Sneak sale: Hawaii $325 roundtrip from 5 west coast cities

UPDATE! United’s been on a tear this week with tons of low fares for winter trips from the Bay Area- we can barely keep up! First it was Hawaii at $325, then South Florida for $251, then SFO-Boston for just $197 in basic economy, $228 regular (even during peak summer) and now SFO-HNL or Maui (OGG) are back and even lower at $299-$305- and these fares are good November thru May and then again in August and September. And there’s even more: How about SFO-LAX for just $73 roundtrip in basic economy, $110 in regular. Yep, and it’s good for trips late November through end of February.  Grab ’em while they are hot! All fares found on Google Flights & United.com and subject to change.

>>Here’s the original post from last week.

Whenever we see fares to Hawaii from the west coast dip below $400, we jump. Over the last year it has been rare to see anything below $399. That changed this week when roundtrip fares dipped quietly closer to $300. 

The airlines are not making a big deal about this, but we are!

Today we are seeing some very nice deals for winter travel to the islands– most at around $325 round trip between the Bay Area, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle and Honolulu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii. (This applies to both nonstop and one stop flights.) Interestingly, this does not apply (yet) to flights from LAX where fares remain above the $400 mark, but not by much, at around $410.

UPDATE #2: As of 3 pm on Oct 24, these fares are already drifting higher– most $325 fares are now closer to $350.

UPDATE #3: We are now finding flights available for deep peak summer for just $325-$345, mostly SFO-HNL in late August and early September

UPDATE #4: Weds Oct 25 7 am– the lowest roundtrip fares are now in the $375 range- not $325 any more, but still a good deal for winter trips to Hawaii. Most remaining discounts appear to be on flights to Maui (OGG).

Update #5: Weds 5 pm This sale appears to be slowing down however we are still finding SFO-Honolulu or Maui on Virgin America for $345 Nov-May and also in late August. That’s a very good deal.

What’s even better about this is a nice big window for travel– it starts in November and goes all the way to May. Of course this does not include the Christmas/New Year’s holiday period, but it does include spring break months of March and April (excluding the week before Easter). First class fares from the west coast are at about $1,000 roundtrip.

As of today, its mostly United and Hawaiian that are offering the low fares, but keep an eye out for matches from Alaska Air and Virgin America.

As of this morning (Tues Oct 24) we have found the following deals on Google Flights and as always clicked thru to airline sites to confirm:

• San Francisco or San Jose to Maui: $325
• San Francisco to Honolulu or Kauai: $333
• San Diego to Honolulu, Maui or Kauai $338
• Sacramento to Honolulu or Maui: $366 (one stop in SFO)
• Seattle-Honolulu $348 (one stop in LAX)
• Portland to Honolulu $333 (one stop)

Right now it appears that United is leading this sale with the most sale fares. Keep in mind that this could change rapidly– the airlines might just be “testing the waters” to see how low they must go to stimulate demand.

As always during the slower fall and winter months, it’s important to act fast on these un-publicized sales. If you see a fare that works for you, grab it because it likely will not last.

What’s a “good” deal to you when it comes to Hawaii? What’s the least you’ve ever paid to fly there? Please leave your comments below.

Aloha!

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