Oahu, Hawaii: Flight and hotel packages from $399

When planning a short hop over to Hawaii, it’s never a bad idea to peruse any specials Pleasant Holidays may be offering. The popular travel agency regularly has well-priced flight-and-hotel packages available to the islands.

Deal: For certain dates this fall and winter, those departing from Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO) can get round-trip airfare on United Airlines and three nights accommodation (based on double occupancy) in Honolulu for as little as $399 per person, excluding most taxes and fees.

Past offers of this kind have featured budget hotels like Castle Maile Sky Court — where rates are currently as low as $64 per night, pre-tax — on its lowest price tier.

But this special is all about Starwood hotels, and the cheapest hotel in the packages that I’m seeing currently (though this is subject to change) is at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, more moderately priced in comparison, where fall rates start at around $119 per night.Under this special, from LAX, you can go to Maui instead of Oahu, though packages there start at $429 per person.

Tested: I found nonstop flights at decent times from Los Angeles (LAX) to Honolulu (HNL) in mid-Nov. for $771 for two people traveling together. After taxes, the total came to $870 for the flights and three nights at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani. Yes, that’s $435 per person for flights as well as three nights in a not-shabby hotel in Waikiki at a time bordering what has traditionally been high travel season on the islands.

If you want travel insurance, or other extras like hotel parking, you can easily add those onto your reservation, at additional costs.

When: According to the fine print on the website, the sale applies to Oahu travel from Nov. 16 through Dec. 10, 2009, as well as for Monday departures from Jan. 11 through Jan. 25, 2010. The special is available for Maui travel Nov. 9-18 and Nov. 30 through Dec. 10, 2009, and also for Monday departures Jan. 11 through Jan. 25, 2010.

But that doesn’t mean that you’ll find that $399 rate for all of those days. Seats at the lowest rate are very limited. Still, you’re likely to find a good deal on your preferred dates. Rather than mess around with testing a bunch of different dates on the online reservation system, you might have an easier time of it by calling in to have a reservations agent help you.

Contact: Pleasant Holidays, (800) 742-9244

- Susan Derby, Special to The Times

Photo: An adventurous snorkeler at Sharks Cove in Pupukea Beach Park, Oahu. Credit: Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 5:58 am by Susan Derby and is filed under Airline travel, Deals, Fall, Hawaii, Hotels, Islands & Beaches, Maui, Oahu, Weekend Getaways, Winter. 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.