Travel Deal of the Day (October 3, 2008)

There are a number of reasons why this fall may be a great time to visit Hawaii. Given the focus of this blog on deals, I thought it would be good to post now about some reasons why you may save money traveling to Hawaii this fall versus other times in the near future.

The Deal:
You are likely to find excellent deals in Hawaii this fall. There are a number of reasons why prices on hotels in Hawaii have become more reasonable – one major reason is the slumping economy. If you are contemplating a Hawaii trip, here are some factors/deals that you should consider:

(1) With fare increases, fuel surcharges and the elimination of Aloha Airlines and ATA Airlines, it has been more expensive and more difficult to find low fares to Hawaii. But as the economy has deteriorated, fares must come down to account for lower demand. As noted below, it is also a very good time to use miles to Hawaii.

(2) American Airlines has continued the trend of devaluing their frequent flyer miles by raising a coach ticket from 35,000 miles roundtrip to 45,000 miles roundtrip from the Continental US to Hawaii. Other airlines have not yet matched this increase. This makes it a good time to use your miles on those other airlines. (As always, it can be an excellent use of miles to obtain First Class tickets to Hawaii - when you consider that a journey from the East Coast to Hawaii is longer than the East Coast to Europe, it is quite a deal that a First Class ticket to Hawaii using miles is usually less "expensive.")

(3) 10,000 miles (roundtrip) is now the new standard for frequent flyer tickets between Hawaiian Islands. There is still one excellent deal on frequent flyer tickets between Hawaiian Islands – United Airlines offers a roundtrip on its partner Island Air for only 5,000 miles roundtrip. But United is raising the price of frequent flyer tickets on Island Air on October 15, 2008 – so, this is an excellent time to redeem miles (miles redeemed before October 15, 2008 can be used for travel up to 330 days from the date of purchase).

(4) Due to the slumping economy, hotel rates have either declined or remained the same as last year. Hawaii had been seeing massive price increases for hotel rooms (room prices increasing at a pace far greater than inflation). I have seen excellent deals – hotels that were routinely $300/night are now often below $200/night.

Some examples (of course, exact rates vary based on the availability on your selected dates):
Grand Hyatt Kauai has been appearing in Priceline bids for around $150 (incredible deal on a hotel that routinely had been selling for double or triple that price);
Sheraton Maui routinely has rates starting at $150 - $190;
Hyatt Maui has third night free deals including free breakfast for around $200 - $225; and
Sheraton Waikiki has premium oceanfront rooms for $170 - $190.

What is great about these deals is that many of them last until Christmas Day – meaning that the slumping economy has forced hotels to offer deals into the highest demand time period.

Given the slumping economy and the fact that fall is generally the low season for vacations, the next few months are an excellent time to visit Hawaii if you are looking for deals.