Steamboat Bill

I may go to Maui and/or the Big Island this Summer and I checked Delta and AA where I have a ton of frequent flyer miles, but the cheap seats for coach and first class are already sold out. Of course I can pay 100% more and get blackout dates.

My travel times are June 7-21, 2008

Does anyone know the BEST (cheapest) way to fly from South Florida (FLL, PBI or MIA) to Maui (OGG) or Hilo (ITO)?

What are the best strategies for booking cash, getting upgrades, etc.

I also have some of those stupid American Express coupons that I can never seem to use (buy one get one free).

Does anyone know if this is the rainy season or not?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

vineyarder

Bill - Are you elite with wither Delta or AA? I don't have alot of experience with Delta, but with AA I have an almost 100% success rate with having capacity controls overridden. First, assuming that you are elite (AA Platinum or EXP), you ask for a 'yield management override'. If the agent you are speaking with doesn't know what you mean, ask for a supervisor, and if they don't know, just hang up and call back; I've found that close to 50% of supervisors with 20 years experience still don't know how to do this, so it often takes several phone calls. A yield management overide should be able to be done while you are placed on hold. If the supervosr actually does this and YM says 'no' (reasonably frequent), then you ask for a 'formal appeal', which takes 48 - 72 hours. So far, I've only had one 'formal appeal' rejected, but they offered a suitable alternative. Since there are four of us, and I use my miles for FC or BC seats on international routes, I often have to do this as they usually only release 2 or 3 FC or BC seats per plane! GOOD LUCK!!

LTTravel

Do you have the American Express Business Platinum Card?

They have a two for one domestic program. For flights to Hawaii, they will give you the second one for free as long as the ticket is at least $899. You have to pay an additional $15 per ticket ticketing fee and the taxes on the second ticket. You can book on any of the six major US airlines up to six months in advance. I have had luck with it. I have gone from NYC to San Diego for $410 for two tickets and the same price for NYC to Salt Lake. You can use it up to four times per year. It was so good I got my wife a card and now the whole family (four of us) can fly for the price of two plus the service charge and taxes. It is only valid in the US and Hawaii. It is much better than the 2 for 1 international business class deal that makes you buy the most expensive business class ticket which has never worked out for me. The card is now up to $450 per year (I think) and the second one is ?$200. but worth it if you use this one feature alone. You also get to use the Regus business rooms around the country for free as well as the Delta, Continental, Northwest and now American Airlines lounges for free. As well as a host of other features including the Fine Hotels and Resorts and the Concierge Service which is good at getting booked restaurant reservations.

I just checked and it appears that the flights from Miami to Maui are about $1050 each. So you could probably get two for $1150.

3DH

...ditto privileges on the personal platinum card, just fwiw.

As to other thoughts...

Assuming that you are not able to get award tickets, I would recommend watching the price for about a week or so at Yapta. Register at Yapta, then go to AA or Delta and select your flights, and click to "tag" the itenerary and you will be sent emails if the price changes.

Post your question on Flyer Talk (linked directly to the Miles & Points section... choose your airline) -- unless you get blasted (search first... many users there are not kind about duplicate posts!), someone there should be able to help you out!

Lastly, join and check Expert Flyer and check fare buckets on various flights... especially the award seats.

Good luck! (If you are going to check out that new Maui property, don't you need objective eyes for a review??? )

__________________
"Boutique" is better! Another extremely satisfied LUSSO member!

Steamboat Bill

I have American Express Delta SkyMiles Platinum (about 600k miles), Mastercard AAdvantage Platinum (about 300k miles), and Visa Signature United (about 120k miles) cards.

I am just trying to see if there are any "undocumented tips" that can help out or do I just pay cash ($1,000-$1,200 range) or should I use my miles and pay double (ouch).

I may book coach rates with cash and then upgrade to first for 30k miles each.

I just noticed that that Platinum Delta SkyMiles Companion Certificate is NOT good for Alaska or Hawaii (has anyone ever used one of these?).

Does AAA, Costco, or a travel agent offer better Hawaii airfares?

LTTravel

The domestic companion airline program is available only on the Business Platinum card. The Delta airlines American Express card free companion coupon and the other programs are NOT the same. See more here:
https://www143.americanexpress.com/c...ompairfareprog

Only flights to Honolulu are included though.

Kagehitokiri

the domestic 2 for 1 program is a benefit of platinum, business platinum, centurion, business centurion (US cards) (probably corporate platinum too)

it is said to be the best companion program by far, of those currently offered, but it still has some capacity controls and other limitations. also limited to 4 uses per year per card (including additional plat/cent cards).

main discussion on flyertalk in amex forum >
New Platinum Amex Travel Benefit: 2 for 1 Domestic Coach - FlyerTalk Forums

Tedpilot

Bill - I've had the best luck finding low fares on these two sites:

Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets, Cheap Airfare & Discount Travel Deals - Kayak.com
Airline tickets, Discount Airfare, Helping you find Cheap Flights At FareCompare

The last time I went to Hawaii on personal time I let my fingers do the walking. I contacted a few travel agents based in Hawaii and was able to get FC for $1300/ea RT from STL to HNL & OGG to STL open-jaw, non-stop. For some reason, local travel agents always have the in with bulk ticket buys and have the ability to get people to their locale on the cheap.

It won't work for Hawaii, but the next time you go to the Carribean hook up w/ Air Jamaica BC for less than US Flagged coach. Europe, look into Icelandic Air or the eastern bloc carriers. It sounds strange, but sometimes they have the best fares.

Ted

PS - Only use Aeroflot for International travel, their domestic planes suck!

Kagehitokiri

(updated)

lieflat J to HNL >

AA (763)
-DFW AA8 & AA102
-LAX AA284
-ORD AA72

NW (333)
-MSP NW808

DC4MS

Kage...can you give a non-flyertalk explanation for the above codes?

Thanks.

Kagehitokiri

haha, sorry.

J - business class (domestic first)

HNL - honolulu
MSP - minneapolis
DFW - dallas
LAX - los angeles
ORD - chicago

AA american airlines
NW northwest airlines

333/763 = aircraft

AA8 etc are flight numbers

3DH

Just for the record, I was following you, Kage! Have fun, if you are still planning to go, Steamboat!

__________________
"Boutique" is better! Another extremely satisfied LUSSO member!