bobmann

Hello. I'm looking to book tickets from EWR to Kona, Hawaii (KOA) for me, my wife, and my 8-year old. I have about 150k miles on Delta and 50k on United, but those don't seem to be nearly enough to get 3 tickets.

I'm looking to travel Fri Jun 24 and return Sat Jul 2. Based on our schedule, those dates are fairly strict. I wish I had more wiggle room, but I don't. I might be able to leave on Thursday or return on Sunday, but that's about it...

I've checked the costs, and for some reason, it's really expensive to fly at this time (about $1200 per ticket). If I were doing the same trip (Friday to the following Saturday) in either April or May, the tickets would be about $775 each. So why is it so expensive in June? Is it a seasonal thing, or is it because it's farther out? In other words, will the price drop if I wait a month or so? I'd hate to wait only to see the flights fill up. But I'd also hate to jump the gun and pay hundreds more than I have to.

If anybody has any advice, I'd be happy to hear it. Thanks!

Mary2e

It's seasonal. Like everyone else in NJ, people are trying to get in a family vacation before camp starts.

You've probably picked the worst week to fly anywhere out of NJ.

Also, if you're trying to fly on the UA non-stop, that flight is normally more expensive than the connecting flights.

cblaisd

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hawai...solidated+when

bobmann

Ugh, I was afraid that it was a bad time to fly. Basically, the reason why I need to go this week is because I'm flying out to run a marathon in Kona, which happens to be on Sun Jun 26. It works out nicely that this happens to be right after my kid's school ends, so that's why we decided to make a family trip out of it. But yeah, it makes sense that everyone else is also trying to do their trips at the same time.

I'll check out the other thread about Hawaii tickets. Thanks...

tudorcity

FYI, be prepared for the Kona Marathon. It is a brutally hot course and the move from Keauhou to Waikoloa Beach only made it more difficult. I've run it three times - on three different courses (the "original" routing from the Outrigger Keauhou (which was the "best" course and mirrored a lot of the Ironman course)), the "revised" routing which ended at the Sheraton Keauhou and finally this past summer in the first race in the current routing. There is very little shade on the course, so you are running in full sun the entire way. The ten miles or so that you run on the Queen K is horrible. This past June temps were in the 90s, so it was torture out there. Plus, the resort didn't let the race start until 6 AM, so the sun was already up at the start. Most Hawaiian marathons start at 5 to give you a break from the sun at the start. I was very happy, initially, with the move to Waikoloa Beach, since I have a home there. But I've decided to not run it again until they make some changes and go back to an earlier starting time (or I forget how bad it was the last time! ). Good luck - make sure you get a lot of heat and full sun work in before the race.

bobmann

Thanks for the advice on the race. The website says that the marathon starts at 5:30a. I'm sure it'll still get nice and warm, but I hope I've got most of it completed before it gets too brutal. I'll be sure to take it nice and slow anyway, so hopefully I won't burn myself out too much...

Btw, I still haven't bought plane tickets yet. I keep hoping they'll go down in price a little, but they haven't budged in weeks. I guess I just need to suck it up and pay through the nose...