# Just can't believe airline tx prices to hi



## bastroum (Dec 19, 2015)

My wife and I have been traveling to Hawaii (several times per year) since 2000. We've used mostly Hawaiian Miles. However, since I have semi-retired we have been paying for the tickets lately. The prices are so much higher than they have ever been. From Las Vegas we could routinely fly RT to either HNL or OGG for between $500 and $700 pp. or 17,500 Hawaiian Miles. Now the flights are between $750 and $900 pp. or 25,000 to 40,000 Hawaiian Miles. This has to be a lack of competition on the routes. We can find reasonable ticket fares to almost any other destination in the U.S. I guess we're no longer going to travel to HI as often as we did.


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## artringwald (Dec 19, 2015)

They certainly can't say the prices have gone up because of the cost of fuel.


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## sjsharkie (Dec 19, 2015)

bastroum said:


> My wife and I have been traveling to Hawaii (several times per year) since 2000. We've used mostly Hawaiian Miles. However, since I have semi-retired we have been paying for the tickets lately. The prices are so much higher than they have ever been. From Las Vegas we could routinely fly RT to either HNL or OGG for between $500 and $700 pp. or 17,500 Hawaiian Miles. Now the flights are between $750 and $900 pp. or 25,000 to 40,000 Hawaiian Miles. This has to be a lack of competition on the routes. We can find reasonable ticket fares to almost any other destination in the U.S. I guess we're no longer going to travel to HI as often as we did.


What flights you are looking for and when you look for them all factor in to the process.  Virgin America just entered the HI market this past year and they've had sales recently?  Are you flexible in your travel dates and carrier?

I just checked Kayak for a random Wednesday in March (since weekdays are usually cheaper) and I can easily get a $500-$600 ticket on any carrier for LAS-OGG.  LAS-HNL is even cheaper -- I can go for $400-$500 nonstop if I am willing to fly Allegiant (ech!) on certain dates. 

Over the last couple of years, seats from the mainland have increased with the addition of new HI service from Allegiant and Virgin America.

-ryan


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## bastroum (Dec 19, 2015)

sjsharkie said:


> What flights you are looking for and when you look for them all factor in to the process.  Virgin America just entered the HI market this past year and they've had sales recently?  Are you flexible in your travel dates and carrier?
> 
> I just checked Kayak for a random Wednesday in March (since weekdays are usually cheaper) and I can easily get a $500-$600 ticket on any carrier for LAS-OGG.  LAS-HNL is even cheaper -- I can go for $400-$500 nonstop if I am willing to fly Allegiant (ech!) on certain dates.
> 
> ...



Allegiant just cancelled their Hawaii service effective this summer. Best I could do for OGG in April 10-22, 2015 was $725pp on Hawaiian. Now looking for July 16-Aug 06 for HNL and best $ for a non red eye is $900.


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## silentg (Dec 19, 2015)

bastroum said:


> Allegiant just cancelled their Hawaii service effective this summer. Best I could do for OGG in April 10-22, 2015 was $725pp on Hawaiian. Now looking for July 16-Aug 06 for HNL and best $ for a non red eye is $900.


I am looking into Alaska Airlines, I found the Itinery i want, just waiting for the holidays to be over, and maintence bills to be paid. Hope to have some mileage points to use for part of the trip. One thing at a time! 2016 travel is exciting starting right after Christmas...as long as we stay healthy! Merry Christmas Tug Friends...and a Happy 2016!
Silentg


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## BocaBoy (Dec 19, 2015)

bastroum said:


> From Las Vegas we could routinely fly RT to either HNL or OGG for between $500 and $700 pp. or 17,500 Hawaiian Miles.



You could fly R/T from Vegas to Hawaii on Hawaiian Airlines for 17,500 miles?  I find that hard to believe as an inter-island one-way ticket is 7,500 miles.  Don't you mean one-way for 17,500 miles?


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## bastroum (Dec 19, 2015)

BocaBoy said:


> You could fly R/T from Vegas to Hawaii on Hawaiian Airlines for 17,500 miles?  I find that hard to believe as an inter-island one-way ticket is 7,500 miles.  Don't you mean one-way for 17,500 miles?



You're  correct. I meant to write each way. Today when I checked Hawaiian, that trip is 80,000 and 100,000 miles depending on the time.


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## DeniseM (Dec 19, 2015)

bastroum said:


> You're  correct. I meant to write each way. Today when I checked Hawaiian, that trip is 80,000 and 100,000 miles depending on the time.



That can't be for coach seats?  And I'm guessing that it's for dates that are high season, and/or for dates that aren't very far off.

To get the lowest fare with FF miles, you need to book about 11 mos. in advance, as soon as the booking window opens for your dates.

_*I just checked - I can book California to Hawaii for 35,000 mi. round trip, for September.  But from Las Vegas, it is 50,000 miles.  But that is round-trip, not one way._


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## bastroum (Dec 19, 2015)

DeniseM said:


> That can't be for coach seats?  And I'm guessing that it's for dates that are high season, and/or for dates that aren't very far off.
> 
> To get the lowest fare with FF miles, you need to book about 11 mos. in advance, as soon as the booking window opens for your dates.
> 
> _*I just checked - I can book California to Hawaii for 35,000 mi. round trip, for September.  Since you are retired, you should go off-season, and book early._



I do. Those are coach seats in July. I go to HI 3 to 4 times a year, can't always go in off season!


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## DeniseM (Dec 19, 2015)

bastroum said:


> I do. Those are coach seats in July. I go to HI 3 to 4 times a year, can't always go in off season!



July is high-high season, but you are late to the party to book July.  

For the lowest FF miles, you have to book at about 11 mos. out.  For example, for July 1, 2016, you should have booked around Aug. 1, 2015.


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## bastroum (Dec 19, 2015)

DeniseM said:


> July is high-high season, but you are late to the party to book July.
> 
> For the lowest FF miles, you have to book at about 11 mos. out.  For example, for July 1, 2016, you should have booked around Aug. 1, 2015.



You're right. However, I just got the II trade two weeks ago.


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## DeniseM (Dec 19, 2015)

Las Vegas to Oahu ranges from 35,000 to 47,5000 FF miles, _round trip_ for the 4th of July week, so I think you are reading the info. wrong.


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## bastroum (Dec 19, 2015)

DeniseM said:


> Las Vegas to Oahu ranges from 35,000 to 47,5000 FF miles, _round trip_ for the 4th of July week, so I think you are reading the info. wrong.



Thanks, I'll check again when I get home. My dates are July 16-Aug 6 to HNL.


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## DeniseM (Dec 19, 2015)

bastroum said:


> Thanks, I'll check again when I get home. My dates are July 16-Aug 6 to HNL.



The best price is 47,500 mi. round trip for July 17th.


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## bastroum (Dec 19, 2015)

DeniseM said:


> Las Vegas to Oahu ranges from 35,000 to 47,5000 FF miles, _round trip_ for the 4th of July week, so I think you are reading the info. wrong.



Thanks again Denise for double checking. I was looking on the website at 4 in the morning. Couldn't sleep.


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## DeniseM (Dec 19, 2015)

bastroum said:


> Thanks again Denise for double checking. I was looking on the website at *4 in the morning.* Couldn't sleep.



That explains it!


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## tompalm (Dec 20, 2015)

If you can travel off season, when the kids are in school, the tickets are a lot cheaper. Last year we traveled in May for $350 round trip to Vegas from Hawaii and got free bag check with my Hawaiian Airlines credit card. I am looking at May 2016 and see prices at $400 RT. To get those rates, you need to be flexible to travel any day and hunt for tickets when those fares are available.


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## Timeshare Von (Dec 20, 2015)

silentg said:


> I am looking into Alaska Airlines, I found the Itinery i want, just waiting for the holidays to be over, and maintence bills to be paid. Hope to have some mileage points to use for part of the trip. One thing at a time! 2016 travel is exciting starting right after Christmas...as long as we stay healthy! Merry Christmas Tug Friends...and a Happy 2016!
> Silentg



We're flying to Hawaii from Milwaukee on Alaska Airlines!  Not the most desirable schedule, but the price was right ($750pp for late January).


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## bastroum (Dec 20, 2015)

I've re-checked all the prices for these Las Vegas to Hawaii flights and Denise is correct. If you want a good fare you need to fly off season. In the past one could find good fares (sometimes) during peak times, but not now. For the days I want to fly in July the fares are $800 round trip. I just checked January 9 returning January 30 (only 2 weeks away) and the same trip is $550.


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## cgeidl (Dec 20, 2015)

*Interisland RT are exhorbant*

We were just looking at RT fares to Oahu. We saw a Hawaiian air special RT from Toronto for $419 .when we were recently in Hawaii the Hawaiian air interisland=d fares were over $300 between islands on 45 minute trips. Competition is needed.
We found Hawaii very busy from November 14th until December 5th during a so called slack period. Prices except Costco and lying on the beach are up everywhere.
We went to two Islands and usually do but used FF Miles on two of the legs but probably will only go to one island in the future until fares go down.
We love the Aloha spirit. Even drivers in very heavy traffic let the other person in and very little beeping of horns. Guess good weather helps make good spirits.


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## Tamaradarann (Dec 20, 2015)

*Hawaiian Airlines Companion Ticket Works*

We have been using Hawaiian Airlines Companion Tickets (my husband and I both have Hawaiian Airline Credit Cards) from New York JFK to Honolulu for the last couple of years and have been getting direct flights round trip for two people for between $1200 - $1500.  That is about $600-$750 per person for 10,000 miles of flying.  We have the 70,000 mile sign-up bonus miles and the actual 40,000 flying miles now to use for future use.

We do book our flights early though not exactly 11 months ahead.  These are not the lowest prices we could have gotten since we did have criteria for when we wanted to go.  If we wanted the lowest price we could have had the two round trip tickets for about $1000.


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## MichaelColey (Dec 23, 2015)

cgeidl said:


> When we were recently in Hawaii the Hawaiian air interisland fares were over $300 between islands on 45 minute trips.


Most interisland flights we've looked at have been around $75-$125 one way, even when not purchased very far in advance.

We usually just use American Airlines miles, as it's only 5k miles one way.

Hawaiian does have competition on some interisland routes, and pricing isn't significantly cheaper on those.


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## stratcats (Dec 23, 2015)

I love flying Alaska Air compared to Hawaiian Air.  We live on the Big Island and will drive to Kona (about 2.5 hours) rather than fly to Honolulu and go via Hawaiian.  Everyone at Alaska seems to like their job rather than being bothered if you ask for something.  Several drink services as well.

Here's another tip - if you get an Alaska Air credit card ($75 a year), you get a $99 companion fare once a year PLUS a free bag for each person booked on your itinerary.  

My husband I just flew round trip from Kona to Orlando for about $720 total for BOTH of us - caught during a sale.  Not a bad deal considering that the usual fare is closer to $1000 each.


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## Tamaradarann (Dec 26, 2015)

*Alaska Airline versus Hawaiian Airlines Destinations*



stratcats said:


> I love flying Alaska Air compared to Hawaiian Air.  We live on the Big Island and will drive to Kona (about 2.5 hours) rather than fly to Honolulu and go via Hawaiian.  Everyone at Alaska seems to like their job rather than being bothered if you ask for something.  Several drink services as well.
> 
> Here's another tip - if you get an Alaska Air credit card ($75 a year), you get a $99 companion fare once a year PLUS a free bag for each person booked on your itinerary.
> 
> My husband I just flew round trip from Kona to Orlando for about $720 total for BOTH of us - caught during a sale.  Not a bad deal considering that the usual fare is closer to $1000 each.



The choice for us is the destinations of the airlines.  I do like the Alaska Airlines companion ticket system better than the Hawaiian Airline System.  However, unlike your trip the Hawaiian Airlines actually give us better direct flights.  We want to fly in and out of Honolulu since that is our timeshare destination.  Hawaiian Airlines flies direct  to Honolulu out of JFK which is actually on Long Island where we live so no bridges or tunnels to cross.  Alaska Airlines flies out of Newark which is on the other side of NY City and has 2 bridges and tunnels to cross.  We flew Alaska airlines out of Newark to Honolulu once, and had to change twice in the State of Washington.  This was an American Airlines miles flight and we wanted a flight that would be within our miles budget.  We flew back using American Airlines miles on Hawaiian Airlines to JFK and had to only change in Las Vegas.  We have been Hawaiian Airlines customers since.


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## NTP66 (Dec 26, 2015)

I'd have gone the Alaska Airlines route if they had any appealing routes from PHL, but they don't. PHL is an American hub, and since I already fly American 100% of the time, opted to simply start churning Citi AAdvantage Platinum cards to basically book three tickets every other trip for free and get much better flights with fewer stops.


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## Sugarcubesea (Dec 26, 2015)

I'm looking for an airfare deal for a family of 5 for August 2016… No FF miles and I'm hoping that any of you great TUGers that are looking and see a deal from the midwest will post…

thanks everyone and happy new year


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## SMHarman (Dec 26, 2015)

Sugarcubesea said:


> I'm looking for an airfare deal for a family of 5 for August 2016… No FF miles and I'm hoping that any of you great TUGers that are looking and see a deal from the midwest will post…
> 
> thanks everyone and happy new year


Put skyscanner on your smart phone or set up alerts from your computer to email you.


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## chexchy (Dec 29, 2015)

tompalm said:


> If you can travel off season, when the kids are in school, the tickets are a lot cheaper. Last year we traveled in May for $350 round trip to Vegas from Hawaii and got free bag check with my Hawaiian Airlines credit card. I am looking at May 2016 and see prices at $400 RT. To get those rates, you need to be flexible to travel any day and hunt for tickets when those fares are available.



how do you catch the sale?  I have been browsing for april-may 2016. no luck.  sept.,2016 is too far ahead, no schedule yet.
which island is cheaper fly?  i like big island but if oahu is cheaper, we could stay in honolulu.
If I open credit card with alska air or hawaian air, would i get that free miles?
Thanks


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## NTP66 (Dec 29, 2015)

chexchy said:


> how do you catch the sale?  I have been browsing for april-may 2016. no luck.  sept.,2016 is too far ahead, no schedule yet.
> which island is cheaper fly?  i like big island but if oahu is cheaper, we could stay in honolulu.
> If I open credit card with alska air or hawaian air, would i get that free miles?
> Thanks



Most US airlines will allow you to book around 330 days in advance (it varies by carrier), and you should definitely be able to start searching for September 2016 flights, as I have been doing the same for the past month on American to OGG ($912/each from PHL as of today). I don't particularly care for the sites that alert you, and have found that they can miss lower prices. I simply setup a reminder in Outlook to check myself (using Google Flights, saving the flight itself), and log the data in an Excel spreadsheet. It comes in handy over the years because you can guestimate when you'll likely be purchasing tickets if we're talking about the same destination/time of year.


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## taterhed (Dec 29, 2015)

Check out hipmunk too....  https://www.hipmunk.com/ easy to track fares by email. Remember too: you can fly southwest on cheap changeable fare to a good gateway (if you're on the east coast) and then grab a bargain fare or companion ticket deal to the island of your choice. One nite on a hotel or two hours in an airport might make the trip much more bearable


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Tamaradarann (Dec 29, 2015)

*Southwest to another Airline to Hawaii*



taterhed said:


> Check out hipmunk too....  https://www.hipmunk.com/ easy to track fares by email. Remember too: you can fly southwest on cheap changeable fare to a good gateway (if you're on the east coast) and then grab a bargain fare or companion ticket deal to the island of your choice. One nite on a hotel or two hours in an airport might make the trip much more bearable
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk



We have been there and done that.  We have used Southwest out of Islip Airport to the West Coast and then another airline to Hawaii.  On the trip going we took a 3 day side trip to explore San Diego which worked out great.  However, the return trip thru LAX required over a 4 hour layover(we couldn't even check our bags since we were so early) and required carting a great deal of luggage around the airport.  My advice would be that if you are going to encompass side trips in between airline changes that would be a good alternative.  However, changing airlines on route can be a physical challenge, as I stated above, as well as a connection problem if the first flight is delayed.


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## kalima (Dec 29, 2015)

*Just booked my flights today from YVR, Vancouver BC Canada*

I found through Flighthub an Air Canada flight, from YVR to OGG, for $511 Cdn p/person round trip (plus taxes). This is for 24th November 2016 - 8th Dec 2016. I ended up paying a bit more though (around $561 per person) as my travel miles credit card (Manulife one credit card) couldn't get the exact deal. There are taxes on top of those figures but they are in Cdn dollars so I think that's a pretty decent deal. I have been wondering if I should switch credit cards though to Alaska Air so I can get the companion flight for $99 plus tax? Not sure if it works out better that way. I wonder how much you would have to spend on your Alaska Credit Card to get a return flight to Hawaii paid for? Trying to work it out makes my head hurt


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