Planning the trip.

[Kenrabs]

I have 2 exchanges to Hawaii next July and waiting for a 3rd to come in. Currently have a week on Kauai and 1 on the Big Island. Does anyone have advice on how to book airfare from Boston? Would it be better to use a travel agent since we will need inter Island flights and rental cars?

 

[LisaRex]

I usually do the airfare myself because I want to control the itinerary (I want to pick between the 7am and 9:30am flight) and accumulate/use FF miles.

However, it may make sense to use a travel agent if you fly into Honolulu and then immediately take an intraisland flight to another island. If all your flights are on the same itinerary, that can be useful if you are delayed getting into Honolulu as HawaiianAirlines (the most likely partner to your main carrier) will know that realize that you're not a no-show and will hopefully work ahead of time to get you on another flight.

I've found that rental car prices are all over the map so I check the prices often to see if the price has gone down. This last trip, the rental started out at $250 and ended up going as low as $160. A travel agent won't do that for you.

 

[CATBinCO]

Two years ago we did a multiple island Hawaii trip - Oahu, Big Island, Maui. I planned everything myself and this is before we had a timeshare. I was able to find RT tickets from Denver to HNL for $342 pp. I signed up for a Travelocity Fare Watcher alert for DEN to HNL, and for it to email me when the price dropped below $500 (at the time, prices were running ~ $600). I signed up for this alert in October 05, with the intention of going in July 06. I constantly got emails from them, but summer dates were never available. Finally, in February 06 (5 months before our trip), Travelocity emailed me on a Sunday morning. When I checked the dates through their link, all of summer was wide open. I picked mid-July, and booked it. Later that afternoon, I came back just curious to see what was still available.....the summer was gone. It happens THAT fast. We did not use FF miles or anything. This was just being able to jump on an email from Travelocity literally right away.

BTW-with no time shares and no FF miles, we did Oahu, Big Island, Maui, 16 days in paradise, plane tix, activities, food, lodging, rental car, interisland airfare, souvenirs....out the door for $5000 for the 3 of us. I think I did pretty well.

 

[charford]

The airline websites and the online travel websites, such as orbitz, can handle multistop itineraries very well. Look for the multi-city option. I like to keep control of my itinerary too. By booking all in one shot, I usually find that it's cheaper and the luggage is booked all the way through to the final destination.

 

[talkamotta]

There are times when a travel agent earns thier pay for sure. Wouldnt want to do that for a living (my travel plans are stressful enough). If I was going out of the country to Europe, I would use an agency but for Hawaii, Im sure with a little comparison shopping you can do alot better.

Ive done my 3 trips, my son's honeymoon, stepdaughter's honeymoon, and now my other son's group vacation and it was easy.

1. When going to different islands, try to pick your first week on an island you can fly directly into. Last year we used Delta FF tickets and flew into Maui but was spending our first week in Kauai. When Delta changed the arrival time to a later time, the interisland flight I booked separately didnt fly that late. So I had to change my reservation on Delta to one day earlier and rent a hotel room. That was a good thing because Delta had mechanic problems and we didnt get into Maui until 2 a.m.

2. Compare flights with and w/o interisland flights. I can fly from SLC to OGG and pay for a r/t to another island alot cheaper than booking SLC to OGG to Lih to SLC.

3. Use Costco as a basis for low fares on rental cars.

Im sure there are others that have better suggestions than I do.

 

[Kenrabs]

Thanks for the advice. Please keep it coming.

 

[Ken555]

Ugh... I can't think of any reason to use a travel agent these days.

 

[tompalm]

If you can fly direct from the mainland to the island of the first week and direct from the island to mainland the last week, it will make your travel a lot easier. Hopefully, Kona is your first island and Oahu or Maui is the last. Catching a red eye out of Kona is not the best. Spending the afternoon on the Kona coast can be very warm and the airport is outdoors with no air conditioning. If Kona is your last stop, consider flying home the day before your timeshare ends. That way you get to relax before the flight starts. Going to the east coast is a long day without having a long day before the flight starts.

 

[Kenrabs]

Right now Kona is the last stop, but could change if the 3rd week comes in after it. I dread the long flights since we usually have the disfunctional people sitting around us for some reason.

 

[charford]

I fly out of Kona to the mainland all the time. I prefer the redeye - something departing around 10 or 11 p.m. since I can sleep on it. I wake up at home refreshed and don't suffer jet lag. If I take a flight leaving earlier in the day, I end up at home around 1 a.m. HI time, 6 a.m. mainland time having had very little sleep. With 3 kids, there's no afternoon naps for me! I end up losing the entire night's worth of sleep. I end up with jet lag for half a week.

 

[talkamotta]

Right now Kona is the last stop, but could change if the 3rd week comes in after it. I dread the long flights since we usually have the disfunctional people sitting around us for some reason.

Dsyfunctional people or kids with leg spans that reach just close enough to kick the back of my seat w/parents that tune out their children. The kids usually go to sleep on the red eyes. Thats another plus for the red eye. I take ear plugs, excedrin pm and have a glass of wine at the airport. I put a movie on my dvd player and then drift off for the rest of the flight.

Dont forget to buy the Revealled Books by Andrew Doughty for each of the islands you will be visiting. Hawaii uses mile markers and thier signs arent that great. There are lots of secrets in those books that you will drive right by and never know you missed out on some very beautiful places. They also suggest/rate restaurants. Kona beer and the Volcanic Winery is very good.

If you are a Costco member there are stores right by the airport. You can fill your gas up in the rental car before you return it. Thier prices are pretty good there for food. Cant bring food into the islands from the mainland (except spices) but I never had any problem when jumping islands.

 

[Kenrabs]

Just checked my II account and got a 3rd week on Oahu. It was not one of my top choices but I will accept it so I can get things rolling. Don't plan on doing much more than sleeping at the resort anyway. This gives me plenty of time to plan since the flights will open soon.

 

[Kenrabs]

Is there any recommended web sites that are good dealing with multi stop flight arrangements?

 

[lprstn]

Travel agents don't make a lot of $$$, but the tax breaks for traveling are great.

 

[yan19454]

check here more often. Some time some people post the air fare sale. I got my air ticket sale alert from here. Although I subscribed airfarewatchdog and side step notification.