Deal Alert: East Coast to Hawaii from $501 Round-Trip

Aug. 18, 2016

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4 min read

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Airfare deals are typically only available on limited dates. We recommend that you use Google Flights to find dates to fly, then book through an online travel agency, such as Orbitz, which allows you to cancel flights without penalty by 11pm Eastern Time within one day of booking. Remember: Fares may disappear quickly, so book right away and take advantage of Orbitz’s courtesy cancellation if you’re unable to travel.

Deals to Hawaii are particularly rare, especially from the East Coast. However, American, Delta and United are currently competing for customers on Hawaii-bound flights from New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. We're seeing fares as low as $501 round-trip from New York, $529 from Boston and $547 from Washington, all to Honolulu. Prices increase incrementally depending on which island you want to fly to. Note that to take advantage of these prices, you must book by 11:59PM eastern time tonight!

If you're a Citi Prestige cardholder, you can use Thank You points to book your tickets. With Citi Prestige, ThankYou points can be redeemed at 1.6 cents per point towards any American Airlines flight — meaning this booking would cost you just over 35,000 points, and you would still earn AAdvantage miles because you're redeeming points for a revenue ticket.

Furthermore, since American would consider it a "special ticket," you would accrue miles based on distance rather than revenue. This means that on a flight from Washington, D.C. to Hawaii, you could earn over 5,000 redeemable miles (50% of the distance flown). If you booked directly with American, the same flight would earn less than 3,000 redeemable miles based on the revenue price of the ticket.

Airline: American, Delta, United
Route(s): East Coast to Hawaii
Cost: $501+ round-trip in economy
Dates: September - December
Elite Mileage Earning: 10,500+ elite miles possible with 1 stop.
Booking Link: Orbitz
Pay With: American Express Premier Rewards Gold, Citi Prestige or Chase Sapphire Preferred

Here are a few examples of what you can book:

Nw York (JFK) to Honolulu (HNL) for $501 round-trip on Delta in September:

Nw York (LGA) to Honolulu (HNL) for $501 round-trip on United in November:

Washington (IAD) to Honolulu (HNL) for $547 round-trip on Delta in November:

Screen Shot 2016-08-18 at 9.27.06 AM — Washington (IAD) to Honolulu (HNL) for $547 round-trip on Delta.

Washington (IAD) to Honolulu (HNL) for $567 round-trip on American in October:

Boston (BOS) to Honolulu (HNL) for $529 round-trip on United in October:

Boston (BOS) to Honolulu (HNL) for $529 round-trip on Delta in November:

Screen Shot 2016-08-18 at 9.37.12 AM — Boston (BOS) to Honolulu (HNL) for $529 round-trip on Delta.

Maximize Your Purchase

Don’t forget to use a credit card that earns additional points on airfare purchases, such as the American Express Premier Rewards Gold or Citi Prestige (3x on airfare) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on all travel purchases). Check out this post for more on maximizing airfare purchases.

H/T: The Flight Deal

If you’re able to score one of these tickets, please share the good news in the comments below!

Featured image by KrisFlyer miles might also be a better deal to get to Hawaii.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.