Buy ticket now or wait till Fall?
 

Are the prices going higher and higher? We are going to Hawaii Feb 09 and don't know if we should purchase tickets now or wait in the hope that after summer they will be lower.
Thanks

Hello cd, that's always the 64 million dollar question around here. :-) Unfortunately it's impossible to predict what will happen between now and then. I'm tempted to say wait and buy in the fall. But if the price of crude oil continues to climb, so will the cost of jet fuel, hence ticket prices will probably rise. My best advice is that when you find a price that seems fair, just take it and don't check back later to see which way the fares went. Good luck.

let's ask rkkwan. He's a great prognosticator.

1. I don't follow airfares to Hawaii that closely.

2. I try not to give advice on when to buy tickets and/or if a price is good.

Have said that, I think it's too early to buy tickets now. Airlines don't put out the best fares this early, and personally I never plan trips this far out anyways.

Where from in the US? Where in Hawaii are you flying to?

What I suggest people with this much time do is this:

1) Follow the fares for a while. Use the Kayak Daily Buzz to track general prices. Or, if you are locked to dates (school vacation, wedding, etc), then use Yapta to follow specific itineraries.

2) Once you have a sense of what pricing looks like, then you will know what "normal" is and what "cheap" is.

3) Settle on a price that you think would be a bargain, say $300. If you see this price, then go ahead and buy. If you don't, keep waiting.

4) Once you get maybe 3 months out, then jump at a "normal" price if it is your perfect flight (best connections, preferred carrier, etc).

5) At 2 months out, just book anything at "normal" price and don't look back.

6) Have fun in Hawaii.

Thanks everyone.

DH said he does not think they will come down because of the oil prices and to just go ahead and do it and stop obsessing over it. (The cheapest was United and they had gone up $50.00 since I checked 3-4 wks ago) So, I purchased at $699.00pp from Cleveland to Honoluu and will pack a lunch. :-) Does anyone know what the meals that you're required to buy on United consists of?

Missed that other "l", Honolulu

I like United's RightBite snack pack. Here's a list of options:
http://tinyurl.com/58qr4a

You're required to buy the box lunch? I thought it was optional.

I'm curious because we're scheduled to go to Hawaii in August (ORD - HNL)

I can't speak for United, but when we flew to Hawaii in 2006 we thought AA's food for purchase was TERRIBLE!!

You are not required to buy any food on the plane. Personally I would grab something at the airport to take on board.

"Required to buy", was a poor choice of words, I just meant meals on United are no longer free with purchase of a ticket. And I guess if were want to eat we are required to supply our own or buy theirs. I really might take a Subway. How many airlines no longer furnish free meals for long flights? I din't know AA didn't.

Actually we just returned this month from Europe flying Delta and the meals were pretty good and included in the price. They even served a complimenty wine with dinner.

Well, there is a difference between long and international. On international flights, all (or at least most) offer free food. The quality, of course, varies. I actually think that DL, who you mention, do a good job with the food.

As for long flights, including those to Hawaii, I think that most of the airlines have stopped serving a meal. Continental does serve a free meal (which they do on all long flights during meal times). I think that Delta serves a meal for Hawaii flights, but I am not certain. Hawaiian might serve it as well.

Personally, I always try to bring a meal or eat in the airport when flying coach long-haul. The quality is just so bad sometimes that I find it safer to hedge my bets.

Thanks for the website WillTravel. The Rightbite looks like the best choice but I still think I'll make a Subway stop.

having been stuck on airplanes for either

a) those that offer food service (but may be really bad or run out) or
b) are supposed to be just 'short' flights but turned into long ones (waiting before takeoff, diverted, etc)

I now always make sure I bring some food with me on a flight. Not necessarily a full meal, but enough to tide me over in the event of problems (or just plain hunger).

In addition to snackboxes, the "fresh food" menu is available on UA flights to Hawaii:
http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,51284,00.html

Both LAX and SFO to HNL are long enough (5hrs,2100mi)

cd
Your $699 price sounds great to me. I'm looking at ORD-HNL in September and they are not that cheap. I will book a package to HNL that includes air and hotel with United Vacations. Total (for the hotel I want) is running about $1400 per person for 7-night stay. I think you got a good deal!!
Carol

HI CD.

Its a crap shoot unless someone tells you they see a trend. Last Xmas I bought tickets HNL to PHL (newark)4 days before Christmas. I paid $739US AIR. But that was when ATA was still onboard driving prices down for the industry.

A good rate right now for east coast from Hawaii should look like 600 to 750.
I would buy if I saw that fair and just don't question it. The only thing is that they don't open up the good seats with early booking. I once paid $4000. on Continental booking early for 6 people, they gave us back row, back of plane!!!! Said all other seats were booked even though this was a good 8 months before flight LOL.

Check out prices for the next six weeks. That is probably what you will pay if you wait. Feb is high season here. March is sale season.

PS if you have the choice book late Feb for height of whale season. Totally worth it, you can sit for hours on whale spotting beaches and watch them breach.

Hopefully it's okay that I repost this from the United States board, since it falls under the same topic as the original post --

I'm planning a four-night trip to Wisconsin in October (Wed.-Sat.) and have been pricing airfare for the past few days to get a feel for my options from D.C. I'm about 80% sure that this trip is a "go", but news about recent and pending fair hikes has me wondering if I shouldn't just bite the bullet and book airfare now.

Round-trips on AirTran are hovering around $150 non-stop from Reagan National to Milwaukee. I'd prefer to fly United because of my frequent flyer status, but fares are averaging $100+ more with a stopover.

Experienced flyers - should I book now or wait until closer to October when I'm closer to 100% on our plans?

Thanks everyone for your contributions to our trip! Sarah, we will be there the whole month of Feb, so am looking forward to the watching the whales!

Mark
Just my opinion, but I would not buy a ticket for anywhere if I were not 100% sure I intended to go.





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