June 29, 2004 -- Fall fares to Hawaii are now officially absurd. Yeah, sure, Hawaiian Airlines (www.hawaiianairlines.com/specials/hal/fallfare_specials.asp?source=&hacmp=) has $278 specials from LA to Honolulu pretty frequently. That still didn't prepare us for their current $248 fare ($263.69 with tax) from LA to Honolulu, available for a wide range of dates. This fare beats others we've seen by $150.
The $248 flights are available seven days a week for flights between August 23 and December 16, but only on one flight per day. You'll leave LA at 6:15 PM on Flight 9, arriving in Honolulu at 8:40 PM. You'll return on Flight 10, leaving Honolulu at 8:35 AM and arriving in LA at 4:45 PM. We found plenty of seats available for August and September dates (though not around Labor Day.)
If you want to hop over to Hilo, Kona, Maui or Kauai, it's $50 extra each way. That beats normal inter-island ticket prices, which are usually $70 or so.
If the $248 flights don't work for you, Hawaiian has plenty of other top-notch sale fares available. Their lowest fares are for Monday-Thursday flights, between August 23 and September 30 (all fares roundtrip, before $25 or so tax):
To Honolulu
- From LA: $278
- From Sacramento: $314
- From Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco or Seattle: $348
To Maui
- From Portland or Seattle: $358
Friday-Sunday flights are generally about $50 more expensive roundtrip. Buy all of these tickets online at www.hawaiianairlines.com/specials/hal/fallfare_specials.asp?source=&hacmp=
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