Hawaii Airfare Hawaii airfare is a moving target - you can be paying top dollar while the person in the seat next to you is on a cheap Hawaii airfare ticket. This page shows several ways that you can save on your own Hawaii airfare. Travel Mid-Week to Hawaii View prices and schedules for the dominant airline both to Hawaii and between the Hawaiian islands at the Hawaiian Airlines Official Website.

If you are like most travelers, it's more convenient for you to either travel on the weekend, or on the two days that surround weekends - Friday and Monday.

So demand for airline seats to Hawaii is often lower during the middle of the week, which results in cheaper Hawaii airfare prices as well as interisland flights.

Travel during Hawaii Low Season

Hawaii low season is from mid January to May (whale watching season!) and from September to early December. You can save up to 20% on Hawaii airfare by taking your vacation during this low season.

Airfare is most expensive during the Hawaii high season when school is out for the summer - June through August. Most of December is also busy due to cold weather visitors during Christmas and New Years.

Package Discounts with Hawaii Airfare

Receive a package discount by combining your airfare reservation with a car rental reservation and/or lodging reservation.

Purchase Hawaii Airfare in Advance

How far in advance should you make reservations to get the cheapest Hawaii airfare?

A standard rule has been that the further in advance you reserve your flight, the bigger airfare discount.

But volatility in projected fuel costs has changed this rule. While the trend is to get a bigger discount the earlier you book, there is now movement up and down the cost curve along with projected fuel costs.

So if you have the time, monitor price changes for a month or so before you pay for a reservation.

Most sites now let you look at a monthly view of Hawaii airfare savings.

In the example in the graphic to the right, one-way airfare can one third the cost if you depart on certain days.

Photo by jurvetson

Avoid Major Holidays

Avoid major holidays if you want to save some money. For example, in the graphic above, a flight on Valentine's day costs three times as much ($474) as the lowest cost days in February ($144):
• New Year's - January 1
• Valentine's Day - February 14
• Easter
• Spring Break
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas - December 25

Identify The Main Hawaii Airline For Your Area

Oftentimes a particular airline for your area will have the best Hawaii prices and most nonstops. I live in the Dallas Fort Worth area, and American Airlines is the dominant carrier.

If you live on the west coast in the USA, Hawaiian Airlines is probably the dominant carrier for your area. So you may want to check out the Hawaiian Airlines Official Website - they have more mainland departure cities to Hawaii than any other airline:

• Los Angeles LAX) - California
• Oakland (OAK) - California
• Sacramento (SMF) - California
• San Diego (SAN) - California
• San Francisco (SFO) - California
• San Jose (SJC) - California
• Seattle (SEA)- Washington
• Portland (PDX) - Oregon
• Las Vegas (LAS) - Nevada
• Phoeniz (PHX) - Arizona

Use an Airfare Search Engine

Use one of the travel search engines such as Orbitz, Travelocity, Kayak and Expedia. Most now offer graphics and charts to help you quickly discover how you can save money.

I saved $500 per ticket (that's $2000 for a family of four) for Maui airfare by moving our departure date to Tuesday from Thursday - see the chart below.

The tips above are for Hawaii flights in general - I also offer additional tips on lowering your airfare to the island of Maui. With the Hawaii Superferry bankrupty, there are fewer interisland seats between the Hawaiian islands.

Return to Maui Family Vacation from Hawaii Airfare