When to purchase one interisland flight?
 

Five of us are going to Hawaii in August. The first three days we will be in HNL, 5 nights on Kauai and 9 nights on Maui. All the airfare is in place with FF miles, including the interisland flights from HNL to LIH and OGG to HNL for the return home. All we need is the flight from LIH to OGG. One of our sons may not be able to go so I hate to buy the ticket too far ahead of time. (I can redeposit the miles for the ticket to Hawaii). Whats a reasonable time frame to book LIH to OGG?

I booked an interisland flight from LIH to OGG for June, in December. I had been checking regularly for a month or two prior. Although they fly turbo-props rather than jets, Island Air is the only one that flies non-stop between Kaui and Maui, the others connect through Honolulu. I was able to get a rate of about $62.00 total. The rate seemed to change on a daily basis.

Well, I missed the $62. Its $82 now. Have you seen it that high and should I just watch it?

The $82 fare seems to be the normal price (no special). I just checked again on the day I'm flying and there is only a special on the later afternoon flight but it's only $54.00 (I'm taking the early afternoon flight) If I were you I'd probably wait a bit to and keep checking back on a regular basis to see if the price goes down for the flight you want. I don't think it will go up.

Aloha, DawnCt. Ahhh, for the good ol' days of interisland flight flexibility (kind of like busses--if you missed one, you'd just get on the next; no problem) and coupon books at $50/ticket.
SInce that's no longer the case, IMHO go for the $82 pp ticket. True, that costs $100 more total for all of you than a $62 fare, but that low fare may not happen. Meanwhile, you'll have the peace of mind of having the entire thing booked now, and can focus on other, more fun aspects of the trip planning.

Dawn, apologies--think I misunderstood. If it's only one interisland ticket you need, if it were me, I'd definitely get that ticket now, even if it's $20 more than the hoped-for $62 fare.

Dawn, you can wait to buy an August ticket till July. It may cost a bit more, but there are two airlines and they fly all day long.

He may just have to spend a little more or less time in teh airport if you wait too long and your lih-hnl and hnl-ogg flights are full.

Calinurse, you were right the first time. I need five one way tickets. I called Aloha Air last night and they said not to worry about it until June or July. Well that is too close for my comfort level but I think I can wait another month or two. I put www.tripstalker.com on my computer. I had to put the request in as a RT but tripstalker seems to be working because it came up with the current price. Apparently I will get an email and a pop up when the price comes down. I can arrange to get a text message to my phone but I need to figure how to do that.

We used Aloha airlines for interisland flights to 3 islands in July & August. It was like taking a bus. First come, first serve. The staff was not concerned about what time your flight was & whether your luggage arrived there before you. Many working people use them everyday. It did not seem like a big deal. They loaded them until full.Don't be surprised if you arrive early & sit in line in the seats(thinking you are near the front of the line). Whwn the announcement is made that the plane is loading, everyone rams toward the front. It was pretty crazy.

Island Air has a $63 air fare right now but there is a 50 pound wt limit per passenger. We usually bring snorkel gear, some condiments, etc that will put at least one of us over 50 pounds for luggage. Hawaiian is down to $73 but I prefer the schedule on Aloha.