Airfare Question/Help

[suzanne]

I can get flights I need from West Palm Beach, Florida using Matrix for $1055.00 per person. Flight includes PBI to HNL, week stop over in Honolulu, then HNL to KOA with 2 weeks on Big Island, then return flight from KOA to PBI. Dates are leaving Oct. 28th returning on Nov. 17th. Flights to and from are on United with flight from HNL to KOA on Hawaiian Air. Never having been to Hawaii before need help. Is this a good rate, should I take flights at this price or wait to see if fares drop some between now and Oct.? I tried different ways and this was cheapest. Tried flights to west coast then Hawaii from there. Tried round trip from PBI to HNL and getting seperate tickets to Kona. Tried leaving from different airport but adding in time, parking fees or shuttle rate was more than leaving from PBI.

Suzanne

 

[MommaBear]

I fly to Hawaii from Maine and with the multi-city stops it is about the same price as you are finding, so that seems like a reasonable price. You said you looked at different airports but the added fees made it more expensive. You could also try www.farecompare.com as they can tell you what prices have been for the last 12 months. I know there are sales sometimes and there was a recent thread on TUG that airfares are cheapest 6 weeks before a flight, however I think right now with the rapidly rising price of fuel that buying now would be cheaper than buying later.

 

[tompalm]

October is the cheap time to fly, or off season rates and you should be able to get fares from Orlando, or Fort Lauderdale to HNL round trip at $750. But, you still need to buy tickets to the big island out of HNL, so add another $150 and $900 would be about the best price I have seen. That deal might not exist right now and you would have to shop and wait until the right time to get it, and that is if it comes around next year, like it has in the past. So, it depends if you want that route and if you are willing to wait for a lower fare. I would take the bird in the hand, the rate you asked about and better routes, especially if you already have the timeshare lined up.

I fly these routes every couple years and that is about as good as it gets. By the way, I am from Lake Clark Shores, in the WPB area.

 

[suzanne]

Thanks for the input. We just relocated from Pompano Beach in Broward to Greenacres in WPB.

Suzanne

 

[AKE]

That is an OK rate but not a great rate. We have been flying to Hawaii for 20+ years from Ottawa, Canada (2 hours west of Montreal, Canada)and have paid anything from $400 (yes that was after NorthWest was on strike and they had some crazy fares) to $1200 at Xmas. I think that we have used almost every airline. October is low season and fares usually run in the $800-$900 range. This past February we paid $700 in high season with Air Canada and we booked this fare in late Decemberb(6 weeks out). My experience is that if you are flying in high season then you need to book at least 5 months out but if you are willing to take a risk then waiting can pay off. For our flight this past February the fares initially were quite high so I waited... but I also had a number of other options such as various airline points which I could have used if needed.

 

[tompalm]

I forgot to say that WPB has never provided the lowest price to Hawaii. I always find that from Fort Lauderdale or Orlando and once out of Jacksonville. But, if you are getting the price above from WPB, it is pretty good. It is all about supply, demand and competition, and WPB does not have as many flights to the west coast as the others.

 

[Chilcotin]

I have found this website helpful in the past:

www.fly.com

 

[suzanne]

Thanks everyone for all your help. If I use Kayak site flight is $1133. each round trip if I use Orbitz the same flight is $1052. each. These rates include all taxes and fees. Lot of folks seem to use Kayak, but I don't see much mention of Orbitz. Are they reliable to buy tickets from? I want to go ahead and buy the tickets from Orbitz at this price. Don't think there is going to be drop in rates due to high fuel costs. When I went to the United site thru Kayak I get message that said flights are not available. If I buy thru Orbitz are the flights really there? Why would they have them and United doesn't?
Color me confused...

Suzanne

 

[Luanne]

If I buy thru Orbitz are the flights really there? Why would they have them and United doesn't?
Color me confused...

Suzanne

Sometimes what will happen is you will try to purchase through Orbitz and find that the flights aren't there either.

 

[tompalm]

I get emails from TripAdvisor a few times each week and watch Fort Lauderdale because my sister is in Boyton Beach and was planning a trip out here. But, it shows the lowest rate continues to be about $700 to HNL. The cost of interisland flying has gone up and if someone plans a trip to Hawaii every couple years, it might be better to take a trip to the big island on one trip and then HNL the next and catch flights from the west coast to that island to avoid the interisland flights.


Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Honolulu, HI
$694 Best price*


Lowest Price*
Average Price
April
$694
$1018
May
$698
$779
June
$883
$1018
July
$714
$1046
August
$979
$979

 

[LisaRex]

Don't forget to price out flying into one island and flying out of another! You can save at least one island hopper flight by doing this.

 

[suzanne]

Thanks Lisa, we are flying into Honolulu and out of the Big Island.

Suzanne