anita

We will be flying from Minneapolis to Maui for Christmas. Continental has a rate of $852.00 for the dates we want. This seems to be a decent rate. What do you think, book or hold tight for awhile? Thanks.

giorgi

That seems a little too expensive to me. I personally think that it is too early to book a flight for Christmas and that if you wait, the fares will come down, especially if the economy continues the way it is.

Quinty

Yes, too expensive!
There are many fare sales throughout the year to Hawaii. I'd keep monitoring it. I think that price you've got is about the highest you'd pay (if your shopping around) so it can only get better.

anita

Thanks for the replies. I think I get a little anxious because we have to travel on specific dates because of our work and school schedules.

I guess I was comparing the $852 price to the NW fare of $1100. I'll just wait a bit and see what happens.

bettyk

Remember that many sales have blackout dates during the holidays.

meggss

Anita,

Have you tried worry free vacations? It is sponsored by Northwest, you can get some very good dels, and being where you are from. WWW.worryfreevacations.com.

voyager42001

It might be cheaper to fly direct to San Francisco, Oakland, or Los Angeles (one R/T ticket), and book a R/T separately to Maui. Just a thought.....

Rusty

It is not likely that you will get a cheap ticket at Christmas time, which of course is peak travel time to Hawaii. For some strange reason, airlines tend to not offer discounted prices at a time when the seats are going to be sold out anyway.
If you wait too long you will not get seats at ANY price.

Lori

While it may sound expensive, it is Christmas - the ultimate in peak time. Airlines and hotels will all charge more so if you want to go badly enough you just have to deal with it. I don't think it sounds that terrible from Minneapolis. Most airlines have blackout days so be real sure about that when you travel on a holiday break like Christmas.

nicknik

You might want to book a hotel and flight to maui, with blue skys , or pleasent holidays both on the net. In my area houston ,texas , it is not uncommon to get 5 nights with air for about $850.00 pre person, and you can add more nights and up grade your flight to a non stop. Last year i spent 14 nights on 3 islands , for $3500.00 total( for 2 ) not per person, with cars mid size, interisland flights, all taxes except rental car tax. Used an agent and they used blue skys. nick

RachelG

At Christmas, this is a good price. We went last year, and ended up paying about $1200 per person the week after Christmas as I waited to long for the prices to go down (They never did and the cheaper fares sold out). All our flights were packed and this was 3 mos after 9/11. The only condolence was that it was a business trip for me so we didn't have to pay for my ticket.

anita

Over the past few days I have spent several hours searching and trying every different combination of flights and times I could think of. Continental's fare was still the best so I went ahead and booked with them.

At least now I can go ahead a book our room and car. Thanks again for the replies.

lenleigh

Anita,

I used to sell airline tickets and know that 852.00 (FROM Minneapolis) during Christmas time is NOT that outrageous of a fare. Usually the cheapest fares are out of California (SFO, LAX...) but with you being in the middle of the country and it being Christmas you will probably find a hard time getting much lower. I am out of Denver and the average price (not during peak time) is around 500.00 to 600.00 per person. It is really hard to say what prices will look like in the next 6 months but usually the closer you get to your departure date, the more expensive the flight is going to get. Unless United has some miraculous fares at the last minute.