Prices on flights to the Big Island (Honolulu, Hilo: car rental, rental)

[JoDan]

Planning to visit the Big Island, June and July. I intend to fly to Hilo to begin my trip and wonder what some airline veterans have to say about prices between now and 1 June. I realize prices are a bit cheaper to fly to Kona, but my car is in Hilo. When is the best time to buy my ticket, now or wait? Thanks.

[Balad1]

Sign up for daily fare tracker email alerts with kayak.com. Get a feel for the fares and buy when it hits your price point. Closer in it gets more expensive as you know.

Continental airlines has just started direct flights into Hilo (ITO) and might have better fares starting out.

PS: It looks like Delta has a fare for $987, ATL to ITO in the beginning of June.

http://www.kayak.com

[henry1]

look around and see if there is a way to advance book your ticket to the Hilo or keep looking for deals and they can be found without a lot of problems ..my last ticket round trip cost me $360.oo for round trip and the three day hotel and car rental was just over $425.oo.plus taxs all total ..

but iam flying out of the bay area for that price so like the guy said look around on the internet to see how much ....

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Travelocity has a fare watcher alert that you can sign up for. Also a great website called Fare Compare.

You've asked the question that we struggled with for five years of flying between Denver and Hawaii. You just have to be watchful of trends and then jump when you see what you consider to be the lowest it will go. Then, after you buy stop watching or you will make yourself crazy with second-guessing.

[Balad1]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Travelocity has a fare watcher alert that you can sign up for. Also a great website called Fare Compare.

You've asked the question that we struggled with for five years of flying between Denver and Hawaii. You just have to be watchful of trends and then jump when you see what you consider to be the lowest it will go. Then, after you buy stop watching or you will make yourself crazy with second-guessing.

I was going to mention that too, lol. Don't second guess yourself after you make the purchase.

[OpenD]

I use the bargain fare watcher on Alaska Airlines to book my business trips between Kona and Austin, Texas. Lately it's been running $190 one way on the low fare days, plus taxes and fees, plus $20 for a checked bag. I've occasionally caught it as low as $129. Then I get from Kona to Hilo via shared cab, or ride with a friend going that way, or occasionally via the HeleOn bus.

Flying to Hilo practically requires flying through Honolulu, with a plane change, which I really don't like. Too many missed connections, too much lost baggage. In June Continental will start once a day direct flights from California to Hilo but the fares are high.

If I were in Atlanta, I'd look at getting to Seattle or Denver or LA, then flying Alaska from there. They all have non-stops to Kona.

But that's me. When I lived in Seattle I flew Alaska every week, and racked up a lot of FF miles, which are useful for upgrades, etc. Your mileage may vary.

[Kelly4Sun]

Happy New Year Everyone,

I've been looking into multiple flights out of Portland Oregon. First flight Portland to LAX. Second flight, LAX to Kona Hawaii. Then the last leg would be from Kona to Portland Oregon. I'm looking into June for this trip. Any suggestions the cheapest/best way to go about this. It seems the airfares right now are outrageous. I'm hoping they will go down. I'm use to flying non-stop out of Portland into Kahaului Maui. But...this trip isn't going to be quite as simple I'm afraid .

Many Mahalos,
Kelly

[Balad1]

I see using the kayak.com search fares for $497 R/T in June on Delta (PDX- KOA).
KAYAK Search Results

[JoDan]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Travelocity has a fare watcher alert that you can sign up for. Also a great website called Fare Compare.

You've asked the question that we struggled with for five years of flying between Denver and Hawaii. You just have to be watchful of trends and then jump when you see what you consider to be the lowest it will go. Then, after you buy stop watching or you will make yourself crazy with second-guessing.

I like the idea of not watching once I purchase the ticket!

[mdand3boys]

Actually, remaining seats on flights to Hawaii tend to get cheaper nearer to the scheduled flight time.
However, that's no way to plan a vacation.
Inter-island flights go up in price though.