BEAT OF HAWAII AND BEYOND

I know, you’re still waiting for the Fall 2009 deals to arrive.  We are too, so stay tuned.

In the meanwhile, one of our Facebook fans has been engaging with me about coming to Maui next summer.  She reminded me that it isn’t too early to start looking (and booking), and here’s why.

Our travel economy is set for resurgence next year, based on all indications.  While things may not return to how they were before, I believe that summer 2010 will, pending anything significant, see Hawaii air and hotel prices return to highs we haven’t seen in a few years.

Therefore, it definitely isn’t too early to start looking for Summer 2010 deals (for dates from Mid-June through Mid-August).

Case in point, Danielle wants to fly from the East Coast to Maui next July.  I expect we’ll again see prices like these:

East Coast to Hawaii from $900-$1,200, and

West Coast to Hawaii $600-$1,000.

Many cities are already priced reflecting that likelihood.  If Danielle flies out of Newark, however, which remains one of the best priced and most important Hawaii air markets, I was able to still find some July seats at just over $600 (all-inclusive).  That savings alone is nearly enough to pay for the rest of her trip.

Suggestions for Summer 2010:

1. Start looking for airfares now, and book as quickly as reasonable pricing is available.
2. Make changeable hotel reservations as soon as you book air. Hotels will be expensive too and you should have something lined up pending finding a better deal.

If you thought paying your airline for meals and checked luggage was bad, you haven’t seen anything yet.

The airlines profited at least $10 Billion last year, through ancillary charges. They are continuing to find new ways to unbundle everything except the lavatories (at least so far).

Here are some either new and/or extraordinary fees that may impact your next trip to Hawaii (or elsewhere):

1.  Holiday surcharges.  US Air, Delta/Northwest, American and United Airlines have a new $10 holiday surcharge to get you in the spirit of the season.  You’ll pay the extra fee if you fly the Sunday after Thanksgiving (11/29) or the weekend after New Year’s (1/2-3).  Expect more airlines to join the party and more surcharge dates to be added.

2. Seat selection fees. These aren’t exactly new, but they are going to go gangbusters.  I predict to see them en route to Hawaii very soon.  This week British Airways added a fee ranging from $30 to $90 to preselect seats more than 24 hours in advance. Exit rows will cost you the most.  British claims this is based on customer requests to have, “real control over their flying experience.”

3. Talking with a person costs you two ways. Every airlines seems to charge for talking with their call centers, and some are worse than others. Delta and United will hit you for $25 when you call to book a ticket.  To add insult to injury, many of the best deals simply won’t be available through the call center at all.  Another reason to book on-line.

4. Mileage redemption fees.  Don’t get spontaneous here, or it’s going to hurt bad.  American will charge you $100 if you want to redeem miles for a trip that’s within the next week ($50 within the next three weeks).  Continental adds $50 if your trip is within the next three weeks, and United will charge between $75 and $100 for redemption within the next three weeks. Delta, however, takes the cake with their $150 fee if it’s within the next three days. Fees are waived for some premium members.

5. Baggage fees going up. Expect to pay from $15 to $30 for your first and second checked bags. After that, the sky’s the limit and fees run up to $125!  Expect baggage fees to be going higher, and soon.

6. Pet fees.  Don’t take your dog to Hawaii (for every reason).  The charge for Fido runs as high as $500 (United).

7. Unaccompanied minor fees.  These have now risen to $100 each way.

A nice deal and some interesting news as well.

First, the United deal. United is chasing Delta’s Atlanta hub traffic today.

• Cost:  $480 round trip (all-inclusive)
• Airlines:  United Airlines
• Dates:  Travel through mid-December
• Availability:  Excellent
• Advance purchase:  None
• Minimum/maximum days:  3/60
• Book at ual.com.

Second, the Delta news.  A reader pointed out that Delta has removed its 747-400 on the nonstop from Atlanta to Honolulu.  It was the only domestic 747 service, and it wasn’t long-lived. I confirmed that the flight now uses an Airbus 330.

Oyster’s Oahu reviews have gone live. I went back to have an in-depth look by reading reviews of properties I have visited out of the 49 hotels currently featured.

In addition to presenting positive attributes of each property, they also weren’t afraid to say and show what concerned them.  For example, soiled furniture at Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki, dirty window crevices at Park Shore and the ghost town feeling of Ilikai.

The reviews were written by a group of professional journalists who stayed at each property.  Their honesty is a refreshing change from sites like TripAdvisor.

My verdict:  Oyster nailed the pro’s and con’s.  It’s a great example of technology used well to help consumers with their travel planning.  This review coming from someone not that easy to please.  Kudos to Oyster for a great start.

What I liked:

• In-depth, detailed, honest reviews.
• Appropriate ratings.
• Well thought out and well written by journalists.
• Photography that captures the entire guest experience.
• Comments accepted if you have a Facebook account.

What I’d like to see in the future:

• More hotel reviews with outer-island properties featured too.  This will come in time.
• Less fish eye photography.  Some of the photos just need to be simple, using a standard lens.
• Site performance needs to improve.  In part this appears due to the size of photos.  Many can’t be loaded small, and I didn’t necessarily need to see them all large.  Loading was slow even with my 10MB/s broadband connection.
• Analysis of quality vs. price is needed.

Final Thoughts:

Their average nightly room rate is calculated over the next 30 days.

It’s an average of the lowest priced room.  If you’re looking at pricing in the future, the costs will no doubt be higher.  For example, when I checked the Kahala Resort in October, the average room price (not suite) was $656 instead of the $425 shown on Oyster.

Not all user’s will have a Facebook account.

I appreciate that Oyster is trying to ensure that comments are authentic.  Having people provide their Facebook account before commenting is one way to achieve this.  I hope they can offer an alternative for those not on Facebook too.

Hawaii fans of Bravo’s Miami Social can get a taste of the good life on the relatively cheap. And if you live in South Beach, why not check out your Hawaii counterpart.

Normally getting between Miami and Hawaii is quite expensive.  Take advantage of this offer from Delta on its relatively new nonstop 747-400 service via Atlanta.  This remains the only domestic 747 service, as far as I know.

Here’s the deal:

• Cost:  $558 roundtrip (all-inclusive)
• Airlines:  Delta Airlines
• Dates:  Travel through mid-December
• Availability:  Excellent
• Advance purchase:  14 days
• Minimum/maximum days:  3/60

Update:  I’ve just heard from TripAdvisor:  ”We have no comment for now on the Filter Stream widget”. This seems to imply TripAdvisor has not partnered in the venture.  In that case it may raise issues about TripAdvisor copyright as well as credibility.

There’s a new third-party widget that lets hotels stream TripAdvisor reviews directly to their website, while filtering them to give the reader whatever perception the hotel desires.  If they only want visitors to see four and five star reviews for example, they simply specify that.

The device relies on the perception that TripAdvisor reviews represent strong, untainted testimony about a hotel’s quality and consumer satisfaction.  Wrongly used (and frankly who wouldn’t), it can then completely undermine the TripAdvisor notion, “get the truth then go.”

The TripAdvisor logo and the words “recent TripAdvisor reviews” are prominently displayed. The unsuspecting reader is led to believe they are seeing all recent reviews, without having to visit TripAdvisor’s site.

Based on directly reproducing TripAdvisor’s content and logo, it appears that this product is being used with the explicit permission of TripAdvisor.  I’ve asked them for their input and will let you know what I hear.

My example:

In the above example, I chose the Laie Inn, in part because it’s the hotel that first brought us to question TripAdvisor review authenticity several years ago.  I used the widget and asked it to yield only four star and higher reviews.  The image is the result such a widget would yield were it to be so used.

A check of the TripAdvisor site, however, shows something very different. Four of the last five reviews were in fact one or two star, with titles like “not acceptable,” “shabby and old,” “filthy and tired, and “needs work.”

Our recommendation:

If you see a TripAdvisor widget on a hotel site, don’t assume it’s presenting all of the reviews.

The bulk of Fall/Winter/Spring travel deals should start appearing most any day.  Last year the deals were announced starting the first week in October. In preparation, I hope you will join the over 2,000 friends of Beat of Hawaii already on Facebook and Twitter.

We’ve spent a lot of time getting settled in at our two favorite Social Media sites.  They both prove extremely useful in helping you be the first to find deals from Beat of Hawaii and elsewhere.  Here’s what we have in store:

Facebook:

1. Geo-targeting of deals by state, when we reach 1,000 Facebook fans (because it’s a lot of work).

We will send you deals based on where you live.  So for example, if you’re in New York, you won’t have to see West Coast deals.  Be sure to have at least your state listed in your Facebook profile for this feature to work.

2. Start or take part in a discussion on our Fan page.

Many conversations are already in progress.  It’s fast becoming the place where we engage most with readers.  We’re happy to talk about anything Beat of Hawaii covers.  Fans have been sharing advice and helping each other too.

3. Advance release of nightly posts.

We’ve tried this a few times already, and plan to pre-release posts frequently on our Facebook fan page.  You’ll know what we’re writing about, and have a chance to find deals first.

Twitter:

1. Twitter is hands-down, the place to get our deals faster than anywhere else.

We post our deals on Twitter as soon as we find them. Tweets include content we’re posting on Beat of Hawaii, as well as deals and other Hawaii travel info we find around the web.  These are instantly available in your twitter feed when you follow us, which could mean the difference between being able to book the dates you need and not finding them at all. As you know, some of the best deals only last one day or less, so timing is of utmost importance.

2. Find abundant travel deals all over Twitter.

Once you get started it’s addictive.  You can follow airline and hotel tweets too for specials.  Have a look on our home page to see examples of Beat of Hawaii Twitter updates.

We look forward to seeing you on Facebook and Twitter.

I’ve written about deals from Pleasant Holidays a number of times before. They package seats bought in bulk from United Airlines together with car rentals and hotels, then pass the savings on to you.

While fall airfare deals from all-important West Coast cities to Hawaii haven’t begun, you can find a top notch deal with Pleasant Holidays.  Here’s their current offer:

For even better-priced last minute deals, I suggest you follow them on Twitter.

The only thing I don’t like about Pleasant Holidays is their website.  Instead of showing you dates the best deal is available, you have to search for them yourself.  It makes finding their best deals, at least for me, nearly impossible.  Their new website, due to be released soon, will rectify this shortcoming.

I suggest for now calling Pleasant Holidays directly at 1-800-742-9244.

Updated 1/23: This deal (from New York) has been going for 4 months, and continues to have availability.  Some dates have gone up by $50 or so in the past week, which may be an indicator of things to come.  If you’re planning to use this deal, I suggest waiting no longer.

The price range is approximately $525-$625, all-inclusive.  The main players at this moment (they keep changing) are US Airways and American, although Continental’s non-stop of often just a few dollars more. This pricing still includes most of the summer.

Thereafter the price is slightly higher, in the $625 range (except for Spring break), and that amazingly still  includes virtually all of  next summer!  That compared with the $900-$1,200 we’d normally expect to see in summer.

We’ve got some improvement in East Coast to Hawaii airfares today.  This is a welcome sign that Fall sales to Hawaii are starting.

In addition to Newark, you’ll find Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, New York (JFK) and Pittsburgh for approx. $600 or less.  Use any of the flexible date searches (Kayak, FareCompare, etc.) to find them.  If you get stuck, post a comment here or chat with me on Facebook.

Newark to Honolulu:  $192 each way ($458 roundtrip all-inclusive)

• Delta/Northwest (Continental nonstop is still at $535)
• Fare valid through June 2010 dates (not available over holidays)
• Excellent availability

The newest attraction in Honolulu is over 100 years old and can be found at the Bishop Museum.  It’s the re-opened Hawaiian Hall which was closed for a three year 20 million dollar renovation.

The magnificent building with its Koa wood interior has three floors of discovery. Keiki will enjoy the interactive exhibits.  Adults will develop a new understanding of Hawaii history, culture and politics.

This is the voice of the Hawaiian people and important for all people to hear.

During our visit last week we saw exhibits never on view before.  This included feather work, kapa, textiles, the Hawaiian flag that came down with annexation in 1898, a quilt that Queen Lili’uokalani gave as a wedding gift and many more.

Our review of Hawaiian Hall:

It’s a walk back in time with history presented openly and in a genuine way.  You make your own interpretation of Hawaii and its people.  Should statehood have happened?  What was lost and what was gained?  You’ll form your own answers to these questions and more after visiting.

Directions to the Bishop Museum:

When we go to the Bishop Museum, we stay away from the freeway and go Ala Moana Blvd towards the airport.  After a lunch stop at Nicos at Pier 38, we continue to Kalihi Street and turn right.  The Bishop Museum is another 2 miles.

Hours of Operation and Admission:

You can visit the Bishop Museum every day except Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Adults pay $15.95.  Lower rates for children and residents.

Just like with airline baggage and other fees, hotel extras are cropping up that can very quickly erode your fantastic deal.

In fact, the better your deal, the more likely you are to encounter many of these surprises.

Guests are often being segregated by the rate which they pay in order to determine what extra charges will be applied.  Therefore, if you’re paying a great rock bottom price, expect to see additional charges.

Determine in advance what add-on fees might be applied to your bill.

Remember that when you use Priceline (and even Expedia or Orbitz), the hotel receives only about 75% of the total of your hotel bill.  When you get a great rate, sometimes too good to be true, the hotel needs to find ways to recoup its losses.

At one Big Island hotel I stay at, for example, self-parking is free unless you are using Priceline.  In that case a $15 per day charge is added.  Also, forget the opportunity to upgrade and check in early or check out late on a Priceline rate.

Before using Priceline at one of the Hawaii resorts, you may want to see what other daily charges apply including resort fees.  That way you’ll have a better idea of what your actual costs will be.

Take a look at the hotel website deals before bidding on Priceline.

You may find more things included by giving the money directly to the hotel.  Some fees may be waived and you have more power to negotiate everything.

If you’ve been stung by the hotel “fee-bee” be sure and share your comments.

More Fall airfares deals are showing up today.  This confirms my predictions for earlier than normal price drops this year, compared with last.

• American Airlines.
• $368-$377 round trip (all-inclusive).
• Mid-September through early December.
• Advance purchase:  14 days.
• Minimum/maximum days:  3/60.
• Good availability at this point (though not Thanksgiving week).