Sub $500 Fares on Continental/United from Chicago/NY/LA to Hawaii- Lanai, Molokai and Kapalua
I've been toying with a trip to Lanai, so I've been accustomed to seeing $750+ airfares from NYC. Today, Continental introduced some relatively dirt cheap fares to Lanai, Molokai and Kapalua and there's a bunch of availability from now until spring 2012. These fares are good from Newark, Chicago and LAX and probably more - I just haven't had time to check. I was able to pull up multiple dates including Labor Day 2011 for $495 and spring break March of 2012 for just over $500, which is a steal from the east coast!
I priced out a couple at $493 total roundtrip, including all taxes. I recommend booking these at Continental.com and selecting the +/- 3 days flexibility. Search for days that have "fares from $439" and they should price out to under $500 total.
Not the best mileage run in the world, but a darn good fare to some of the most beautiful islands in the world. The Newark-Houston-Honolulu-Lanai-Honolulu-Newark will net you over 10,400 elite miles, so its just over 4.5 cents per elite qualifying mile- not too bad.
Remember- Continental has a 24 hour flexible booking policy, so you can cancel by tomorrow with no penalty. I have a feeling these fares won't last long! For more info on other routes, check out the Flyertalk thread.
