Inakauaidavidababy

We are blessed to be booked on Island of Hawaii for 14 nights this summer.

I just had to rebook my WAY OVERPRICED air to KOA for the third time. They cancelled a flight, then cancelled my re routed flight after I didn't take their first option. So with a refund, I just rebooked the same flights again for August. Cost me and selected seating was no longer available, so had to pay more for aisle seats. Each time they change routes, seats get rarer. $1250 fir cattle class Boston to Kona. Never paid over $850.

It seems the airlines are no longer catering to Hawaii. So few options that don't take 20 or more hours to get from East Coast to Hawaii. As a couple this trip - perhaps our 20th will cost about and extra $800 in flights then even a year ago.

And car rentals are also crazy. Paying more then ever there for a Dollar - We will give you whatever vehicle we feel like deal. A little weary as the lovely lady at DHCR warned me we could end up with a mini van! The horror of it all. At least I can check on the car rental rates and see if it settles

Is anyone else finding prices out of the ordinary?

sylvia3

I got Kona (from Colorado) for $450, and 17 days of rental car for $425 (checking very often reduced it from $700).
So, maybe it's just lucky location, persistence and time of year, but I'm ok with those prices. Have paid less before, though.

DebitNM

Have you checked with Costco for car rental? They sometimes have deals. You can see rates without being a member. If you aren't a member, if the savings is substantially more than $55 it pays to join.

sylvia3

discounthawaiicarrental.com has consistently had lower prices than many other places. I go between them and Costco (you can check Costco prices without being a member).

Inakauaidavidababy

I appreciate the unneeded advice. Yes, I have checked many sights before doing air and car. Slyvia, looks like you got some good numbers. Perhaps I am just planning a season too late to catch any deals. I am usually 6 months out. I was just curious if others were finding unusually high prices and lack of flight options.

DebitNM

as she always used to say:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3FnpaWQJO0

Songdoc

DebitNM: Thanks to your post I checked Costco and saved $72 over the best car rental rate I'd found for my upcoming trip to Kauai. So, thank you! When I initially checked it was not even close to the best rate. FYI, my trip is in 2-1/2 weeks. $393 (total) for (15) days seems like a good rate to me.

Inakauaidavidababy: my airfare on AA: Nashville to Kauai and the Big Island (KOA) to Nashville is exactly the same as it was a year ago ($1,072).

There seems like no rhyme or reason to the pricing -- I just keep checking various sites.

Inakauaidavidababy

Sorry Debit. I came off snarky.

fdecarlo

> Is anyone else finding prices out of the ordinary?

IME it's not so much a pricing increase as a reduction in super specials. From here in CA we used to routinely find $149 or $249 R/T supersaver fares to Hawaii, we haven't seen these in a few years and the same routes are now well over $400 at a minimum. Ditto car rental specials.

But for hotels, I have to say the answer is not at all. We've used the Mauna Kea as a benchmark for the last 35 years, and their current specials are as good as they've ever been, or ever get.

barrierheather

I have been researching travel to Hawaii, sadly the cost of flights is prohibiting me to travel there... I have done a lot of research on cheapest times of the year, and it could be the time you've chosen to go. There are Japanese holidays, that create more travel to Hawaii outside of our own seasonal travel. So that bosts the rates of everything up :/ god luck and enjoy!

sf7307

fdecarlo, in case you want to plan a trip, both Hawaiian and Alaska have fare sales now from the Bay Area to Maui ($358 R/T, from SFO on Hawaiian, or Oakland on Alaska Air). I think its for travel through October 31st.

FaceInTheCrowd

Our only direct flight option is with Alaska, and as I recall, the fare we paid last May was about the same as what we're paying for the trip starting next week. It's not close to the fare Sylvia got, even though it's a shorter flight, but we've got the benefit of Alaska's companion fare, so I can't complain about overall cost.

Suggest you keep checking on the car rental. I cancelled and rebooked with DHCR just 10 days ago for about $100 less than the rate quoted six months ago on a 12 day booking. I checked Costco at the same time, and it was within $10.

sf7307

Face -- we keep the Alaska Visa just for the Hawaii companion fare!

DebitNM

s'ok ink

glad I could help, doc

FaceInTheCrowd

"..we keep the Alaska Visa just for the Hawaii companion fare!"

My wife and I each have one, sf7307. Makes it easier to rationalize two trips (usually to Hawaii) each year. Wonder if Alaska will ever fly to Europe.... :-?

Inakauaidavidababy

Well that Alaska Air tidbit is worth the bang for this thread. Never thought of it. And any preferred routes are going for about $2000 p/p. That would have been some savings!

fdecarlo

sf7307, thanks for the info. Great deal although that $358 used to be $249.

sf7307

The nice thing about the Alaska companion ticket is its good on any fare type.

Songdoc

I got excited about the Alaska Air companion rates, but ... unfortunately, every Alaska Air flight between Nashville and Lihue (both directions) requires an overnight in Seattle .

Re: the car rental prices ... I just checked and Hotwire is offering a Hertz rental car for $10 less than the great rate I got at Costco; and $20 less for an agency that is not listed (but it's easy to figure out -- it's Alamo). The catch is that you have to prepay.

DebitNM

"The catch is that you have to prepay."

To me, that is a big catch and not worth $10 or $20.

Also, Costco sometimes has a costco gift card to sweeten the deal. And Costco always gives you free 2nd driver. Not necessarily the case with other bookings.