dc333

Also, Alaska is adding alot of capacity to Hawaii now through the fall. Look through their fares. A quick look using their fare calendar has many days in Nov at:

SEA-HNL = $398 + tax = $419 roundtrip
YVR - HNL = $421 + tax = $498 roundtrip

ILuvParis

That great fare fare from LAX-HNL is still available for $235 all in. I'll be using an award ticket to LA to take advantage.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...ulu-235-i.html

icedtea

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

camillionz

I know flights to Hawaii get crazy over the holidays. But when is too early to buy? Found nonstops SJC->KOA and OGG->SJC 12/20 - 12/30 for $1120 (and will buy inter-island flights separately). Seems pretty steep, but not sure if I'm on the early side or if this is normal?

Any help or advice appreciated! I typically don't buy more than 3 months in advance, but not sure how to handle the xmas in Hawaii dynamic...

thank you!!

beckoa

Is this on AS? You can always book now (so you secure your seat) and then claim a GARR if the fare drops.

Oh and welcome to Flyertalk camillionz and the Hawaiii Travel forum

Another strategy is to get the AS BoA Visa and use a companion ticket if not traveling by oneself. Buy one at full price, and your companion travels for $99 + tax, even in F. (Card has $75 annual fee) - more info in AS forum.

ALadyNCal

I think that is too high. There probably isn't a 'good time' to buy. Just a matter of checking constantly and when the prices change, BOOK IT.

Go to some of the websites and set up alerts. Be sure to add in all the airports in the Bay Area.

BTW, rental cars can be exorbitant ($100/day) or sold out over Christmas. Find something NOW and reserve it. Add a couple more days than you need and you can always change the dates later.

Good luck ^

camillionz

great advice on the cars -- we'd heard that somewhere else and booked one. we got lucky though, most places are sold out!

I will set up alerts, and try the AS visa if all else fails. thanks!

beckoa

Great advice on cars... can always change for free...and rates will probably go up (Its like Alaska in summer)

And the AS Visa is a good value if you need two tickets

SFOPhD

I don't know how locked in your dates are, but if you can shift about 2 days (i.e. 18th-28th), I see about a $200-300 difference using ITA matrix.

bitachu

the best time to buy is when its cheap...in my mind...cheap means low 300s from west coast...but i haven't checked for your dates so i dunno...

ck2003

Hi all,

We've only gone to Hawaii after labor day where we've bought tix ranging from $350-$550. I've checked prices this week for June 2013 and it was $880-1100. Is this typical for that time of year? The reason we want to go then is because we're invited to a wedding and the kids will be out of school by then.

How far in advance should I buy the tickets?

djp98374

need a lot more info from you....

June/July is one of the peak travel times.

Where are you traveling from?

If you are traveling from the east the fares are higher because of the routing of planes.

What you need to do is look at flying separately from the east coast to a west coast city and then purchase separately a ticket to hawaii from the west coast cities likely on a different airline.

You also need to do price differences such as...

FLY SFO-HNL then return HNL-SEA or if you are going to travel to two island look at booking RT to honolulu then book spearately a flight to the island and back. Or on the main carriers say book LAX-HNL and then return KOA-HNL on United but book the HNL-KOA flight separately on a local inteisland carrier.


As far as buying the tickets... its very speculative because of fuel prices. The prices are adjusted to what the cost of fuel is hedged to be then. There are some small adjustments...but in June there isnt al that much of sale prices because demand is so high.

Maui Time

Our connection is always out of DFW and I have not seen ticket prices < $800 for several years. We usually are traveling in the offseason times of May and September as well. I will ditto the comment by djp98374 that June is usually a higher fare month because it is the first month that the kids are out of school and families are traveling on vacation.

ILuvParis

We always have paid less than $700 and usually less than $600 (from ORD), but have not seen a good fare since May, 2011, when we bought a couple of tickets. Since then, all trips to HI have been award tickets.

Boraxo

Alaska currently has fares from the west coast for <$300 RT. Even United has shaved the SFO nonstop to $500 RT on some dates. Recently there was a major fare sales when flights from the central US could be found for $400 RT. In general (as in years past) you see fare sales beginning around late Aug/Sept/Oct for travel up through the Christmas holidays.