Hawaii-based Airlines - How often do Hawaii airlines have Interisland sales?

We're looking for a one way flight on Jan 24 between OGG and LIH, and the cheapest flights are $95 direct on Island Air, and $125 on Hawaiian (with a stopover). We will be checking one bag each, but our carryon will definitely be over 16 pounds, meaning my wife and I would each have to check a 2nd bag on Island Air, making the cost of the flight $95 + $10 + $35 = 140 p/p. On Hawaiian, it will be $125 + $10 = $135 p/p. Our flight is 7 months away, and I'm wondering how often Hawaiian carriers have sales that would bring the prices down. Last time I visited Hawaii in 2008, one way flights were only $45 including tax, and no baggage fees. Times sure have changed.

Gas prices have certainally gone up since 2008 as well. Sadly, its the time we are in.

As far as having an overweight carry-on. Is there any chance you could transfer some weight into your checked bag for your quick Island Air hop?

Not only the savings in money but time as well (by going direct).

One last thought...do you have ANY miles stashed away on any airlines? on UA/CO i know you can score an inter-island flight for only 5000 miles.

How is Island Air as a carrier?? Reliable? I know HA is generally the way to go and gO! is just a crap show.

What is going on with the prices for interisland flights? I'm trying to book a flight from LIH to KOA, staying in HNL for the day to see the USS Arizona memorial, and it is running $200 pp for a Tuesday in August !?! Rediculous!!

I just looked on ITA, and see fares as low as $166 for your routing. Yes, the Hawaiian flights 1st thing in the morning are more expensive, however, as 'eh' of reviews as gO! Gets, they have the cheap morning flights available.

Post your date you plan to do this trip, and I'll happily look for specifics.

Is LIH-HNL and HNL-KOA not 2 flights. I don't think fares allow stopovers!

Is LIH-HNL and HNL-KOA not 2 flights. I don't think fares allow stopovers!


I shouldn't post 1st thing in the morning. I totally missed that the OP wasn't returning to LIH, but instead was continuing on to KOA!


I'll edit my previous post.

What is going on with the prices for interisland flights? I'm trying to book a flight from LIH to KOA, staying in HNL for the day to see the USS Arizona memorial, and it is running $200 pp for a Tuesday in August !?! Rediculous!!

As noted, this makes it not a connection but a stopover. And as with any stopover ticket on most any airline or route, the price goes up significantly.

For two segment flights like this one (even with just a connection and not a stopover), inter-island flights are at a price point now where using partner miles for an award ticket can make sense. 5K UA, for example, buys a one-way ticket on HA or WP.

As noted, this makes it not a connection but a stopover. And as with any stopover ticket on most any airline or route, the price goes up significantly.

For two segment flights like this one (even with just a connection and not a stopover), inter-island flights are at a price point now where using partner miles for an award ticket can make sense. 5K UA, for example, buys a one-way ticket on HA or WP.

Thanks everyone for trying to help. Here are the details of my plans. We are spending a week in Kauai and a week on Big Island (flying into LIH and out from KOA - got them with miles - YAY!). It's my first time going to Hawaii, and during our transfer through HNL, I thought it would be nice to spend the day and see the USS Arizona memorial and anything else we have time for. I understand that having a layover of more than 4 hours means the tickets will be more expensive, but I don't think 4 hours (actually the longest I see offered on HA is about 3 hours) will give us enough time to see the memorial given the crowds in August.

So my desired plans are to fly LIH-HNL early AM on 8/16 and then HNL-KOA in the evening (5-7-ish). The best price I am getting on HA for this is $166pp ai ($333 for both of us) as of this morning. The reason for my initial post was that I was watching this flight for a few weeks looking for deals, and last night the price had went up temporarily for some reason so I was freaking out, but now it is back down. This still seems expensive to me, but should I just buy the tix now or try to wait? I have DL and CO miles and lots of MR points, so miles are an option, however all CO showed me is a one way flight late at night for LIH-HNL on the 16th. There is an evening flight for the HNL-KOA part that seems to work for 5000 miles. Is this is good enough cpm to use miles for?

So it seems my options are:

1. Pay $333 to do what I want and spend the day in HNL.
2. Forget about seeing HNL and buy a one-way LIH-HNL-KOA, which is $250 ai for 2 people.
3. I could rearrange some hotel plans and fly LIH-HNL the night of 8/15 (I can get that for miles too), spend the night in HNL, see USS Arizona memorial, and use miles to fly the HNL-KOA segment.

But any help getting #1 cheaper would be great, unless you guys think it is a good use of miles. It would cost me 20,000 miles to do option #3 for both of us. Hotel prices are about the same, but I would lose a little time in Kauai, which from what I've heard I might not want to leave!

but I don't think 4 hours (actually the longest I see offered on HA is about 3 hours) will give us enough time to see the memorial given the crowds in August.

So my desired plans are to fly LIH-HNL early AM on 8/16 and then HNL-KOA in the evening (5-7-ish). The best price I am getting on HA for this is $166pp ai ($333 for both of us) as of this morning. The reason for my initial post was that I was watching this flight for a few weeks looking for deals, and last night the price had went up temporarily for some reason so I was freaking out, but now it is back down. This still seems expensive to me, but should I just buy the tix now or try to wait? I have DL and CO miles and lots of MR points, so miles are an option, however all CO showed me is a one way flight late at night for LIH-HNL on the 16th. There is an evening flight for the HNL-KOA part that seems to work for 5000 miles. Is this is good enough cpm to use miles for?

So it seems my options are:

1. Pay $333 to do what I want and spend the day in HNL.
2. Forget about seeing HNL and buy a one-way LIH-HNL-KOA, which is $250 ai for 2 people.
3. I could rearrange some hotel plans and fly LIH-HNL the night of 8/15 (I can get that for miles too), spend the night in HNL, see USS Arizona memorial, and use miles to fly the HNL-KOA segment.

But any help getting #1 cheaper would be great, unless you guys think it is a good use of miles. It would cost me 20,000 miles to do option #3 for both of us. Hotel prices are about the same, but I would lose a little time in Kauai, which from what I've heard I might not want to leave!

Think that it is worth the time/money to see the Arizona memorial. Most people love Kauai, but it is a small island, and you should be able to squeeze in what you want in 6 days. The memorial was recently renovated, and I don't know about the lines/wait since, but would recommend that you arrive early to minimize waiting in line.

Highly doubt the price will drop. HA fares have been slowly increasing the past year, and most flights are full. There is a core group that commutes from LIH to HNL daily for work.

Not sure if good use of miles; have never tried to redeem with anyone other than United where it is very difficult to redeem.

I would say buy the LIH-HNL tickets with cash and the HNL-KOA tickets with UA miles would work out to roughly $160 + 10k miles for two.

But any help getting #1 cheaper would be great ...

How are you at paddling?

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/14975007/paddler-treks-from-big-island-to-kauai-all-alone

I would say buy the LIH-HNL tickets with cash and the HNL-KOA tickets with UA miles would work out to roughly $160 + 10k miles for two.

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I will probably go with Sylvas suggestion of buying the tickets for LIH-HNL and using miles for HNL-KOA. I was surprised that so many of the morning flights were sold out. I never thought about people that commute everyday to HNL, that's very interesting.

On another note, I was thinking to use AA miles to book the HNL-KOA tickets, but this can't be done on AA's website and I would need to call reservations. AA says there is a $25 fee for ticketing over the phone, and the tickets are only $80 each so this is sort of ridiculous! I guess I can use the CO miles, but I know those miles are more valuable and I'm not sure if the ~1.6 cents/mile is good enough.

So we got 2 OGG-LIH tickets for 1/24, with a 1/2 hr stopover in HNL, for 10,000 UA miles + $10.00. They waived the $50 fee because we couldnt book it online. Though I must say, worst customer service ever, they really need some agents in the US. It took so long to get everything correct, and many, many phone calls. But in the end, we saved $240, so worth it for us.

So we got 2 OGG-LIH tickets for 1/24, with a 1/2 hr stopover in HNL, for 10,000 UA miles + $10.00. They waived the $50 fee because we couldnt book it online. Though I must say, worst customer service ever, they really need some agents in the US. It took so long to get everything correct, and many, many phone calls. But in the end, we saved $240, so worth it for us.

Who were you calling? UA reservations? Thanks! I haven't tried to use UA miles to book HA lately because it was so difficult. Was hoping that they would have streamlined the process, but it doesn't seem like they have yet.

...They waived the $50 fee because we couldnt book it online.

Unless they've quietly changed policy, you got lucky.

In a dozen redemptions over the last decade, not once did I not get dinged for the call center fee.

The only thing I was able to do was periodically gather up the evidence from my bookings, note how much money I'd paid in penaltes for not booking a ticket online that can't in fact be booked online (!), and asking for some travel credits to acknowledge that inanity.

Quick question: Is there a local travel agency that have cheaper interisland fares than Hawaiian or Go? e.g. they buy in bulk...

I noticed Panda online is offering a slightly cheaper fare than Hawaiian less ($3 less), across the board.

I bought a ticket departing from Maui to LAX, rather than my usual HNL, thinking I could find a cheap intersland tkt, and everything has been crazy expensive, unless I want to depart very early (5-6am) or very late (after 9pm), which is not the case.

Unless they've quietly changed policy, you got lucky.

In a dozen redemptions over the last decade, not once did I not get dinged for the call center fee.

The only thing I was able to do was periodically gather up the evidence from my bookings, note how much money I'd paid in penaltes for not booking a ticket online that can't in fact be booked online (!), and asking for some travel credits to acknowledge that inanity.

They tried but I got an agent who noted it in my account that the fee would be waived, so they said ok.