Hawaiian Air Travel

Has anyone ever used the Seven-Day Island Pass? I had never heard of it before.

Because there are no ferry services between the islands, it is essential to fly if you plan on visiting more than one island. Fortunately Hawaii is well served with frequent and affordable flights.

The two major airlines serving the Hawaiian islands are Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines. These two airlines are supplemented by Island Air and Pacific Wings and other smaller airlines flying commuter planes.

All airlines charge around the same fare and operate very frequent flights between all the major islands. Generally air travel is quite relaxed in Hawaii and it isn't really necessary to book your ticket in advance in order to get a good deal. You should be able to just turn up at an airport, buy a ticket and fly. Although you can always book your ticket at a travel agent or on the net, in Hawaii you can also get air tickets from 7-Eleven stores and even from automatic teller machines.

One of Aloha Airlines' most popular fares is its Seven-Day Island Pass, which provides visitors with unlimited travel for seven days similar to the popular Eurail and Interrail passes. For island-hopping travelers, the Island Pass is designed to allow them to visit many islands in a short period of time.

During any consecutive seven-day period, holders of the Aloha Seven-Day Island Pass can book any number of reservations for travel on selected flights to all of the destinations served by both Aloha and its sister commuter carrier, Island Air. The pass may be purchased directly from any Aloha Airlines or Island Air ticketing location or through travel agents. Anyone is eligible to purchase the Island Pass, which is non-transferable and non-refundable. Also frequent flyer credits and first-class upgrades cannot be earned or used in conjunction with the pass.

http://www.bugpacific.com/transport/airhi.html

> Generally air travel is quite relaxed in Hawaii

Not sure when this article was written, but post-9/11, interisland travel in Hawaii is far from "relaxed"... 30-90 minute check-ins, routinely overbooked flights with no assigned seating, so if you don't show up early enough and get in line soon enough, you'll be bounced from your scheduled flight. Etc.

It's gotten to be such a hassle we no longer take anything except direct flights from the mainland to our Hawaiian destinations. No more stopovers in HNL, and no more island hopping unless we can't avoid it.

DUSTY:
The inter-island pass is history...victim of 9/11 and rising fuel prices.

And as fdecarlo has pointed out, there is no more "relaxed" air travel in the islands -- gotta be there at least one hour before departure (even if not checking luggage), just to get thru the security checkpoints.

Affordable? Well, not if you remember when roundtrip tickets were $45 (ahhh...the good ol' days!). Aloha and Hawaiian have gone to the 3-tier pricing schedule -- earliest to book get $70 each way, next step is $80 or so, book late and it's $90 or so. No more walking up to the counter at the last minute, and being able to get on the next plane out.

Not sure about the seating policy on Aloha Air, but Hawaiian Airlines now assigns seats on all inter-island flights.

Glad to hear Hawaiian Air has assigned seating! As of our last trip (February) Aloha was still first-come first-serve.

aloha is still first come and walk up fares are now around $120-$150 each way...no more $39.00 2 for 1 pizza hut coupons!