While airfares fluctuate, seemingly by the hour (often true), with planning, you can find cheap flights for your Hawaii vacation. It’s always easier to find more flights when flying into major airports. You may want to visit Kauai, depart from your home no sooner than 10am, make no connections and arrive in time to check in and visit the beach. It’s not likely to happen that way, however, consider what you are willing to do and your flexibility will be rewarding to your time and budget.
Planning a Hawaii vacation to the island of Kauai? Check out our Poipu condos for your stay.
Consider what you are willing to do—make no more than one connection, depart before 9am (later in the day, flight delays tend to be more common and late flights begin to pile up so you’ll by vying with more passengers to get out) and drive to a larger airport for a cheaper flight. If you have a regional airport near your home, you may just save money by driving (and paying to park) to a larger airport farther away. Know your air carriers and their hubs—Delta’s major city is Atlanta and for American Airlines, flights tend to be cheaper and more frequent from Miami than Fort Lauderdale.
All the online travel companies, including Kayak, Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity and others are good to check for your reservations. Priceline and Hotwire are alternatives. Just know your deal breakers before booking because most tickets will be non-refundable, which means any changes will require a change fee (flat fee), fare difference (no limits) and possibly other surcharges including a reservation fee (someone on the phone has to make the change and will charge you for it). It also depends on who you bought your ticket from so if you buy from an online travel agency instead of an airline, any changes or even a seat request means extra fees.
If you fly into Maui, take a look at our Wailea vacation rentals.
Whenever possible, put an online reservation on hold for 24 hours if it allows you and then, at least you can continue to shop around. Consider traveling on a weekday (Tuesday – Thursday) if it makes enough difference, even if you have to take more vacation days, if possible. Buy after midnight on Tuesday and you might find a lower fare that someone had on hold but did not purchase by midnight.
Finally, think about purchasing a package (hotel, airfare, car rental) through a business located in Hawaii. It’s worth buying from a local who knows the best insider information.