Doug & Laura | Kauai Wedding | 8.20.13

*** Airfares to Hawaii vary greatly and can change often.  If you sign up for the email notifications on the homepage I will send out alerts if any deals come up.

Getting There:

Kauai’s main airport is Lihue (LIH). Though small, the airport does receive direct flights to six US Mainland destinations: Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Seattle and Phoenix. Otherwise passengers must transfer through Honolulu Airport on Oahu (about a half-hour flight) or Kahului Airport on Maui (about an hour-long flight). Lihue is serviced by the major US carriers including Alaska, American, Delta , Hawaiian Airlines , United  and US Airways. 

Interisland flights are frequent and start at ~$70 each way.  You can also use United miles to book interisland flights for 5k miles each way, or Hawaiian Airline miles for 7500 each way.

By far the best online tool to search for airfare is http://matrix.itasoftware.com/   You cannot book your tickets here, but you can use it to quickly search multiple airports and dates.  Once you find the best fare, simply book with the airline directly.  

August is a busy time for Hawaii so expect fares of $500+ r/t from the west coast and a few hundred more from the east. 

April 26, 2013 Update:

ApAward Travel:

The good news is that you can use miles to book flights to Hawaii on multiple airlines and all major alliances, the bad news is that they tend to be very stingy with releasing seats.  Alaska (starting at 20,000 miles each way), American (starting at 17,500 miles each way), Delta (starting at 20,000 miles each way), Hawaiian Airlines (starting at 20,000 miles each way), United (starting at 20,000 miles each way) and US Airways (starting at 35,000 miles roundtrip) all offer award tickets, although limited, meaning you can use miles from any of the alliances to get here.

Alaska Air usually has very good award availability from the West Coast, and you can use Delta Miles to book these tickets as well.  Just check on the Alaska Air site for low-level availability and then call Delta to book.

Hawaiian Airlines may be your best option especially if you have American Express Membership Rewards points, as they transfter directly to Hawaiian Airlines..  Hawaiian flies from Phoenix, San Diego, New York (JFK) and several other mainland cities, and they tend to have very good Award Ticket availability.   

• Round Trip award tickets from 35,000 - 50,000 miles per person

AMEX Credit Card Offers to gain some points:

Personal Gold Card with 25k point bonus

Business Gold Card offer for 75k points - $10k spend required