need help w/ Priceline strategy on airfare to Maui
 

Hi everyone,

Just got back from 15 days on 4 islands in August (trip report forthcoming!). Now we want to go to Maui for 7 days during spring break (4/9 - 4/16). The only way we (family of 4) can go back so soon is to get a REALLY good deal on round-trip tickets from Priceline.

Is it possible to get good airfare in the April timeframe (it seems to be sort of on the border between "high season" and "low season", but it is definitely after Easter which is 3/27)?

Here_Today_Gone2Maui, if you're out there, maybe you have a suggestion? I'm looking for Orange County or San Diego to OGG as first choice... other So. CA airports (e.g., LAX) if I have to. Also, is there a way to have a good chance at a direct flight... or at least one that doesn't route us through Las Vegas, or Phoenix (I have seen some routes that did that!)? Also, am I likely to get something this far out?

If not Priceline, am I likely to find good airfare deals through the airlines, and if so, how far in advance should I start looking for those?

I looked a little bit on biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com but didn't see this particular topic... I thought I would ask the folks here first.

Thanks everyone!

Carole

Using Priceline I was able to get my daughter tix from $250, but was not able to get anything even remotely reasonable for my parents. But I have also found tix for around $300 just by constantly checking the fares. I use yahoo travel's My Dates are Flexible feature. Yours apparenlty aren't so flexible. Spring break might be rough though.

Thanks Here_Today! That's what I was afraid of. I see some good rates on hawaiianair.com, but they are only good through Dec 16. I'll keep checking.

Oh, and thanks for the Hana-Maui accomodations recommendation... we enjoyed it there!

you might also want to do a faretracker. orbitz has one I believe -- I did that for Greece bc I really wanted to go for the Oympics so I set-up a search and they let me know when the fares dipped, etc. I couldn't go bc of work, but I did see some good deals and I didn't have to constantly be searching. good luck -- sounds like an awesome spring break!

Yeah, do sign up with the fare checker on Orbitz, which will email you when a fare on your dates comes up cheaper than your target price. Very handy.

I think the days when you can hope to get cheap airline tickets with Priceline are gone. The airlines have stopped offering the deep discounts to Priceline. If you look at BiddingForTravel.com, you see that the number of people actually winning good fares has slowed to a crawl. You might be lucky enough to get something, but I wouldn't bet your vacation on it.

Andrew

cawhite, Do you mind saying where you stayed in Hana, Maui? Did you do just one night or longer? Thanks! OSB.

We stayed at the Maka Kai cottage at Hana Accomodations for 1 night, at the recommendation of Here_Today_Gone2Maui.

www.hana-maui.com - then click on enter and view our guest accommodations.

It is a 3 br cottage right across from the Waioka Pool (5 min. walk). It is nothing fancy, but it is quiet and peaceful, has a full kitchen and barbecue (shared, I think... my husband did the cooking so I'm not sure)... also a shared hot tub. We went to Costco near the airport and bought food prior to the drive to Hana.

We paid $150 + tax for the night.

Carole, I am so glad you had a nice stay. Did you use the hot tub or walk over to Waioka Pool? Did you notice if there were a lot of cars parked along the street for the pool? When I last spoke with Cathy, she was having a terrible time with visitors parking on their lawn.

We'll be taking a mini weekend vacation in a few weeks and will be staying in the from studio. We like it the best because we can lie in bed in the morning and see the sunrise without getting out from under the covers. I can't wait! We'll be camping in Kaupo for two days and then two nights at the studio. Aaaaah. After my recent trips to L.A. and entertaining family and friends all summer, I'll be ready to decompress a bit!

Thanks cawhite!
Now, if only the studio had a sleeper sofa!
I wonder why there's no picture of the bedrooms of the Lani Makaalae? OSB.

here_today:

We didn't end up using the hot tub, but we did walk over to the Waioka Pool... very nice. To my surprise there was NO ONE parked along the road where you walk to the pool/ocean. But then we didn't get there until late afternoon and we left the next morning... plus we were there in the middle of the week... maybe there are more people on weekends? I thought to myself that with that location being listed in the Maui blue book, they must have parking issues... it's a shame people think they can park on the lawn of someone's house!

Carole