When to Book Flight for April 2013 to Hawaii

redjellybean128

Hey everyone, 

Was hoping for some good advice. We are in the process of trying to book our honeymoon for next April. We spoke with one travel agent who is pushing us to book flights right away because she said it will book up quickly. The problem is we really won't have the cash to book until September and want to avoid charging it if possible. I'm going to check with AAA and another travel agent that was recommended to us but I'd like an opinion from someone who doesn't have a commission to gain. 

Has anyone been to Hawaii in April and if so, how early did you book your flights?

Summer2011Bride

We went to Hawaii in July and booked in Nov. because we were doing a package and if we waited longer, the price would go up. I don't see an issue with waiting a couple months, but I might watch airline prices, and if it gets way lower than you've seen before, I would jump on it, as it may not get that low again.

Jells2dot0

Actually, agents do not get commission from airfare. they only get commissions from the land portion. Hotels have commission built into their rates and if you book direct, the hotel just gets that money back. If someone else books it, that person gets the money. I personally do not think Hawaii will book up that quickly for April, unless it happens to be Easter week. I think you can wait, but if you want, you can always book the land portion and add in the air later when you are ready. Especially if your agent has put in a lot of time with you. I have a few friends that are agents that spend weeks working with people and then the people just go off on their own. Agents do not get paid until AFTER the person travels!!

Flight prices have been crappy as of late, but I don't see that they'll be that much more in September versus now. If you really wanted to wait waiting until winter would be best. Then you may not get your first choice in flights, but airfares usually spike in between their intitial release and their sale point, which is around 2-4 months out.

megan8290

I'm going to Hawaii for my Honeymoon as well. Our cruise leave August 11th so we booked a flight flying in Friday the 10th. 

I set up a Kayak daily alert and booked our flights 5 months in advance. That was a little bit late to my opinion but we were able to get flights from San Diego to Honolulu for $525 round trip.

pisha82

When I went to Hawaii in April, we booked our flights in January. We only desided to go because the flights were super cheap when we booked. From personal experiance I have never booked a flight more then 3 or 4 months out and watch the fares very carefully to see when they drop. I have booked flights hours before I have gotten on a plane and never had a problem. The last flight I took I booked it a day or two before and got the flight I wanted. My flight to Hawaii in april wasnt full either, just a long flight.

kozacs

We booked in August for our November honeymoon.  We paid about $1000 per person for flights to/from Hawaii and 2 inter-island flights and heard from relatives/friends that we got a good deal. 

LADY324

We booked our flights to Aruba as soon as the flights came out this past October.  I am glad we booked them right way b/c the price has almost trippled per person.  We paid $900 total for 2 round trip tickets.  Now it is over $1000 for 1 person round trip.  We saved over $1000 booking early.

jemmini6

I've never planned a trip to Hawaii that far in advance, so I can't say that this early is a better deal, but we've had luck with cheaper tickets anywhere from 2-5 months out.  Which island are you going to?  Generally Oahu has the cheapest/most flights, so if that's where you are going, you can probably afford to wait longer. 

My advice for flights for any destination though is that if they are in your budget, and you are comfortable with the price they are now, book it.  It could go up, it could go down, but you'll at least have peace of mind that you are all booked up for a price you could afford.  Also, I think it's Orbitz that has a price guarantee that if someone books for cheaper than you, you'll get a refund for the price difference.

redjellybean128

Thanks everyone for the advice. We were quoted just under $1000 pp for newark to Oahu including inter island flights as well because we planning on spending some time in Maui and on the big island. That was about what we were expecting to pay and budgeted for, so it's not the amount that is the issue, but it was just the timing and feeling pressured by the travel agent that if we don't book now, we won't be able to get a flight (which after thinking about it, I don't think is necessarily the case). 

We have also had other major wedding deposits come due this month for our venue and the photography deposit, along with some kind of unexpected personal expenses as well so we won't likely have the cash for the flights until fall and would really prefer not to charge it. So I'm thinking we might hold off until September and see what happens. 

jemmini6

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_when-to-book-flight-for-april-2013-to-hawaii?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:f105af79-fc49-4ba4-a7a5-726dab8957f4Post:c1d8b5a3-33f3-4ace-8981-7ccd7d55f0b2">Re: When to Book Flight for April 2013 to Hawaii</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks everyone for the advice. We were quoted just under $1000 pp for newark to <strong>Oahu including inter island flights as well because we planning on spending some time in Maui and on the big island.</strong> That was about what we were expecting to pay and budgeted for, so it's not the amount that is the issue, but it was just the timing and feeling pressured by the travel agent that if we don't book now, we won't be able to get a flight (which after thinking about it, I don't think is necessarily the case).  We have also had other major wedding deposits come due this month for our venue and the photography deposit, along with some kind of unexpected personal expenses as well so we won't likely have the cash for the flights until fall and would really prefer not to charge it. So I'm thinking we might hold off until September and see what happens. 
Posted by redjellybean128[/QUOTE]

How long will you be in Hawaii total??

redjellybean128

10 days

jemmini6

10 Days should be enough for 2 islands, but not 3.  I'd really suggest just picking 2, otherwise you are going to spend a lot of time just travelling in between.  My advice would be 4 days on Oahu, and 6 days on either Maui or BI.

The first time I went to Hawaii, we did Oahu and Maui in 7 days and it was no where near enough time between the two.  Adding another stop while only adding 3 more days will be a major stretch.  We've been much happier with subsequent trips where we spent the entire week on one island only.  Trust me, the added travel takes a lot more time than you think, even though the flights themselves are short, going through the whole checking in/out of hotels, returning/getting rental cars, going through security, etc can take up your entire day.

Jells2dot0

I agree with jemmini. We've been to Hawaii a few times and since we only had a week, we just focused on one island. We may go back next year and plan to do 2 weeks- a week on Kauai and a week either on Maui or the BI. If we can't get 2 weeks off, we're just going to do Kauai.

As far as being pressured to book, I think you may need to find another TA. One of my best friends is an agent and I know for a fact that if she booked an April 2013 trip for you, she would not get a commission check from the hotel until May 2013. So whether you book now or September, it really doesn't matter to the agent, unless she fears you are backing out to book on your own. Noone wants to put a lot of effort into something and then not get rewarded! LOL you may want to double check to make sure there isn't some promotion you are missing out on though. I doubt it, though, since it's for 2013.

redjellybean128

Thanks for the suggestions. We really wanted to pack as much in as we can because this is likely going to be our only big vacation for a long time so we wanted to see as much as we could, but what you are saying makes sense. I didn't even think about all of the downtime that is involved in even a quick flight. Sounds like FI and I have some more research to do. 

Thanks again!

SG+CD

Hello,
I just sent you PM, Looking for some advice.