Q: I’m traveling to Hawaii next winter. Should I buy my plane tickets now?

A: We called Tom Parsons, publisher of bestfares.com, to get his take on the constantly changing airfare scenario and how it could pertain to flights to and from Hawaii next winter. His advice? Wait.  “Hawaii is getting beaten up right now,” he said, referring to the global recession that’s keeping not only Americans but also the Japanese from dancing the hula. Rates from MSP to Honolulu for next winter are currently costing around $700 and Parsons thinks they are unlikely to go much higher. But if you wait a few months and monitor the fares every two weeks or so, you very well may come upon a bargain as the airlines try to fill their seats. At the very least, he advises travelers to wait until Southwest Airlines begins service to Denver (scheduled to start this May). That should lead to cheaper prices to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, where Hawaii-bound flights are much cheaper than what we Twin Citians usually pay.

Other tips: If you want a good fare, stay away from holidays and spring break.  Schedule departures on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 7:25 am and is filed under Q & A, airlines, airports, economy, winter getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.