Hawaii Flights

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

We are building a two week trip to Hawaii the middle of October, 2010. We will probably fly to a west coast city and stay a couple of nights, then fly on to Hawaii. What are the main West Coast cities that usually have the best air fares to and from Hawaii? That way I can start looking at those in my search matrix.

[wwomant Member Find all posts View Profile Close wwomant]

Great deals can pop up anywhere on the West Coast, but we usually find the best deals out of SFO or LAX to Hawaii.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Great deals can pop up anywhere on the West Coast, but we usually find the best deals out of SFO or LAX to Hawaii.

Lately fares out of Seattle on Alaska have been among the best on the West Coast. But as mentioned fare deals can come up anyplace. Don't forget to check flights out of Phoenix and Las Vegas, as well as SFO, LAX, SEA, and PDX.

Of course, if you are planning to use frequent flyer miles, then you need to track the miles for the airline you are flying.

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One option to consider is to open an Alaska Airline Signature VISA account so you can get the $99 companion fare ticket.

[flexible Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close flexible]

We are building a two week trip to Hawaii the middle of October, 2010. We will probably fly to a west coast city and stay a couple of nights, then fly on to Hawaii. What are the main West Coast cities that usually have the best air fares to and from Hawaii? That way I can start looking at those in my search matrix.

You might consider obtaining a Bank of America - Hawaiian Airlines credit card. Information on Hawaiian Airlines: Hawaii Vacations, Travel and Flights - We just got one and the information on the site and in the mail mentioned 25% off a purchase for Hawaii RT within 13 months of activating the card. I think there are some other discounts too. We didn't qualify for the discount because we included Tahiti in the itinerary. So it is only for mainland to Hawaii RT.

Bank of America is slow on processing requests so you might have to follow up after applying through the link on the Hawaiian Air site.

There were some incredible fares in the 2009 season especially when new airlines entered the market from the west coast to different islands. So if you know which island you want to go to you might check for specials direct to those islands.

Beat of Hawaii and Beyond: Travel Deals, Tips, Culture and Analysis has been helpful for my research.

My primary concern at the moment is the car rental fees. I was shocked until I saw the recent post that rates went up all over. We plan to avoid renting Christmas/New Year's weeks because I was seeing rates over $600 per week for an economy and there were probably other charges. Apparently car rental companies raise rates during holidays.

[garyd210 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close garyd210]

Hawaii air prices forever changing

Yesterday the cheapest I found was $437 from Honolulu to Seattle R/T and SFO was close at $477. This was with United and Northwest. Then there is the issue of flight times. We fly out of Sacramento and like the flight times with Hawaiian best. Hawaiian, like many of the airlines are changing what services they include though. In February, the inflight movie was no longer and it was the first time we had to pay for any luggage checked. You also might check Oakland, CA(across the bay from SFO) if you anticipate not leaving the airport. I monitor the prices and specials, and I note that the conditions/prices are always changing frquently. In February, we found it was cheaper to fly home on monday that on our normal sunday. We spent a 24 hour layover on Oahu and stayed on Waikiki, but drove around the entire island, which we had never done before. We stayed at the Aqua Beachside and paid extra for a oceanview room across the street from the Duke statue, but they also have rooms with no views for about $80 if you just want a place to basically sleep and cleanup.

[PHILL12 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PHILL12]

We are building a two week trip to Hawaii the middle of October, 2010. We will probably fly to a west coast city and stay a couple of nights, then fly on to Hawaii. What are the main West Coast cities that usually have the best air fares to and from Hawaii? That way I can start looking at those in my search matrix.

We like flying out of Sacramento because its one of the easy airports to get around and flights priced well!

If you like gambling there are three big Indian casino's in the area or you could drive up to Reno or Lake Tahoe for a one night stay.

PHILL12

[Icc5 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Icc5]

Oakland

We have flown from Oakland Airport several times to Hawaii because of good rates. We usually do a hotel stay at the airport, leave the car, and take the hotel shuttle. We have had better luck with prices from Oakland then S.F. or S.J.
Bart

[Hoc Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Hoc]

Often you will see the best fares out of Las Vegas. I also find that there are often more cheap fares out of SFO, more frequently, than out of LAX. Sometimes fares out of Oakland can be good, but not so much since ATA went away.

I generally wait until fares fall below $300, and then I book quickly, but they haven't fallen that low for a couple of months now. About 2 months ago, you could get LAX-HNL for about $298 round trip, all in, from September 7 through about December 12. Circumstances prevented me from booking then, and now I'm kicking myself.

[vacationtime Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vacationtime]

Often you will see the best fares out of Las Vegas. I also find that there are often more cheap fares out of SFO, more frequently, than out of LAX. Sometimes fares out of Oakland can be good, but not so much since ATA went away.

I generally wait until fares fall below $300, and then I book quickly, but they haven't fallen that low for a couple of months now. About 2 months ago, you could get LAX-HNL for about $298 round trip, all in, from September 7 through about December 12. Circumstances prevented me from booking then, and now I'm kicking myself.

I think Hoc and I suffer from mutual "fare envy". Living in SF, we frequently envy the fares and connections available through LAX. And as Icc5 notes, there are good fares out of Oakland (our February flights to Maui will be on Alaska out of OAK). In fact, given the absurd airline pricing structure, it is a rapidly moving target and the best answer varies day by day.

If it were me, I would base my decision on in which west coast city I wanted my stopover.

[flexible Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close flexible]

Hawaiian Airlines - Premier Club

Is anyone here a member of Hawaiian Airlines - Premier Club? I'd appreciate feedback about whether the club lounges and other benefits are worth it.

I am thinking of paying the $199 annual membership fee because members can check two luggage items on each flight.

The least expensive checked baggage fee online for HA is $15 for the first bag.

We are booked on
SFO-HNL->PPT
PPT->HNL-LIH
HNL->SFO
so that would be a minimum of $45 for baggage if I only check one and my husband and I use carry on the rest

We might book Hawaiian Air for
LIH->HNL
HNL-Big Island
Big Island->Oahu
HNL->Molokai
Molokai->HNL-probably LIH
LIH->HNL

I planned to book Mokulele Airlines HNL-Molokai because their fares were a fraction of the other carriers. Then
http://beatofhawaii.com/ had an article Sept 3 that "Mokulele May Fold; What To Expect"

I am hesitating on booking some of the interisland flights in advance because I hope to get better trades for some of the weeks and cancel some of my reservations that don't have a fee.