Itinerary
I plan a big vacation about every 6 months for my husband and me, and usually one fun trip with my daughter. People laugh at my detailed itinerary spreadsheets, which list all the hotel reservations, flights, car rentals, excursions, dining reservations, and expenses. I’ve used digital formats but prefer an at-a-glance sheet I can carry for quick reference.
Back in March, Hyatt Hotels announced plans to increase their award rates within the next few months. I wasn’t planning on a trip to Hawaii this year, because we were just there last February. But I really wanted to go back to the Grand Hyatt in Kauai one more time before the rates become out of reach for us. I scraped together enough points and used the Hyatt price calendar to find 3 nights in September at the best rate available. That was the anchor piece for our 2026 trip to Hawaii. Since this would be our 4th trip to the islands, everything else except for a day trip to Hana would just be low-key stuff we always enjoy doing in Hawaii.
Hurricanes
Who knew that this was going to be an El Niño year in the Pacific? The first time that I heard about it was when Hurricane LaLa slammed into Hawaii’s Big Island on 8/17/26. Although I was sad about the damage it did there, I felt like we had dodged a bullet since the effects were minor for our upcoming destinations of Maui and Kauai.
What is an El Niño year? El Niño is a periodic warming of water in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean that can affect global weather patterns for months.
Just days before our September 3rd departure, the news began tracking 2 or 3 developing storms in the Pacific. Two tropical storms, Karina and Lowell, were on track to pass near or hit Hawaii. These are the “spaghetti models” for possible storm paths on 9/2/26. Karina’s path was heading north of the islands, but Lowell’s path shifted slightly from day to day. It was likely going to pass South of the islands, then hook north, and Kauai could be in its path. Everything depended on the storm’s speed and when it turned north.
Hurricane Lowell Hits Kauai Hard
Our plans started in Maui with a bucket list day trip to Hana with a private driver. It was a blast. From there we headed to the Grand Wailea (our 3rd stay there) for a few days of R&R and lots of time floating around in their fantastic pools. The schedule had us checking out on Tuesday, 9/8/26, then catching a midday flight to Kauai for 3 days at the Grand Hyatt.
On Monday morning, it became pretty clear that Lowell, who was now shifting between a category 3 and 5 hurricane, was heading right for Kauai. Ugh. I immediately got out my silly spreadsheet and started working out options for Plan B. I started by canceling our rental car reservation. Even if we could get to Kauai, I wouldn’t be driving a rental car on roads that would probably be flooded from the heavy rain. We had one excursion booked at the Koloa Rum Plantation, and I cancelled that too. Those were the easy things.
My next call was to the Grand Hyatt. They have a 7-day cancellation policy, so it was too late to cancel before we even left home in Michigan. The gentleman I spoke with was curt when I asked if we could cancel our reservation and receive our points back due to the impending hurricane. He quickly replied with a firm “no,” stating that cancellations would only be permitted if flights were canceled or an evacuation order was issued. It looks like we have no choice but to ride this out. Err!
Thursday morning, the reports were bleak on the damage Hurricane Lowell did to Kauai. I started trying to call the Grand Hyatt around 6 a.m., but it was busy every time. I expect many people were trying to check on loved ones or cancel their plans too. Next, I tried calling Hyatt corporate. The phone agent told me that their system was down and to call back later. What are the odds, right? I kept calling about every 15 minutes and getting the same “the system is down” response. After almost 2 hours, I finally got through to Fernando at Hyatt, who cancelled our reservations and deposited the points and Guest of Honor Certificate back into our account. Hallelujah!
Building Our Plan B
Once the Hyatt points were back in our account, I started booking new hotels. I had been looking at 2 Hyatt hotels on Maui that would work well. By the time I resolved the cancellation, one was already booked out. I secured the next 2 nights at the Hyatt Regency Resort in Lahaina, but they didn’t have availability for the 3rd night. The good news is that the points needed for those 2 nights were the same as just one night at the Grand Hyatt. The bad news was that Maui had some storm surge damage and the road to the Hyatt Regency was currently impassable. The hotel front desk agent suggested that we wait before going up.
We swung by the front desk at the Grand Wailea and explained our situation. They agreed to a 2 p.m. late check-out while we worked out our plan. Next, I cancelled our flights from Maui to Kauai and then from Kauai to Honolulu on Friday. I booked a new flight to HNL for Thursday at 1:50 p.m., which would give us time to get to the airport from Lahaina and get from HNL to our hotel right about check-in. Except I didn’t have a hotel for that night yet! My next call was to Alamo to see if we could extend our current rental car for 2 more days. It was super easy, and because they reclassified our rental to a weekly rate, it was only $70 more. We were prepared to pay $235 for our rental car on Kauai, so we came out about $165 ahead. I was already looking at the positives, which is how I stay sane in these situations.
While we were in a holding pattern waiting for the road to clear, we decided to have a nice brunch at the Grand Wailea and discuss possible hotels for Thursday night. I had used a Marriott Free Night Certificate at the Moana Surfrider in Waikiki for the Friday night before flying home to Michigan. Since it was just a few days away, the price for an additional night there was more than I wanted to spend. Since we received a pile of points back from the Grand Hyatt cancellation, I was leaning toward using them for one of the 3 Hyatt properties in Waikiki. We have stayed at the Hyatt Centric twice before and really like the hotel and the area around it, so we decided it was a solid option. I booked it for less than half the points of a night at the Grand Hyatt. Another win there!
I called the Hyatt Regency back around 1 p.m. and was told the road was now open. We encountered several washed-out and damaged areas along the route, but crews with heavy equipment were actively clearing debris and pushing the sand and water back toward the beach. The drive was slow and took about an hour and a half. When we finally arrived, we received a warm welcome at the front desk. Because we attached a Guest of Honor certificate to our reservation, we were given all the top-tier Hyatt perks. They gave us a lovely oceanfront suite with a gorgeous view, Club Lounge access for breakfast and other snacks/drinks, free parking, and waived resort fees. We could have had late check-out too, but we didn’t need it since we would be headed to the airport for our flight to HNL after check-out. The weather, pool, and the hotel were spectacular while we were there. We visited some great places in Lahaina like Leoda’s Kitchen for pie, Maui Brewing, and Monkeypod Kitchen, where they make some of the best Mai Tais in Hawaii.
It’s just a quick 25-minute flight from Maui to HNL. We took an Uber to Waikiki. When we checked in, the Hyatt Centric upgraded us to a suite and offered us 2 p.m. late check-out. That worked great for us since check-in at the Moana Surfrider was at 3 p.m. Members receive waived resort fees on award stays and access to excellent beach gear included in the resort fee. We took advantage of the included gear, and grabbed towels, an umbrella, and a chair and headed to the beach. Waikiki Beach is one of my favorite beaches to swim at, and we wouldn’t have had time for a day in our original plan. Another positive from a negative situation.
Funny side story: We bought 2 inner tubes at the Grand Wailea to use in their pools. My husband needed something to focus on other than the hurricane, so he was in charge of the floaties. He deflated them when we checked out of the Grand Wailea and took them with us to the Hyatt Regency. We used them in the pool there for 2 days, then he deflated them again before we checked out. We flew them to HNL where we took them with us (yep shlepped them down the street) on our Waikiki beach day. He deflated them one last time and packed them to bring home. It was a lot, but I realized that it gave him something to focus on when other things were spinning out around us, and we definitely got our $37.00 out of them!!
Final Thoughts
I have encountered flight cancellations and other issues that have impacted my travel plans before. A cancelled flight on our way to join a tour group in Europe left us stuck in the airport for over a day. Fog rolled into Nantucket and grounded all planes when we needed to get to DC. Now Hurricane Lowell hit the small island of Kauai the night before we were due to arrive at the primary destination of our trip. Such issues can quickly derail your travel plans and cause chaos.
One important thing that I have learned is to work together as a team with whoever you are traveling with to find a resolution. It’s easy to get frustrated, start bickering, or take things out on your companion, none of which is very helpful for fixing the problem at hand. Even if you are doing all the legwork to create the new plan, moving forward in solidarity can help you recover the remainder of your trip. You also have to let go of the issue and your original plan. Release them like balloons. Then forge forward and embrace Plan B for what it is. Then sincerely try to focus on making the best of your new plan. I try to celebrate each little win, which helps me feel better.
Although we missed visiting Kauai, the highlight of our trip, we made the best of things and had a wonderful experience overall.
Always look for the silver lining: When my daughter and I got fogged in on Nantucket, we got to spend another night on the island, have lunch at the beach, and meet one of our favorite authors before flying out. That wouldn’t have happened if our flight hadn’t been cancelled. Sometimes Plan B provides an unexpected surprise!
The World According to Dev 