# These airfares are killing me



## chalucky (Feb 2, 2011)

First time flying to HNL where I haven't been able to snag a reasonable airfare from LAX....gong mid April (8-16) and the fares have been consistently in the high 600's. Never seen the airlines acting with such resolve on prices before. I am getting 4 tix and am dying here....anyone waiting for a sale with me?


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## Cathyb (Feb 2, 2011)

We're finding $900pp for Christmas week to Kauai.  You might look up Hawaiian Airlines, they seem to be a 'little' cheaper.


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## Cathyb (Feb 2, 2011)

Check out Hawaiian Airline -- they are a 'little' cheaper.


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## GPLACERS (Feb 2, 2011)

Last sale I saw out of LAX was like around beginning of December when Hawaiian Air had HNL for $325 or something and IFLYGO had $29 each way inner-island special at the same time and I was at Bay club on 12/7 and fortunate they had internet so I grabbed a ticket for 3/25-3/30 LAX to HNL to Molokai.  I am still waiting for another sale, Bay Club 4/21 keeps popping up on RCI...


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## yeereid (Feb 2, 2011)

You need to go to www.yapta.com and track all of the flights you are interested in.  I did this for Kauai (the week before you go) and grabbed flights much less than the $900+ that they are going for now.


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## MichaelColey (Feb 2, 2011)

With the high price of fuel and a focus on profitability (AA was the only major airline that wasn't profitable last year), good airfare deals are a bit more scarce right now.

I have used FareCompare for fare alerts. I'll have to check out Yapta.


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## debraxh (Feb 2, 2011)

Does Alaska Air fly from LA?  I was able to get very reasonable rates from Oakland to Kona for the same week (but we travel Sun-Sun) through them.


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## bobcat (Feb 3, 2011)

debraxh said:


> Does Alaska Air fly from LA?  I was able to get very reasonable rates from Oakland to Kona for the same week (but we travel Sun-Sun) through them.



Rates are high now. Looks like they go up every day. You should see the rates  for car rentals.With gas looking at $4, will go higher yet. Summer months are high. Less planes,high gas, fees and taxes all add up. We can drive to our Timeshares. This year,we had extra weeks banked and are flying. Going to Vegas in March and Texas in June. Traded into great resorts. If you wait to book ,will rates go up or down. That is the chance you take.


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## falmouth3 (Feb 3, 2011)

I've been watching flights from Boston to Phoenix for my brother's wedding in May.  I got a free trip for DH using FF miles on US Airways.  I have $400 in vouchers on United and I can book the same flights on the United site.  However, the airfare went from under $400 to $678 (plus taxes) for the same flights.  So instead of taking the direct flight, I may decide to go on United's flights with a connection to use my vouchers, or just bite the bullet and fly with DH on US Airways.  The fares are a couple of hundred dollars cheaper on the US Airways flights.  

I'll wait another couple of months before I pull the trigger.


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## gnipgnop (Feb 3, 2011)

I have been watching Hawaiian Air for 3 month  LAS to LIH hoping for price to drop.  Instead they went up by $10.00 per ticket.  All of our plans were already made in Hawaii,  so I had to bite the bullet and bought.  $902.00 each  YUCK!  When is this ever going to stop?


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## mayson12 (Feb 3, 2011)

You can also try Pleasant Holidays with air/car.  Sometimes the prices aren't much better, but they include the car rental.  

What about naming your own airfare on Priceline?  My sister did that last year for LAX to Kauai and she got a great deal on nonstop flights on United.  She paid about $200 less than we could find elsewhere.  You can choose whether to include red-eye flights in your search or not.


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## Kauai Kid (Feb 3, 2011)

Alaska airlines has cheap fares from Austin Texas.

Leave Austin in the afternoon.  Spend the night, all night, in Seattle, leave for Hawaii the next day and arrive around 5pm. 

Sterling


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## JanB (Feb 4, 2011)

*Airfares out of sight!*

We are currently on the Big Island and our son and family flew in on Tuesday to Kauai for a week.  Thought we'd just "pop" over for the day to hang out at the pool with them.....YEAH, RIGHT!  Gone are the $39, $49, $59 each way fares.  It would have cost over $500 for the two of us....NOT!  And, our other son would like to use our week before Easter in April on the Big Island.  But, fares for that week are at $800/pp and this is from the west coast - Sacramento.  Oakland/San Francisco are not much better.  UGH!!!



Kauai Kid said:


> Alaska airlines has cheap fares from Austin Texas.
> 
> Leave Austin in the afternoon.  Spend the night, all night, in Seattle, leave for Hawaii the next day and arrive around 5pm.
> 
> Sterling


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## GregT (Feb 6, 2011)

Airfares are indeed brutal -- however, there was some speculation on the FlyerTalk board that Southwest was preparing to announce service to Hawaii starting sometime in 2012.   It won't help immediately, but at least there may be some long term help on the way.

Tough stuff -- I'll see if I can find the thread.

Good luck all,

Greg


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## helen (Feb 6, 2011)

*Southwest Hawaii News Link*

I found this link through google.  There are other links through google, as well.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=13688782


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## camachinist (Feb 6, 2011)

Most of my historical travel to Hawaii has been on miles, as, generally, the fare structures support a good burn rate on miles. I'm seeing some mid-week fares in the 400's out of LAX, either direct or routing through SFO, but IMO Friday and Saturday are going to remain difficult, save for a spot sale. Capacity is down and the economy is improving, skewing things to the demand side (more demand than supply), causing pricing adjustments to balance. For some people, the date range is spring break/easter, so more demand. I did see a lot of the lowest fares having no advance purchase requirement, which says something, IMO that the airlines aren't substantially discounting for advance purchase at this time. They don't need our money that bad LOL. 

There might be some mixed mileage/revenue/cabin/carrier strategies available, depending on the OP's specifics. IME, being flexible is the clearest path to success. Good luck


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## isisdave (Feb 7, 2011)

helen said:


> I found this link through google.  There are other links through google, as well.
> 
> http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=13688782



Wow ... at first glimpse this looked like "Hawaii New Snow" ... I know we've been having some weird weather nationwide, but ....


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## jmatias (Feb 7, 2011)

We are having a hard time too.....finding decent fares to get off of this rock 

Normal summer travel plans is a family trip to Orlando.  Last year prices were about $550 - $600.  Right now its in the high $800 to $900 range!!!!


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## Smiff (Feb 9, 2011)

*Hawaii Air Fares*

Travel Zoo has a new offer RT from LA to Honolulu with a hotel and rental car for five days fro $539. Maui it's a bit more.


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## hotcoffee (Feb 9, 2011)

chalucky said:


> First time flying to HNL where I haven't been able to snag a reasonable airfare from LAX....gong mid April (8-16) and the fares have been consistently in the high 600's. Never seen the airlines acting with such resolve on prices before. I am getting 4 tix and am dying here....anyone waiting for a sale with me?



Yikes!  I wish it were possible to get anything close to that cheap from the east coast.  If we could, we would be going to Hawaii a lot more than we do.

The cost of oil is predicted to continue to rise.  So, you might be seeing the cheapest airfares they are likely to be.  The U.S. now imports about 90% of our oil (based upon the latest figures I have seen).  That percentage is likely to increase.  So, now with China importing a growing amount of oil, things are probably going to get worse as time goes by.  So, I would be surprised if airfares dropped this spring and summer.


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## ada903 (Feb 9, 2011)

I have been watching tickets for a friend for April 23-30 LAX-OGG and the airfares are completely out of line with historical fares.  You can check out historical fares at expedia trend tracker:

http://www.expedia.com/daily/trend_tracker/default.asp


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## CapriciousC (Feb 9, 2011)

Airfares in general seem to be through the roof lately.  We're headed to Maui and Kauai in late May, and my husband checked five or six different airports as departure points, and still couldn't get the airfare below $1000 from the east coast.  

I don't think it's just Hawaii, though.  The last few times I've flown to Phoenix from Savannah (which does tend to have higher fares because it's a smaller airport), the tickets have been at least $700.  Thank heaven my employer is paying for those....

A number of people that I work with go to Atlanta regularly for meetings.  The average airfare from Savannah to Atlanta is around $300.  It's an hour long flight.  You could drive there in four hours.  Management is now encouraging people to drive out the day before and stay in a hotel and then drive back the next day, even for an hour long meeting, because it's still cheaper than paying the airfare.  Madness.


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## easyrider (Feb 9, 2011)

Geezy Peezy........ I just started looking at trying to buy air for 6 of us using Alaska Air companion tickets arround xmas break and its about 4k. Hawaiian Air is way more. 

Should a person book now ?


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## ada903 (Feb 9, 2011)

I booked Xmas trips on Alaska to Puerto Vallarta as soon as the tickets went on sale.  I got tickets for about $450 round trip from the West Coast.  If I wait a little longer the fares will go to $700-$800 and stay there.  For Xmas you want to book as soon as they start selling them.  Xmas, New Year, spring break and Thanksgiving rarely get cheaper than when they first go on sale.


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## Darwin (Feb 10, 2011)

Looking at FAR to OGG for Christmas for us is $1,300.00 each.


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## Passepartout (Feb 10, 2011)

We were able to fly to SEA on Southwest credits, and on to OGG for under 400 each(HA). Coming back it required an overnight in Seattle, but that was OK too. I'm not above using more than one airline if it saves $$.

Jim Ricks


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## LAX Mom (Feb 12, 2011)

I've been checking fares to Hawaii for March & April. They are $200-300 more than in the past. I guess now the economy is picking up there is more demand for the seats to Hawaii. This makes if very expensive to take a family on a vacation in Hawaii. I'm amazed at the prices some of you have posted!


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## timeos2 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Why ownership that requires public transportation is a bad idea*

The requirement of airfare to utilize ownership as well as skyrocketing annual fees are major factors in the bottom falling out of resale value in Hawaii. The same issues with annual fees exist virtually everywhere but those areas such as Hawaii that absolutely require pricey transportation serve as yet another problem for resale/ownership.  Often great places to visit but terrible to own.  Even those that plan to use it and have multiple weeks to get the best value from transportation costs are having second thoughts about the viability of ownership today.  

Great standing advice from years of TUG posts. Buy to use. Buy at a place you can, if needed, drive to.  Depending on public transportation to simply have access to your ownership  puts yet another wild card of cost and risk into a mix that doesn't need anymore negatives.  Hard to recommend any ownership in remote areas given the uncertainties required transportation adds.  Best to rent / trade into these areas for sure.


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## vacationhopeful (Feb 13, 2011)

LAX Mom said:


> I've been checking fares to Hawaii for March & April. They are $200-300 more than in the past. I guess now the economy is picking up there is more demand for the seats to Hawaii. This makes if very expensive to take a family on a vacation in Hawaii. I'm amazed at the prices some of you have posted!



More likely capacity has been reduced. Planes that flew non-stop are now stopping at 1 or 2 cities. Fewer flights; longer flight days; more chance of missing connections.

SWA (yes, I know doesn't fly to Hawaii) eliminated all cross-country nonstops a year or more ago. I can't fly SWA to MKE from PHL; but I can from BWI or FLL. Cheaper to fly from FLL to MKE than to get 2 separate flights to MKE from PHL--- I have a memorial service to attend in MKE in early April.


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## bogey21 (Feb 13, 2011)

*I know my answer to airfares is different.  Note I am single thus my way of handling the situation affects no one else.

What I do is decide how much I am willing to pay for the airline ticket.  If I get it, I fly.  If I can't get it, I just go someplace else that I can get to much cheaper.  Yes,  I eat my MF (all are in the $400 - $500 range) and miss out on using my unit.  On the other hand, I don't waste my money on a rediculous airfare.

I've only blown off two trips in approximately 15 years and both times was glad I did.  In both cases I let a friend use my Week.

George*


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## Kauai Kid (Feb 13, 2011)

Oil Guru Chas Maxwell of Weeden & Company is forecasting the following princes for West Texas crude.  He has been forecasting since 1957.

2011  $85
2012  $95/barrel
2013  $115 translates to about $4.00/gallon for gasoline
2014  $140
2015  $180
2020  $300   

One time I asked the Captain how many miles per gallon the aircraft got.  He didn't know but said it burned 10,000 lbs of fuel an hour.

Sounds like I better go and stay permanently in Hawaii.:whoopie: 

If Weeden is right I bet airfares keep going up. 

Sterling


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## ricoba (Feb 13, 2011)

timeos2 said:


> The requirement of airfare to utilize ownership as well as skyrocketing annual fees are major factors in the bottom falling out of resale value in Hawaii. The same issues with annual fees exist virtually everywhere but those areas such as Hawaii that absolutely require pricey transportation serve as yet another problem for resale/ownership.  Often great places to visit but terrible to own.  Even those that plan to use it and have multiple weeks to get the best value from transportation costs are having second thoughts about the viability of ownership today.
> 
> Great standing advice from years of TUG posts. Buy to use. Buy at a place you can, if needed, drive to.  Depending on public transportation to simply have access to your ownership  puts yet another wild card of cost and risk into a mix that doesn't need anymore negatives.  Hard to recommend any ownership in remote areas given the uncertainties required transportation adds.  Best to rent / trade into these areas for sure.





Kauai Kid said:


> Oil Guru Chas Maxwell of Weeden & Company is forecasting the following princes for West Texas crude.  He has been forecasting since 1957.
> 
> 2011  $85
> 2012  $95/barrel
> ...



I think both of these posts dovetail well with each other.

On our last trip to Hawaii in 09, we paid about $350pp to go from LAX to Honolulu in early summer.  

I just checked a fare to Maui for my wife for late mid-summer this coming year and the lowest is $740pp.

With gas prices on the incline for now and probably into the future, a "drive to" (as John points out) vacation while maybe not as exotic as a Hawaii vacation is far more practical and not as costly.  

On the other hand, I do like Sterlings, live in Hawaii option much more!


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## CapriciousC (Feb 15, 2011)

Kauai Kid said:


> One time I asked the Captain how many miles per gallon the aircraft got.  He didn't know but said it burned 10,000 lbs of fuel an hour.
> 
> Sounds like I better go and stay permanently in Hawaii.:whoopie:
> 
> ...



I worked for Boeing for 12 years, and I quickly learned that there are three things the airlines really care about when it comes to their airplanes:

1) Maximizing fuel economy
2) Getting as many belly buttons as possible in the passenger cabin
3) Equipment reliability

Basically, they want to move as many butts as possible for the least amount of fuel cost, and with the least amount of time spent on the ground for maintenance.  

As fuel costs go up, airfares will undoubtedly follow.  The problem for the leisure traveler is that unless the economy really tanks, the airlines will still get business travelers, so as airfares go up, demand doesn't necessarily decline to the degree that you would expect.


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## chalucky (Feb 20, 2011)

as the OP on this thread I thought I would post I just booked four tix to Oahu on Hawaiian for 470 RT .....kudos to kayak.com for their automatic notification of a price drop...other airlines HAVE NOT matched at this point...all others ~ 730 for same dates so they don't have a shot at getting my business.


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## MuranoJo (Feb 20, 2011)

Congrats!  That's a great price these days.


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## jlr10 (Feb 21, 2011)

We have found that sometimes you have to be creative.  We live in San Diego and have found it cheaper to catch an early flight to another city, usually San Francisco or Oakland and then fly to the Kauai on a direct flight. -Interestingly enough my friend who joined me last year lives in the bay area.  She drove to San Francisco and I flew there and we them met at the airport for the flight to Lihue.  My ticket from San Diego to Lihue and back was less expensive than her's from  San Francisco and back.  That has nothing to do with the price of oil!

For our next trip we are flying to Maui and then hopping to Lihue.  We tried to book it continuously but found that by booking round trip to Maui, and then booking round trip to Lihue was cheaper, and as a bonus we miss Honolulu airport. We got round trip for about $550.  These same flights are now $650-$690.

We also signed up for the usual suspects in Airlines, Hawaiian, United, and Alaskan who gave fare updates., which allowed us to find the $350 round trip to Maui fares.  Sometimes the trips to the islands will drop nearer the dates (depending on the season) but the inner island airfares get higher or are booked.  It is all a statagy game!


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## LAX90210 (Feb 22, 2011)

Kauai Kid said:


> Oil Guru Chas Maxwell of Weeden & Company is forecasting the following princes for West Texas crude.  He has been forecasting since 1957.
> 
> 2011  $85
> 2012  $95/barrel
> ...



Did he take into account alternative energy with higher oil prices?  Sustained $140 starts bringing online greener energy, and I can guarantee you that at $300/barrel, many people will be driving vehicles powered by anything other than oil.

Last time I heard Boone Pickens('Pickens Plan') on TV, he said natgas for cars equates to somewhere under $2.00/gallon.

Not that hard or expensive(especially if volume ramps up) to switch cars over from gasoline to natgas.


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## LisaRex (Feb 23, 2011)

LAX90210 said:


> Did he take into account alternative energy with higher oil prices?  Sustained $140 starts bringing online greener energy, and I can guarantee you that at $300/barrel, many people will be driving vehicles powered by anything other than oil.



Absolutely agree.  OPEC is not stupid enough to let oil prices remain high for a sustained amount of time because they'd ultimately be cutting their own throat.  Conversion to natural gas will be time-consuming and tedious, and that is one of the major reasons we haven't converted already.  But if oil goes high enough, to natural gas (or another alternative energey) we will go.  

OPEC will allow oil prices to peak, but don't think for one minute that these seasoned businessmen will provide the impetus their biggest customer needs to do business elsewhere.


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## bobcat (Feb 23, 2011)

LisaRex said:


> Absolutely agree.  OPEC is not stupid enough to let oil prices remain high for a sustained amount of time because they'd ultimately be cutting their own throat.  Conversion to natural gas will be time-consuming and tedious, and that is one of the major reasons we haven't converted already.  But if oil goes high enough, to natural gas (or another alternative energey) we will go.
> 
> OPEC will allow oil prices to peak, but don't think for one minute that these seasoned businessmen will provide the impetus their biggest customer needs to do business elsewhere.



Oil hit 99 so far today. Airlines say they will raise fares. For people who will travel by plane, it looks like cheap fares are gone. Each day I see them go higher. Glad I purchased our tickets when they were low. Good luck.


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## ArthurN (Feb 23, 2011)

It appears that airlines are also waiting longer before putting there fares on sale.  Just got a notice from airfarewatchdog that DEN to HNL is now $538 RT direct flight....when just a few weeks ago the same trip was $849.  Now I'm just waiting on the summer fare sale.


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## LisaRex (Feb 23, 2011)

bobcat said:


> Oil hit 99 so far today. Airlines say they will raise fares. For people who will travel by plane, it looks like cheap fares are gone. Each day I see them go higher. Glad I purchased our tickets when they were low. Good luck.



Of course oil will go higher (and higher) in the short term.  But sky high prices cannot be sustained for very long or Americans will put pressure on their politicians to more quickly develop an alternative, domestically-available alternative.


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## hotcoffee (Feb 23, 2011)

LisaRex said:


> Of course oil will go higher (and higher) in the short term.  But sky high prices cannot be sustained for very long or Americans will put pressure on their politicians to more quickly develop an alternative, domestically-available alternative.



Oil prices are going up regardless of what the U.S. does or does not do regarding alternative energy sources.  China is importing huge amounts of oil and is predicted to continue to increase its imports.  Developing countries continue to increase their imports. U.S. imports have reached 90% versus domestic production.  It will be a long time before the U.S. can significantly reduce its dependence on foreign oil.  This can only mean that airfares will likely trend upward.  I understand that airlines want to fill seats that might go unfilled without special pricing, but I think we can count on an upward trend in prices for the foreseeable future.


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## bobcat (Feb 24, 2011)

LisaRex said:


> Of course oil will go higher (and higher) in the short term.  But sky high prices cannot be sustained for very long or Americans will put pressure on their politicians to more quickly develop an alternative, domestically-available alternative.



Good luck with this one. Look how are vets are being treated. Pressure has been put on politicians and what happens.


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## tmcasey (Feb 28, 2011)

*Alaska West Coast to Hawaii Sale*

Alaska Airlines just announced a sale from West Coast cities to Hawaii -- for example one way San Jose to Maui is $189 - must travel by end of June.

http://www.alaskaair.com/as/www2/promo/farepromos/hawaii-sale.asp?INT=AS_AllDeals_||20110227_SALE||

Happy travels
Tami


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## falmouth3 (Mar 1, 2011)

The flights I've been looking at from Boston to Phoenix on the United site have been priced all over the map.  I'm glad I've been checking daily lately.  The direct flight, which is actually US Airways is about $700 RT.  There was a route on United/Continental that was priced at $308 before taxes.  Last Thursday I saw those flights were down to $176 but I didn't book because I was in a hotel in Europe and I didn't have my "internet" credit card with me.  I checked again on Sat. and they were down to $156 before taxes.  Today they are back up to $308.  Go figure!  But I did get the least expensive price I've seen in the 6 months I've been checking.


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