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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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CheapTickets reveals the cheapest month to travel to Hawaii and beyond
IT'S NOT JUST Hawaii that has shoulder seasons, when tourism drops off and travel becomes cheaper: It's common throughout the industry. As such,
CheapTickets.com, founded and formerly based in Hawaii, has come up with a
list of destinations -- including the islands -- and the times of year for the best deals in each place.
Yes, it's hard to see beyond the midnight oil you'll burn on Christmas Eve wrapping presents for the wee ones that will arise at zero-dark-thirty-hours to tear it all up.
However, there may be some among us planning 2007 travel itineraries right now.
"No one has a crystal ball into the future, least of all the future of hotel and airline availability and travel pricing," said Marita Hudson of CheapTickets' Cheap Squad. "But as travel follows cyclical patterns, we do have historical data that allows us to map out the monthly pricing averages for our customers' trip choices so they don't break the bank in 2007."
Travel to Hawaii is 29 percent cheaper in May than the annual average cost, according to the company's Cheapometer.
But what about for travel elsewhere?
Travel to Las Vegas in August is 31 percent cheaper than the average annual cost of travel to the city that allegedly keeps all visitors' alleged secrets.
Of course, the average temperature then is 89 degrees, with an average maximum of 102 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. And it's a dry heat, with less than half an inch of rainfall during a typical August.
Japan-bound visitors will save the most in September, when it is 58 percent cheaper to travel than the average annual cost.
The steepest discount the Cheapometer came up with is 69 percent off the annual average cost to travel to St. Martin, which can be accomplished in October. The wary would-be wanderer can spend some time online, or with nose buried in travel guides to find out what the downside is at that time of year.
If the private jet upon which one's Grey Poupon is served is not oversubscribed -- and one is in need of places to visit each month of the year -- the Cheapometer has graciously provided a second, month-by-month save-on-travel list.
One would want to wear one's woolens to wing it to New York in January and the Netherlands in February.
The rest of the year's trips would transport a traipsing traveler through Italy, Jamaica, Hawaii, Park City and surrounding areas of Utah in June when there isn't likely to be much skiing, Arizona, Vegas, Japan, Costa Rica, Lake Tahoe -- either in California or Nevada -- and finally, to Greece for the holidays.
OK, the private jet thing doesn't necessarily apply, since the Cheapometer bases its calculations using only three-star hotels.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com