When it comes to airfare, a little effort can save you a bundle. Tickets sold by consolidators and standby seating are good deals, but last-minute specials, airfare wars, and charter flights often beat these fares. The key is to hunt around, be flexible, and ask about discounts. Students, seniors, and those under 26 should never pay full price for a ticket.
Airfares to Hawaii are high throughout the year; holidays and the winter months are particularly expensive. Midweek (M-Th morning) round-trip flights run $40-50 cheaper than weekend flights, but they are generally more crowded and less likely to permit frequent-flier upgrades. Not fixing a return date (“open return”) or arriving in and departing from different cities (“open-jaw”) can be pricier than round-trip flights. Flights into Honolulu are most common and will almost always be less expensive than flights into cities on the islands.; consider flying into Honolulu and then connecting to your destination. Taking flights with layovers or stops can significantly reduce the price of your fare.
If Hawaii is only one stop on a more extensive globe-hop, consider a round-the-world (RTW) ticket. Tickets usually include at least five stops and are valid for about a year; prices range $1200-5000. Try Northwest Airlines/KLM (☎800-225-2525; www.nwa.com) or Star Alliance, a consortium of 16 airlines including United Airlines (www.staralliance.com).
Fares for round-trip flights to Honolulu from the US or Canadian east coast cost $760-1300 depending on when your flight is and how early you book it; from the US or Canadian west coast $500-1200; from the UK £700-1000; from Australia AUS$1200-3000; from New Zealand NZ$1500-4000.
While agents specializing in flights to Hawaii can make your life easy, they may not spend the time to find you the lowest possible fare—they get paid on commission. Travelers holding ISICs and IYTCs qualify for discounts from student travel agencies. Most flights from budget agencies are on major airlines, but some may sell seats on less reliable chartered aircraft.
The commercial airlines’ lowest regular offer is the APEX (Advance Purchase Excursion) fare, which provides confirmed reservations and allows “open-jaw” tickets. Generally, reservations must be made seven to 21 days ahead of departure, with seven- to 14-day minimum-stay and up to 90-day maximum-stay restrictions. These fares carry hefty cancellation and change penalties (fees rise in summer). Book peak-season APEX fares early. Use Expedia (www.expedia.com) or Travelocity (www.travelocity.com) to get an idea of the lowest published fares, then use the resources outlined here to try to beat those fares. For useful information on Hawaii’s airports, including a list of airlines that fly into Hawaii, go to www.state.hi.us/dot/airports.
Basic round-trip fares to Hawaii range from roughly $500-1500 (to Honolulu, $500-1100; to Hilo, Kahului, Kona, and Lihue $700-1200), depending on your departure city. Standard commercial carriers like American and United will probably offer the most convenient flights, but they may not be the cheapest, unless you snag a special promotion or airfare-war ticket.
Flights from Ireland and the UK to Hawaii run £700-1000. Check these companies for the best fares:
Flights from Australia and New Zealand range from $1200-2400 depending on when and where you fly. Try these airlines for the best rates:
Traveling standby requires considerable flexibility in arrival and departure dates. Companies dealing in standby flights sell vouchers rather than tickets, along with the promise to get you to your destination (or near your destination) within a certain window of time (typically 1-5 days). Vouchers can usually be bought for both one-way and round-trip travel. You may receive a monetary refund only if every available flight within your date range is full; if you opt not to take an available (but perhaps less convenient) flight, you can only get credit toward future travel. To check on a company’s service record in the US, contact the Better Business Bureau (☎703-276-0100; www.bbb.org). Clients’ vouchers will not be honored when an airline fails to receive payment in time.
Ticket consolidators, or “bucket shops,” buy unsold tickets in bulk from commercial airlines and sell them at discounted rates. The best place to look is in the Sunday travel section of any major newspaper (such as The New York Times ), where many bucket shops place tiny ads. Call quickly, as availability is extremely limited. Not all bucket shops are reliable, so insist on a receipt that gives full details of restrictions, refunds, and tickets, and pay by credit card (in spite of the 2-5% fee) so you can stop payment if you never receive your tickets. For more info, see www.travel-library.com/air-travel/consolidators.html.
Some major consolidators are Rebel (☎800-732-3588; www.rebeltours.com), Cheap Tickets (www.cheaptickets.com), and TravelHUB (www.travelhub.com). Let’s Go does not endorse any of these agencies. As always, be cautious; research companies before you hand over your credit card number.
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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