Online Flight ReservationsMany of the online services will allow you to search for flight prices with immediate results. You will need to input a city you will be flying from, the city you will be flying to - and the dates. You can just put in the city name, and usually it will find the airport code (three digit identifier like LAX) for you. The major airports in Hawaii are Honolulu International Airport (HNL) - oahu Kona International Airport (KOA) - big island Hilo International Airport (ITO) - big island Lihue Airport (LIH) - kauai Kahului Airport - (OGG) - maui I would suggest searching initially for flights to Honolulu using the airport code HNL even if you are going to visit one of the other islands. Many times you will not be able to fly into the neighbor islands directly, but will instead have to take a connecting flight. The connecting flights are available via Aloha Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines and will cost you from $60 to $100 one way. Once you have decided on a flight service, or at least narrowed your choices - you can explore flying directly into the neighbor island to see if it is possible. You will almost never be able to fly directly into Lanai or Molokai (their airports only support smaller planes) but you have a chance of flying direct to Maui, Kauai, or the Big Island. If you can't fly direct, the airline you are flying can normally set you up with a connecting flight during your initial reservation process - easy! I have provided a table below outlining the features of many of the online fare search and reservation services. I have not included prices for two reasons: 1) because the flight prices can change in minutes and 2) because this information is normally copyrighted by the service. My suggestion is to go to Expedia, the first on the list and do a baseline price search for the fare you want - and then go to a few or all of the rest and see if you can find a lower fare. Please be aware that if the service asks for any personal information, such as your address or credit card number, you may be on your way to booking a flight. Read all pages carefully. Just searching for fares normally requires no obligation on your part - but once you start going beyond searching be careful. Also, when you start getting prices back, make sure they are based on round-trip fares. If it says "price $$$ for this leg" that may only be for one way travel, or one part of the round trip fare. Online Flight Reservation Websites
There are more services available, but I have not listed the ones I found hard to use or confusing, or just plain untrustworthy. I also have not listed services that use a fare search engine of one of the above services. Note about Priceline. Priceline says they allow you to "name your own price" for airfare and rooms. You go through a bidding process where you select all your requirements and then you put in a price. If they find that price they automatically book it - or they could tell you a percentage chance that your bid will be accepted. If it is not, you have to change one of your requirements to bid again, like increasing the time span that you would be willing to fly in. This could put you on a very tight schedule, or flying at midnight. This service probably works best for last minute flights, when the airlines are selling seats that would be empty for anything they can get. Read more about priceline here. Note about Airtech. This Internet site says they can get you from Los Angeles or San Francisco to Hawaii for under $260 round trip if you are flexible in your leaving dates. Good avenue to explore if you live near one of these cities or can get there for cheap. Major Airlines on the Web The major airlines on the web offer Internet searches also. Some of them also offer some great deals for Internet searchers only. Most of the airlines also offer vacation packages which can really save you some money. Many times these are in affiliation with travel agents and don't include the airfare, so read the fine print carefully. Still, room and car packages for about $70 a night is a great deal for most areas, and it usually can be found if you look carefully.
The Local Airlines There are two major airlines that operate in Hawaii: Hawaiian and Aloha. I have flown both and don't see much of a difference between the two. Their prices and services are practically identical, and they both fly in and out of Oahu every 10 minutes. Your major choice here should be for convenience. They both have mainland services also, so if you live on the west coast, you may want to fly on one of them.
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