Aloha......With the cost of oil dropping, I have been waiting for a drop in Vegas (or Phoenix) to Maui ticket prices on Hawaiian Air. However, so far...no luck. Is it unrealistic to now expect such a $$$ drop for the first three months of 2009? Mahalo!

IMO yes. The fuel surcharges aren't that big, so even if they reduce/eliminate them (which I don't expect them to do), the drop won't be big bucks. And who knows where oil is going to be months from now?

You might see some sales if the current economic situation causes a real decline in travel - airlines might do something to fill up those seats.

We own a condo in Kihei and we are seeing bookings drop off a bit. That would translate to fewer butts in the airline seats, which should mean lower prices in order to fill flights.

Keep checking daily. Our friends in San Jose were ready to pay $800 each to Maui but found tickets for $500 on the same airline but booking through a partnership airline.

If you are staying at a hotel, you might find greatetr discounts there than with the airline. Some are giving an additional free night with hotel booking.

logandog...........Is Hawaiian Air known for lowering their prices with situations like this? Thanks.

offlady..........Thanks. What do you mean by a partnership airline? I can't go the hotel route since we are doing a long-term condo stay. Thanks again.

I'm not sure exactly which airline he flew on, but he told me he originally looked at booking a flight on one of the major carriers (such as United or American), and the cost was $800; when he looked at booking the same flight on the same plane but going through one of the partnership airlines (via the internet), it was $500. I don't remember which search engine he used, but he said he checked the internet daily for several weeks. If you Google airline search engines, a number of them come up. Worth a try.