Travelling FROM Hawaii... About This Page:

[ecuagoddess]

Hi,
I need some advice. All the information I can find when I search for flight departing Honolulu get me nowhere- it seems that no one thinks people actually live here! Honolulu is never listed as a departure city on any Fare Watcher service.

Anyway, we're not traveling until next June, but I wanted to get a good idea on pricing from HNL to MCO. I could potentially use some FF miles for 1-2 of us (2 ad, 1 ch: 6yo). Generally travel from HI to the mainland is 35K miles as opposed to 25K miles for domestic travel on the mainland, but whenever I search, American says that my itinerary is 70K miles! Each! I have about 65K miles built up currently and will have about 100K by the time of the trip.

Should I just book the HI-mainland (most likely LAX or Vegas) leg with cash, and then the LAX/Vegas-MCO flight with miles so that it only uses up 75K miles for the 3 of us? Does anyone have experince with flying away from this rock in the middle of the ocean?

Thanks for the help!

[dmpyron]

75K on American is first class (which is actually business). 70K is AnyTime, 35K is MileSaver. Are you sure you're looking far enough out? Try looking at some dates in early May, say mid week.

[ecuagoddess]

Thanks Dillon. I started pricing out June trips this past December, so I'd have an idea of what I'd be dealing with for 2008.
Anything in mid-June was showing that there were no 35K MileSaver fares left. Of course, now that my dates have passed, it's not allowing me to search beyond 329 days out. I guess I'll figure out exactly when that is and start trying right away.

Is there a better chance of MileSaver fares being availble as soon as the dates open up?

[SuzyMouse]

Aloha!

Flying with miles from Hawaii can be challenging. Since r/t air from Honolulu to LAX can cost upwards of $300 +/-, if you can find a saver fare of 35k per person, those 30,000 miles could save you $900.

I did notice that the 35K award was available four months out (checked real quick Honolulu to MCO). So I would keep checking as you get closer.

I have noticed in the past that savers are out there, but for just a limited time and most often for flights from/to Honolulu on a Mon-Thurs.

Good luck!

[dmpyron]

I'm booking our flights to OGG for next May next week. It will be 329 days before our return flight, the maximum. We plan to fly out on a Monday and fly back on a Thursday.

[ecuagoddess]

Thanks Suzy and Dillon-
My dates are not too flexible unfortunately- we can leave either on Thursday or Friday night but must return on a weekend day to be able to get back to normal HST before I go back to work on a Tuesday.
I'll keep checking and earning my miles.

Can I contact either of you personally if the time to book approaches and I need further help?