Aaargh! For The First Time In Years I Can't Find A Decent Fare To Hawaii!

[Hoc]

I have family in Hawaii, and normally I go 2-3 times a year. I can usually find a fare around $280, all in, on AA (where I always get upgraded to First Class) if I am patient and willing to wait awhile.

But this year, with airfares to most places dropping like a rock, and with Hawaii suffering from lack of tourism, I can't find a single fare at or near my dates (leave around 7/21, return around 8/4) under $485 (to HNL, or $515 to KOA), all in. I can't believe that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay this outrageous rate if I want to use my Bay Club Waikoloa exchange!!

Grrr!!!

 

[UWSurfer]

I'm doing a three hop in February/March..LAX --> OGG --> LIH --> SFO/LAX.

Originally it was ns to LA back from LIH, but United changed their sched and routed me through SFO coming back on similar time frame.

I paid $603 for this a month or so back, rates dropped by $100 for about three days and then went back to this rate and continued to increase. Flights are now in the $660 - $725 range for this route at that time of year and change frequently.

 

[Timeshare Von]

When I started looking for KOA for April2010, they were running $850-ish. They have been $950 to $1,100 over the past couple of weeks

I sure hope they drop before I have to bite the bullet too!

 

[ricoba]

Hoc,

I know you have always been successful at getting good rates to HI, but are you saying you previously got to HI for $280 for a mid summer rate?

We are going in two weeks to Honolulu and the best we could get was $335, the lowest I saw was $325, but I missed that. Now, I don't get to HI more than once a year, but I don't ever remember getting under $300.

 

[DeniseM]

Did you check Alaskan Air? They are having a fare sale.

 

[Hoc]

Hoc,

I know you have always been successful at getting good rates to HI, but are you saying you previously got to HI for $280 for a mid summer rate?

Yeah, pretty consistently around $280 or so for the summer or over Christmas, a bit lower at other times. A lot of airlines are having sales at about $214, $240 all in for August through December, but nothing for July.

 

[Hoc]

Did you check Alaskan Air? They are having a fare sale.

Yes. They are $662.

 

[KauaiMark]

Same here...

I have family in Hawaii, and normally I go 2-3 times a year. I can usually find a fare around $280, all in, on AA (where I always get upgraded to First Class) if I am patient and willing to wait awhile.
Grrr!!!

I still have a little time yet as we're looking for late Sept to Kauai. Right now the fares are at the $500/RT level from the SF Bay Area. I was hoping for sub-$400 but not seeing it as yet.

 

[ricoba]

Yeah, pretty consistently around $280 or so for the summer or over Christmas, a bit lower at other times. A lot of airlines are having sales at about $214, $240 all in for August through December, but nothing for July.

Wow! :whoopie:

Good thing I don't find these fares, I might by forced to go to Hawaii more often!

 

[Patri]

Can't really feel sympathy for you. We on the east coast pay at least twice what you do and have such long flights. Makes stepping off the plane so much more of a pleasure.

 

[Hoc]

We on the east coast pay at least twice what you do and have such long flights.

Yeah, but you guys get to Europe much cheaper.

 

[Luanne]

Yeah, but you guys get to Europe much cheaper.

Cheaper, and faster.

 

[Hoc]

Cheaper, and faster.

The "faster" part doesn't bug me anymore. In fact, I tend to look for longer flights now that they have flat beds in Business class. Anything less than an 11-hour flight, and I don't get a decent sleep (about 3 hours to eat dinner, watch a movie, and settle in for the night). When the seats merely reclined a bit, I didn't sleep much, and I looked for a flight with a stopover so that I could stretch my legs and walk a bit. Now, I sleep through the flight and wake up in Europe. But it still costs around $500 for that from here.

 

[Hoc]

OK, so this sucks, but about the best I'm going to do is $479 for the round trip to HNL (with an upgrade), plus 45,000 miles for a companion coach seat (yeah, I'll ride in coach and let her take the First Class seat, even though she's much smaller than me). Then another $176 for the two of us round trip from HNL to KOA via Mokulele Air. Found a deal on the car rental at $200 a week for each island. So, total cost of air and car will be $1,055 plus 45,000 miles, with lodging covered. That plus meals, which shouldn't be too much more than it costs for us here, and then the dogs' lodging for about $560.

I guess that's not too bad for a 2-week vacation in Hawaii, but it's more than I'm used to paying, and in this economy, where I'm watching every cent spent, it hurts to pay more than usual for a trip.

 

[ronandjoan]

what are the dates you are going?

I think we have to wait until 331 days out to book still? We are looking for summer 2010.

 

[DonM]

I have family in Hawaii, and normally I go 2-3 times a year. I can usually find a fare around $280, all in, on AA (where I always get upgraded to First Class) if I am patient and willing to wait awhile.

But this year, with airfares to most places dropping like a rock, and with Hawaii suffering from lack of tourism, I can't find a single fare at or near my dates (leave around 7/21, return around 8/4) under $485 (to HNL, or $515 to KOA), all in. I can't believe that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay this outrageous rate if I want to use my Bay Club Waikoloa exchange!!

Grrr!!!

Isn't this late to look for a bargain? I booked my flight to HNL from Newark in April and got great prices- under $500 which I don't think I ever got before.

 

[BocaBum99]

Yeah, pretty consistently around $280 or so for the summer or over Christmas, a bit lower at other times. A lot of airlines are having sales at about $214, $240 all in for August through December, but nothing for July.

So Hoc, please explain something to me. Today, you posted the above which states that you are pretty consistently able to get airfare to Hawaii over Christmas for around $280 or so.....

But, on January 7, 2008, you started a thread entitled: "Do you love the New RCI Points Enhancements" where you said:

I just got an email from RCI points that they have "enhanced" their points partners program, so that RCI points are now worth roughly half what they were before.

They have changed it so that, instead of being able to redeem your points directly for points partners, you now get only a fixed discount against the price of the points partners items.

As an example, last year I was able to redeem 70,000 of my points for a round trip flight to Hawaii in peak season, normally priced at $1,200. Now, under the "enhancements," I get only a credit for $600 for the same number of points. Thus, the flight that I got for my points, plus a $149 service fee, will now cost the same number of points, plus the same fee, plus $600.

Really irritating.

If you typically pay around $280 for airfare during peak season (summer and Christmas are peak season to Hawaii), then wouldn't the RCI changes they made back in January 2008 actually work in your favor if you applied the discount to an airfare of $280? Shouldn't you have praised the changes rather than pan them?

Based on your post of today, it seems that your example was an extreme outlier to your very own travel habits. So, on balance, the RCI Points changes at that time actually worked to your advantage. Yet, you positioned it as something that "irritated" you. Why did you do that? Was it simply to make RCI look bad even though the full context proves that you could have actually benefited greatly from it?

 

[Hoc]

So Hoc, please explain something to me. Today, you posted the above which states that you are pretty consistently able to get airfare to Hawaii over Christmas for around $280 or so.....

RCI Points is one of the ways that I used to be able to get airfare over Christmas for $280 or so. I normally paid around $360 for enough points for about one and a half round trips to Hawaii in peak season, thus costing me an average of roughly $280 per trip. In fact, had RCI points still had the old structure, I would have used them for this ticket. I normally use every weapon in my arsenal to get a good deal on airfare.

Edit: In fact, in the past, I've used Priceline, Hotwire, free companion tickets, miles/points, coupons, advance purchase deals, fare mistakes, package purchases, "dump the dump" strategies, the Pleasant Holidays Airpass, consolidator tickets, and just jumping on a great fare when I see it. But none of those are working this time.

 

[Hoc]

Isn't this late to look for a bargain? I booked my flight to HNL from Newark in April and got great prices- under $500 which I don't think I ever got before.

I've been following prices since about last month, when I got my exchange. I haven't had trouble in the past finding some way to get a good price, but I never really time when I start my search.

 

[Icarus]

Yeah, pretty consistently around $280 or so for the summer or over Christmas, a bit lower at other times. A lot of airlines are having sales at about $214, $240 all in for August through December, but nothing for July.

hahaha, you have been extremely lucky if that's r/t fare. I haven't seen a $280 r/t fare to the outer islands since the 90s.

Tourism isn't exactly all that slow here now. At least it doesn't appear to be as bad as it was 4 - 6 months ago. What's still slow, I think, are the conventioneers.

I read on FT that united had some e-fares listed this week to Hawaii, and they were $700. Ridiculous for an e-fare. (sale fare for this or next week, highly restricted).

-David

 

[Hoc]

hahaha, you have been extremely lucky if that's r/t fare. I haven't seen a $280 r/t fare to the outer islands since the 90s.

It's a lot more expensive coming from Hawaii. My brother can't find a fare under $700 from HNL to LAX.

BTW, I usually get my fares to HNL, and then plan on taking a local airline to the outer islands, since I usually can do it for under $100 r/t, or else use miles.

 

[sailingman22]

I believe that waiting until the last minute to book an airfare usually costs more money and sleepless nignts than planning months ahead. There are excellent airfare deals to Honolulu from LAX even today depending on the dates chosen. www.travelocity.com

Continental Airlines starts at $214.00 & taxes
Northwest Airlines starts at $234.00 & taxes

I was able to find a fare for August 17th - August 31st for Total USD $246.70 on NWA. A flight on July 23rd - August 19 for Total USD $246.70 was available then was sold out after checking back 30 minutes later. More expensive fares are still available but still cheaper than the $500.00 - $600.00 range. Good luck.

 

[thheath]

I have family in Hawaii, and normally I go 2-3 times a year. I can usually find a fare around $280, all in, on AA (where I always get upgraded to First Class) if I am patient and willing to wait awhile.

But this year, with airfares to most places dropping like a rock, and with Hawaii suffering from lack of tourism, I can't find a single fare at or near my dates (leave around 7/21, return around 8/4) under $485 (to HNL, or $515 to KOA), all in. I can't believe that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay this outrageous rate if I want to use my Bay Club Waikoloa exchange!!

Grrr!!!

$485 and $515 R/T is still not a bad price, especially if you can fly your prefered airlines and get upgraded.

 

[thheath]

I'm doing a three hop in February/March..LAX --> OGG --> LIH --> SFO/LAX.

Originally it was ns to LA back from LIH, but United changed their sched and routed me through SFO coming back on similar time frame.

I paid $603 for this a month or so back, rates dropped by $100 for about three days and then went back to this rate and continued to increase. Flights are now in the $660 - $725 range for this route at that time of year and change frequently.

US Air, Alaska and Delta now fly direct from the mainland to Lihue on Kauai, you might check them out too.

 

[sailingman22]

This was just received as an email update from Alaska Air.

"Escape to Hawaii!
From only $169+ one-way
Picture yourself on a tropical beach in sunny Hawaii. Getting there is easy with nonstop flights from major U.S. cities to Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island on Alaska Airlines. Fly for as low as $169+ one-way when you book on Expedia. Don't miss out—sale ends soon! Terms and conditions

Book by June 17; travel July 3–October 31, 2009."

Check fares through Expedia. Also read the Terms and Conditions for blackout dates.