Inter-island flights

We will be staying on Hawaii (Kailua-Kona) and then on Maui (Kaanapali Beach area) in May 2009. Our mainland flights are both out of Kailua-Kona, so we will require a round-trip (both mid-week) inter-island flight between Hawaii and Maui. We have not yet booked the inter-island flight. Can anyone give me advice? Should we book in advance? How do we go about it? Tips? Thanks!

Inter-island flights

Go to Hawaiian Air%26#39;s website

www.hawaiianair.com

Sign up for Hawaiian Miles, the frequent flyer program. Sometimes you get more of the lower fares when logged in.

The search for flights couldn%26#39;t be easier. It will show you the prices throughout the day, and the lowest fare days will be clear.

They don%26#39;t sell round trips. It is all one way.

There is go! airlines too but I don%26#39;t recommend them; however, it%26#39;s always good to price all the options.

Yes you absolutely want to book in advance, as there are only so many of the low fare seats, and when they sell out, it goes up. There are at least 3 price tiers as the flights fill up.

However, don%26#39;t book until you are sure as there%26#39;s a change fee.

This is very simple, so have no fear, go forth and shop for your flights! My only real tip is to pay attention to whether it stops at HNL. Contrary to what you%26#39;d expect, with Maui next door, more flights route through Oahu and back to Maui than are nonstop. HNL is the hub for the whole state.

Inter-island flights

PS. There are also prop planes, Island Air and Mokulele.

If you wanted to fly into West Maui (JHM /Kapalua), you would be flying a small plane. Up to you.

Rob I myself hust booked ours about a week ago,i just googled hawaii interisland flights and checked out diff rates and went with the cheapest,which for us was Go airlines,all done online. Very simple but i called them yesterday just to make sure everything was set.My biggest worry was coordinating rental car pickup and return times with the flights and hotel checkout times.Good luck

The reason I said I couldn%26#39;t recommend go! is that they had BOTH pilots fall asleep and overshoot Hilo on one flight last year.

The company is notorious for pushing its pilots to the limit and not giving them enough rest.

Some people hate them for trying to drive Hawaiian and Aloha out of business (Aloha failed last year). Others appreciated the low fare competition.

So there are definitely two sides to the go! story. Just wanted to let you know the issues, since you just got a recommendation to fly them.

Hey Rob, Let me make it clear ,Iam not recomending any airline,Ive been on two planes in my life.I simply stated what we did to arrange interisland flight.If i can do it anyone can

I believe the only airline with direct connection between Maui and Kona is Mokulele. With the others you have to fly to HNL first. It%26#39;s like a half day tip with the waiting time.

Wow, according to expedia.com Hawaiian, go!, and Pacific Wings all have non-stop service from Kahului to Kailua-Kona. In addition to Mokulele.

There are two nonstop flights per day on Hawaiian, both ways they are sort of midday or afternoon. I just checked.

There are about 22 flights a day that go through HNL, so roughly 10% are nonstop.

The nonstop flights don%26#39;t work well at all for day trips, which is why I don%26#39;t encourage people to do it from Maui (on other topics). To come over early you have to go to HNL and the same for return if you put in a full day. What a pain.

I%26#39;m booked on one of Hawaiian%26#39;s non-stop flights from Maui to Kona in a couple of weeks. The fares for the non-stops are significantly lower than the flights that route you through Honolulu.

I don%26#39;t think you need to rush to reserve those flights, though I%26#39;d start pricing them out to just get a feel for the market. I also wouldn%26#39;t rush to book anything since airlines change their schedules all the time, and you might end up with something less desirable than you originally would have picked.

Hawaiian flies larger jets, while Go flies regional jets IIRC. Mokulele flies some props and some regional jets, and I think Pacific Wings is pretty much all props.

Might also want to check the baggage policies as well, as they vary from airline to airline.

Oh, and while you can fly from Kapalua to Kona, the fares are significantly higher...and you%26#39;ll probably end up being routed through Honolulu anyway.