Hawaii: ATA flights from LAX to neighbor islands

Whenever I visit Kauai or the Big Island, choices for flights from the mainland are always more limited than my own schedule. That’s why I’m glad to see that ATA is adding new flights to the Big Island and Kauai starting in mid-June 2007. More flights means more competition among airlines, which hopefully will translate into lower airfares for everyone.

Deal: The lowest online fares that I could find for ATA flights from LAX to the neighbor islands were $198 (Hilo), $226 (Kona) and $226 (Lihue) each way, excluding taxes and fees.

Since ATA is launching its new flight schedules during Hawaii’s busy summer season, don’t expect to find these deals on flights right away. However, you might find some good fares starting in late July. I was able to book a round-trip flight between LAX and Kona for travel July 19-24 that cost $631.57, including taxes and fees. The lowest available fares on Orbitz for those same dates was $643 (with multiple airlines), or $740 (not using any ATA flights).

When: ATA begins daily flights to Hilo (ITO) and Kona (KOA) on the Big Island on June 14th, 2007. Daily flights to Lihue (LIH), Kauai, start on June 15th, 2007.

Caveat: These flights aren’t non-stop. ATA flies from LAX via Oakland (OAK) on these routes.

Why Go: To get to Kauai or the Big Island from LAX, a short layover in Oakland may be cheaper and/or more convenient than changing planes and terminals to catch an inter-island flight in Honolulu.

Why Not: Major airlines such as United offer non-stop flights from LAX to all of the neighbor islands, which may or may not be more expensive. Check around online before purchasing a ticket on ATA.

Contact: ATA Airlines, (800) 435-9282

Do you think it’s better to pay more to fly direct to the neighbor islands or to save money by changing planes in Honolulu? Add your two cents by posting in the Comments section below.

Related Los Angeles Times links:
Hawaii: 10% off Volcano House from ATA
ALERT: $25 Hawaiian Airlines flights till June 6
Hawaii: Kauai’s Princeville Resort up to 35% off

– Sara Benson, L.A. Times Travel Deal Detective

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 8:19 am by Sara Benson and is filed under Hawaii, Hawaii's Big Island, Islands & Beaches, Kauai, Lanai, Maui, Molokai, News, Tips & Advice, Oahu. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.