I promised all of you a trip report on my recent engagement in Maui, which I spent some time writing during my mileage run to Bahrain. This is going to be a long one, so I’m going to spread it out. No sequential posts like my Paris trip report. But I also think it will be much more interesting and useful for anyone else planning a trip to Maui and looking for ideas.
- The Plan
- Outbound: SEA-SFO-OGG in United First Class
- Day 1: Check-in at the Hyatt Regency Maui
- Day 2: Visiting Old Lahaina
- Day 3: Proposal at Haleakala!
- Day 4: Road Trip around West Maui
- Day 5: Snorkeling at Molokini & the Drums of the Pacific Luau
- Return: OGG-SFO-SEA in United Economy Plus
- Turning a Proposal into a Miles and Points Bonanza!
Most of you already know that I recently got engaged. Megan and I dated for three years before I popped the question, but it was still a leap for me. I’m not especially good with women, nor very openly emotional. I also had it in my mind that I wouldn’t get engaged (and certainly not married) until after I finished my schooling.
This isn’t a knock against people who chose differently. I know lots of friends who have made it work when they were younger. I also know some who tried it and met with less success because things changed once they got real jobs.
But eventually I saw the writing on the wall. Megan and I were pretty good together, and our friends thought so, too. It was just a matter of timing. And then I thought back to one of the paintings in my dad’s art collection. Despite somewhat mixed experiences during family vacations, Maui has always been special to me. Most of his art is of Hawaii, and this painting never fails to take me back to my best memories. Maybe it’s the chef chasing the chicken. 🙂
When tickets appeared from Seattle to Maui last July under $400, I bought a couple and kept it a secret.
So I thought.
I quickly realized that I had included Megan’s MileagePlus number in the reservation! Fortunately she never logs on to united.com, and I hacked into her email to delete the email confirmation. Neither of us is very creative with passwords. Then I just stopped by the friendly customer service desk on our way through DEN the following week to get it removed manually.
After that it was months of waiting and deciding. Did I really want to propose? This mostly started out as a way to vent my frustration since Megan kept complaining we couldn’t afford it. I frequently grumble about our trips to visit Megan’s parents. Now, trips to visit my parents aren’t a particularly great deal either for a short hop to SFO. But visiting Amarillo means paying as much as $800 for under 4K miles. You can easily go to Hawaii for less than that.
I didn’t actually decide to do the complete package until I was away in Barcelona and realized how much I wished she was there to enjoy it with me. So I decided to go for it, because really, how much more romantic can you get than proposing in Maui?
