How We Make Money
A quick note: we’ve included a few affiliate links below. Booking through them costs you nothing extra and sends a small commission our way, which helps us keep writing free Hawaii guides. We only ever link to things we’d recommend to a friend. Mahalo! Read about our affiliate policies here.
Erica loves to ask this question whenever we meet an entrepreneur. This is a question that should be asked of any business, and one Erica and I are happy to answer.
We overshare. We overshare our travels and our lives. We do this because our readers are our top priority, and they deserve transparency.
By being transparent in all aspects of our business and our lives, we seek to inspire our readers to take action. To travel and enjoy the Hawaiian Islands.
Transparency in our business adds value to our readers’ lives. Behind every article, video, and social media post are countless hours and great care in creating the best Hawaii travel education, research, and tour reviews. We are not doing our job unless we share accurate, unbiased information.
How Does The Hawaii Vacation Guide Make Money?
At no extra cost to you, when you read our content and click on one of our partners’ links, and then decide to complete an offer — be it a purchase, opening an account, or any number of other triggering actions — we may earn a small commission from that advertiser. We share our favorite Hawaii tours and activities here.
In fact, in some instances, you may unlock an exclusive promotion merely because of our partners’ wishes to do business with The Hawaii Vacation Guide readers. We have awesome readers. We have all our Hawaii Vacation Guide Coupon Codes listed here.
Our ultimate goal is to inform and protect, not lure you into purchasing products. Products you may not need. Our What to Pack for Your Hawaii Vacation article is a good example of recommending to bring less, instead of sending you to Amazon to buy frivolous travel accessories.
We partner with advertisers and companies that share the common vision of helping you have an amazing vacation to Hawaii. These partners may include travel companies, apps, restaurants, tour operators, or other companies that conduct work in the travel and leisure sector.
We do our best to not overwhelm our readers with affiliate and partnership links. For example, our Hawaiian Island itineraries include our recommended activities for each island as a supplement, the itinerary is about 90 percent of things to do that are free or include parking or a state park entrance fee.
Can I Trust Hawaii Vacation Guide Reviews?
You bet you can. Knowing how we make money now, you may be wondering, even a tad bit skeptical if our reviews and content are biased or intended to influence you. You are correct to assume that although some of the companies and products we review provide a means for us to make money, that does not interfere with our editorial integrity and research.
Erica and I can only sleep at night if we know we have provided a fair and balanced review. We are sounding boards for each other and we also listen to our readers to ensure we have provided unbiased content.
If we review a product, regardless of whether we are compensated for our work, and genuinely do not find it in the best interest of our readers, we will make sure our review reflects those findings. Advocating for something that would undermine our readers’ financial stability or result in a miserable family holiday goes against our core values. It is not why we got into this business.
How Can I Trust You Are Being Honest?
We believe that our work speaks for itself. We are not tour operators or travel agents. We are consumers. Consumers are reluctant to spend their hard-earned money without proper research, testing, and due diligence. We started The Hawaii Vacation Guide to put our readers first. Starting this business as a hobby ensured our foundation for growth was built on putting the reader first. That will never change.
Who Is Behind The Hawaii Vacation Guide?
Erica has been coming to Hawaii numerous times a year for as long as she can remember, while I was introduced to the islands in my early twenties.
The Hawaii Vacation Guide was founded by Erica Gellerman and Jordan Fromholz in 2019. We decided to start the website when we moved from London to Hawaii to live our adventure. We had lived on Oahu for a couple of years and yearned to go back. We moved to Maui where we started The Hawaii Vacation Guide.
We had a blast on Maui as we traveled the islands to learn and experience their charms. We moved back to the mainland to be closer to family, as it was hard to be so far from the grandparents! We go back to Hawaii numerous times a year to keep learning and refresh our knowledge. Plus, Hawaii is a great place to visit.
We do this because we believe it is important to help our readers worry less about where to go and how, so they can spend more time planning a perfect vacation to Hawaii. After all, family travel doesn’t have to be uncomfortable.
Check out our About Page to learn more about us.
Sincerely,
Jordan
