Hawaii flights - how far out to purchase?

[marn913]

How far in advance do you generally purchase flights for Hawaii? We are traveling to the Big Island at the end of July. I am great with Southwest - but as a result am really terrible with other airlines now! We will use points to get to the west coast from Chicago, but I am not sure what constitutes a good fare for the end of July/early August. When would you purchase and what price range would cause you to pull the trigger without any hesitation? Which airlines do you find to be best and which western-US airports have best flights/lowest fares? I have seen good remarks on San Jose, Pheonix and San Diego and Alaskan and Hawaiian airlines. I would hate to overlook an airport or carrier that is reliable and offers better rates. It will be myself, husband and 2 DD's (8 and 5 at the time) traveling.

 

[TifffanyD]

I bought mine about 5 months out (had a kayak watch and was only able to get the fare through the link)

 

[jmac323]

I also put watches on airfare. I usually fly out of Sacramento but I found airfare to Kauai from Oakland for $182 each way on Hawaiian back in June. Alaskan also flies out there and has occasional deals.

 

[TifffanyD]

I am so jealous! From FL I got a STEAL at $700 each. My mom paid $1300 from Ohio!!

 

[pate59]

Having been a veteran of many Hawaii flights - I would say anything around $400-$500.00 round trip flying from the west coast would be a good price. Keep an eye on Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Air Lines. Your flying at a very popular time (summer) and the Big Island may not have as many choices. (change in Honolulu is possible)
Both mentioned airlines are great - Hawaiian Airlines will get you in the mood as soon as you board. Hubby & I heading back to Maui in Feb out of San Diego - booked last March because of an awesome roundtrip price. Like you, using my free miles to fly from Providence to San Diego.
I would set up an alert on Kayak using the west coast cities you may want to fly out of to Kona or Hilo (not sure which airport your flying into) using your dates. You can choice a daily alert or weekly. I find it very helpful - it appears in my email first thing in the morning and have found some killer deals to book.
Enjoy the Big Island !

 

[maggiew]

Keep an eye on beatofhawaii.com They had great prices from the West Coast when I was watching for our trip a couple years ago.

We paid $1000 from Chicago for a June/July trip.

Maggie

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Be sure and check out ticket prices both from Chicago to Hawaii and from the west coast to Hawaii. There may not be a big enough difference to make it worthwhile to have the hassle of buying different sets of tickets on two different airlines.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

There are flight to HA from several west coast cities with Allegiant and Alaska airlines that are inexpensive. We bought our tickets for June with Alaska for 380 round trip. I've seen them go as little as 99 one way.

 

[bmwdw]

We recently purchased tickets through Hawaiian Airlines from San Francisco to Oahu and then Oahu to LAX. We purchased them on the day they became available on the Hawaiian Airlines website; that was at the end of July. My mother looked again just yesterday and the prices had jumped and if we purchased now would be spending an extra $150 per person. So I am a believer in sooner rather than later. I know sometimes you can find a steal last minute but also at times they tend to be more expensive to get extra money out of the desperate traveler. Good luck in your search.

 

[marn913]

Thanks for all of the replies. I will try Kayak and will keep stalking the airline websites directly!

 

[wiigirl]

I also put watches on airfare. I usually fly out of Sacramento but I found airfare to Kauai from Oakland for $182 each way on Hawaiian back in June. Alaskan also flies out there and has occasional deals.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We went to Aulani in Feb 2013 (Presidents Week, daughter off from school). Flying out of SFO we paid $391 on United but when I started trolling airfare for our vacation it was nearly $700. I just kept checking all the time all different hours. I think I got the deal in December, not sure. I do know I was sweating it a bit because it was getting close. You're coming from Chicago so it can be higher. My mother in law (in NJ) went to Honolulu last October and spent almost $1300. Right now I'm trolling for April 2014 airfare. Gas prices went down so I figured (hoped) airfare would go now. That is what is supposed to happen, right? Wrong, went up! There is no rhyme or reason to what airlines do, just keep checking.