Hi Folks!

I've been reading through the many posts here on Kauai and I'm hoping you can help me.

We are planning to go to Kauai for the first time during the first week of October. Currently, the rates I am finding are in the $590 to $600 range, either flying LAX direct to Lihue OR flying LAX to Honolulu and catchng an Interisland to Lihue. (United, American, Hawaiian)

Any idea if the rates will drop? They are higher than we expected, but there are specials offered for travel through June...

Thanks!

-Sandra

I fly between LAX and OGG every October, and I usually pay around $300 a ticket. I won't be buying my ticket for this October for a while yet, probably sometime during the summer. I bought tickets last August for my Oct. trip to LA.

I get direct flights to OGG, but you can still kind of use this as a guage. Flights to Honolulu were about the same, plus you'll have to add interisland.

We're looking ahead to the first week of March of 2006. Can't tell what an average airfare is by looking at websites now since we're so close to March of this year. Does anybody know what the average March airfare usually is (LAX-LIH) when booked far enough in advance?

I have flown LAX-Lihue about 40 times and the airfares can range from $350 to $700. It varies wildly by carrier, seats available, time of year, time of booking, etc. Many times I flew free on frequent flyer miles.

I have been looking into flights to Kauai from LAX this summer and stumbled across Sunship1 airlines. It looks like they're starting in late March with non-stop charters to Kauai, Maui and the Big Island. There are specials for $400+ including one-week car rental.

http://dir.travelzoo.com/Air.asp?int...y=11&id=179016

They seem to be currently operating from Chicago to Cancun, but I haven't found much information on them (besides their own press releases). Looks pretty tempting, though. Maybe I'll post a question on the Airlines board.
Any info on them would be appreciated.

Just thought I'd update this thread. I've been monitoring August airfares from LAX -LIH for about a month now. The average has been hovering around $725.

Today (thanks to Sidestep), I found a $450 non-stop fare on ATA. Interesting, since Orbitz was still showing this exact flight for $724. Since we're a family of 5, this was a nice savings for us.

Just thought I'd pass it along!

I got a fare of $420 from Hawaiian SFO-LIH in April due to their spring sale and 10% off by joining their FF program.

I've heard to look within a 3 month window before you plan to go for lower fares. That was the case for us as well. The problem can be in getting your favorite accomodations though at shortish notice.

Kim

Hi Sandra, No experience flying to Hawaii in October, however this is a low season. I buy my tickets between 6-8 weeks in advance and have paid $408 direct to Honolulu with a connection to Kauai from Chicago last year, and $429 direct to OGG from Chicago this year. I would think LAX would be cheaper since you're so much closer. I've found the best way to find deals is to nail down your dates and start checking prices about 3 months prior. Try to check a couple times per day, on several sights (I use sidestep, expedia and AAA). I check AAA first since they allow you to check flexible dates. This is helpful if the airlines are having a sale on M,T,W,Th departures only. I have read posts where people have purchsed tickets from LAX for under $300, you just need to be diligent and your hard work will pay off.

Fall is the off season and I've noticed that around August they start promoting fall fare sales from around $300-400, usually on Hawaiian or Aloha (Aloha doesn't fly out of LAX, only Orange County). I got a great deal last September and took a little trip to the Big Island by myself because it was so cheap, and the plane and hotels are less crowded at that time.

I would definitely wait until around the end of summer, it's too far ahead to buy anything now, and you're practically guaranteed a fall fare sale.

love
roxy

Hi, just wanted to update what we ended up doing. We bought a package from American Airlines vacations back in February and the flights were $405 each, the hotel price was average (Hyatt: $350 per night 3 nights).

I canceled the rental car with them though, as I found a MUCH better deal through my Costco membership for $160 for the week.

28 days 'til :r:

Sandra,
We got about the same price with Hawaian Air for late Oct. from Sacto. We cancelled two car reserv and booked finally with Costco also with discount and coupon. Have a good trip.

I booked a flight out of San Jose International in July for Oct. Went directly to the Hawaiian Air website. What I really like about this website is you can hold a reservation without paying for 24 hours. I just kept doing that until the rates went up and then kept the previously booked reservation. My total purchase price including taxes was $453.30

Don't think there is anything "average" when it comes to air flight prices. I'll bet if you talked to people on the plane you will find a wild range of prices they paid for their flight. It runs the whole range depending on who you use, what day of the week, what airline, direct or non stop (I have found that direct to Lihue is more expensive than a flight to Honolulu and then on to Lihue but you loose valuable beach time in the process!) Air fares amaze me!