It's hard to believe October is over and that the holidays are coming up fast. Here's some of what's been shaking this month, including Hawaii airfare deals and Free Hawaii vacation sweepstakes that are still active:

New Year Hawaii Airfare Sale $149+ Each Way

This is the best sale of the season on Hawaiian and it's still going strong. You need to book by tomorrow as it is scheduled to end on Halloween.

Win One of Thirteen Free Hawaii Vacations

Perennially popular, I've taken your advice and started entering some travel sweepstakes myself. 

Hawaii Update: Southwest, Allegiant and Alaska Air

Here is some more info on the latest players in Hawaii's air transport market, and how their plans will impact your future travels.

US Airfare Fees Double: How to Save Money to Hawaii

Our tips on avoiding ancillary airline fees on your next Hawaii vacation.

Airline Panic Attack Cuts Short Hawaii Vacation

A sad and early end to a trip to Hawaii brought comments suggesting that panic attacks on airplanes aren't uncommon.

I was curious to see what you’ve been reading recently. Then Rob asked what the most popular posts of all time are, since we first starting publishing Beat of Hawaii on January 1, 2008. We were both surprised and I think you will be too.

In total the posts below have been viewed well over 100,000 times. I left off the deal posts, since those are fleeting by nature.

1. Hawaii Welcomes Allegiant Air.

This gives some indication of just how desperate we all are for more airline competition and better deals ahead.

2. Centipedes in Hawaii, I Was Stung Today.

Rob’s idea after he got stung was to share his painful moment. I wasn’t sure how popular the post would be. It continues to be an all time favorite.

3. Free and Cheap Waikiki Parking. We recently updated this post. If you find any deals on parking be sure to let us know.

4. Will Southwest Fly to Hawaii. Here’s our most current update on the subject including Southwest, Allegiant and Alaska.

5. How to Eat Well at 30,000 Feet. Expect to hear a lot more on food in Hawaii in the upcoming months.

6. Experience Life on Kauai with Beat of Hawaii. We’ve welcomed many Beat of Hawaii readers and friends to our very spacious Kauai ranch land guest suite.

7. TripAdvisor’s New Stand on Fraud. This subject speaks for itself and is one I never lose interest in.

8. Sorry Jaunted This Is The Real Kauai Glass Beach. We’ve recently been on the scene and found slightly more glass than when this post was written.

9. Po Chai And Duct Tape: 10 Unlikely Things To Pack.

10. Packing for Hawaii: Eleven Tips.

We both just returned to Hawaii after being on the mainland for 10 days. While I’m getting back to life this weekend, I decided to recap your favorite posts (excluding airfare deals) from the past 30 days. They were viewed tens of thousands of times.

Top Ten Hawaii Travel Planning Mistakes to Avoid

I’m always guilty of over packing when I travel. Read my list and tell me your top planning mistake.

Hawaii Welcomes Allegiant Air

Jeff broke the news last year (February 10, 2009) on Allegiant’s plan for Hawaii service. According to Allegiant, their official service announcement is scheduled for release next week. I’m anxiously awaiting it myself and intend to buy tickets. Expect some big surprises, as well as industry response, so please stay tuned to Beat of Hawaii.

Hawaii on the Cheap: Tips, Tricks and Research

With some advance planning, there are good deals to uncover using the Internet. My favorite is the hidden restaurant deals available some nights during the week at top restaurants.

Bargaining with Hawaiian Air: You Betcha

All I can say is that it works. And if you’re flying Alaska Air to Hawaii, Jeff says he’s quite certain the magic word is “Hawaiian.”

Top Drawer Hawaii Hotels on the Cheap

Two of the three deals (not Honua Kai) are still available.

Save Money on Hawaii Christmas Airfares

Jeff has been working with several people to help coordinate their holiday travel. It’s already becoming a challenge to find reasonable fares. Many people told us that this post helped them to identify best days to travel.

Hawaii Fall Hotel Bargains Using Priceline

I just used Priceline on the mainland too and scored great deals in Seattle: Doubletree Sea-Tac for $40 per night and a Hertz rental car for $12 a day. There are many good deals here in the islands using Priceline. My favorite is the Hawaii Prince Waikiki hotel.

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Here are the most viewed posts of 2009, along with our current take on each:

Inter-island Airfares.

Hawaii’s inter-island air market has had a volatile roller-coaster ride in 2009.

We started the year with a new inter-island carrier, Mokulele, which sadly exited the market after 12 months of service.

• The Mokulele name was then acquired by competitor Mesa (Go! Airlines) in the guise of a merger, and after the State court denied Go! the ability to acquire the Aloha Airlines name.
• Airfares started the year with a low of $29 (actually on one occasion as low as $3), and ended the year at $58.

Tripadvisor’s New Stand on Fraud.

We continue to stay abreast of issues with Expedia’s TripAdvisor travel review website and authenticity issues of its reviewers.  There remains a basic conflict of interest.  TripAdvisor’s advertising based business model requires them to have the maximum number of site visitors (and reviews) in order to extract maximum advertising value.  Therefore with sadly little competition, it would not appear to be in their best interest to weed out duplicitous, fraudulent reviews.

Free and Cheap Waikiki Parking.

Honolulu has become one of the most expensive cities in the US for parking. Daily parking rates now average over $35, more than double the national average.  It is still possible to find less expensive parking, however, and we show you how.

Finding Hawaii Car Deals in 2009.

As you just saw, car rentals in Hawaii can be very expensive and even unavailable.  On the other hand, at times they can be extremely reasonable.  Here are our best suggestions on how to get a good deal.

5 Money Saving Tips For Visiting Hawaii in 2009.

These remain five of the top strategies for getting a good deal on your Hawaii vacation.

We’re looking forward to sharing new posts with you from our island home in the New Year. Thanks for reading Beat of Hawaii and being part of our ohana.

When Kay shared this picture with me in September I didn’t know that her life would be ending in a few short weeks.  Her father died in August and Kay decided to carry on his tradition of playing the accordion.

After surgery Kay wrote, “These things, like it or not, do tend to come up.  I cannot help but think that all this rearrangement of my brain will turn me into a creative artistic genius.”

Kay and her husband, Peter, had been planning a trip to Maui in December and our hope was to see them.

Everything changed quickly.  Her death is a reminder to me to live each day fully.  We’ll be carrying her memory with us this week when we hike down to Kalaupapa where Saint Damien lived and worked.

Peace be with you Kay and your family.  Aloha