WHEN to book Oct 2012 Travel to Maui???

[UWSurfer]

Ok, this is an old question in a new year.

We are in LA & have two back to back weeks of reservations booked in October on Maui. "Typically" we have been traveling to Maui every other year for the past 5 years, (next year will be year 6) and have paid ~ $500 - $700 per person RT each trip.

Doing some Google research, it appears the "Fall" airfare travel sales begin to emerge around late May - mid July. Usually we book early, VERY early but are finding RT fares going for $900+ per person for that time frame right now. Every time we fly there are different challenges with the airlines more and more resembling a slot machine screen.

By booking early we've experienced airline delays, airlines going out of business mid-stay, airlines changing routes and flights ahead of our "perfect" flight times & so on.

My plan at this time is to perform searches at least once a week until we see prices in the $600 range & if all is otherwise good (flight times, connections if applicable, & such) book it. This time we're taking my mother who has never been to Hawaii and has travel concerns.

MY QUESTION: How close have you cut it anticipating a drop in air fares due to seasonal sales? Have you saved $$ or were you burned? Did you get the flight you would have booking early by waiting? Curious.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

We also fly out of LAX to OGG every other October. We typically find the best prices by waiting until August, but last year, we jumped on flights for $435 RT when available in late May. We are very flxible and try to travel M-Th. Of course, your mileage may vary. Best of luck -- Suzanne

 

[nalismom]

Typically we use FF miles when we travel but we too are traveling to Kauai and Maui end of September-mid-October and I was planning on purchasing tickets for this. Right now from DFW I am finding $997 pp from DFW-LIH-OGG-HNL-DFW which I think is too high. The few times I have bought tics early I also have been burned by either flights being changed or prices decreasing which incurs a change fee even though it's less.....I think my strategy right now is to wait a bit but also to keep checking

 

[slip]

I too usually book early, about 10 months out. This year because I had
to change my vacation time, I just booked my February trip after watching
prices for about 6 weeks. We got Wisconsin to Kauai mid-February for $900 all
in. I've seen them as high as $1,300 and as low as $860 (didn't pull the trigger
then). I'm just not comfortable waiting too long and as long as I find it for
under $1,000, I'm happy. My flight is a lot farther than yours though.

 

[jhac007]

With all the things mentioned above..........another consideration is seating. I like to book early, of cousre shopping for the best price, but also you have a better selection of seats especially desired on the long flights. Late purchases sometimes means a little better price but could mean a less desirable seat.

Jim

 

[nalismom]

Sometimes it could mean less desirable...we usually like to sit within the first 12-15 rows however the airlines are now selling those seats for an additional premium and these are not available for FF use. On a recent trip to Madrid we had row 13A&B. A change of aircraft made these seats non-recliners as they were up against restroom so we moved to row 29 about 6 weeks prior to flight. Also airlines are selling the opportunity for folks to board early even if they are in last class to board which creates a problem for folks who do carry-on but can't purchase this option if they are in last group to board. Carry-on space has become a premium so it is beneficial to sit further back.

 

[MommaBear]

I recommend FareTracker.com or Air Fare Watchdog. If you sign up with them they send your fare updates (and you can actually set target prices to trigger these emails) so that you get notifications when airfares go down.