Another advise I wish to seek is about things to do in oahu and big island. I am travelling with my husband and 5 yr old daughter -
1. I plan to be in honolulu (Waikiki) only for two days and then flying to kona. The 2 days stay is mainly just to see the famous waikiki and the dolophin swim at sea world. Do you approve of this?
2. On Big island, I am considering to stay at Paniolo greens, Waikoloa. Is it a nice place to stay and see around the big island? Or should I stay around Ali drive…
3. Ofcourse I want to see the volcano park!! But most tours I am fidning on net are too long (min 12 hrs) by bus – this makes we worry about my 5 yr old… OR there are expensive helicoptor tours. I wouldn’t mind paying for them but then will I be missing out on things???

Thank you so much in advance!!

Thanks so much for the lovely comment. I really appreciate it.

If it were me I’d wait. There will be deals and you should be able to fly for $300 or less. We should see those fall airfares starting at any time, but likely late July to mid-August. Don’t panic, they’ll come, they always do. Do you use Twitter, RSS feed or Facebook? If you sign up on those to Beat of Hawaii, that is the best way for me to be able to tell you about the deals right away. The best deals come and go so fast at times that they can be gone before our emails go out (which is only nightly).

Aloha, Jeff

I think your replies are the most helpful information that I have ever read anywhere! COngratulations on doing such great job to help everyone!

I would be travelling from London to LAX in Oct 2009. Then I would be going to Hawaii – LAX to Honolulu (Oct9th, 09 – Oct17th, 09). Do you think I should book my LAX-Honolulu tickets now or wait for sometime… Right now, they are costing me approximately $500 each, which incidentally is more expensive that my ticket from London to LA, and it is making me nervous!!

Look forward to your advise..

Thanks & Regards,
Nidhi

I’m afraid you’ve already missed the last round of truly great deals that covered your dates. At this point we may not see more September airfare reductions for up to a month, give or take. Stay tuned. Otherwise, the best deal at the moment is Delta at $429, all-inclusive.

Aloha, Jeff

I’m seeing about $670 right now, which to me isn’t very good. I do think it is likely that they will come down, sometime before labor day.

Aloha, Jeff

Congratulations on your 30th. The better deals, be they packages or bought separately, should be more readily available if you wait another month or so. Still too early. Your dates should yield good pricing, being low season. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to call the hotel directly. Don’t forget about Priceline deals too, especially if you’re open to Prince (very near Hilton, and by far my preference).

Aloha, Jeff

Aloha, Jeff

Thanks for your nice comment!

I really suggest looking at Priceline together with bidding advice from Bidding For Travel. See if it might work for you. You’ll definitely get top deals that way. Otherwise, this Fall will be very soft (unfortunately) in Hawaii. So you can negotiate directly with hotels, no matter what they say about when their deal ends.

As for Kihei, the weather should be great in late October. That’s my favorite time of year weather-wise. Cooler temps but still very pleasant. Trade-winds are unpredictable, but I wouldn’t worry about them.

Aloha, Jeff