Aloha Bruce is focused on Hawaii group travel on this episode of the Hawaii Vacation Podcast. Hawaii Aloha Travel has been booking groups large and small for decades, and Bruce offers his insight into the best ways to go about it.

Up first is some Hawaii vacation news. Bruce mentions a recent news story about a young woman who stayed in a camper van at $119 per night and had a miserable experience and faced hidden many costs. “We do not have campers. You can’t just cruise around in RVs and sleep in vans. We don’t have RV parks. It’s not legal.” There simply isn’t enough suitable open land to do this on in the State of Hawaii, Bruce explains. He mentions a new parking lot designated to allow the homeless to sleep overnight in their cars. “This is for locals, people that don’t have homes!” Bruce says, mentioning recent “glamping” debacles. “You just can’t do that in Hawaii. It’s not that kind of destination.”

Bruce moves on to a brief discussion about Southwest Airlines points usage and problems some customers are encountering. He says that there is some speculation about whether or not the airline is making any profit in Hawaii. Our host recalls the promise of discounted Hawaii fares and challenges customers are facing in peak travel season. Bruce shares his trademark expertise about booking Hawaii airfares.

On to the main topic of Hawaii group travel, Bruce says “We’re kind of back to normal” after the pandemic and Bruce talks about how it changed the way people travel. Bruce says the first thing for a group to do is to established firm dates. “We can organize all of this,” he says. “We work with a lot of groups.”

Bruce also recommends that groups select a “group leader” for the trip and giving your group eight months in advance before departure to set the itinerary. He also stresses the importance of sorting out room lists/assignments for Hawaii group travel, noting that vacation homes and condos are difficult to find on Oahu and Maui. Bruce gets into granular detail about the challenges faced by small-to-medium groups and ways around them.

Our host moves into a discussion of pricing for airfare and accommodations, and he says that Hawaii Aloha Travel is already booking Hawaii group travel as far out as July next year. He says peak season prices are already higher than usual for Summer 2023.

Bruce closes by discussing the benefits of getting travel insurance and being aware of cancellation policies for Hawaii group travel. Often, Bruce says, changing or canceling reservations can be expensive. “Whenever someone is spending big bucks for a group trip, I always recommend spending the extra money for insurance.”