I really have no idea which is the most appropriate forum for this question, so I thought I would start with Budget Travel since it is mostly about cost.

What time of the year are the lowest airfares typically available from the West Coast; SEA, PDX, YVR to Hawaii ?

Thanks in advance.

Why don't you repeat Month-long search on ITA (http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/)?

I guess it's spring or autumn, where most people are enjoying easy climate on mainland.

Generally April after Easter through mid-May, and October and the first half of November. But these days demand is high enough that airlines will still try to hold out. However, airlines have been adding seats in recent years, especially to OGG and KOA, so that can help.

What time of the year are the lowest airfares typically available from the West Coast; SEA, PDX, YVR to Hawaii ?

Here's a good tool from Mileage Run Forum (it isn't just for MRs, read the stickies @:-) ):

I used PDX and HNL, but you can put any cities you like (didn't work for YVR), and should get a one year historic low price on FareCompare.com (http://www.farecompare.com/search/year.html?departure=PDX&destination=HNL&cabin=Coach&tripType=roundtrip&nonstops=false&p=1)

EmailKid

What time of the year are the lowest airfares typically available from the West Coast; SEA, PDX, YVR to Hawaii ?

Right now! HA fare sale! For example: PDX-HNL r/t 9/13 - 9/25: $294.56 all in!!! www.hawaiianair.com

As expected (and I predicted) UA has once again joining a fall fare sale to Hawaii. Here's an example of pricing for the Sept/Oct/Nov period (it may extend longer, I didn't check):

When I checked United's website earlier this year, SFO-OGG-SFO nonstop fares were in the $600-700 RT range. The same flights could be had for $450-500 RT when purchased through united vacations (plus a car rental or hotel room).

Now, you can buy the exact same flights through ual.com for $373 roundtrip. A stellar price for the nonstops, I think it is available from LAX-OGG as well.

The lesson: For off-peak travel to Hawaii, it usually pays to wait.

P.S. SFO/LAX-HNL has been on sale for most of the summer, with AA, UA, Hawaiian, etc. offering RT fares between $250-300.

I would also echo that this seems to be a great time to get lower fares to Hawaii. I was recently doing searches for SEA-HNL and found many dates with fares as low as $288 AI (possibly lower, I can't remember) on direct NW flights.

In fact, from a lot of stuff I've been reading, there seem to be quite a few fare sales to Hawaii going on at the moment.

Not only is the Fall a good time for low fares to Hawai`i, I've always thought it was one of the best times to visit. Decent weather, not as many crowds...

Thanks everyone for your wisdom. It is much appreciated. Yes there certainly are a number of good deals right now on Fall fares to Hawaii. I have already made my Fall travel plans ( to South America with the help of FT ) and my employer seems to expect me to spend the rest of the time at work.

What I was thinking of was a Spring / 2008 budget trip to Hawaii and then using miles to extend the journey to SE Asia or Australia.

From the link that emailkid posted it looks like there should be reasonably priced fares from the West Coast to Hawaii in March and April. Does "Spring Break" have any influence on the price / availability of airfare to Hawaii ?

I received a PM about checking the Hawaii forum.

While cross posting requests in really a no-no on FT, you should be able to do a search for what I'm told is an often asked question in that forum.

As far as extending the trip to Australia, take a look at the thread here in BT. There are a couple of posts about trying to save money by flying to Hawaii first.

EmailKid

Does "Spring Break" have any influence on the price / availability of airfare to Hawaii ?

Yup: prices go up; availability goes down.

Check JetStar.com for cheap tickets to australia from HNL.