You are certainly not the only one. Although I have started a Kona fund for the day (if I ever) I qualify for Kona. The "plan" is to actually start attempting and getting serious in about 2-3 years. So until that time, I will put away $100/ month in my triathlon account. I suppose it also depends on how luxurious you want to go when you are there. I plan on staying as close as possible and have everything done for me so I don't have to worry about anything. I suspect that having a family will make it quite a bit harder for you than myself. I would suggest perhaps staying an hour or so away from the race site and perhaps it might be a little cheaper? Not sure, just speculating. I would suggest putting the money away every month. Then when the time comes, at least you will have something to add to your Visa bill. ;)
M~

It's an expensive trip and way you look at it. If you want to go, go! However, know that there are a number of other IM races around the world now that offer an experience very similar to what you get in Hawaii. Yes, it is NOT IMH, but it's pretty close in terms of the set up and what you really experience. In fact, I have heard it said that some of the IM races are better than Hawaii in some cases when you look at all the things that go into a race to make it a great race.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I qualified this year(probably because I out lived a bunch of people in my age group) and as stated it is expensive. Sounds like you have looked at airfare which will be more expensive for you with a family. My wife and I got tickets on northwest for 6something which I found(suprisingly) to be the cheapest expence. I went out 10/7 with race on 10/16 and wife came 10/14 (this was a work issue for her) stayed at King Kamahamaha(host hotel and nothing closer). Price was reasonable but during race rate went way up. Checked out 10/19 and that hotel cost was approx. 2500. Next hotel bumped hotel cost to close to 3000. There are places to stay within 1/2 mile of start/ finish for less than $100 but no air which would help you but wife may object. A lot of things are more expensive but suprisingly a lot were similar priced and a few cheaper. Got an excellent massage for $60 which is what I pay at home. If you can afford it I suggest staying at the King Kam at least during the race for the location and less worry. There is a grocery store within 1/4-1/2 mile of King Kam and a wal-mart approx 1mile. If the cruise ships are in there is a free shuttle from the pier to wal-mart and back. Otherwise it is a reasonable walk but be prepared to sweat. Resturants are generally more expensive but some not terribly more. Be sure and stay a few days after to reward the wife and kids,remember they will have just as long if not longer day than you will on race day. No I'm not in the upper income level I'm on the other end retired fixed income etc but had a little money tucked away and had to pay off some plastic also. Good luck in your quest.

As for other races being as good or better than Hawaii in my limited experience nothing touches Hawaii. I've done IMCalif 2000 and IMAustria 2003 both well run races. Friends that have done other IM races and Hawaii agree with what I have said but is just a small sampling of people.

Doing Kona isn't so outrageously expensive. Shop around for rental cars, some quoted over $100/day, but I've always ended up paying about $30 for a large car with AAA discounts etc (they've never ask to see your AAA card, so Europeans should ask for that discount too). Food isn't much more expensive than here in NJ, and we'd have to pay if we were eating at home, so subtract that from your total. You can get there on a very reasonable 35,000 air miles, which is a great deal for a 10 hour flight when 50,000 gets you the shorter cheaper flight to London, and 25,000 gets you around the Continental 48 states.

We've always rented a house somewhere off Alii. It seems possible to get them relatively late, none of this booking a year before like you have to for Lake Placid. Sites such as http://www.islandsrentals.com and many others made it easy, and if you can get together with groups of friends it works out pretty reasonable, we've always paid less than $3K for a really nice place for 7-9 days for 6-8 people, 3-4 bathrooms, typically $50 per person per day.

Someone above mentioned massages. The student massages are typically half the usual prices. The Walmart seems to be about 30% more expensive than NJ, but lets face it, how much oatmeal and pasta are you gonna buy?

Putting away an ironman fund is a great idea. I guess if I never get the slot I could use it for another vacation. I have thought about other IMs (I've done IMF, GFT and will do IMCDA in June) but Hawaii has that pull that none other can offer. From what I'm reading it looks like I'll need at least $2-3 grand in expenses over and above air fare (and since I'll be flying out of Nashville, I imagine air fare will be very painful). Does that sound about right? Thanks.