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Transportation Essentials |
Booking Airfare
An important part of your travel planning will involve booking your
airfare. Unless you are restricted to one airline as part of a frequent flier
program, it's best to shop around for the best rates available. If you are
traveling from the East Coast or the Midwest, you may actually find it cheaper to
book on one airline to a West Coast portal and then book on another to fly from
the West Coast to Hawaii.
Your local travel agent or tour operator can certainly help you in booking your airfare, and for many this is the easiest way to handle this task. Others prefer to go at it alone, either by calling various airlines for quotes, checking the specific airline websites on the Net or by using one of the many on-line booking services such as Priceline.com or Lowestfare.com.
If you're traveling to more than one island or to an island where direct mainland service is not available from your departure point, you should also book your inter-island travel. Inter-island airfare varies greatly in price and there are many options. Often booking through a Hawaii-based travel agent will allow you to take advantage of special discounts. Also, if you have frequent flier miles available, as little as 5000 miles can purchase you a round trip inter-island ticket.
For more details we suggest you read our article entitled, Planning Your Hawaiian Vacation - Booking Your Airfare.
Car Rental or Public
Transportation?
Once you have booked your airfare, you will still need to decide how
you are going to get around once your get to your destination. If you're just
visiting Oahu and plan on spending most of your time in the Honolulu/Waikiki
area, then perhaps a shuttle or cab to your hotel and then public transportation
will meet your needs.
If you plan to travel around the islands, a rental car is probably a necessity. The best rates for car rentals are available on a weekly basis. Renting a car for just 3-4 days can often cost you as much as a full week's rental. Rental rates vary significantly from one company to another, as do the discounts available. Once again, the key is to shop around. If you belong to an automobile club such as AAA, you can save 10-15% off the cost of your rental. Also, check with your personal automobile insurance company to see if your own insurance coverage will carry over to the rental car. If so, you won't need to pay what is often $20.00 or more a day in insurance charges.
Ground Tours and Off-Island
Tours.
If you are interested in touring an island, you can also consider one
of the many ground tours available. Each of the major islands feature companies
that will pick you up at your accommodation, drive you around the island, making
many stops, and then return you to your home base.
Many of these companies also offer day trips to other islands. The cost of those tours include pickup, airfare and travel on the other island. In most instances, for a day trip, these tours are the most cost-effective way of seeing another island for a day.
We have personally used Polynesian Adventure Tours for a full day tour of Kauai from Oahu, and found the experience to be one we'll always treasure.
For an example of what you can see and do in one day to another island, check out our feature, Molokai for a Day. For a very reasonable fee, my wife and I were able to take a Paragon Air flight from the West Maui Airport to Molokai and then get a full day tour of Molokai with Mokokai Offroad Tours and Taxi.
Taking a full day tour of another island is a great way to get a feel for a place to which you might wish to consider returning for a longer stay.
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