Questions about airfare...

[ewaiea]

I am new to these forums but I hope I'm not wearing my welcome out with all these questions but all of your input is much appreciated...

I live in Honolulu, Hawaii. I'm trying to get y'alls opinions on what competitive airfares are to certain places throughout the South Pacific. I am searching for airfare from Honolulu to Korror, Palau during the months of February, March, or April. I'm also searching average airfare costs for Honolulu to Cairns, Queensland, Australia for the months of February or March. The third destination that I'm looking for is Honolulu to Papua New Guinea (Walindi or Rabaul areas) during the months of April, May, or June OR September, October, or November.

What I have found is that the average cost for Papua New Guinea is around $2200, Australia averages at about $2000-$2200, and Palau averages right around $1800. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've heard these are your average airfares from the US mainland, shouldn't it be cheaper to fly from Hawaii considering by air we are 5 1/2 hours closer???

My question is whether or not these averages seem on par from what some of you have paid in the past for trips that you have taken? And also, do the airfare specialists at Aggressor and Peter Hughes diving really have deals that are not what you would see on orbitz, travelocity, or any other online vendor?

Any tips would be much appreciated, by the way - the reason I came up with these months is that they usually have the least amount of wind and rain, calmest seas, and warmest water.

Take care all!

P.S. I live on Oahu, I haven't dived for 18 months, who here (including me) thinks I should be fed to the wolves for neglecting the ocean??

 

[Papa_Bear]

Air that is not supplemented is always higher! It is cheaper to book a resort and get the often supplemented add on air..... For example air to Fiji is on a government owned airlines and therefore when you book a resort the airlines gives them as much as a $600.00 supplement off the airfare! So find the resort and see if they have supplemented air, then travel from there as an add on!

 

[Damselfish]

As far as airfares from Hawaii, maybe it seems like they should be cheaper because you're closer but looking for logic in airfares will drive you nuts. A lot of flights from the continental US to the areas you're talking about don't go through Hawaii, but are direct from places like LA so supply may be part of the problem. And as far as Palau, you're pretty much dealing with the Continental Micronesia monopoly.

Last year I was going to be in Hawaii for a week and figured I would continue from there to, well, someplace else in the Pacific to dive since of course it seemed like it should be easier since these places were closer. Not! Turned out to be easier said than done to find a decent itinerary to anyplace I wanted to go, let alone a decent price, and we just wound up spending another week in Kona.

I don't use agents often, but when I have they don't usually seem to do any better to places in the Caribbean than I can on my own. But it does seem like they can do better on some Pacific itineraries so why not just try them and see? I wound up using a dive travel agent when I went to Australia last May and they definitely did better than I was finding myself. In hindsight, I didn't try an agent for that Hawaii+wherever trip and I probably should have.

 

[joebill]

I'm heading to Palau Jan. 9. Looked at the "traditional" route to get there from DFW by going to HNL, then to Guam, then to Palau. Schedules at the time of my booking were going to require overnight stays in HNL and Guam which I didn't want to do. On top of that, I was going to use a frequent flier ticket to get to HNL in business class, but still had the ~$1800 airfare from HNL to Palau which I couldn't believe.

Searching for options, I decided to cash in more miles and fly business class to Tokyo, spend the night, and then go to Guam and then to Palau for $1400 (coach). I liked this better because I had plenty of miles and from Tokyo it's just 3.5 hours to Guam vs. 7.5 hours from HNL, and I can take a 3.5 hour flight in coach much better than a 7.5 hour flight.

So Tokyo -> Guam -> Palau is $1400 for 5.5 hours flight time. HNL -> Guam -> Palau is $1800 for 9.5 hours flight time.

Just for grins, I just checked the Guam -> Palau leg and Continental is charging $941 + taxes/fees for it, so figure about $1000 for that 2 hour flight. Wow. So $800 from HNL to Guam (or $400 from Tokyo to Guam) seems like a bargain!

As Damselfish said, Continental Micronesia has the market locked up and therefore can pretty much charge whatever they want. It sucks, but what can you do if Palau is on your must-dive list?

 

[Scramblin]

And also, do the airfare specialists at Aggressor and Peter Hughes diving really have deals that are not what you would see on orbitz, travelocity, or any other online vendor?

While AF/PHD does have some specials, the main reason I use them is that they know how to ensure you get there in plenty of time to board and not rushed when leaving.

They also have a lot of tours that I usually take before the trip (too tired afterwards!) and are well connected on these costs also.

Your local travel agency will have no idea how to route you, especially like PNG, or when you should be there, what to do once there, etc.

 

[tarangau]

Can't help you with flights to Cairns, but getting to Papua New Guinea from Australia is easy and getting cheaper!

I recently booked a return flight with Air Niugini from Brisbane (Australia) to Hoskins (Airport to Walindi) return for AUS $840 (approx. US $530 icl. taxes)

I booked directly online at Air Niugini Limited

They also fly from Cairns which should be cheaper. I also recommend Air Niugini because they allow for dive gear and they are responsible if there are any connection issues.

another airline worth considering is Airlines PNG Welcome to Airlines PNG-Home Page