
Well, assuming you want to go, of course. There is nothing wrong with doing nothing on your vacation! I’m not a “culture police” guilting people into stuff they have no desire to do. And no, I’m not suggesting you fly to Hilo from Maui for few hours with your small kids.
But if something looks appealing and locals rave about it, just go. Spend the extra money, you never know if you’ll be back to that area.
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
Hello. I have a question for your about the US Airways card.
With the pending merge with AA, I applied to this card at the beginning of the year and already got the miles on my US Airways account. Since it will be turned into an Aviator card wouldn’t it be better to cancel it before that happens so you can get another bonus with the Aviator one? What is your take on it? Thank you in advance.
Sebastian, from what I’ve understood, it’s only possible to convert to Aviator card. It won’t be offered to new applicants, so you are not foregoing a sign-up bonus. Barclay’s made an agreement to let existing US Airways card owners to keep earning AAdvantage miles.
You may, however, want to consider applying for Citi AAdvantage card. I have a non-affiliate link in my page of bonuses. The reason: Once US Airways card is no longer available for new applications (looks like April 14th), the pressure will be off Citi.
So it’s possible that the sign-up bonus will decrease as well. Right now, the banks are competing like crazy to get as many new customers as possible, since both will be earning AAdvantage miles.
Got you. So it may be better to keep it at least until the annual fee is due.
I applied for the Citi Business Platinum Select AAdvantage (Mastercard) in 1/31/15.
And I previously applied for the Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage (Mastercard) in 1/25/14.
What is the minimum you have to wait to reapply for these Citi cards?
Any other suggestion? Thank you for your great advice.
Sebastian, no problem, I’m happy to help! The new Citi rule states that the card needs to be closed for at least 18 months before you are eligible for the same bonus. So my advice is to keep track of dates of closure. Obviously, closing it so soon after opening may raise a red flag, so I recommend you wait a bit. As far as other cards to recommend, it really depends. Take a look at my page “Best credit card deals for family” and see if anything looks appealing. It depends on how much minimum spend you can handle as well as your goals. Email me or comment if you have any further questions.