Hawaii Flights??

[sjmbruce]

Planning a trip to Hawaii.....flying into Honolulu from Detroit then boarding NCL three days later.

Two options: April of 2016 or May of 2017.

April of 2016 cruise is $1000 cheaper than May of 2017 cruise.

I'm looking at this years air prices to try and compare.

 

 

April seems to be about $400 more pp to fly, plus the times available aren't that great. May's flights seem to be cheaper and have more options. I know it's difficult to use this years flight prices to look one and even two years in the future, there's just a lot of saving and planning, even beyond this vacation, that requires me to figure it out soon.

 

Any insight into Hawaii flight prices from the Midwest?

[6rugrats]

I can only tell you that school vacations usually mean higher priced flights to Hawaii. Cruise prices for 2017 could go down. Most K-12 children are in school during May, so maybe prices might not be as high then, but simply impossible to predict. Roll the dice and choose.

Edited January 14, 2015 by 6rugrats

[fbgd]

Trying to predict prices for 15 months from now or even more than 2yrs away based upon prices you're seeing now for that same month is rather pointless, IMO.

 

There are some routes I travel the same month every year and have done for 10yrs+. It's a route I also travel three to four times a year anyway so I like to think I've fairly decent knowledge of it yet I've paid 300% of my cheapest ticket purchase at times.

[waterbug123]

Two options: April of 2016 or May of 2017.

 

I'm looking at this years air prices to try and compare.

 

 

April seems to be about $400 more pp to fly, plus the times available aren't that great. May's flights seem to be cheaper and have more options.

 

This year Easter is on April 5, so lots of schools have scheduled spring break for the week before or after that date. That means lots of people flying to/from spring break trips the first half of April, and the laws of supply and demand say increased demand = higher prices.

 

For 2016, Easter will be on March 27 so you might see fares come down as you get closer to mid April, though very early April is still apt to be high.

 

Still a long time between now and then, it's anybody's guess what else could be going on in the world that might affect prices one way or the other. But spring break IS typically a factor. Same reason flights are almost always more expensive the last week of November when people are flying to to/from Thanksgiving celebrations.

Edited January 14, 2015 by waterbug123

[pcur]

I loved our flight on Hawaiian Airlines. We got their credit card and book awards flights in Business/First Class. It was heavenly.

 

You have a lot of time to do this, and you get 30,000 bonus miles for a new card. You can get a First Class Saver award for 40,000.

 

My husband and I each got a card, got the bonus miles, paid for the cruise and other pre-trip travel expenses (hotels, etc.), and each got an award.

 

I cancelled the cards later to avoid the annual fee.

 

http://www.hawaiianairlines.com/hawaiianmiles/pages/ha-credit-card.aspx

 

You can fly out of Chicago, so a cheap flight there from DTW would be all you are out-of-pocket for the whole flight cost.

[boulders]

Early to mid-May prices for flights and the cruise should be the lowest for the April/May timeframe. Besides the Easter break, many east coast schools have the 3rd week of April off which will increase airfares. The first week of May is a popular time for Japanese tourists to visit Hawaii, so prices can be higher then for hotels and the cruise.

 

Right now, you are seeing the results on prices of being about 90 days out - the cruise prices are down because they are trying to fill berths and the air prices are up because they are trying to squeeze the last dollar from the remaining seats. The best strategy is to buy the air tickets early and the cruise tickets late (or when they're first released).

 

April is a more popular time to visit Hawaii because the weather is still a lot nicer than many parts of the mainland. The whales should also still be there. They'll be gone in May.