Crazy planning for airfare to Hawaii

[artringwald]

So we're planning a trip to Hawaii in August with a one night stopover on the west coast each way. Trying to figure out the best airfare has been crazy. The good news is that with COVID, most airlines will let you cancel, either with a refund to your credit card, or credit toward a future purchase. Finding the least expensive route while using loyalty points has been quite the challenge to my aging brain. As better prices show up, I cancel and rebook. I ended up booking 5 one way trips: MSP -> SEA, SEA -> OGG, OGG -> LIH, LIH -> SAN, SAN -> MSP. The last set of cancellations/rebooking was because Hawaiian Airlines just added non-stop from Seattle to Maui, on a plane with laydown seats in first class. People headed to Hawaii on one of those flights are some of the happiest travelers we've ever encountered. Everybody is in a good mood. We'll be in ever a better mood if Hawaii comes up with a vaccination passport to bypass quarantine and testing.

 

[bnoble]

I'm starting to book August flights as well, but just getting started and haven't seen the constant shifting yet.

 

[Mcjohan]

I just read Alaska Airlines decided to permanently cut all flights between Oakland and Hawaii. Now we have to find a different airline/loyalty card or fly out of a different airport (Oakland is the closest to us).

 

[Luanne]

I just read Alaska Airlines decided to permanently cut all flights between Oakland and Hawaii. Now we have to find a different airline/loyalty card or fly out of a different airport (Oakland is the closest to us).

Good to know. We flew Alaska Airlines from Oakland to Maui a couple of times. But in the last year or so their schedules were kind of strange. Plus we could fly United using dh's miles. I cancelled my Alaska Airlines credit cards so I no longer have those benefits.

 

[Jodyv]

Are you checking with Google.com/flights? You can even look at multi-city flights by replacing the roundtrip search with a multicity search. Don't know how long you want to stay, but it might give you some good choices.....I also check Momondo, but of course, always book with the airline. If you have to cancel and reschedule, they are easiest to deal with.

 

[travelove]

we are flying from west coast and paid $400 roundtrip Sacramento to OGG on Hawaii airline and because I used Hawaii CC, we had $100 discount roundtrip so came to $350 person. It's in main cabin, not business. Hawaii airline is very expensive to fly by first class, unfortunately. we love Hawaii airline and always fly by it. Feel on vacation as soon as you get on the plane. Good luck. we are going in May.

 

[dsmrp]

We're planning an August trip too with credited air fares from last year. DH and I on Alaska, DD&DSIL on Delta. Fares are about comparable and high, approx $700-770 range, from West Coast! I think demand is there, plus optimism on getting vaccinated by summer.

 

[artringwald]

Hawaii airline is very expensive to fly by first class

One way SEA to OGG was $1,318 for two first class tickets, but with the Chase points I had, it brought it down to $477.

 

[travelove]

One way SEA to OGG was $1,318 for two first class tickets, but with the Chase points I had, it brought it down to $477.

oh wow, that's awesome. I really wish to fly by first class.

 

[artringwald]

oh wow, that's awesome. I really wish to fly by first class.

The Chase Sapphire points can pile up quickly. It's 3x if you use the card for travel, and timeshare fees count as travel. If you use the points for booking travel, you get a 50% bonus in their value. Right now they're offering up to 50,000 points bonus for signing up.

 

[critterchick]

Are you checking with Google.com/flights? You can even look at multi-city flights by replacing the roundtrip search with a multicity search. Don't know how long you want to stay, but it might give you some good choices.....I also check Momondo, but of course, always book with the airline. If you have to cancel and reschedule, they are easiest to deal with.

I love Google Flights. I use them to buy my tickets and then set up alerts so that I can rebook if the price goes down, now that our usual airline (AA) has eliminated change fees "forever." I don't get a refund but a credit is better than a poke in the eye.

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

In early December I was able to book $800 round trip from the East Coast for October, using credits from last October. Flight times were pretty good but a schedule change let me switch to even better times. Those same flights are $1400+ now.

 

[DebBrown]

Is it too early to book flights for January, 2022? I'd like to hold out for a sale but also think these dates are not going to get very low.

Expert opinions?

 

[travelove]

The Chase Sapphire points can pile up quickly. It's 3x if you use the card for travel, and timeshare fees count as travel. If you use the points for booking travel, you get a 50% bonus in their value. Right now they're offering up to 50,000 points bonus for signing up.

Thank you!

 

[artringwald]

Is it too early to book flights for January, 2022? I'd like to hold out for a sale but also think these dates are not going to get very low.

Expert opinions?

It's certainly not too early to start tracking the flights. If you wait a couple of weeks, you might get a better idea of what a good sale would be. If there's a big demand, there can be a sale when a carrier adds a new flight.

 

[csodjd]

So we're planning a trip to Hawaii in August with a one night stopover on the west coast each way. Trying to figure out the best airfare has been crazy. The good news is that with COVID, most airlines will let you cancel, either with a refund to your credit card, or credit toward a future purchase. Finding the least expensive route while using loyalty points has been quite the challenge to my aging brain. As better prices show up, I cancel and rebook. I ended up booking 5 one way trips: MSP -> SEA, SEA -> OGG, OGG -> LIH, LIH -> SAN, SAN -> MSP. The last set of cancellations/rebooking was because Hawaiian Airlines just added non-stop from Seattle to Maui, on a plane with laydown seats in first class. People headed to Hawaii on one of those flights are some of the happiest travelers we've ever encountered. Everybody is in a good mood. We'll be in ever a better mood if Hawaii comes up with a vaccination passport to bypass quarantine and testing.

We flew home from HNL to LAX in the HA lie flat seats. It was a very good flight. Food was good. They just kept refilling the mai tai! Seats were comfortable. A much better flight than the American flight there, which was also first class, but food was a turkey sandwich, seats were nothing special.

 

[dannybaker]

We booked southwest with companion fly free and round trip from Las Vegas was $322

 

[MommaBear]

Is it too early to book flights for January, 2022? I'd like to hold out for a sale but also think these dates are not going to get very low.

Expert opinions?

You can book 330 days before your flight. I get frustrated with all the flight and route changes, so I generally wait until about 3 months before a trip to buy my tickets. I bought my April Maui trip tickets in January and have already had one leg changed with a 90 minute earlier take off and the second leg they changed the plane so we lost our very well picked out seats and got seats we aren't crazy about. We probably haven't had one round trip that hasn't had changed at least one leg in the last 5-7 years. My favorite was when Delta changed us to arrive in Atlanta 45 minutes after our connecting flight left. Luckily I caught it, because their computer allowed it to happen.

 

[artringwald]

I get frustrated with all the flight and route changes, so I generally wait until about 3 months before a trip to buy my tickets.

Happens to us too, and many times they won't notify you right away. If you find a deal way ahead of time that you can't resist, be sure to check often. By tracking all your booked flight segments in Google Flights it's easy to see if there's changes. If the change is substantial, you usually can get a full refund. When one of our non-stops was changed to something that wouldn't work for us, they tried to put us on a flight with 2 stops and twice the travel time with a late night arrival. I asked the agent if she would want to go on that route, and she gave us a full refund.

 

[mayamart]

We always fly Southwest. Fares are so reasonable. Yes, no meals, no frills, but the savings in price wins every time. Also, with SWA, you can always get the better fare when sales come up, without additional change fees! Though, can't remember if SWA flies SEA to the islands...

 

[easyrider]

Is it too early to book flights for January, 2022? I'd like to hold out for a sale but also think these dates are not going to get very low.

Expert opinions?

We bought our airline tickets for next winter using miles with Alaska Airlines. It was 120,000 miles + $22.00. I couldn't pass it up. The tickets were about $1,500 in the main cabin at regular price.

Bill

 

[DebBrown]

We bought our airline tickets for next winter using miles with Alaska Airlines. It was 120,000 miles + $22.00. I couldn't pass it up. The tickets were about $1,500 in the main cabin at regular price.

Bill

It's never too early for frequent flyer miles. Those sell out quickly. I did book some first class seats with miles but we are out now so the rest will be with Chase points which basically reflect market price. I will let it ride a little while still - better to accumulate more Chase points.

My kids are flying from Montana so the only real option is Alaska since it's the only airline with 1-stop. They will be traveling with 2 year old.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Is it too early to book flights for January, 2022? I'd like to hold out for a sale but also think these dates are not going to get very low.

Expert opinions?

Alaska Airlines opens booking 330 days before flight departure. If you book each leg of your trip separately, an option is to book exactly when the reservation window opens for each flight. If you're on it right away, you may get some booking options (fare classes and points values) that get gobbled up right away.

If you're booking round trip, as you would typically do when using a companion fare certification, then you wouldn't be able to book the trip earlier than 330 days before your return flight.

 

[DebBrown]

Alaska Airlines opens booking 330 days before flight departure. If you book each leg of your trip separately, an option is to book exactly when the reservation window opens for each flight. If you're on it right away, you may get some booking options (fare classes and points values) that get gobbled up right away.

If you're booking round trip, as you would typically do when using a companion fare certification, then you wouldn't be able to book the trip earlier than 330 days before your return flight.

We're too late now. Prices are running ~800 each for coach. It's a multi stop flight - arriving and leaving from different Hawaiian islands so I'm not adverse to buying separately. I just wonder if we should expect any sales for prime January flights.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

We're too late now. Prices are running ~800 each for coach. It's a multi stop flight - arriving and leaving from different Hawaiian islands so I'm not adverse to buying separately. I just wonder if we should expect any sales for prime January flights.

I can't speak specifically to Hawaii in January, but more generally January has been a slow vacation month, at least in the Northwest. Certainly that's true for western ski resorts, such as Whistler. After Christmas/New Years most people are back at work.

But given COVID, there might be so much pent-up demand that the normal rules don't work.