Flight prices

[Tracy Pratt]

we are flying from Los Angeles may 6-13 (sat to sat) right now Virgin America is $539 round trip. I am on the fence if I should buy now or we could potentially get a lower price. Thoughts anyone?

 

[wanderlust7]

We fly from the San Francisco area and I always aim for under $400. I think there are lots of flights LAX-HNL and it's still early. I would watch and wait.

I'm waiting for flights to drop to the Big Island for spring break. It's like playing a game of chicken!

 

[MouseOfCards]

If you are coordinating or managing flights and schedules for multiple parties, then I would definitely book early so that there isn't any last minute scrambling to secure flights, seats, and meeting times and locations. However, if you're planning just for your own family, I would check the seat availability regularly (looking at several airlines), and if there were plenty of seats still open, I would wait, especially for a NON-high season like early May. The best prices should appear sometime around 45-75 days out. Like the PP mentioned, we having been seeing prices dropping to near $400 if you wait. Of course if oil prices start to skyrocket, airline tickets will likely follow.

 

[Elima2015]

I would book that - especially if your dates aren't flexible and/or if you are traveling with more than a couple people. To me, it is worth it to have the flights and seats secured without having to check every day. Also, I believe Virgin America was recently bought by Alaska. Alaska has a price guaranetee and will give you credit if the fare goes down and you ask for it. Not sure if Virgin has something similar or if they have adopted Alaska's policies yet. If you want a reference, we are paying $425 one way next time we go from the west (we used miles to book the other one-way).

 

[longboard55]

You are talking about the slowest time of the year, so you could wait a little, but LA prices tend to be higher than Oakland, SF so you will not save a lot. Look at the monthly charts on Hawaiian to get a feel for pricing.

 

[MouseOfCards]

We were tracking ticket prices for Hawaiian Airlines for several slow dates over the last year. For example, for LAX to HNL in early March, at about 9 months out, the price was approx $620. At 6 months out, it dropped to $500. At 60 days out, it dropped to $435. Then, 2 weeks later, it went back up to $500. There were still plenty of seats every time checked. During the same times, SFO to HNL was definitely cheaper during the earlier times checked, but started to get real close to the same cost at 60 days out. Also FYI, Hawaiian Air will issue you a $75 credit (must be used for future airline purchase) if the price drops more than $75.

 

[wanderlust7]

Alaska has a price guaranetee and will give you credit if the fare goes down and you ask for it

We've done this before. It's online and very easy. But the credit expires in 1 year. We didn't get a chance to fly Alaska within that time and it went to waste.

 

[Tracy Pratt]

There are 10 of us total so I think I'm going to book this weekend. Alaska air website says I can try group sales since there are 10 of us and that i may be able to get a discounted price..it's worth a try