u/April0neal

Hi Everyone.

From Canada.

I am at the beginning stages of vacation planning for July and Hawaii is my husband’s preferred destination.

My main concern is the spending money that I have to anticipate for our family.

My friend just got back from Honolulu last month. She said she feels like the price of things went up by 4x since 2024 (the last time both of us went).

Without the hotel and flight, she said she spent $2000 CAD for 4 days and 5 nights. She didn’t eat anywhere fancy and only did 2 “tourist stuff” (a helicopter ride and that Jurassic park tour).

I think with the exchange rate…this seems on par.

Just wondering if there are any Canadians who visited Hawaii lately? How have the prices differed compared to your last visit ? Or compared to Canada in general.

Thank you.

Edit 1: I forgot to mention in my original post that my friend also didn’t get a car rental. So…she would bus or take the taxi / uber to the destination.

So I was at the hospital last week. I was legit there for NINE hours (chest pains…blah blah…I’m okay now).

I can’t even imagine how things would be if there was a nurse’s strike.

I’m worried y’all.

What does everyone think?

Thanks.

TLDR: the machine on the bus is always saying “call customer service” for anyone that pays via debit or credit card. bus driver says it’s our card. customer service says it’s his machine.

so pretty much the tldr.

i started a new position at work. the role will eventually be remote, but the on-boarding requires in-person for 3 weeks. some days I take the bus. some days I drive. depends on the schedule of my kids or my spouse (because we have one car).

there is a bus stop near my house that is not the busiest. maybe 6 people at most wait during morning rush hour.

me and another girl pay by card. not compass. and no matter which card we use, the “call customer service” beep comes up.

the first time it happened, I tried another card. still the same message. the driver just told me to pay at the skytrain. fine.

later in the day, I call customer service. they check my card and says that it’s “active”. they said that the machines on buses can be slow because it’s mobile. and I was told to tell the bus driver that I called.

a couple of days later, I take the bus. the same girl who also pays by card goes ahead of me. she taps her card, the “call customer service” message beeps and she just keeps walking. the driver loudly says “excuse me!” a couple of times…but she doesn’t seem to hear him because she has those giant headphones on.

so now i tap my card. also the same message. I begin to tell him that I called but he cuts me off. he begins to say “this can’t keep happening”. and that if there is a fare check, I can get fined. then he motions for me to sit down.

I get it. being a bus driver is hard. and obviously my intention is not to give him a hard time.

I don’t want to send an email complaint.

can anyone recommend a method of communication to my bus driver that his machine just needs a software update or something? or should I not even bother ?

Thanks.

Edit 1: I’m really disappointed at all the comments telling me to use a compass card. If an organization offers a method of payment, then it is expected that their machines can accept said payment.

I am looking for reviews for travellers who have done both Punta and Maya Riviera.

My partner and I travelled to Punta Cana many times when we were kidless.

And then when we had kids, we just did Hawaii for 10+ years.

I would like a change.

My partner is saying we should go to what we know, ie Punta Cana.

And I am leaning on to resorts that the kids would enjoy and be less maintenance for me.

Looking forward to your comments and insights !

Thank you.

I feel like shorts might be a safe bet.

How is the West End right now? Still a little cold?

I wanna walk along the beach and Denman.

Thanks!!