Cheap Flights to Hawaii - 3 Scenarios

I finished booking our flight tickets to Hawaii for the Hilton Grand Vacation Suites at Honolulu in the coming summer.  The booking was not the most ideal in terms of points redemption rate, but achieved one purpose to burn my Dad's last remaining 50,000 AAdvantage miles for two one-way coach fare flight tickets for flying from San Jose, California to Honolulu, Hawaii, incurring total $10 fee.  Then I used the Alaska Airline companion ticket discount code to book two one-way tickets for flying from Honolulu to Oakland, California for $356 including fees.

$356 + $10 + baggage check-in fee = +$400 for 2RT between Hawaii and California

I learned about Alaska Airline credit card after the AA redemption, otherwise could have purchase two RT Hawaii tickets using discount code for great prices.  We do not have enough miles to book business class flight tickets to Hawaii this time.

Current Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses:

1. Hawaiian Airlines Personal Credit Card with 35000 Hawaii miles, non-waivable $89 fee (target offer to Hawaiian Airlines member, just join for free.  Isa's account has 0 HA miles and still receives offer via email.)
2. Hawaiian Airlines Business Credit Card with 35000 Hawaii miles, non-waivable $89 fee.
3. Alaska Airlines Personal Credit Card with 25000 Alaska miles and $100 statement credit, $75 non-waivable fee.
4. Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card with 25000 Alaska miles, $75 non-waivable fee.

*Alaska Airlines credit card comes with one-time domestic complimentary coach fare ticket flat cost at $118.  Hawaii Airlines credit card comes with one-time 50% off coach fare companion ticket. 


Lowest flight tickets to Hawaii with the help of companion tickets

Assume you want to book 2 round-trip flight tickets during Spring Break, 2014 (Mar 21 - Mar 30), about 3 months away from now, from San Jose, San Francisco or Oakland airport in California.

Option #1.  Book without Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines companion ticket.

A. Hawaiian Airlines: $576.40 per traveller

B. Alaska Airlines: $656.00 per traveller

Hawaiian Airlines

Option #2. Book with Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines companion ticket.

A. Hawaiian Airlines: $576.40 + 0.5*($576.40) = $864.6 for 2 travelers

B. Alaska Airlines: $656.00 + $99.04 + $78.80 = $833.84 for 2 travelers

Alaska Airlines

Option #3. Book tickets by redeeming Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines miles

A. Hawaiian Airlines: 50,000 miles for 1 traveler.  100,000 HA miles needed for two.
B. Alaska Airlines: 57,500 miles for 1 traveler. 115,000 AA miles needed for two.

Hawaiian Airlines

Alaska Airlines

Award tickets may be cheaper if we redeem them much earlier.


Option #4. Find lowest flight tickets via Kayak.com or Priceline.com

A. Priceline: $560 per traveler

B. Kayak: $538 per traveler

Priceline.com

Kayak

Take-away:
   
Alaska Airlines companion ticket offers the best deal for coach fare tickets for 2, because two round-trip tickets between San Francisco and Honolulu costs $833.84, or $417 per traveler during peak travel time.  We decided to accumulate Alaska Airlines miles to redeem for its partner international flights, for example, Cathay Pacific.  If you plan to fly roundtrip economy class to Hawaii with at least one additional person within the next 12 months, Alaska Airlines companion ticket helps.