Everyone knows that the airline industry has been struggling, like so many industries in America today. Back in the '90s there were more carriers meaning more competition, meaning prices got driven down to the ground. It was cheap to fly anywhere, and airfare to Hawaii was no exception.
Since that heyday of cheap travel, many carriers have gone out of business. There's no more TWA, no more Eastern Airlines, no more healthy competition amongst myriad businesses that guaranteed deals for the savvy shopper. Now with fewer carriers, it's harder to find cheap travel deals, especially to popular destinations. That's why you have to know where to look to find cheap airfare to Hawaii.
Obviously your first stop should be Google, where you can do price comparisons to get a basic idea of what the going rate is. Priceline, Expedia, Travelocity etc will do a lot of that work for you, but remember they're not exactly going to be giving seats away. So don't commit to any one site right away. Take your time, do some digging, call a travel agent even to see what prices they're willing to give you over the phone. Airfare to Hawaii won't be cheap, but that doesn't mean you have to overpay.
One thing you should look for in a carrier is to see whether or not a meal is included on the flight. Many carriers have eliminated in-flight meals as an unncecessary expense - hard to believe, but it's true. On a flight as long as just about any would be to Hawaii, it'll help to have some food to keep you sated. If your carrier doesn't provide a complimentary meal, they could very well be selling sandwiches for anywhere from six to 10 dollars. It's frustrating to get nickle-and-dimed to death when you've already paid so much for tickets, so make sure you do your research and know what you're going to have to be spending before you even get to your destination.
Be aware, also, that you can use frequent flyer miles to defray or even eliminate the cost of airfare to hawaii, provided you have enough miles. You will get charged more miles, though, if you fly on a Thursday or a Friday than at any other point in the week, since the airlines know that those are the most popular days to go on vacation. Or for a long weekend. And at certain points - usually around Thanksgiving or the fourth of July - many airlines won't let you use your frequen flyer miles at all, since those are such busy travel times anyway. In those cases you'll have to foot the bill for your airfare to Hawaii yourself, and they'll charge you a premium since, again, they're such busy travel days.
That's not to say that there are no deals to be found. Like anyhting else, if you look hard enough you'll come up with some unexpected bargains. Looking for cheap airfare to Hawaii is no different, as carriers will be eagre to fill their planes on off-peak dates. Great deals can be had if you're willing to travel midweek or take the red-eye, cutting the cost of your airfare by as much as 80%. These deals disappear fast though, so you'll want to stay vigilant and bookmark your favorite websites. Plus keep your travel agent on speed dial. Or more than that - lots of travel agents Twitter their deals now, so if you want to find cheap airfare to Hawaii, it's probably good to subscribe to that service.
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