travel advice needed to Hawaii

[FlyKaesan]

If a studio is available (although you prefer 1 bedroom) in II and your flight does not fit exactly but off by 2 nights arriving and 3 nights leaving, would you still book that flight or wait for exact fit? (flight using FF miles in September)
Then I guess you should book hotels after confirming flight?

Trying to save much money as possible but that is so hard to do.

 

[DeniseM]

It's late to be booking FF seats for September, so I would grab them.

However, since most timeshares have check-in on Fri., Sat., or Sun. your dates may not match up with mid-week flights. September is off season, but budget accommodations for the extra nights will cost you $100 - $200 per night on Maui. Still cheaper than paying full airfare!

 

[barndweller]

Fly

Are you going to Maui? There are 1 bedrooms right now for Sept. if you don't insist on Westin. I'd book your FF tickets NOW and look for a deal for a hotel to fill the extra days.

 

[FlyKaesan]

Weird thing is that I saw so many days that was available few days ago using FF miles.
Delta had it 35k for Honolulu and 45k for OGG.
I think I saw close to 20 days out of 30 days but when I did some searching today I only saw 5 out of 30 days available. Do you think they were all gone or would they come back in few days?
There were times that many days were unavailable but few days later almost all days became available.

 

[DeniseM]

I don't think they will come back - grab 'em or you will kick yourself for not doing it when you could!

 

[FlyKaesan]

Fly

Are you going to Maui? There are 1 bedrooms right now for Sept. if you don't insist on Westin. I'd book your FF tickets NOW and look for a deal for a hotel to fill the extra days.

thanks. I might do what you suggested.

 

[Hoc]

Get the flights now. If they are FF flights, then it's a good thing, because airfares to Hawaii are high and will not likely go down in the next couple of months. In addition, Hawaii tourism is suffering because of our horrible economy, the bankruptcy of two major Hawaii-bound airlines, and the extremely high cost of getting there.

That means demand for hotel rooms is down while supply remains the same, and demand is not likely to go up in the next few months. Thus, you can likely find some pretty decent prices on hotel rooms between now and your travel dates, which means you get to stay in Hawaii longer for a bargain price. Perhaps a nice vacation package which will include meals or activities in addition to the extra room nights. You might even find some nice Extra Vacation Weeks or good trades through II or RCI between now and then.