What happned to the Hawaii Airfare Wars of 2012?

Hawaii Airfare Wars
Usually every year the first couple of weeks brings a belated Christmas present in the way of airfare wars to Hawaii. While we’ve seen a few specials, the typical lower prices on airfare to Hawaii have been few and far between. United Airlines typically has the most airlift  to Hawaii than any other major carrier. This year we have not seen them drop at all in their prices which is affecting the marketplace. The Continental /United merge has not made anything any better with regard to pricing because there is less competition and forced a lot of the flights that used to go to Houston and Dallas  to the Chicago & San Francisco hubs instead. This is a way for United/Continental to consolidate flights and also fill planes between Chicago and San Francisco. This is not been good for the consumer traveling to Hawaii.

Hawaii Airlines Update
Hawaiian Airlines recently announced some sale fares through January 31 and  they announced this week that they are forming a reciprocal code share agreement with JetBlue which means that the airlines will be selling each others flights. Customers will also be able to earn frequent flyer miles between the airlines as well.

Superferry returns to Hawaii
Remember the Hawaii superferry? The now defunct ferry service which would have provided commuter services between the islands has long since left Hawaii. Ironically the ferries were sold to the Navy and it looks like they may be headed back to Hawaii retooled as military vessels and stationed here in the islands. Unfortunately they won’t be using the ferry for commuter trips between the islands but instead to shuttle equipment around the world.

Disney to end cruises to Hawaii in 2013
It looks like the Disney may not be bringing their cruise ships to Hawaii in 2013. In looking at the latest schedule we see that Hawaii has been omitted. This may be something that’s temporary however sources say that they have decided to pull the cruise ship pending the evaluation of the route. There’s been a lot of increased competition in the Hawaii cruise market so it may just mean that there is no room left for another ship to travel to the islands.

Hawaii Vacation tips for families
Today we answer a question from Monica who wants to know the best island travel to with a couple of kids 11 and 13. While all the islands have lots of activities for children I recommended that they come to the island of Oahu where Waikiki is located. In general, it has the most variety of activities and if you’re staying in Waikiki there’s plenty to keep kids busy all of the time.

Published by Bruce Fisher

Since 2006 Bruce has been writing and producing the Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast and the Hawaii Vacation Blog which create daily content about Hawaii Travel and Tourism. His postings reflect the Hawaiian Islands, their culture and their lifestyle as accurately and thoroughly as possible. The tone is anecdotal, breezy, and devoid of any commercialism.

Add comment January 29th, 2012