# Hawaii Travel Not Slowing Like Years Past



## slip (Aug 12, 2022)

They list some factors as to why travelers keep coming during when there is a typical slowdown. 









						Hawaii Travel Should Be Slowing Now. Why Isn't It?
					

Hawaii visitor numbers continue to surpass previous records for late summer travel. Our top three reasons why.



					beatofhawaii.com


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## DaveNV (Aug 12, 2022)

Their reasoning makes sense.  Covid slowed everything down, and I'd wager a lot of the pent-up demand is from people trying to use-not-lose their timeshare weeks or points. The demand will probably slow down after that build-up has been used.

Dave


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## slip (Aug 12, 2022)

DaveNV said:


> Their reasoning makes sense.  Covid slowed everything down, and I'd wager a lot of the pent-up demand is from people trying to use-not-lose their timeshare weeks or points. The demand will probably slow down after that build-up has been used.
> 
> Dave



I was surprised by the low cost of flights statement.  I haven't watched any flights to Hawaii but I thought people were saying flight prices were high. Especially with the price of fuel.


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## DaveNV (Aug 12, 2022)

slip said:


> I was surprised by the low cost of flights statement.  I haven't watched any flights to Hawaii but I thought people were saying flight prices were high. Especially with the price of fuel.



I just did a quick Kayak search for later this month, from Los Angeles to Honolulu, and found the image below.  Not $300, but getting there.





 Dave


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## slip (Aug 12, 2022)

DaveNV said:


> I just did a quick Kayak search for later this month, from Los Angeles to Honolulu, and found the image below.  Not $300, but getting there.
> 
> View attachment 62387
> 
> Dave



Yep, that's not bad.


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## easyrider (Aug 13, 2022)

We have many friends heading to different parts of Hawaii before the school year starts up. Maybe when school starts up there might be a tourist lull in September. I like to head to Hawaii in the winter.  

Bill


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## artringwald (Aug 13, 2022)

Airfare isn't low next winter. I've been tracking prices for a relative.


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## easyrider (Aug 13, 2022)

artringwald said:


> Airfare isn't low next winter. I've been tracking prices for a relative.
> 
> View attachment 62393



For us traveling to Hawaii is kind of a pain anymore because we need to leave Portland or Seattle in the morning or we end up in Hawaii in the evening. Returning is a pain because it is hit or miss regarding fog that determines if we get home as planned. For two of us the rt is about $1100 so we are doing way better than your scenario. 

The same thing is happening to us regarding Mexico flights in the winter. In past years we would go to a couple Mexican destinations in the winter but now we are just choosing one and staying 4 to 6 weeks.

Bill


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## slip (Aug 13, 2022)

easyrider said:


> For us traveling to Hawaii is kind of a pain anymore because we need to leave Portland or Seattle in the morning or we end up in Hawaii in the evening. Returning is a pain because it is hit or miss regarding fog that determines if we get home as planned. For two of us the rt is about $1100 so we are doing way better than your scenario.
> 
> The same thing is happening to us regarding Mexico flights in the winter. In past years we would go to a couple Mexican destinations in the winter but now we are just choosing one and staying 4 to 6 weeks.
> 
> Bill



I always thought, a longer trip is a better trip. I certainly would do the same In your situation. 

When we came from Wisconsin, it was always hard to find a balance of not leaving too early and arriving at a good time and that was for both coming and going. 

It funny now that we live here, we aren't too excited about the long trip going back to Wisconsin but we never balked at the long trip to Hawaii.  Maybe that will change over more years.


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## ski_sierra (Aug 14, 2022)

slip said:


> I was surprised by the low cost of flights statement. I haven't watched any flights to Hawaii but I thought people were saying flight prices were high. Especially with the price of fuel.



I've had to cancel my thanksgiving trip to Hawaii as the airfare is too high. I had some airline credits that I wanted to utilize, but even with those, it was too much out of pocket. I'm postponing my trip to August as I have more time to get a good flight price. Who knows whether that will happen or not.

I'm guessing a lot of people have airline credits or hotel vouchers to burn from their canceled trips in 2020.


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## slip (Aug 14, 2022)

ski_sierra said:


> I've had to cancel my thanksgiving trip to Hawaii as the airfare is too high. I had some airline credits that I wanted to utilize, but even with those, it was too much out of pocket. I'm postponing my trip to August as I have more time to get a good flight price. Who knows whether that will happen or not.
> 
> I'm guessing a lot of people have airline credits or hotel vouchers to burn from their canceled trips in 2020.



That's possible. I was looking for flights from Wisconsin to Maui and Big Island fir next April and May and they were higher than in past years but those could still come down.


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## ScoopKona (Aug 14, 2022)

@slip @ski_sierra 

Why not fly to Oakland or Las Vegas, and then hop an inexpensive Southwest flight from there? Either city is a destination in itself.

Before they opened the LAS->KOA route, I routinely flew to Big Island via Oakland. I'd set it up that I had a full day in SF -- to buy deli meat, dim sum, and enjoy some IPA at Toranado.


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## ski_sierra (Aug 14, 2022)

ScoopKona said:


> @slip @ski_sierra
> 
> Why not fly to Oakland or Las Vegas, and then hop an inexpensive Southwest flight from there? Either city is a destination in itself.
> 
> Before they opened the LAS->KOA route, I routinely flew to Big Island via Oakland. I'd set it up that I had a full day in SF -- to buy deli meat, dim sum, and enjoy some IPA at Toranado.


I live within driving distance of Oakland. When WN opened their thanksgiving flights they were at $600 pp oneway. I can't afford that. Last year I paid around $250 pp one way.


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## slip (Aug 14, 2022)

ScoopKona said:


> @slip @ski_sierra
> 
> Why not fly to Oakland or Las Vegas, and then hop an inexpensive Southwest flight from there? Either city is a destination in itself.
> 
> Before they opened the LAS->KOA route, I routinely flew to Big Island via Oakland. I'd set it up that I had a full day in SF -- to buy deli meat, dim sum, and enjoy some IPA at Toranado.



My wife does not get around well so that type of travel doesn't work well for us. Everything takes much longer with her condition and it's best for us to just get to our destination.

I just thought it was odd that the article mentioned low airfare as a reason the Hawaii numbers are so high. It does sound like there are still deals out there in some locations though.


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## ScoopKona (Aug 14, 2022)

@slip @ski_sierra

Nostradamus would throw his hands up in frustration if asked to explain how air fares are calculated.

There were only three good things about living in Las Vegas. And one of them was low, low airfares in and out. When SW opened LAS to KOA, it was a game-changer. Free bags, and $200 one-way flights. (I never know how long I'm going to stay, so I buy one-way trips.)

In general, it's worth it to get someplace where the air-legs make sense. I had to beat this information into my brother, who lives near Aspen. "But I don't WANT to take the bus to Denver."

Well, your airfare is now $2,000 more because you're flying out of a high-dollar zip code, bro. Suck it up and take the shuttle.


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## slip (Aug 14, 2022)

ScoopKona said:


> @slip @ski_sierra
> 
> Nostradamus would throw his hands up in frustration if asked to explain how air fares are calculated.
> 
> ...



When we were in Wisconsin, sometimes we could save a couple hundred dollars by going out of Chicago or Milwaukee.  We did Milwaukee once or twice but then decided it wasn't worth the longer ride home. Especially after the long flights to Hawaii.

Our normal flight was Madison to Denver and Denver to Kauai or Maui. We flew United since they had a small hub in Madison. We have their card so we always get free bags. We still have that card plus one with Hawaiian. They both have worked well for us over the years. We use Hawaiian now for inter-iand but I will start checking Southwest now that they have added more inter-iand flights.


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## ski_sierra (Aug 14, 2022)

slip said:


> It does sound like there are still deals out there in some locations though


I found one flight for $250 one way that requires an overnight stop in DFW.  Total travel time is about 26 hours. I can only do that if I'm going for two weeks. Not worth it for a one week trip.


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## slip (Aug 14, 2022)

ski_sierra said:


> I found one flight for $250 one way that requires an overnight stop in DFW.  Total travel time is about 26 hours. I can only do that if I'm going for two weeks. Not worth it for a one week trip.



I agree but it is still cheap for someone. But I wouldn't ever do it.


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## Tamaradarann (Aug 14, 2022)

easyrider said:


> We have many friends heading to different parts of Hawaii before the school year starts up. Maybe when school starts up there might be a tourist lull in September. I like to head to Hawaii in the winter.
> 
> Bill



California schools are going back this week so that may slow down the visitors.  Other States start school right after Labor Day so the last week in August should be end of people with kids coming.  Hopefully it is slower for our labor day weekend trip to Maui.


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## Passepartout (Aug 14, 2022)

I suspect that after most of the air coupons that got cancelled from 2020/21 are redeemed and the pent-up travel demand has been satisfied for the most part, travel to Hawaii/Europe, etc. will start to get back to a more 'normal' rate. Airline labor shortages are another thing. Pilots who were furloughed when the airlines mothballed their aircraft in 2020 either retired (they have to stop flying commercial at 60) or found another way to make a living. Ground personnel found other employment. That will take $$$$ (and time) to attract back to the hard work/long hours of airline work.


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## easyrider (Aug 18, 2022)

ski_sierra said:


> I found one flight for $250 one way that requires an overnight stop in DFW.  Total travel time is about 26 hours. I can only do that if I'm going for two weeks. Not worth it for a one week trip.



My daughter does flights like this. She usually looks for a flight the day before check in. So far, the only 26 hour type trips for us included hotel stays for 10 or more hours.

Bill


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## slip (Aug 18, 2022)

Now this says it is slowing earlier than normal.   









						Midday Newscast: New data suggests a sooner than expected tourist downturn
					

Watch “This is Now” live from the HNN Digital Center weekdays on KHNL or across Hawaii News Now’s platforms online and on mobile.




					www.hawaiinewsnow.com


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## pedro47 (Aug 18, 2022)

Traveling from Virginia to Hawaii  was all about planning a family  trip with a positive theme from beginning to ending.  Plus,, everyone was sick of COVID-19. We all agree,  we want to stay in Hawaii a minimum of 14 days at a military resort.

We were able to book six (6) units. The Hale Koa resort units were all ocean side.

Looking at flights to Hawaii and hotel accommodations are very low right now. IMHO.


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## Monykalyn (Aug 19, 2022)

Our flights to HI were not bad (from MO) but it was definitely cheaper to fly our daughter out from Orlando. We did Allegiant to LAX, then United to OGG. cheap interisland on SW (had lots of credit to use up), Home on Delta (including using miles) from HNL.  It's costing me almost as much to fly to Orlando this fall, and it cost more to fly to Las Vegas last summer. 
Our next scheduled week is October 2023 but not sure if we will go or save the TS week for longer stay in 2024 (leaning towards longer-so loved out 2 weeks to just chill!)


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## Monykalyn (Aug 19, 2022)

slip said:


> When we were in Wisconsin, sometimes we could save a couple hundred dollars by going out of Chicago or Milwaukee. We did Milwaukee once or twice but then decided it wasn't worth the longer ride home.


 yeah I price flights out of KC, Tulsa and St Louis-saving several hundred $ we can suck up a 3-4 hour drive-especially if means more travel 


pedro47 said:


> Hawaii a minimum of 14 days


I've gotten spoiled rotten by longer vacations now-heck even my annual Orlando trip has now gone from 5-6 days to 12 this year LOL. I do some work on some of these longer trips though-both a pro and con of being independent contractor.


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## Tamaradarann (Aug 19, 2022)

slip said:


> Now this says it is slowing earlier than normal.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I have noticed a reduced amount of people around the pools and Tropics at the HHV when I walk thru there in the morning.


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## slip (Aug 19, 2022)

Tamaradarann said:


> I have noticed a reduced amount of people around the pools and Tropics at the HHV when I walk thru there in the morning.



You would notice first. So it sounds like it's true.


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## Tamaradarann (Sep 4, 2022)

slip said:


> They list some factors as to why travelers keep coming during when there is a typical slowdown.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Well they really went to Maui on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.  No problem with TSA in Honolulu at 8:30 in the morning.  The Southwest Flight was totally full not an empty seat.  The Thrify Car Rental in Maui was off the hook busy.  The line was so long that it took us 2 hours to get a car.  They had no cars in the lot and had to go to the return area and drive cars for those who were waiting.  We got a free upgrade from a compact to full size since they had full sizes available.


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## slip (Sep 4, 2022)

Tamaradarann said:


> Well they really went to Maui on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.  No problem with TSA in Honolulu at 8:30 in the morning.  The Southwest Flight was totally full not an empty seat.  The Thrify Car Rental in Maui was off the hook busy.  The line was so long that it took us 2 hours to get a car.  They had no cars in the lot and had to go to the return area and drive cars for those who were waiting.  We got a free upgrade from a compact to full size since they had full sizes available.



Well, I guess that answers that question.  I know you were hoping for a slowdown but now you can enjoy your time on the island. It's always nice to get a change of scenery once in a while.


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## dioxide45 (Sep 4, 2022)

It is interesting that Hawaii isn't seeing a slowdown but apparently crowd levels are dropping in Orlando theme parks and expected to drop even more in what has traditionally been a slower season for Orlando.


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## slip (Sep 4, 2022)

dioxide45 said:


> It is interesting that Hawaii isn't seeing a slowdown but apparently crowd levels are dropping in Orlando theme parks and expected to drop even more in what has traditionally been a slower season for Orlando.



From what I am hearing, Maui is the one island that no slow down has happened but that is just from some friends I have on the other islands.


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## csodjd (Sep 4, 2022)

I’ve been watching airfares because we have trips over (LAX - HNL) in a couple weeks, over New Years, in March, and in June. We generally fly business/first, and I can assure that there are no deals for those seats. Fortunately I bought seats a while back, because the typical ~$500pp each way are now $1500 or more. There are some good economy fares at times. Best value seems generally to be Hawaiian Air with their extra comfort seats. 

I have some timeshares at Lagoon Tower. I had them booked for my Home Week for July. I called a week ago because I need to change the date and before I canceled to rebook my home weeks I needed to know the availability. Long story short… no Home Weeks available in August next for the 2BR units, but I was able to rebook for June with all three rooms (2BR OF, 2BR OV, 1BR OV). 

Based on that, August is clearly under more demand than June.


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## Tamaradarann (Sep 5, 2022)

slip said:


> Well, I guess that answers that question.  I know you were hoping for a slowdown but now you can enjoy your time on the island. It's always nice to get a change of scenery once in a while.



I think that Labor Day weekend is the last vacation time for those involved with kids in school or working in schools.  It is a 3 day weekend which will bring people out from the West Coast of the US.  We will be in Maui next weekend since we are staying until Monday September 12th so we will see if the crowd goes down.


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## Tamaradarann (Sep 5, 2022)

dioxide45 said:


> It is interesting that Hawaii isn't seeing a slowdown but apparently crowd levels are dropping in Orlando theme parks and expected to drop even more in what has traditionally been a slower season for Orlando.



Orlando is a big time families with kids oriented location.   While Hawaii does attract people with kids, it is also very attractive to adults.


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## slip (Sep 5, 2022)

Tamaradarann said:


> I think that Labor Day weekend is the last vacation time for those involved with kids in school or working in schools.  It is a 3 day weekend which will bring people out from the West Coast of the US.  We will be in Maui next weekend since we are staying until Monday September 12th so we will see if the crowd goes down.



Maui has been very busy for a long time so I am curious if it will go down next week. Let us know.


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## Ken555 (Sep 5, 2022)

csodjd said:


> There are some good economy fares at times.



FWIW, I bought Southwest LAX-OGG for ~$230 roundtrip.


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## Tamaradarann (Sep 5, 2022)

slip said:


> Maui has been very busy for a long time so I am curious if it will go down next week. Let us know.



Of course busy is relative.  We have never seen car rentals with such a long lines like we saw on Saturday.  Just recently people were sighting half full flights between islands but the Southwest flight on Saturday from Honolulu to Maui was totally full.


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## dioxide45 (Sep 5, 2022)

Tamaradarann said:


> Of course busy is relative.  We have never seen car rentals with such a long lines like we saw on Saturday.  Just recently people were sighting half full flights between islands but the Southwest flight on Saturday from Honolulu to Maui was totally full.


The car rental situation could be twofold. more travel and a lack of available inventory (fewer cars).


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## TravelTime (Sep 5, 2022)

Usually best airfare to Hawaii is 2-3 month beforehand. I just looked from SFO-HNL or OGG for 3 months out and it is $322 RT on Hawaiian Air.


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## Ken555 (Sep 5, 2022)

Tamaradarann said:


> Of course busy is relative. We have never seen car rentals with such a long lines like we saw on Saturday. Just recently people were sighting half full flights between islands but the Southwest flight on Saturday from Honolulu to Maui was totally full.



I picked up a car at Dollar (same office as Thrifty) just over a week ago. The line was out the door and it took them ~30 minutes to get to me. Also, they only had four people working at the desks and could have had double that number. Did they have staff working at each desk when you picked up your car?












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## Ken555 (Sep 5, 2022)

BTW, it’s rare when I rent other than Alamo or Hertz direct since with those I can just walk up and get a car. I really dislike any of these rental companies that that require us to checkin with an agent particularly due to the risk of having to wait a long time. I had this happen years ago with Budget on Maui. I only rent from others when the rates are a huge savings, which is was with this rental. 

They must know it would lower their operational costs by automating checking like Alamo, or allowing customers to go direct to their car (like Hertz, or perhaps others with status. I know Budget has a fast line (which Maui had but I didn’t see when I experienced that long wait years ago)). I can only conclude Dollar/Thrifty earn more with upsells at the time of pickup to justify the labor cost - they certainly tried to get me to buy a larger car (I had reserved a midsize), and I had to refuse three times. Ultimately, I got a Kia Optima, which was in the midsize lane and I believe is actually a full size car. 


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## Tamaradarann (Sep 5, 2022)

Ken555 said:


> I picked up a car at Dollar (same office as Thrifty) just over a week ago. The line was out the door and it took them ~30 minutes to get to me. Also, they only had four people working at the desks and could have had double that number. Did they have staff working at each desk when you picked up your car?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Tamaradarann (Sep 5, 2022)

The line at the Thrifty/Dollar Office was not only out the door it was round and down the block.  There were 4 workers working but it took about 90 minutes to get to me.  About 1 minute to get the paper once I got to an agent.  But then it took another 30 minutes to get a car once I was out it the lot where the cars were supposed to be.  They had to wait for cars to be driven from another lot and as I said I got an upgrade from a compact to a full size since they must not have had compacts to drive in and they had extra full size.


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## Tamaradarann (Sep 6, 2022)

Tamaradarann said:


> The line at the Thrifty/Dollar Office was not only out the door it was round and down the block.  There were 4 workers working but it took about 90 minutes to get to me.  About 1 minute to get the paper once I got to an agent.  But then it took another 30 minutes to get a car once I was out it the lot where the cars were supposed to be.  They had to wait for cars to be driven from another lot and as I said I got an upgrade from a compact to a full size since they must not have had compacts to drive in and they had extra full size.



The rental car market is a some large companies owning a number of smaller car rental companies.  I am surprised tht the competition is as good as it is.  Hertz owns Thrifty and Dollar and Avis owns Budget and Payless.  Therefore, even though it appears that there are a number of companies in the market there really are very few.


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## csodjd (Sep 6, 2022)

TravelTime said:


> Usually best airfare to Hawaii is 2-3 month beforehand. I just looked from SFO-HNL or OGG for 3 months out and it is $322 RT on Hawaiian Air.


I was looking at flights for early part of March 2023 yesterday. American had LAX-HNL for $159 each way. First was $650 or more each way.


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## Ken555 (Sep 6, 2022)

csodjd said:


> I was looking at flights for early part of March 2023 yesterday. American had LAX-HNL for $159 each way. First was $650 or more each way.



Yeah, but was that $159 basic economy, or main?


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## Ken555 (Sep 6, 2022)

Tamaradarann said:


> The line at the Thrifty/Dollar Office was not only out the door it was round and down the block. There were 4 workers working but it took about 90 minutes to get to me. About 1 minute to get the paper once I got to an agent. But then it took another 30 minutes to get a car once I was out it the lot where the cars were supposed to be. They had to wait for cars to be driven from another lot and as I said I got an upgrade from a compact to a full size since they must not have had compacts to drive in and they had extra full size.



So even with a very long line, they didn’t have enough staff on duty to process people quickly. Car availability is another matter altogether. 


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## csodjd (Sep 6, 2022)

Ken555 said:


> Yeah, but was that $159 basic economy, or main?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Whatever this is:


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## Luanne (Sep 6, 2022)

csodjd said:


> Whatever this is:
> 
> View attachment 64258


That's about what I paid for first class on United for about the same dates.  I bought a few months ago.  I checked today because of your post, and United now wants double that for first class.  It could of course go down again but I'm glad I bought when I did.


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## Ken555 (Sep 6, 2022)

csodjd said:


> Whatever this is:
> 
> View attachment 64258



That's Main, so you can select a seat, etc. That's not a bad price, but as I posted earlier I bought RT SWA for ~$230.


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## csodjd (Sep 6, 2022)

Ken555 said:


> That's Main, so you can select a seat, etc. That's not a bad price, but as I posted earlier I bought RT SWA for ~$230.


Not any more. I just check SWA for same date and they have one non-stop flight, early morning (7:15am departure), $159 one-way.


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## csodjd (Sep 6, 2022)

Luanne said:


> That's about what I paid for first class on United for about the same dates.  I bought a few months ago.  I checked today because of your post, and United now wants double that for first class.  It could of course go down again but I'm glad I bought when I did.


It is $100 more than their FC seats a few months back. Seems they increased their FC by $100 across the board.


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## Ken555 (Sep 6, 2022)

csodjd said:


> Not any more. I just check SWA for same date and they have one non-stop flight, early morning (7:15am departure), $159 one-way.



Yes, they run sales now and then. If you want to buy today go for the $159 fare, but if you have time to wait it wouldn't surprise me if you find lower fares. With SWA it's super easy to reprice online when they do that (and get a future credit for the balance). I'd also pay $159 without issue if that's the best available.


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## Luanne (Sep 6, 2022)

Ken555 said:


> Yes, they run sales now and then. If you want to buy today go for the $159 fare, but if you have time to wait it wouldn't surprise me if you find lower fares. With SWA it's super easy to reprice online when they do that (and get a future credit for the balance). I'd also pay $159 without issue if that's the best available.


That's why I love Southwest.  However I'm not too thrilled with them right now with some of their itineraries.


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## csodjd (Sep 6, 2022)

Ken555 said:


> Yes, they run sales now and then. If you want to buy today go for the $159 fare, but if you have time to wait it wouldn't surprise me if you find lower fares. With SWA it's super easy to reprice online when they do that (and get a future credit for the balance). I'd also pay $159 without issue if that's the best available.


I'm Exec Platinum with American, so I fly them most of the time. Free upgrade to First! And if not available, at least "best" seats (exit row usually). Love SWA for short flights, but not too keen on 5+ hours.


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## Ralph Sir Edward (Sep 6, 2022)

Heading to the Big Island Saturday. We will see what we see.


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## PigsDad (Sep 6, 2022)

csodjd said:


> I'm Exec Platinum with American, so I fly them most of the time. Free upgrade to First! And if not available, at least "best" seats (exit row usually). *Love SWA for short flights, but not too keen on 5+ hours.*


Understandable, but for those of us lowly peons who don't have status and don't want to pay through the nose for a first class ticket, Southwest is one of the best for flying in coach, as they have the most legroom of any major airlines -- more than American, Delta and United.  For a tall person (or any person, for that matter), it can be a big deal and makes a longer flight much more bearable.

Kurt


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## Ken555 (Sep 6, 2022)

csodjd said:


> I'm Exec Platinum with American, so I fly them most of the time. Free upgrade to First! And if not available, at least "best" seats (exit row usually). Love SWA for short flights, but not too keen on 5+ hours.



Sure. I have status now with United, but I don't let that influence my decisions since I don't count on upgrades. If I was Exec Plat I likely would decide otherwise.


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## Ken555 (Sep 6, 2022)

PigsDad said:


> Understandable, but for those of us lowly peons who don't have status and don't want to pay through the nose for a first class ticket, Southwest is one of the best for flying in coach, as they have the most legroom of any major airlines -- more than American, Delta and United.  For a tall person (or any person, for that matter), it can be a big deal and makes a longer flight much more bearable.
> 
> Kurt



Yes! I haven't flown SWA in a while, and was very pleasantly surprised at how roomy the seat felt. However, I absolutely disliked the partial closet lav - I'm not a big guy and I barely fit in there.


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## PigsDad (Sep 6, 2022)

Ken555 said:


> Yes! I haven't flown SWA in a while, and was very pleasantly surprised at how roomy the seat felt. However, I absolutely disliked the partial closet lav - I'm not a big guy and I barely fit in there.


It isn't just Southwest that have the small lavs.  I just flew a Delta A321 last weekend and that lav was just as small, if not smaller than ones on Southwest's 737s.  It is getting ridiculous how small they are these days!  

Kurt


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## csodjd (Sep 6, 2022)

dioxide45 said:


> The car rental situation could be twofold. more travel and a lack of available inventory (fewer cars).


I just rented a car for Maui for a weekend in October from Hertz. No problem. Low prices too.


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## Henry M. (Sep 6, 2022)

I find the Main Cabin Extra (MCE) seats on AA acceptable. It helps that I am platinum for life so even though I no longer fly as much as I used to, I get to select MCE seats for free. I absolutely hate not having a seat assignment before getting to the airport. Even paying for early bird on the few times I've flown SWA, I have sometimes ended up in the B boarding group.


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## Luanne (Sep 6, 2022)

csodjd said:


> I just rented a car for Maui for a weekend in October from Hertz. No problem. Low prices too.


Even though you think the prices are low I would still suggest registering it with AutoSlash.  AutoSlash beat a price I got with Avis using a corporate discount.


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## Tamaradarann (Sep 7, 2022)

Ken555 said:


> So even with a very long line, they didn’t have enough staff on duty to process people quickly. Car availability is another matter altogether.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk



Yes, they had empty booths and computers for agents if they had more staff.  On a Saturday, which is always a main check in day for Time Share Resorts as well as hotels for people on vacation who work M-F, they should have more staff.  However, they had so many people working out in the parking lot since they didn't have the cars parked in the lot.  When I have rented cars in the past you sign up for the car in the office, they give you a paper and keys and tell you what lot and row the car is in, and  you go to the lot and find your car and drive away.  Not here in Maui.  As I said the cars were NOT in the lot.  So they had people taking your paper and then telling you to wait for them to let you know when your car was there.  They had people going to a remote locatiion to get cars.  They never did get MY CAR, the compact that I reserved, so they gave me an upgrade to a full size which was fine.  But waiting 2 hours to get a car rental is rediculous.


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## Born2Travel (Sep 7, 2022)

Tamaradarann said:


> Yes, they had empty booths and computers for agents if they had more staff.  On a Saturday, which is always a main check in day for Time Share Resorts as well as hotels for people on vacation who work M-F, they should have more staff.  However, they had so many people working out in the parking lot since they didn't have the cars parked in the lot.  When I have rented cars in the past you sign up for the car in the office, they give you a paper and keys and tell you what lot and row the car is in, and  you go to the lot and find your car and drive away.  Not here in Maui.  As I said the cars were NOT in the lot.  So they had people taking your paper and then telling you to wait for them to let you know when your car was there.  They had people going to a remote locatiion to get cars.  They never did get MY CAR, the compact that I reserved, so they gave me an upgrade to a full size which was fine.  But waiting 2 hours to get a car rental is rediculous.



This is not new.  Budget at least has been about a 2hr wait the last few years (even pre covid)  and scrambling  to find cars and "upgrading" when they don't have what was reserved.


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## Ken555 (Sep 7, 2022)

Born2Travel said:


> This is not new. Budget at least has been about a 2hr wait the last few years (even pre covid) and scrambling to find cars and "upgrading" when they don't have what was reserved.



I’ve had this happen before on Maui, as well. It also happened at the Kona airport pre-Covid.

My particular issue is not with the car availability, though that is definitely legitimate and always pisses me off when it happens to me, but rather that they build this new building, have eight (or it may have been 10) desks for checkin and yet even when they have long lines requiring hours to wait they refuse to staff up to accommodate. Sure, at the time of this particular event they would have then had too many people with paperwork unable to get cars, but still… this is the very example of corporate decision making at the expense of the customer. Personally, I’d rather get my paperwork and wait outside until they have a car for me, etc. or… are they required to provide a car within a certain time in Hawaii? If so, perhaps that clock doesn’t start until you have your paperwork? In any case, yet another example of why I prefer to skip the checkin whenever possible and go direct to the car, or use an automated checkin option like at Alamo.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Tamaradarann (Sep 7, 2022)

Born2Travel said:


> This is not new.  Budget at least has been about a 2hr wait the last few years (even pre covid)  and scrambling  to find cars and "upgrading" when they don't have what was reserved.



Haven't been to Maui since 2019 so I wouldn't know the of the long wait.  I think next time to Maui we will just get a uber to the resort and Bus it or uber it to places in the area.  We have now done the loops around both Maui parts so we can stay more local to the resort.  Also the Bus for $1 for seniors has served us well during this trip.  Have used it 2 times and is quite a bargain.  It also eliminates the parking charge problems in Lahaina that has been talked about on TUG.  No car no parking charges. No car no wait at the rental desk.  You can take alot of trips for $1 before you reach the rental car cost.


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## Born2Travel (Sep 8, 2022)

Tamaradarann said:


> Haven't been to Maui since 2019 so I wouldn't know the of the long wait.  I think next time to Maui we will just get a uber to the resort and Bus it or uber it to places in the area.  We have now done the loops around both Maui parts so we can stay more local to the resort.  Also the Bus for $1 for seniors has served us well during this trip.  Have used it 2 times and is quite a bargain.  It also eliminates the parking charge problems in Lahaina that has been talked about on TUG.  No car no parking charges. No car no wait at the rental desk.  You can take alot of trips for $1 before you reach the rental car cost.



We stay in West Maui so it's a bit of a drive and we like the freedom of having a car to go where we want even though we don't drive a lot.  It's very maddening to have this happen so often after a long flight.  At first we thought it was the result of several flights arriving around the same time but they should be able to plan better.  For those who don't leave the resort I'd skip the rental too.


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## Tamaradarann (Sep 8, 2022)

Born2Travel said:


> We stay in West Maui so it's a bit of a drive and we like the freedom of having a car to go where we want even though we don't drive a lot.  It's very maddening to have this happen so often after a long flight.  At first we thought it was the result of several flights arriving around the same time but they should be able to plan better.  For those who don't leave the resort I'd skip the rental too.



We also love having a car also to be able to go where we want, however, we are in our 70's so we are starting to look at reduced driving for safety reasons as well as cost.  We also don't drink and drive, so it is nice to not have to worry about transportation after having a drink or two before going out to dinner or at dinner when we are out.  We have been to Maui a number of times and have seen the stuff we want to see there and we now live in Honolulu without a car so living carless has become a lifestyle that we are accustomed to and enjoy.


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