How Much Does a Trip to Hawaii Cost in 2026

A seven-night mid-range trip to Hawaii costs about $6,600 for a couple on Oahu and $8,000 to $8,600 on Maui, Kauai or the Big Island in September 2026, flights from the western United States included. On the ground that is $5,600 on Oahu and $7,000 to $7,600 on the other islands for a full-service hotel at the state’s July average for that island and class, the resort fee, the 18.7 percent lodging tax, a rental car where you need one, meals with tip and a realistic activity budget. A family of four at the same standard runs $8,200 to $9,500 before flights. That is the answer to how much does a trip to Hawaii cost for most visitors, and the rest of this guide shows every line by island and budget so you can move the ones that apply to you.

Last updated 6 September 2026. Hotel rates come from the State of Hawaii’s Hawaii Hotel Performance Report for July 2026, visitor spending from the state’s July 2026 visitor statistics, airfares from Kayak route pages read on 6 September 2026, fuel prices from AAA on 5 September 2026, and fees from the counties, parks and operators named in the sources. July is close to the summer peak, so treat the lodging lines as a ceiling for a shoulder-season trip. Hotel rates rose about 4 percent between July 2025 and July 2026, so a 2027 planner should add a similar amount. This is general information, not financial advice.

The short version

• Lodging is half the bill. Hawaii’s hotels averaged $398 a night in July 2026, and for full-year 2025 the state’s $367 average was the highest of any US market. Every room carries an 18.712 percent tax on the rate and the resort fee, so a $300 room with a $50 fee is $415 a night out the door.
• Oahu is the cheapest island to sleep and eat on by a wide margin. Its hotels averaged $307 in July 2026 against $579 on Maui, and a couple can skip the rental car in Waikiki.
• September and October are usually the cheapest months for hotels and flights together. Mid-December to early January is the most expensive, then spring break and July.

How much a week in Hawaii costs for a couple

A mid-range week for two costs $5,590 on Oahu and $6,950 to $7,620 on the other islands before flights. The table prices seven nights for two adults at three standards. Budget means a clean limited-service hotel or an older beach hotel at the state’s midscale to upper midscale average, a $25 fee, $60 a person a day on food including tax and tip, and $25 a person a day for park fees, one luau and otherwise free beaches and memorials. Mid-range means a full-service beach resort at or just under the island’s July average, which on Maui means the Kaanapali strip rather than Wailea, a $50 resort fee, $35 a night parking on Maui and Kauai, $110 a person a day on food, and $60 a person a day on activities, enough for a luau, a boat trip and park fees. Luxury means a top-class resort, a $60 fee, valet parking, $220 a person a day on food and $150 a day on activities. On Oahu the budget and mid-range trips use TheBus and rideshares at $30 a day plus a $90 return airport transfer instead of a car. Everywhere else, and for the luxury Oahu trip, a rental car at $95 a day all in, including taxes, fees and fuel.

The luxury rates need a word. Oahu’s $500 and Maui’s $1,000 are the state’s published luxury-class averages. The state publishes no luxury row for the Big Island or Kauai, so the Big Island uses the Kohala Coast average of $702, which is a Mauna Kea or Fairmont Orchid number rather than a Four Seasons Hualalai one, and Kauai’s $700 is our estimate for the Grand Hyatt or Koa Kea in September, with 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay at roughly double. On Maui, Kauai and the Big Island the budget hotel stock is thin, and most budget travelers book a studio condo instead, which lands in the same range once the cleaning fee is spread over a week.

In the mid-range Oahu week, lodging is $2,910 of the $5,590, food $1,540, activities $840 and getting around $300. In the budget Oahu week, lodging is $1,580 of the $3,070, food $840, activities $350 and transport $300. In the mid-range Maui week, lodging is $4,580 of the $7,620 and the car $665. Lodging is 52 to 60 percent of every mid-range trip, which is why the hotel choice decides the budget and everything else is adjustment.

How much a week costs for a family of four

A mid-range week for a family of four costs $8,220 on Oahu and $8,860 to $9,530 on the other islands before flights, in one hotel room with two beds, which fits most families of four. The same standards apply, with a midsize SUV or minivan at $115 a day on every island, one parking space, children eating at 60 percent of the adult food figure, and children charged full activity prices as a cushion, since most tours charge them 50 to 85 percent. Teenagers eat like adults. The luxury column shows one room and, in brackets, two rooms for the comfortable case.

On Maui and Kauai most mid-range families book a two-bedroom condo rather than a hotel room, and the numbers show why. A Maui week in a two-bedroom condo at $450 a night plus a $300 cleaning fee, both taxed, with the same car and food at 70 percent because breakfast comes from the kitchen, costs about $8,300 against $9,530 in the hotel, with a second bedroom and a washer thrown in. Our guide to hotel or vacation rental in Hawaii runs that comparison with the rules that now decide where a rental is legal.

What the state’s own numbers say visitors spend

Hawaii’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism surveys visitors every month, and its figures are the closest thing to ground truth. They cover everything spent in Hawaii, including lodging, and exclude the flight there. Length of stay is in days, so 7.2 days is about six nights.

A week for two at the state’s average works out to $3,800 to $4,100 once you land. That is a midpoint, not a floor. It is pulled down by people staying with family, in timeshares they own and in condos, and pulled up by resort guests, which is why our mid-range hotel figures sit above it and our budget figures sit close to it. Canadians report the lowest daily spending and the longest stays.

Hotel rates by island and class in 2026

Hawaii hotels averaged $398 a night in July 2026, $307 on Oahu and $579 on Maui, before resort fee and tax. The state’s hotel report is the source everyone else quotes second-hand. These are average daily rates from it, with July 2025 for a like-for-like comparison and the 2025 full year for context. The state changed some class definitions in January 2026, so the class rows are not exactly comparable across years, and the midscale and economy figure sits above upper midscale in the source itself, because the economy sample includes older Waikiki beach hotels.

Two things turn those rates into what you pay. Every Hawaii hotel bill carries the 11 percent state accommodations tax, the 3 percent county tax and the 4.712 percent excise tax, 18.712 percent in total, and it applies to the resort fee as well as the room. Most full-service resorts charge a resort fee of $45 to $60 a night, and Waikiki hotels charge $45 to $72 for parking on top. So the all-in nightly cost at the rates our tables assume is $226 budget, $415 mid-range and $665 luxury on Oahu, and $362, $617 and $1,258 on Maui. Our guides to Hawaii hotel taxes, resort fees and hotel parking have the detail, and seventeen hotels, at our September 2026 count, charge no resort fee at all, listed in our guide to Hawaii hotels with no resort fee.

Flights to Hawaii by departure city

Airfare is the line that varies most with where you live and when you go. The figures below are Kayak’s typical round-trip economy price ranges to Honolulu for the coming months, in US dollars, read on 6 September 2026.

Across all US origins Kayak’s twelve-month average is about $606, and its cheapest month by average fare is January at $527. Sale fares from West Coast airports fall to $250 to $400 in the low months. Honolulu has the most flights and the lowest base fares. Kahului on Maui is the second most competitive airport, with Los Angeles to Kahului averaging about $441. Flying to Kauai or the Big Island direct costs more and has fewer options, so many visitors price a Honolulu fare plus an inter-island hop, which runs $130 to $220 round trip in 2026, plus $30 for the first checked bag on Hawaiian since April. Our guides to when to book flights to Hawaii, the airlines that fly there and inter-island flights cover the tactics.

Rental cars, gas and getting around

A rental car in Hawaii costs $45 to $75 a day at the base rate off peak and $80 to $120 a day once taxes and fees are added, which is where the $95 in our model comes from, and a midsize SUV or minivan for a family runs about $115. The add-ons are the state rental motor vehicle surcharge of $5 a day, an airport concession fee of 11.11 percent at the state’s major airports, a vehicle license fee of about $5 a day, a $4.50 daily facility charge at Honolulu, and the 4.712 percent excise tax, together adding roughly 25 to 30 percent to the displayed rate. Gas was $5.40 a gallon for regular statewide on 5 September 2026 according to AAA, from $5.34 in Honolulu to $5.73 in Lihue, and about a dollar higher than a year earlier.

Oahu is the one island where a couple can skip the car. TheBus is $3 a ride with a $7.50 daily cap, Waikiki is walkable, a shared airport shuttle is $25 to $30 a person each way, and a rideshare to Pearl Harbor or Hanauma Bay costs less than a day’s parking at a Waikiki hotel. Two people spending $30 a day on transit and rideshares plus the airport transfer save about $700 over a week against a car and Waikiki parking. Rent a car for one day if you want the North Shore. Maui, Kauai and the Big Island need a car for anything beyond the resort.

Food, luaus and activities

Groceries in Honolulu run about 31 percent above the US average, with milk at $7 to $8 a gallon and eggs at $6 or more a dozen in 2025 reporting, because nearly all of it is shipped in. As a working budget, a plate lunch is $15 to $20, a resort breakfast buffet $40 to $60 a person, a mid-range dinner for two with a drink each $120 to $180 before the 18 to 20 percent tip that our tipping guide explains, and a coffee $5 to $7. Those are our estimates from current menus rather than a published index. The $110 a day mid-range figure assumes one restaurant dinner, one casual meal and a coffee-shop breakfast, not the resort buffet.

Activities have real price tags in 2026. A luau is $140 for the standard adult package at Paradise Cove on Oahu or Smith’s on Kauai, $100 for a child at Paradise Cove, $230 for Paradise Cove’s deluxe package and about $230 at Old Lahaina Luau on Maui. Pearl Harbor’s USS Arizona Memorial program is free with a $1 reservation, the Battleship Missouri is about $43, the USS Bowfin about $26 and the four-site passport about $100 for adults and $50 for children. A Na Pali Coast raft day with Captain Andy’s is $285 to $295 an adult and $245 to $255 a child, and a helicopter tour of Kauai with Blue Hawaiian starts at $369 to $499. A Molokini snorkel boat typically runs $150 to $250 an adult. The state parks charge nonresidents $5 a person and $10 a vehicle almost everywhere, including Waimea Canyon, Haena and Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay is $25 a person plus $3 parking, and Haleakala’s sunrise needs a $1 reservation on top of the $30 vehicle pass. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is $30 a vehicle for seven days. Tips on tours are not in our activity lines: $5 to $10 a person on van tours and 10 to 15 percent on boat trips.

The costs people forget

• Resort fees of $45 to $60 a night, taxed, on top of the advertised rate, which the booking sites now have to show you in the total but rarely in the headline.
• Hotel parking in Waikiki, $45 to $72 a night, and $25 to $50 at many Maui, Kauai and Big Island resorts, charged even when you self-park.
• The 18.712 percent lodging tax, which also applies to condo cleaning fees.
• Checked bags on the flight over, $35 to $40 each way per bag on every major airline including Southwest since 2025, so $140 to $160 return for a couple with a bag each.
• Tips at 18 to 20 percent on every restaurant bill, $3 to $5 a night for housekeeping, $5 to $10 a person on van tours and 10 to 15 percent on boats.
• Park reservations and fees, $5 a person and $10 a vehicle at most state parks, $25 at Hanauma Bay, and timed-entry reservations at Diamond Head, Haena and Haleakala that sell out.
• Rental car taxes and fees, 25 to 30 percent on top of the daily rate, and the insurance question, since your card or home policy may or may not cover a rental.
• Inter-island bag fees if you island-hop, $30 for the first bag on Hawaiian since April 2026.
• Travel insurance at about 6 percent of the trip cost, $400 to $550 on a mid-range week, which is not in our totals and which our guide to travel insurance for Hawaii says is worth it in hurricane season, June to November, and optional otherwise.
• Sunscreen, since Hawaii bans the sale of products with oxybenzone and octinoxate, Maui and Hawaii counties allow only mineral sunscreens, and a bottle costs $15 to $25 if you buy it there.

Oahu is the cheapest island, with one exception

Oahu wins on every line that matters. Its hotels average $307 against $468 on Kauai, $489 on the Big Island and $579 on Maui. It has the cheapest flights, the only workable public transit, the widest choice of restaurants at every price and the most free things to do, from Waikiki Beach to the Pearl Harbor memorial. A mid-range couple’s week costs $5,590 on Oahu and $6,950 to $7,620 on the other islands, a gap of $1,360 to $2,030 before flights, and the flight gap adds a few hundred more.

The exception is the Big Island for a long stay. Its average visitor spends $273 a day, a dollar less than Oahu’s, and the likely reason is that condos and vacation rentals in Kona and Waikoloa and the budget stock around Hilo and the volcano are a large share of its market. A couple or family cooking most meals for two weeks in a Kona condo can spend less per night than in Waikiki. Kauai condo stays in Poipu and Kapaa narrow the gap too, though Kauai’s average visitor spends the second most in the state. Our guide to which Hawaiian island to visit weighs the rest of the choice.

When Hawaii is cheapest

September and October are usually the low point for hotels and flights together. Summer families have gone home, the winter high season has not started, and the weather is at its most reliable. The first two weeks of December are nearly as cheap for resorts, and late April to early June is the next best window, though Golden Week in late April lifts Waikiki rates. Kayak’s average fare data puts January lowest for flights, because the first three weeks after New Year are quiet, but Maui and Kauai resort rates typically stay high through whale season, so January is cheap to fly and not to stay. The most expensive weeks are mid-December to early January, when fares from the West Coast pass $1,000 and many resorts impose minimum stays, then spring break in March and April, then July. The cheapest window sits inside hurricane season, which is the case for travel insurance. Our guide to the best time to visit Hawaii works through the calendar month by month.

Where to cut without ruining the trip

Stay on one island. Every island hop costs $130 to $220 a person in fares, a lost day, and often a second rental car contract with its own fees. Book a hotel with no resort fee, which saves $315 to $420 a week before tax. Skip the car on Oahu. Choose a condo or a hotel with a kitchenette for a stay of a week or more and cook breakfast, which saves a couple $50 to $80 a day. Travel in September, October, early December or May. Buy groceries at Costco, Foodland or Safeway rather than the resort shop, and buy sunscreen before you fly. Book the flexible hotel rate in hurricane season and the prepaid rate in spring. Put the saving toward one high-value activity or a better room.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a trip to Hawaii cost for two people?

About $5,600 for a mid-range week on Oahu and $7,000 to $7,600 on the Big Island, Kauai or Maui in September 2026, before flights, with a full-service hotel, the resort fee and 18.7 percent tax, meals, activities and transport included. Add $1,000 to $2,400 for two round-trip fares from the mainland, or about $700 to $1,000 from Vancouver.

How much does a trip to Hawaii cost for a family of four?

About $8,200 on Oahu and $8,900 to $9,500 on the other islands for a mid-range week in one hotel room with a car, before flights. Two rooms at a luxury resort take a family week to $20,000 or more, which is why families staying a week or more usually do better in a two-bedroom condo.

Is $6,000 enough for a week in Hawaii for two?

Yes, on Oahu. A budget week for two is about $3,070 on the ground plus $700 to $1,400 in flights from the West Coast or Southwest, leaving room for a day’s car rental and one big activity. A mid-range Oahu week is about $5,590 plus flights, so at $6,000 you would pick a hotel with no resort fee, skip the car and keep food to about $90 a person a day. Maui at mid-range does not fit $6,000.

How much should I budget per day in Hawaii?

Once you land, the state’s figures put the average visitor at $296 a day in July 2026, including lodging. A couple in a mid-range resort should plan on about $400 a person a day on Oahu and $500 to $545 on Maui, Kauai or the Big Island, and a budget traveler about $220 on Oahu and $280 to $315 elsewhere.

How much is a week in Hawaii on a budget?

About $3,070 for two on Oahu before flights, using a budget hotel at $165 a night, TheBus and rideshares instead of a car, $60 a person a day on food and park fees plus one luau. The other islands run $3,890 to $4,390 because a car is unavoidable and budget hotels are scarcer.

Which Hawaiian island is cheapest?

Oahu, on hotels, flights, food and transport. Its hotels averaged $307 a night in July 2026 against $468 to $579 on the other islands. A long condo stay on the Big Island can match it.

What is the cheapest month to go to Hawaii?

Usually September and October for hotels and flights combined, with early December and late April to early June close behind. January has the lowest average airfares but high resort rates on Maui and Kauai during whale season.

How much are flights to Hawaii?

From Los Angeles typically $349 to $539 round trip, from Phoenix $464 to $689, from Denver $454 to $809, from Chicago $604 to $986 and from New York $716 to $1,184, according to Kayak’s typical price ranges read on 6 September 2026. The table above has nine cities.

How much is a hotel in Hawaii per night?

The statewide average was $398 in July 2026 before fees and tax. Midscale and economy hotels averaged $250, upper upscale resorts $371 and luxury resorts $762. Add a resort fee and 18.712 percent tax to get the real nightly cost.

Are taxes and resort fees included in Hawaii hotel prices?

They must appear in the total before you pay under the 2025 federal pricing rule, but headline rates usually exclude them. The tax is 18.712 percent on the room and on the resort fee, and resort fees run $45 to $60 a night at full-service resorts.

How much is a rental car in Hawaii?

About $45 to $75 a day at the base rate off peak and $80 to $120 a day all in, after the $5 daily state surcharge, the 11.11 percent airport fee and other charges. Gas was $5.40 a gallon in early September 2026.

How much is a luau in Hawaii?

About $140 an adult for the standard package at Paradise Cove on Oahu and Smith’s on Kauai, $100 for a child at Paradise Cove, up to $230 for Paradise Cove’s deluxe package, and about $230 at Old Lahaina Luau on Maui.

Is Hawaii more expensive than it used to be?

Yes. The statewide average hotel rate rose from $384 in July 2025 to $398 in July 2026, up 3.6 percent, the lodging tax rose from 17.96 to 18.712 percent on 1 January 2026, and gas rose about a dollar a gallon in a year. Visitors spent about 17 percent more per day in July 2026 than a year earlier, though stays were shorter and spending per trip was almost unchanged.

Related guides

• Do you need a rental car in Hawaii, the verdict by island
• Hawaii hotels with no resort fee, the 2026 list by island
• Hotel or vacation rental in Hawaii in 2026
• Hawaii hotel taxes explained
• Hawaii resort fees and whether you have to pay them
• The best time to visit Hawaii
• When to book flights to Hawaii
• Cheap hotels in Waikiki and what they really cost
• Family hotels and resorts in Hawaii
• All Hawaii visitor resources

Sources include the State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, Hawaii Hotel Performance Report, July 2026 and December 2025 (STR data), and its July 2026 visitor statistics release; Kayak route pages for Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, New York and Vancouver to Honolulu, read 6 September 2026; AAA Hawaii gas prices, 5 September 2026; Hawaii Guide’s park fees and reservations article, updated 2 July 2026; Pearl Harbor Historic Sites, Captain Andy’s and Blue Hawaiian price pages read 6 September 2026; luau operator prices as listed in 2026; Beat of Hawaii on grocery prices (19 August 2025); Squaremouth and Forbes Advisor on travel insurance cost (2026); and the Hawaii Department of Taxation. Restaurant meal ranges and the Kauai luxury rate are our estimates. Checked 5 and 6 September 2026.