Flight questions

[dachsie]

I am trying to figure out when to book my flight for January. I have had two flights I was looking in to just disappear. One was flying out of Houston and the other flying out of Austin. The times either changed or the flight is gone completely. I am afraid to book and then have the flights changed again. This is u united which is who I usually fly. There is an American flight that gets us there when we want but who knows if it will change. What would you recommend? Do we wait or go ahead and book?

Also - was trying to figure out Southwest flights but they won't be open for a while and I don't think I want to wait that long to book. Also, trying to figure out where they fly out of is confusing me as well.

Any and all advice is welcome.

 

[nkereina]

The Southwest flights to Hawaii originate on the west coast - I believe Oakland, San Jose. I'm not sure where else, but they were California cities if memory serves. I know flying to HNL on Southwest out of Buffalo was not an option for us, unless we wanted to book separate flights and create our own itinerary (i.e. fly BUF to BWI then BWI to San Jose then San Jose to HNL). It was neither cost or time efficient.

I've never heard of a flight disappearing? Is it perhaps sold out and that's why it's no longer available? Flight times are always subject to change, especially this far out. However, we flew on Delta and we chose the Airbus 330 flight that was just one going out and one coming home to and from Atlanta. As I recall, the flight times did adjust by only few minutes - nothing major. It seems as if Delta has this flight routinely or maybe daily, so the time changes were never significant. We booked in mid-November for our mid-September trip, just a few weeks after flights were released.

Personally, I would book as soon as you find a price and flight time you're comfortable with. I wouldn't worry about time changes - it can happen on any airline at any time. I would also recommend looking into the plane configurations for the flights you're considering. Comfort was more important to us than price, and we were willing to pay a little more for that. The flight we chose had a 2-4-2 seat configuration, free meals and alcohol, and hundreds of TV shows and movies on the seatback TVs. And this was in coach!

 

[dachsie]

I think the first one that disappeared was a 737 Max 8 plane. Then there was a flight from Austin to LAX that was moved from 6-7am so no connecting flight available. Then there was a nite flight at 9ish to Houston that disappeared. Maybe it was a Max 8 as well. It was strange. I really wanted to fly United with all those points but may have to go with American to get there when we want. The flight I saw last week that is no longer available got to Kona at 12:47 now the earliest on United is 2:45. We want to visit a coffee farm when we get there before we check in to our hotel so the 2:45 would be pushing it. The American flight gets us there at 12:45

 

[linco711]

I am trying to figure out when to book my flight for January. I have had two flights I was looking in to just disappear. One was flying out of Houston and the other flying out of Austin. The times either changed or the flight is gone completely. I am afraid to book and then have the flights changed again. This is u united which is who I usually fly. There is an American flight that gets us there when we want but who knows if it will change. What would you recommend? Do we wait or go ahead and book?

Also - was trying to figure out Southwest flights but they won't be open for a while and I don't think I want to wait that long to book. Also, trying to figure out where they fly out of is confusing me as well.

Any and all advice is welcome.

Every time I’ve booked early with American they changed my flight. I find that very frustrating since that’s why I booked early...to be on a specific flight and arrive to Hawaii early! So I’ve been flying Delta with no problem. And a nicer flight experience. I understand about wanting to use points though. It’s a very long and expensive flight for us. I’ve heard that Hawaiian airlines is awesome! Unfortunately they don’t fly from the airports close by... Have a great trip..you have plenty of time to book your flight.

 

[Networth]

Just booked our flights last night for a trip in January. I alway book early as it’s another thing off my list. We are in Florida so Hawaiian airlines was not an option on the way. Ended up booking first class with American. Best of luck.

 

[linco711]

Just booked our flights last night for a trip in January. I alway book early as it’s another thing off my list. We are in Florida so Hawaiian airlines was not an option on the way. Ended up booking first class with American. Best of luck.

Sounds awesome..never been able to fly first class. Enjoy your trip.

 

[dachsie]

Does anyone know which side of the plane you should be on when flying to Kona to see the volcanoes?

 

[abdgeek]

I am trying to figure out when to book my flight for January. I have had two flights I was looking in to just disappear. One was flying out of Houston and the other flying out of Austin. The times either changed or the flight is gone completely. I am afraid to book and then have the flights changed again. This is u united which is who I usually fly. There is an American flight that gets us there when we want but who knows if it will change. What would you recommend? Do we wait or go ahead and book?

Also - was trying to figure out Southwest flights but they won't be open for a while and I don't think I want to wait that long to book. Also, trying to figure out where they fly out of is confusing me as well.

Any and all advice is welcome.

I fly to Hawaii every couple of years and I always buy my plane ticket as soon as I can because I only want one layover. I’ve already booked my flights for my December visit this year. As OP have said, the airlines will change the times until you leave, but normally not by much. I almost exclusively fly Delta and they always change the times from when I initially booked 11 months out. This time around I have noticed that the times the flights arrive has changed. Most flights require two stops and the planes don’t arrive in HNL until the late afternoon/evening. Years ago, flights arrived in the morning.

My recommendation to anyone is that they book their ticket when they see the itinerary they like for the price they want. If the airline changes your flights to something you don’t like, you can usually call them and change to a longer layover for no charge. If you’re considering Southwest, I would recommend calling them to get an idea of whether you itinerary is even possible. That way you know if it’s worth waiting until your dates open up to see what your options are.

 

[Sepo]

Every time I’ve booked early with American they changed my flight. I find that very frustrating since that’s why I booked early...

American has been doing this too frequently to us too. Made a few reservations that were moved significantly in multiple small increments over months. One of them was then “changed” the day of after check in another 2 hours further. Totally stunk. We got in to our Florida destination at 1am instead of 9 pm.

Had already booked this next one to Hawaii with them before that episode. Now it’s started to creep with 2 changes so far and counting. Planning on avoiding them in the future.

I’m used to little changes with other airlines, but these recent experiences with AA were too much. Makes early planning worthless.

 

[linco711]

Exactly...I paid premium prices to get the schedule I booked, then it was all changed. Ear,y planning with American is totally worthless!

 

[Jamesmom7]

They may have sold out. You can track flights using google flights. Idk the best time really. Find a price you can justify and take the jump and don’t look again. About a month before I booked my flight to Maui I almost booked flights because they had 540 dollar nonstop round trip flights and didn’t. Needless to say I’m kicking myself. I always monitor. Sometimes I take one for the team and take a layover. I’ve been monitoring flights to Rome for months and never seen a nonstop drop below twice the price I paid for one with a layover. When you are talking 600 or 1200-1500 I’ll take the 600 any day granted the layover is short and manageable. Good time to stretch your legs!

 

[Jamesmom7]

Are you in the Austin area or Houston area? Last trip we took was last October and I paid 420 for round trip flights but we had a layover in lax. This was out of dfw granted.

 

[Jamesmom7]

I paid 700 with a stop for Maui in August. My flights in November to Rome are cheaper. Peak times matter significantly. Depending on when in January you might be better to wait. If you are talking when kids are out of school book early. If it’s a random January date though you’ll likely get lucky. I want to say I saw them fall as low as 280 in off peak times out of Dallas with an lax layover.

 

[dachsie]

Are you in the Austin area or Houston area? Last trip we took was last October and I paid 420 for round trip flights but we had a layover in lax. This was out of dfw granted.

I live in College Station so can use either airport. My coworker lives in Liberty Hill so Austin is closer for her. And the flights are less expensive to of Austin. We are going to a conference in Kona first then to Aulani

They haven't sold out. I check seat availability when I check. The moved the time of the one flight up 45 mins so we cant get the connection. Gonna just monitor them for a while and may buy in July.

 

[wilbret]

2nd vote for flights.google.com. You can also look up historical fares to know if it's even worth waiting for a deal.
One thing I'd recommend is making sure tickets are changeable or refundable. So many "discount" fares have loopholes where you lose a ton of value, if not all the value, if plans change. But that's just me, on tickets that are approaching $1000 or over. If it's a couple hundred or less, it's not worth the fare hike.

I don't know which side of the plane you should be on, but if you want a view, make sure you aren't positioned over the wing.

 

[goofynut41]

Im flying into Oakland and going from there. on Southwest..

 

[gopper]

I agree with all the above, I had a recent experience with my flight to Hawaii that is booked next month on American. I purchased them in September, but they changed several times, one of the changes caused us to miss our connecting flight! But you can call and get the flights changed to something that works better for you. Our original flight was going to require 3 connections, but since they made the changes I was able to get direct flights at better times with no change in cost.

 

[dachsie]

I agree with all the above, I had a recent experience with my flight to Hawaii that is booked next month on American. I purchased them in September, but they changed several times, one of the changes caused us to miss our connecting flight! But you can call and get the flights changed to something that works better for you. Our original flight was going to require 3 connections, but since they made the changes I was able to get direct flights at better times with no change in cost.

How close to your flight did they change the times that threw your plans off?

 

[gopper]

How close to your flight did they change the times that threw your plans off?

I have to admit it was in March and we leave in June, so even though it was a little stressful I was pleasantly surprised by the positive outcome!

 

[PinMan]

Does this have to do with the new planes that have been grounded till they have a fix for the problems