travelinandgolfin

I checked out Hotwire for a Hawaii to LA RT. They showed a couple for 429.00 on Hawaiian. When I try to book, they say the fare is sold out.

My question is why would they post it if it's sold out? And would they at some point, add more seats with that fare?

Also in general, has anyone used HOTWIRE for airline travel? I've used them for car rentals and they were fine, but never for airlines.

The fares seem to be bouncing as well right now. About a week ago, Hawaii to LA was going for 422.00 RT (Delta). Yesterday, it was up to 520.00 RT (Delta). This morning, it was 429.00 RT (Delta).

sf7307

Why would you use Hotwire if Delta shows the same $429 fare?

travelinandgolfin

These are all Hotwire prices for Delta flights.

On the Delta site, they still list it as 538 RT, which is pretty strange since, right on their website, they say their online price is the lowest price on the web.

I would definitely like to book directly with Delta if their price was the same as Hotwire.

Andrew

Make sure the price quoted includes Hotwire's service fee.

I wouldn't book a Hotwire (or Priceline) airfare unless it was a significant savings over the airline's own website. $20 wouldn't be enough. Actually I wouldn't book through any travel website unless, again, I'd save a ton of money. You don't gain anything else, only more service fees to change your fare, etc. and more hassles. I much prefer dealing directly with an airline.

Checked Kayak.com for fares?

travelinandgolfin

Andrew, I normally book directly with the airline, as I also normally find prices on their sites to be the same as those on travel websites.

But in this case for some reason, the travel websites are all quite a bit cheaper....I'd say on average over $100.00 cheaper per RT ticket. Not sure why.

I also checked out Kayak and they verify the cheaper rates on the majority of travel sites as opposed to directly with the airlines.

Strange though as I tried to select Hawaiian on Kayak for what was a 429 RT price. It said it was directing me to the Hawaiian site for the booking, but when it did get me to the Hawaiian site, that site was still showing the much higher fare.

Boy, this is confusing....

sf7307

What are your dates? I just checked on Orbitz for random dates in March and found fares of $392 all-in.

travelinandgolfin

It's September 5 HNL to LAX returning September 19.

I've found that 390 price on travelocity right now and am trying to check it out.

I'll take a look at Orbitz.

I guess I'm a little nervous, because I NEVER used these online sites for airfare and I hear a lot of horror stories, but in this case, the price difference between them and directly with the airlines is just so high, so I may have to use them.

sf7307

I'd also prefer (given a similar price) to book directly with the airline, but I have used Orbitz, Travelocity and Vayama, all successfully.

travelinandgolfin

sf, looks like Orbitz and travelocity have the same (and best deal), 391.00 plus 45.00 taxes/fees, total 436.00.

I wonder why this time, the airline directly are so much more?

Anyway, you say you've had no problems with either Orbitz or Travelocity? Anyone better than the other?

sf7307

Orbitz we've just used as a booking site for air and hotels separately. Travelocity we actually used for a package deal to Honolulu. So I can't really compare the two, but again, we had no problems with either one.

travelinandgolfin

Now Delta's website is showing the 429 RT fare Hawaii-LA.

Just this morning, the cheapest was 538 RT.

Go figure....