Hawaii Holiday Travel Planning

Here’s my take on the upcoming 2008 holiday travel season:

Even though most airlines have reduced their Hawaii service and Aloha and ATA have gone out of business, there’s far more availability than is normal during the holidays.  In the past there have been many sold out travel dates by this time for Christmas holidays.  This year it’s still wide open.

There has also been far more variability in holiday airfare pricing this year than in the past.  Some of the amazing airfare deals we’ve recently written about had holiday dates available for under $350 RT.  I’m still finding some $500 airfares over Christmas as of this week.

If you want to come to Hawaii for the holidays but haven’t booked yet, the deals are getting more difficult to find as the airlines are hoping you’ll pay premium holiday prices.

Most of the current fares are in the $700 to $800+ range from the West Coast to Hawaii over prime holiday dates.  That price is very similar to last year.

Tip:  I wouldn’t put anything past the airlines, and the pricing rules of the past no longer apply.  If airlines don’t sell their prime holiday seats soon, they will either inch the prices down again, or we’ll see more wide-spread fare sales.

If you’re flexible with dates, and haven’t booked yet, you may want to wait and see what happens.  For travelers who aren’t as flexible, I suggest you book now.

Let me know how you “fare.”