Hawaiian Air VS Island Air to island hop

[Anal Annie]

So I am trying desperately to plan out our flights for DL and Aulani / Maui this summer ON A BUDGET and am not having much success. The week before our 7 month window everything was a lot cheaper and the day after I was able to finish booking all of the flights started going up. And up. And UP. I WAS trying to piece meal our flights together with a mix of this & that until someone on the Transportation board pointed out that if I book airlines that don't code share we'd likely have to retrieve our luggage between flights and re-check in between all the flights. Not sure it's worth all that hassle just to save maybe $50-100 pp. I feel like I am starting all over again now. Anyway, I did some new searches this morning and if I book everything through United (my last choice, really) they use Island Air for their inter-island flights rather than Hawaiian Airlines. If I were to pick myself I would book Hawaiian. I know it's a really super short flight from Oahu to Maui but does anybody have any experience with Island Air? Any oddities that I should be aware of with them?

 

[DVCismyhappyplace]

We've used Island Air. I definitely prefer Hawaiian. If you can get the first flight of the day, you should be ok. Island has a tendency to cancel flights and run with major delays so keep checking your reservations!

The new interline luggage rules that Hawaiian uses are a pain. Where are you flying from? The reason I ask is that Jet Blue and Virgin America codeshare with Hawaiian. If you are coming from JFK or the west coast, Hawaiian all the way, may be your best bet.

I just went crazy finding flights for our trip to Kona and Maui in May.

 

[Anal Annie]

Oh poo. Don't like to hear that about Island Air. The "deal" that I found for this price is a 2:10 pm flight (not my first choice either). There is also a 6:45 AM and then a few evening flights. None of which are my first choice. I didn't realize that JB and VA were partners with Hawaiian. Good to know. But I have a bottom line and most other flights are just too high - the Hawaiian flights between CA and HI have gone THRU THE ROOF over the past 2 weeks... I HAD actually wanted to try VA on the way home from LA. But my concern was that we'd have to claim our luggage. I don't know what to do. This United itinerary is the only thing that comes in under $1,000. Most of the more desirable flights are closer to $1,200. And that doesn't include our flight from DC to LA. I am likely going to book Jet Blue from here to LA.

I just tried to price everything out all in one multi-city deal on the HA website but it wouldn't let me pull in the VA flt from Dulles so I called them. They said that one would have to be done separately for some reason. But they COULD price out LAX-HNL-OGG-IAD (using VA). Came to $1,130.10 (and uses 2 stops on the return) which is $191 more than the United set and has more transfers.

Very frustrating these airlines are.....

 

[DVCismyhappyplace]

Try looking at Jet Blue flying into San Francisco, Oakland or San Jose and connecting to Hawaiian. I just saw a great deal on Hawaiian from San Jose to either HNL or KOA for $213 flying on May 1.

Also - go to the Cheesseburger in Paradise website. www.cheeseburgerland.com Clilck on "favorite links" and click Hawaiian airlines. You'll get a code for 5% off a Hawaiian flight from most west coast cities.

 

[blondietink]

It is my understanding that Hawaiian Air is much more reliable than Island Air.

 

[Anal Annie]

Try looking at Jet Blue flying into San Francisco, Oakland or San Jose and connecting to Hawaiian. I just saw a great deal on Hawaiian from San Jose to either HNL or KOA for $213 flying on May 1.

Also - go to the Cheesseburger in Paradise website. www.cheeseburgerland.com Clilck on "favorite links" and click Hawaiian airlines. You'll get a code for 5% off a Hawaiian flight from most west coast cities.

Thanks - I'll check out the Cheeseburger in Paradise website!! Of course all the Jet Blue flight deals are for other cities....I get their email sales....everything goes into May for sales....but we're not traveling until August AND we're going to LA (DL) for 4 nights first so San Jose doesn't help much... Bu I'm not giving up on finding a deal yet! Keep the ideas coming!!

 

[Waddler]

I've used Island Air a couple of times. IMO, they're fine, but definitely not as professional as Hawaiian. A flight on IA reminds me of riding a city bus. The crew and staff often show up at the gate just as the flight's schedule to depart. Very low-key but easy to work with.

 

[taaren]

Thanks - I'll check out the Cheeseburger in Paradise website!! Of course all the Jet Blue flight deals are for other cities....I get their email sales....everything goes into May for sales....but we're not traveling until August AND we're going to LA (DL) for 4 nights first so San Jose doesn't help much... Bu I'm not giving up on finding a deal yet! Keep the ideas coming!!

If you're laying over in SoCal, consider looking at Alaska flights from San Diego to Hawaii. They're very reasonable, and you could take Amtrak from Anaheim to SD inexpensively.
Also, Alaska is the only airline that offers a companion fare certificate (with their BoA credit card) that works going to Hawaii. I don't care for their service, but you can't beat the prices so I end up flying with them more often than not to and from the West Coast.

 

[Anal Annie]

Try looking at Jet Blue flying into San Francisco, Oakland or San Jose and connecting to Hawaiian. I just saw a great deal on Hawaiian from San Jose to either HNL or KOA for $213 flying on May 1.

Also - go to the Cheesseburger in Paradise website. www.cheeseburgerland.com Clilck on "favorite links" and click Hawaiian airlines. You'll get a code for 5% off a Hawaiian flight from most west coast cities.

OK so I tried this and got a code for Hawaiian from the main page on the Cheeseburger website but then when I tried to use it I got an error (the page wouldn't open). I also didn't see anywhere to USE (enter) a code on the Hawaiian website. Where were you able to put the code? Do you have to actually MAKE THE PURCHASE to prompt a place to enter it? All of the cheaper inter-island fares for mid-morning are gone already. Every day that I wait every flight goes up.

If you're laying over in SoCal, consider looking at Alaska flights from San Diego to Hawaii. They're very reasonable, and you could take Amtrak from Anaheim to SD inexpensively.
Also, Alaska is the only airline that offers a companion fare certificate (with their BoA credit card) that works going to Hawaii. I don't care for their service, but you can't beat the prices so I end up flying with them more often than not to and from the West Coast.

I will price it out just to be sure I've covered all my bases but not sure it will save us THAT much by the time we get ourselves to SD...plus the extra time to get there. How long does it take by Amtrak and how much is it? Would we take a taxi from DL to the train? All this will add up won't it? The flight from SD to HNL would have to be significantly cheaper....right now Delta is like $272 one-way from LAX. It's getting HOME that is going to cost us big bucks if we ticket it all together.

 

[DVCismyhappyplace]

OK so I tried this and got a code for Hawaiian from the main page on the Cheeseburger website but then when I tried to use it I got an error (the page wouldn't open). I also didn't see anywhere to USE (enter) a code on the Hawaiian website. Where were you able to put the code? Do you have to actually MAKE THE PURCHASE to prompt a place to enter it? All of the cheaper inter-island fares for mid-morning are gone already. Every day that I wait every flight goes up.




Once you click on the Hawaiian Link from the cheeseburger site, you'll see a purple box that says "book now" - click that. If you look on the upper left hand side of the screen it will say "affiliate traveler" that means that discount is already applied to those fares.

If you are still getting an error - go to www.hawaiianair.com/affiliate Enter code AQUA in the box where it asks you for the "Preferred Affiliate Code."

Good luck

 

[Anal Annie]

OK so I tried this and got a code for Hawaiian from the main page on the Cheeseburger website but then when I tried to use it I got an error (the page wouldn't open). I also didn't see anywhere to USE (enter) a code on the Hawaiian website. Where were you able to put the code? Do you have to actually MAKE THE PURCHASE to prompt a place to enter it? All of the cheaper inter-island fares for mid-morning are gone already. Every day that I wait every flight goes up.




Once you click on the Hawaiian Link from the cheeseburger site, you'll see a purple box that says "book now" - click that. If you look on the upper left hand side of the screen it will say "affiliate traveler" that means that discount is already applied to those fares.

If you are still getting an error - go to www.hawaiianair.com/affiliate Enter code AQUA in the box where it asks you for the "Preferred Affiliate Code."

Good luck

Thanks....this works....but not if I try to price out a "multi-city" itinerary. Then it won't open. But I can always price things separately. Not thrilled with the HA departure flight (time) and even with the 5% disc. the flight from LA - HNL is higher than the Delta flight. The disc. doesn't work on the inter-island flights either. But since prices fluctuate CONSTANTLY it's always worth checking ALL OPTIONS with this code! Thanks again!!