Air to Aulani

[tripletsmama]

We have never been to Disneyland, or Hawaii, so I am brand new to booking these types of flights. I have a few questions for those in the know. We are staying 3 nights Grand Californian, 10 nights Aulani, 1 night airport hotel.

How far in advance should air be purchased in order to get the best deal? Our trip is in February.

Which airport do we fly into for Aulani?

Do I book 2 separate round trip flights? One from home to LAX and back and then a second from LAX to Hawaii and back? What are some general price ranges for these flights?

Which airlines fly from LAX to Hawaii?

Any other tips or information regarding travel to and through Disneyland and Aulani would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[tjkraz]

I've played with itineraries like that before. Based upon my research, I'd say if you can book it as a 3-prong itinerary, you'll get the best price. Something like:

Home/NY to LAX
LAX to HNL
HNL back to Home/NY

HNL is Honolulu International.

SNA and ONT are other airport options in the Anaheim area.

The lowest prices I've ever seen from the midwest for that sort of itinerary were in the $800-900 range. $1000+ was more common.

Air travel rates seem to be at 5-year highs right now. But gas prices have fallen noticeably in the last couple of weeks. Maybe that will impact air travel prices, too.

February is still a long way off. I'd suggest monitoring rates for a few weeks to see if prices are changing much. Honestly I don't think you have much chance of getting under $900 per person so I hope that isn't an unexpected sticker shock.

Let us know what sort of a deal you end up getting.

Good luck!

 

[tripletsmama]

We budgeted $1000/person for air. So, even $900 will look good. I will start to keep an eye on air once the accommodations are for sure booked. Our 7 month window begins July 2. Can't wait!!

 

[Jenn]

We flew Atlanta to LA for 1 night. Then LA to Honolulu for 8 days. Back to LA for 1 night, then back to Atlanta.

So we booked:

ATL-LAX RT on AirTran
LAX-HNL RT on Hawaiian Airlines (loved them they were great!)

We ended up spending about $4,000 for 4 people.

 

[stacieps]

we booked our flights 7 months out (we're leaving this Friday 6/28)
we're staying 9 nights on Oahu and 5 at Disneyland

we booked
BOS-LAX round trip - Virgin America
LAX-HNL round trip - Delta
We paid about $850pp total

I had priced multi-leg trips and they were coming out a couple hundred dollars more per person. I also had budgeted $1000pp, so I was very happy with $850

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

You have three travel legs. For the fun of it, I tried some arbitrary dates in February 2014. The prices below are per passenger.

Leg 1 -- JFK to LAX on 02/10/2014: $186 nonstop on various airlines (Delta, JetBlue, United, Virgin America)

Leg 2 -- LAX to HNL on 02/14/2014: $284 nonstop on Hawaiian Airlines

Leg 3 -- HNL to JFK on 02/26/2014: $319 nonstop on Hawaiian Airlines

That works our to $789 total per passenger. By the time you read this, those prices might have risen or fallen.

Also, consider an itinerary entirely on United out of Newark, NJ (EWR).

There are many options. Play with Kayak.com and Hipmunk.com and the various airline websites.

Be sure to try Multi-City searches, in which you specify all three legs at the same time. You might find a considerably lower fare that way, especially when you're dealing with a legacy airline like United.

For the New York area, try EWR, LGA, and JFK as your departure airport.

For Disneyland, consider flying into SNA (Santa Ana / Orange County) instead of LAX. SNA is a much more pleasant airport. Compared to LAX, SNA is smaller, less crowded, closer to Disneyland, and you get to the rental cars by crossing the street and taking an elevator. There's even a Ruby's restaurant right in the SNA terminal.

Unfortunately, when Aloha Airlines folded, nonstop flight from SNA to HNL ended. You will probably have to fly to from LAX to HNL.

Most rental car companies do not charge a premium for renting at SNA and returning at LAX, but you might want to look into this.

Coming back from HNL, you can fly nonstop to EWR on United and nonstop to JFK on Hawaiian. These eastbound flights are overnight flights. I like nonstops (compared to connecting on the West Coast). Not only do you have a greater chance of getting some sleep on a single, long flight, but the aircraft are twin-aisle, widebody airliners.

As far as timing is concerned, I would buy tickets when you see a price that looks reasonable. There might be some sales between now and your travel date, but it's also possible all the cheap inventory will be gone for your particular dates if you wait.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

When I'm looking for airfare, I check EVERYDAY. A friend told me that Wednesdays airfares go down? It's not always the case but it also depends on how many months out you are. I've also been told that prices aren't even manipulated yet until 4 to 6 months out. Also.....the prices change starting midnight but midnight time where the airline calls home. Example: United hub is in Chicago so midnight THEIR time. I will say it has worked for me in the past. We went to Aulani in February (presidents week) and initially airfare was $700 plus for us (flying from California). I did the whole check at midnight thing and one day hit the jack pot. Got airfare for $391 per ticket.
Good luck.

 

[tripletsmama]

Thanks for the continued tips! My kids are home schooled, so our travel dates are very flexible. Maybe I'll play with airfare and then book Aulani according to that. If we can get air for $800, I will have enough extra to get DS his own seat. He will be 1 at the time of travel, and I was going to just put him on my lap, but on those long flights I think him having his own seat would be wonderful!

 

[dvc_john]

I usually book:

Home (in the Midwest) to SNA (Orange County)
LAX to HNL
HNL to home

All on one ticket and one airline.

You may be able to do better price wise with multiple tickets and multiple airlines, but be careful of your connections.
If you fly HNL to LAX on one airline/one ticket, then after an hour or two connect time fly from LAX to home on another airline/ticket, you could be in trouble if the first flight is delayed/cancelled and you miss your second flight.
When it's all on one ticket, you're protected.

Also, at the end of the California portion, I spend most of the day at the parks, then spend the nignt at an airport area hotel, and fly on to HNL in the morning. That way I'm not stressed about getting to the airport on time, LA traffic, etc.
I usually take the Disneyland Express bus from SNA to the Grand Californian, also from the Grand Californian to LAX.
I don't rent a car at all unless I'm planning something other than just Disneyland.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

One other thing to consider is the possibility of scheduling Aulani first, and then the Disneyland Resort.

I don't sleep well on airplanes. I prefer daytime flights. I prefer sleeping in good hotel beds or at home.

If you fly from Honolulu to the East Coast (or the Midwest), you'll be on an overnight, "red eye" flight. My opinion is that a mostly sleepless night on an airplane is an awful way to end a great vacation.

If you fly from Honolulu to Los Angeles, you can take a daytime flight. You might then want to spend that night at a hotel near LAX before checking in at Disneyland the next day.

A number of times, we've done the following:

Home (in the Midwest) to HNL
HNL to LAX
SNA (Orange County) to home

I agree with dvc_john that's it's a bad idea to book two different airlines on two separate tickets on the same day. If you miss the second flight due to the first flight, you are not protected. However, a connecting flight involving two different airlines on the same day on a single ticket is fine -- such as buying a ticket from American Airlines that involves a connection from Alaska Airlines to American on the West Coast.

If your flights are all on different days, with multi-night resort stays between them, there is no real risk in booking multiple airlines, even on separate tickets. Sometimes itineraries booked as three one-way tickets cost no more than an entire itinerary booked on a single ticket. But sometimes, especially on legacy carriers like United Airlines, one-way tickets are much more expensive. When I looked the other day, the entire 3-segment itinerary (including a nonstop HNL-to-EWR flight) on United was around $800-900, but just the one-way HNL-to-EWR ticket was $1,600.

(The biggest downside to separate tickets is being subject to multiple change fees if your plans change.)

 

[tripletsmama]

Thanks! I'm now trying to finalize how many nights we want at Disneyland and how many at Aulani so I have everything ready for the 7 month window next week!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Thanks! I'm now trying to finalize how many nights we want at Disneyland and how many at Aulani so I have everything ready for the 7 month window next week!

At the beginning of this thread, you wrote, "3 nights Grand Californian, 10 nights Aulani."

I would suggest at least 4 nights at the Grand Californian so that you'll have 3 full days for the 2 parks, plus whatever hours (if any) you can squeeze in on your travel days. If you've never been to the Disneyland Resort, there's much to see and do. Disneyland has more to offer than Magic Kingdom Park and Disney California Adventure has more to offer than Disney's Hollywood Studios or Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Even with three full days, you won't be able to do everything, but at least you'll have a chance to catch big and small shows, get good spots for parades, and enjoy several different restaurants -- instead of just running from ride to ride.

 

[JimMIA]

This suggestion is not specific to a Hawaii trip, but it's a general strategy I use.

I check one or more of the travel sites for low fares: Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak. You pick, they all have the same prices.

Once I find a good fare, I do NOT book it on the travel site. I go to the airline site, where I find exactly the same fare, but many more flight options.

So instead of flying Miami-Orlando-La Guardia-Dallas-Montreal-San Diego to get a good fare, I just fly Miami-San Diego non-stop for the same price by booking on the airline site. I don't think I've ever found a situation where the "online discount site" price gave me the same flight options for the same price. The individual airline sites have given me the same price, but better options.

(And I've had the same experience with rental cars....and not had to pay up front with cancellation fees.)

 

[ssxa]

-We went last year from Hawaii to Orlando...I checked everyday for about 8months. I'd say the avg fare was around $900 or so pp. It varied from $1100 all the way down to $560, I managed to get in around 45 days before we left for $680pp. I have the Kayak app on my iphone, saved the settings and hit "search" practically everyday. Flight had a stopover each way in Phoenix.
-Honolulu International Airport is the only major airport on Oahu. All flights go through there.
-Aulani is rather far away from most of the other tourist attractions on the island of Oahu...by Hawaiian standards anyway. Lots of things to do on Oahu, but if budget allows, I'd suggest visiting another island or two, especially if you are staying 10 days in Hawaii.
-Hawaiian Airlines flys a lot of route to the main 48 now, including the east coast. Their planes are newer and in my experience a slight step up from American, United, etc...they usually cost a little more though. Alaska Airlines consistently had the cheapest flights when I was looking, but in the end, our flight was with US Airways.
-Good luck!!!

 

[G'sMaman]

You might consider getting an Alaskan Airline Visa card. You'll get 25,000 pts for signing up and a yearly voucher for a $118 companion fare with no black out dates.

 

[Minniesgal]

I want to do something similar in 2015. I am thinking 5 or 6 nights VGC and 7 or 8 nights Aulani. I am planning if it isn't too expensive to buy separate flights to break it up. I am thinking actually flying in to Las Vegas so a couple of nights there can be added. Then driving from las Vegas to VGC. So when we fly to Aulani it is a good few days later and the flights are split up. On the way back i was thinking adding a couple of nights weither in Santa Monica or San Diego to break the journey up before flying back out of LAX.

I may completely change my thinking once i see prices but for the moment breaking up the flying is a big priority.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I am thinking actually flying in to Las Vegas so a couple of nights there can be added. Then driving from las Vegas to VGC. So when we fly to Aulani it is a good few days later and the flights are split up. On the way back i was thinking adding a couple of nights weither in Santa Monica or San Diego to break the journey up before flying back out of LAX.

There are nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines -- and between San Diego and Honolulu on Alaska Airlines. The Alaska Airlines flights can be quite inexpensive compared to the major airlines out of LAX.

You might want to consider flying by way of Las Vegas in one direction and by way of San Diego in the other direction. You can avoid the long drive between the Las Vegas and Anaheim. And you might be able to get lower airfare than going through LAX.

San Diego (SAN) -- although a longer distance from Disneyland than SNA, LGB, ONT, LAX, or BUR -- is not an unreasonable airport for going to Disneyland, especially if you also want to visit San Diego. The distance is less that 100 miles. The driving time depends on traffic, but should be less than 2 hours (just 1 hour 39 minutes according to Google Maps).

 

[carissa1970]

There are nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines -- and between San Diego and Honolulu on Alaska Airlines. The Alaska Airlines flights can be quite inexpensive compared to the major airlines out of LAX.

You might want to consider flying by way of Las Vegas in one direction and by way of San Diego in the other direction. You can avoid the long drive between the Las Vegas and Anaheim. And you might be able to get lower airfare than going through LAX.

San Diego (SAN) -- although a longer distance from Disneyland than SNA, LGB, ONT, LAX, or BUR -- is not an unreasonable airport for going to Disneyland, especially if you also want to visit San Diego. The distance is less that 100 miles. The driving time depends on traffic, but should be less than 2 hours (just 1 hour 39 minutes according to Google Maps).

We flew out of San Diego to Honolulu on Alaska. Way cheaper than any other airline, or out of any other airport. Trust me, i researched for months before we finally booked. It was $300 per person, and was a very nice flight.

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[Horace Horsecollar]

We flew out of San Diego to Honolulu on Alaska. Way cheaper than any other airline, or out of any other airport. Trust me, i researched for months before we finally booked. It was $300 per person, and was a very nice flight.

In off-season months, such as September, it's not unusual to see San Diego-to-HNL flight on Alaska Airlines for as little as just over $200 one way. Perhaps the price can go even lower if there's a sale.

I flew Alaska Airlines from Kauai to Oakland in coach/economy class last year. The aircraft, inflight service, and even the food (for sale) were all as good or better than on major airlines. If you're in American Airlines' AAdvantage frequent flyer program you can even earn points and receive status based benefits with Alaska Airlines.

 

[toniosmom]

---Hawaiian Airlines flys a lot of route to the main 48 now, including the east coast. Their planes are newer and in my experience a slight step up from American, United, etc...they usually cost a little more though. Alaska Airlines consistently had the cheapest flights when I was looking, but in the end, our flight was with US Airways.
-Good luck!!!

I was pricing out the cost to Aulani and just today found cheaper airfare JFK to HNL via Hawaiian Airlines vs. Newark to HNL via United. Hawaiian Airlines was a couple of hundred dollars cheaper per person.