Airfare advice

erin1715

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
We are possibly taking a trip to Aulani in Summer 2018.

My plan is to fly 4 adults using my SW points to the West coast (we're from the East coast) and then pick up a flight from the West coast to Hawaii.

There are so many balls in the air that I'm having trouble pinning down where to start.

Firstly, SW flies to a lot of major cities out West and basically I don't care which one we end up at. My goal is finding the cheapest flight from the West coast to Hawaii. Any idea what city that might be? We can choose most major cities in Cali, and I've also considered Vegas or Seattle.

My other issue is that we plan to do two islands while out there, Oahu is one of them and we haven't decided on the other. And I think I'd rather do Aulani at the end of the trip because I have the idea of saving the best for last. So I'm not even sure at this point what island we would fly into from the West coast.

Sorry about the blabbering, I'm just trying to write all my thoughts down and hopefully get it straightened out! I think once our travel party decides on the island that will make it a little easier.
 
Ok. Here a some thoughts....

1. I believe someone earlier said that Southwest had cheap flights to Hawaii from Vegas, so definitely include it when doing searching.
2. You may be able to save money if you split the flights among different carriers; Southwest to LAX and then Delta, United, Hawaiian, etc to HNL. Give yourself plenty of times between flights. Be aware that there are many things to consider when doing this, which I have no expertise in, so I would do a lot of research before choosing this option.
3. If you're flying to another island before Oahu, I would look for direct flights to that island. Some flights stop at Oahu first and then go to the other island.
4. We looked in doing other islands also, basically Big Island for volcanoes, Maui for the beach, and Kauai for being away from it all. Like you mentioned, I would do Aulani last, as people typically relax there.
 
Ok. Here a some thoughts....

1. I believe someone earlier said that Southwest had cheap flights to Hawaii from Vegas, so definitely include it when doing searching.
2. You may be able to save money if you split the flights among different carriers; Southwest to LAX and then Delta, United, Hawaiian, etc to HNL. Give yourself plenty of times between flights. Be aware that there are many things to consider when doing this, which I have no expertise in, so I would do a lot of research before choosing this option.
3. If you're flying to another island before Oahu, I would look for direct flights to that island. Some flights stop at Oahu first and then go to the other island.
4. We looked in doing other islands also, basically Big Island for volcanoes, Maui for the beach, and Kauai for being away from it all. Like you mentioned, I would do Aulani last, as people typically relax there.

Thank you for your input! As it stands now, SW does not fly to Hawaii so that's not an option. We will fly SW out West and then probably spend 1 or 2 nights before picking up a different airline to Hawaii.

I will definitely be looking for a direct flight to the Island want to visit first instead of transferring through Honolulu.
 
Check out the beatofhawaii.com website and subscribe to it. They are great when it comes to flight specials and deals.

Also, check your prices out of San Diego, San Francisco and sometimes Portland (yes, Portland) .

If you look at the Hawaiian Airlines website, you can get a feel for which mainland locations are more expensive in general and sign up for fare alerts from them too
 


We've been to the big Island twice, Honolulu, and Kauai. Our favorite is the Big Island. It's very unique and there's lots to do. Kauai is nice and sedate. Honolulu/Oahu is our least favorite but it does have the big tourist sites and the USS Arizona is a must see.
 
We've been to the big Island twice, Honolulu, and Kauai. Our favorite is the Big Island. It's very unique and there's lots to do. Kauai is nice and sedate. Honolulu/Oahu is our least favorite but it does have the big tourist sites and the USS Arizona is a must see.


I have been leaning towards the Big Island because we are interested in Volcano National Park and all the sites that go along with it. My parents are joining us and for some reason my dad has it in his mind that it's more commercialized and more crime than the other islands. My father tends to get stuck in the way-back machine though and listens to his friends who probably haven't been in years.
 


Consider flying into HNL and out of Maui or Kauai. So you only need to buy 1 way between the island. My experience is that to/from HNL flights are slightly cheaper than flights for other islands, because of supply / demands.
 
Consider flying into HNL and out of Maui or Kauai. So you only need to buy 1 way between the island. My experience is that to/from HNL flights are slightly cheaper than flights for other islands, because of supply / demands.

That is the plan. We will fly to one island, do an intra-island flight to the next, and then fly home from the last island we're on (which hopefully will be Oahu if I can manage that).
 
I have been leaning towards the Big Island because we are interested in Volcano National Park and all the sites that go along with it. My parents are joining us and for some reason my dad has it in his mind that it's more commercialized and more crime than the other islands.

Is that referring to the Big Island? Commercialization I would probably rank (in decreasing order): Oahu, Maui, Big Island, Kauai. Oahu has more crime because Honolulu/Waikiki is a big city.

If you decide on the Big Island, most direct flights from the mainland fly into Kona (KOA). There are very few that fly direct into Hilo, the only one I know of is United from LAX. It's about 2 1/2 hour drive from KOA to Volcano on Saddle Road cutting across the middle of the island. Ideally, I'd recommend at least a couple days on the Kona side, then a leisurely drive over to Volcano. Then fly out of Hilo (ITO) to HNL - flights are plentiful and usually around $100. You can also use mileage (AA is 7500 miles one-way).

We fly out of SJC, OAK, or SFO. Usually SJC/OAK has the better price. I've seen connection through LAX that was cheaper, but I think it just depends. I aim for a round trip price of under $400 and have always gotten it not going during school breaks or holidays. Our last trip was spring break though and I think the lowest it got was about $580.
 
I have been leaning towards the Big Island because we are interested in Volcano National Park and all the sites that go along with it. My parents are joining us and for some reason my dad has it in his mind that it's more commercialized and more crime than the other islands. My father tends to get stuck in the way-back machine though and listens to his friends who probably haven't been in years.

As someone who has been travelling on a regular basis to the Hawaiian islands over more than 23 years, I can say with utter confidence that The Big Island is one of the least commercialized of the major islands.
Now as far as crime goes, I have had a couple of run ins with drug culture on both Big Island and Kauai and obviously there is crime that spins off of that. Really high usage of meth and ice have been documented over and over, it is kind of the seedy underbelly of all of Hawaii
 
We are possibly taking a trip to Aulani in Summer 2018.

My plan is to fly 4 adults using my SW points to the West coast (we're from the East coast) and then pick up a flight from the West coast to Hawaii.

There are so many balls in the air that I'm having trouble pinning down where to start.

Firstly, SW flies to a lot of major cities out West and basically I don't care which one we end up at. My goal is finding the cheapest flight from the West coast to Hawaii. Any idea what city that might be? We can choose most major cities in Cali, and I've also considered Vegas or Seattle.

My other issue is that we plan to do two islands while out there, Oahu is one of them and we haven't decided on the other. And I think I'd rather do Aulani at the end of the trip because I have the idea of saving the best for last. So I'm not even sure at this point what island we would fly into from the West coast.

Sorry about the blabbering, I'm just trying to write all my thoughts down and hopefully get it straightened out! I think once our travel party decides on the island that will make it a little easier.

My family and I are coming to Aulani in Nov. We too are visiting 2 Islands- Oahu & Maui.

Originally, I had us visiting Maui first and Aulani last. After some extensive research I realized flying into HNL first was cheaper and had better flight times vs flying into Maui first.

We are also doing an inter-island flight from HNL to Maui (lots available and prices are decent)

I booked our flights just 2 months ago and got some amazing deals! We’re flying out of Toronto to LAX and then LAX to HNL.

I used flighthub.com and cheapflights.ca but they do have cheapflights.com as well.

We’re flying Delta there and Air Canada home.

Good luck :)
 
I'd keep your eye open for cheap flights. I just booked my mother Boston to Honolulu for 638 round trip (delta) in November over thanksgiving. So Keep looking for flights. Breaking up on two carriers seems like a ton of work.

I just came back from a weekend on the big island. It was amazing. Many older people (My grandparents, others I talked to) often get confused with Oahu and Hawaii island. Oahu is where Honolulu is, and because Honolulu is a big city, there is crime, it feels like a city, the economy is more depressed, and it's certainly not the prettiest island. Hawaii (the Big Island) is just gorgeous, more rural, more untouched.

We flew into Kona, ate dinner, drove to Volancos national park by the south (about 2 1/2 hours) and checked into our cabin at night. Spent 1 day exploring the national park, doing lots of hikes and walking and then seeing the glow from Kilauea at night. The next day we explored the eastern tip, drove up Mauna Kea (4 wheel dr only) and then ate dinner in Hilo. Yesterday we checked out and drove down to Hilo and started our drive back to kona from there, exploring the waterfalls and other coastal things (Waipio lookout is amazing!) Didn't have time to go up around the Kohala coast and we never got to explore kona area either. There's a TON to do there. I'm already planning a weekend back in the winter.
 
Honolulu doesn't represent all of Ohau thankfully! When we were at Aulani in May, we spent the first 3 days driving all over the island, crisscrossing it many times, driving almost the entire coastline, and going on all sorts of excursions. I loved the island of Ohau so much more than I thought I would. The scenery, the flora, the beaches, those gorgeous accordion-shaped mountains, the lookouts, the small north shore towns, the food trucks, Motsumotos shaved ice!, the snorkeling at Haunama Bay at 6 am and having it all to ourselves. But that said, I did not like Honolulu, and I utterly despised Waikiki. (But I am not a city girl and do not enjoy any big city!) Don't dismiss the whole island though because of the one big city there. :-). We were glad we ventured away from Aulani and planned some touring days to see the island.

One thing I did read in my research is that every island, while having it's own flavor does offer pretty much all the elements of Hawaii regardless of which one you go to (scenery, snorkeling, beautiful beaches, hiking, turtles, etc.) Except maybe the volcanos - in which case you'd want to go to the big island. It helped to know I couldn't make a "wrong" choice where I'd be missing out on something.

Whatever island you choose, unless you plan to just do the beach the whole time, I would recommend doing some research to decide what you want to see ahead of time rather than winging it. My in-laws just got back from the big island 2 nights ago and took the winging it approach with only one thing on the agenda - a night snorkel with manta rays (which ended up going south with barfing sessions, a guide breaking her ankle, and half the boat getting refunds!) They said they would pick a different island next time :-(. We too had one bad excursion on Oahu (the Atlantis submarine), but it was a blip on the radar because we planned so many things to do and see that one bad thing had almost no impact. And then Aulani!! Relaxing there for 4 days straight can undo any bad experience. lol.

If you can save Aulani for the end of your trip do it! I've never experienced the sort of relaxation we did at Aulani. Even the kids said it felt like time was moving in slow motion. lol.
 
Oh I know. I live here :) I love being in the city. I couldn't stand living out in the country. But even in the most rural places on Oahu it's still pretty run down (unless you're in waikiki or koolina or the richer areas like Hawaii Kai) . But I still think Oahu has a vibe that's incredible. And all the food you could want!
 
Oahu is where Honolulu is, and because Honolulu is a big city, there is crime, it feels like a city, the economy is more depressed, and it's certainly not the prettiest island. Hawaii (the Big Island) is just gorgeous, more rural, more untouched.
Really? I don't think Honolulu feels like a city anywhere except for Downtown/Chinatown. The more residential areas like Kahala, Hawaii Kai, Palolo, etc., either have a town feel or totally suburban. But, full disclosure, I grew up in the DC area and DC is ranked as the 21st largest city in the country. Baltimore, where I also spent a lot of time, is ranked 30th. And I also spent a fair amount of time in NYC which is obviously the biggest city and the country. So Honolulu, rank #55, feels cute to me.

Oahu has more crime because Honolulu/Waikiki is a big city.

Actually, Maui has the most crime by far. I have a 2016 crime report split up by island: Maui (3,757), Oahu (3,270) Hawaii (2,747), Kauai (2,442). While Maui and Oahu are very close in numbers, we have to keep in mind that Maui only has 1/8th the population of Oahu. Maui also had the highest amount of violent crime reports. The other islands were all around 236 and Maui was 273.

FWIW, towns like Wahiwa, Nanakuli, and Makaha have a higher crime rate and worse reputation than Honolulu.
 
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Really? I don't think Honolulu feels like a city anywhere except for Downtown/Chinatown. The more residential areas like Kahala, Hawaii Kai, Palolo, etc., either have a town feel or totally suburban. But, full disclosure, I grew up in the DC area and DC is ranked as the 21st largest city in the country. Baltimore, where I also spent a lot of time, is ranked 30th. And I also spent a fair amount of time in NYC which is obviously the biggest city and the country. So Honolulu, rank #55, feels cute to me.
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the whole island feels crowded to me, everywhere. Even outside of Honolulu. It just feels congested. I'm from the boston area, which is also a bigger city but it just never feels crowded to me. And Honolulu isn't even more dense, it's less. But it just still feels crowded everywhere. Like I could go to a Home Depot in boston and have no trouble finding a parking spot. Here, it's like chaos. But, maybe it's really all the tourists. lol That said, I still love it here. And I love living in a city of this size. It's got everything I need and there's so much to do.
 
Southwest literally just announced that they will start flights to Hawaii in 2018 (pending approval). I wonder what their prices will be. :)
 
the whole island feels crowded to me, everywhere. Even outside of Honolulu. It just feels congested. I'm from the boston area, which is also a bigger city but it just never feels crowded to me. And Honolulu isn't even more dense, it's less. But it just still feels crowded everywhere. Like I could go to a Home Depot in boston and have no trouble finding a parking spot. Here, it's like chaos. But, maybe it's really all the tourists. lol That said, I still love it here. And I love living in a city of this size. It's got everything I need and there's so much to do.
Yes, you're so right about the congested feeling. haha @ blaming the tourists. I know the rail system is not a popular subject with residents, but it does help with congestion. I'd honestly love to do some light shopping at Target and take the train home instead of having to deal with my car and traffic.
 

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