Money-saving tips for Hawaii

The bad news about planning a trip to Hawaii this fall or winter: You're not likely to stumble across a bargain on air fares, rental cars or hotel rooms. Everyone's favorite vacation destination is on the rebound as it attracts more visitors, especially Japan and China.

 The good news: No need to let anyone kick sand in your wallet. Try custom-creating your own deals.

  I've been experimenting while planning a two-week trip to Kauai and the Big Island and offer a few ideas in one of my recent Travel Wise columns for the Seattle Times. 

 Flights

A flight to Hawaii is an excellent way to use an Alaska Airlines' companion fares. I don't normally sign up for credit cards with annual fees, but I did last year to qualify for a $99 companion fare.  Now I'm cashing in.

 Two tickets for non-stop flights in mid-September that would have cost me $600 each totaled $814, including $39 taxes on the companion fare and the $75 Visa card fee. 

Lesson learned: Maximize the value of companion fares by using them for expensive flights.

Keep in mind that flight to the islands from either Bellingham or Vancovuer, B.C. sometimes cost less. Whether or not the drive is worth the savings depends. A recent check showed an Alaska's non-stop to Oahu on Dec. 6, returning on Dec. 13, priced at $537 out of Seattle vs. $437 out of Bellingham.

For an inter-island flight on Hawaiian Airlines, I saved $22 off the best price that showed up on the meta-search site, Kayak.com, by rechecking prices on the airline website. 

Hawaiian's inter-island prices vary depending on the time of day. In this case, they ranged from $125-$179 on one-way flights  between Kona on the Big Island and Lihue in Kauai, with the bulk of priced at $145, the lowest fare to show up on Kayak.

Hawaiian's site, however, revealed a $125 flight not shown on Kayak.

Lesson learned: Kayak, which doesn't sell tickets directly but rather links buyers to airline websites for purchases, is a generally comprehensive mega-search site, but it's not 100 percent reliable. This was the second time in a few months that I found a better fare by searching directly on an airline website.

Rental cars 

Searching for an 11-day car rental for pick-up in Kona, I checked prices at the major national companies' off-airport locations as well as quotes from Hotwire.com and other discount sites. 

 Several surprises: By going to Enterprise's website and shifting the pick-time at the Kona airport from from 1 p.m. to  2 p.m., the price on a compact dropped from $406  to $356, slightly less its off-airport price, and less than anything I found on Hotwire or other sites. 

 The compact was slightly less than the price of a smaller economy car, reflecting more demand for smaller cars due to high gas prices. But that's not the end of the story. Checking back on Enterprise's website four days ahead of my trip, I found the car available for $218. Needles to say, I cancelled the first reservation and rebooked. 
 Lesson learned: Never pre-pay, and always recheck prices again closer to your departure date. Rates can drop if companies suddenly find themselves with more unrented cars than expected. 

  Lodging 

Occupancy and room rates are rising on all the islands, reports Smith Travel Research. Average daily rates on Oahu rose 13.4 percent to $221 in July compared to last year.

Not everyone can afford a week at a luxury resort, but if one or two nights seem doable, think about the possibilities for mixing things up a bit.  

I like to sample different types of accommodations when I travel, both for the variety of experiences and the chance to average out the costs.

We'll stay with friends on Kauai for a few nights, then divvy up our time on the Big Island with two days at a beach resort, then  boutique B&Bs on a working coffee farm and former sugar plantation; an Airbnb (www.airbnb.com) rental apartment near Volcanoes National Park and two nights "Couchsurfing" (www.couchsurfing.org) with a retired couple near Hilo. and a B&B on a start-up coffee farm in Captain Cook.

Flying High in Vancouver

The Greenheart Canopy Walkway

I can't say I'm ready for a romp through the treetops of an Amazon jungle, but after crossing the second of 10 foot bridges suspended above a Vancouver rain forest, I'm paying less attention to the swaying and more to the sounds and smells of nature.

"Eventually, you get your tree legs,'' promises my guide, Matthew Boyes, as he leads me on a stroll along the Greenheart Canopy Walkway, a quarter-mile system of aerial trails and viewing platforms inside the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden in Vancouver, B.C. that reopened for the season on March 15. 

Walking from platform to platform along a series of 15-inch wide aluminum walkways, I concentrate on what I can see and hear 50 feet above the forest floor.

The smell of caramel or cooked sugar? That's coming from a Japanese Katsura, CQ a tree with heart-shaped leaves that's especially fragrant in the fall.

 Have a cut or a scratch? No worries, says Boyes. We're within touching distance of the top of a century-old grand fir, a living medicine cabinet whose sap works like a natural bandaid.

 Toothache? The licorice fern growing on the side of a big leaf maple works wonders.
"This is the great thing about getting the perspective on the forest from up here,'' says Boyes.  "You see things you wouldn't from down there.''

Greenheart is a Vancouver company that builds eco-sensitive  recreational ziplines and aerial trails in parks and protected areas around the world.  Greenheart designed the canopy walkway in partnership with BCU as a research and educational showcase for forest biodiversity in an urban environment.

Smaller and shorter than the company's projects in the wilds of Africa and South America, the BCU walkway consists of eight circular stationary platforms wrapped around the trunks of giant trees; a 72-foot-tall free-standing observation tower and 10 aerial foot bridges of varying grades and lengths.

Opened in 2008 inside BCU's 29-acre David C. Lam Asian Garden, the walkway offers a high-up glimpse of the native cedar, fir and hemlocks that shelter rare trees and shrubs in a preserved wooded area between a major highway - Southwest Marine Drive - and the Strait of Georgia. 

Bald eagles, woodpeckers, owls and other wildlife make their home here. Walking along the paths towards the walkway, visitors see plants native to China, Korea, Japan and the Himalayas.

It's possible to traverse the bridges in 10 or 15 minutes, but it's better to spend more time and go with one of the guides who lead 45-minute tours. Boyes recently led a 94-year woman on the walkway by holding both her hands and walking backwards. A specially-designed wheelchair can be operated with the assistance of two guides, one in back and the other in front. 

 "Somehow in my mind, I was expecting big wooden bridges,'' said Shannon Kelly of Vancouver, recalling the wide wooden walkways at the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, a popular Vancouver tourist attraction with a pedestrian bridge suspended 230 feet the above the Capilano River. 

"The difference with us is really in the engineering,'' says Boyes.

Greenheart's bridges and platforms are hung without the use of bolts, nails, concrete anchors or other hardware that might cause long-term damage.

Unique is what the company calls its "Tree Hugger'' technology, a way of suspending the walkways and platforms from trees with a woven-in-place steel cable system designed for minimal impact on the habitat. 

The cables hug the trees like a Chinese finger trap, applying slight pressure on the surface while transferring most of the force vertically through the tree to the ground.

The bridges, just wide enough for single-file walking, are tapered inward to prevent too much swaying. Shoulder-high side cables and synthetic netting offer protection and a place to grab onto. 

The effect is like bobbing up and down and side-to-side on an aluminum ladder laid on its side.

"The first time you do it, it's a little intimidating,'' said Kelly. About half-way through, you figure out how to move. Stay in the middle and walk slowly." 

She said her son, Liam, 6, was so thrilled, they went around three times.

"Kids love it.''
   

If you go info:

The Greenheart Canopy Walkway is inside the University of British Columbia's Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research (www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/) CQ CP in Vancouver, B.C. Entrance and parking is at the reception center at  6804 Marine Dr. SW.

The walkway is open to the public daily from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. between March 15 and November 15.

 Admission ($20 for adults; $15 for students, seniors and those with disabilities; $10 for children 6-12; and $44 for families)  includes the canopy walkway and botanical garden. Wear sturdy shoes. No open-toed shoes or flip flops. 

Visitors are free to explore the walkways on their own or take a 45-minute guided tour offered on the hour.