Even nicer are the flight times. You can avoid the dreaded (by some at least) late evening departure and red-eye flight back from Hawaii. Alaska’s return flights to Oakland and San Jose leave at the civilized hour of 11:15 AM.

It’s nice to see airlines adding new Hawaii routes, since the trend for the past couple years has been more the opposite. Getting to the Big Island from the West Coast became more complicated and more expensive when Aloha Airlines folded abruptly March 2008.

Alaska Airlines began regular flights to Kona from Oakland last fall, and added the direct San Jose – Kona service in March 2010. Seasonal flights from Portland to Kona will be added beginning November 12, 2010, and last through April 2011. Alaska also has also announced plans to increase its Seattle-Kona service later this year.

The airline has added other new Hawaii routes as well, including new daily flights from Sacramento to Maui, and a San Diego to Maui service beginning in October.

A one-way rate of $199 for OAK-KOA is still being offered through early June. Then prices go up a bit for the busier summer months, and back down to $228 by late August.  If you are looking for the lowest rates, be sure to use the alaskaairlines.com “low fare calendar” feature.

Bay Area travelers should particularly note Alaska’s offsetting weekly schedule for discount fares:  The lowest rates for Oakland – Kona are on Tuesdays and Thursday, and for San Jose – Kona on Mondays and Wednesdays.

While travel to Hawaii seems to be on the upswing, it’s still a renter’s market.  Our Kanaloa condo has been staying booked with specials from $107/night, and we are offering our lowest summer rates since we began doing vacation rentals in 2001. The calendar is starting to fill in, so book your trip now!

A new vent in Halema‘uma‘u crater on Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has been releasing clouds of sulfur dioxide-laden gas steadily since a sudden outburst of activity on March 19. Not killer really, but not healthy either!

Prevailing winds typically direct the gas plume south across closed areas of the park and out to sea. A park service air quality monitor shows that by Thursday morning the normal pattern has resumed, but no word yet on whether the park will reopen to visitors today.

Check Park Service announcements for the latest information, and here’s a brief story posted today on National Geographic News.

Changing topics completely, I just received word that guests booked to stay in my Kanaloa at Kona condo June 26 – July 3 have had to cancel, so that week is now again open. I also still have some discounted dates open in late April and May. Right now between spring break and summer vacation is a nice time to visit Kailua-Kona, and some decent fares are still available from the West Coast.

March 30, 2008. All Hawaii travelers take note: Aloha Airlines just announced they’re going out of the passenger travel business as of…tomorrow. Purchased Aloha Airlines tickets after March 31, 2008, will not be honored.

Any of our Kona condo rental guests affected by this, please get in touch with me.

This is hard to believe, and is going to affect a lot of people. What happens if you have a flight booked on Aloha Airlines any time from April 1 on? According the press release issued today, “Code-share partner United Airlines and other airlines are prepared to assist and accommodate Aloha’s passengers who have been inconvenienced.”

I don’t know yet what that means. I don’t know if United is adding any extra flights, or if you can fully or partly redeem your Aloha tickets on United with no extra fees. But it seems doubtful that most passengers currently booked on Aloha will be able to simply transfer to another airline for the same dates and times.

Aloha is also saying that passengers unable to switch to another carrier can seek refunds through credit card companies or in bankruptcy court. It’s a pretty bleak picture.

UPDATE: More details on the Aloha Air situation in this article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

Hawaiian Airlines has posted some information for Aloha Airlines ticket holders here. They’re adding some capacity and have some reduced fares on inter-island flights. For mainland travel they’re offering free standby travel to Aloha ticket holders during the first three days of the shutdown, through April 3. That’s not going to help too many people. Beyond that, they advise booking at full fare as soon as possible.

I’ll try to post more on this when more information becomes available. For now, if you are an Aloha Airlines passenger I would drop whatever else you may be doing and contact United or Hawaiian Airlines immediately—there’s sure to be a huge demand for whatever seats they have available.

Kilauea volcano is showing some very interesting activity this week! Apparently a gas build-up caused some significant explosions, resulting in rocks and gravel raining down on a portion of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park normally open to visitors. As of now some trails in the park and parts of the Chain of Craters Road are closed due to elevated levels of volcanic gases, and I suppose also risk of further explosions.

The volcano has been slowly erupting lava for decades, providing one of the most awesome spectacles on the Big Island–or anywhere. The recent explosions weren’t in the fissures on the side of the volcano that have been producing the lava, but rather from one of the big craters near the summit. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that these were the first explosions in Halema`uma`u crater since 1924 and the first eruption of any kind in Kilauea caldera since September 1982.

Lava also continues to flow and enter the ocean outside the park, and the area is open for viewing. The conditions change frequently so check with Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for more information. A trip to the Big Island really isn’t complete without a visit to the volcano, and a chance to see fiery lava flowing into the ocean is not to be missed!

Arriving in Kona you’ll definitely want to rent something at the airport. I usually just check one of the big travel sites for whatever seems to be the best deal, but there are some options available. You may want to check out Car Rentals in Hawaii, Discount Hawaii Car Rentals, or Hawaiian Discount Car Rentals. All of these claim to offer reduced rates on at-the-airport rentals from the national rental companies, and there are some good deals to be had. But be sure to compare–I sometimes find that Travelocity beats any of these.

If price is not really an issue and you want to tool around the Big Island in a Lamborghini Gallardo or Jaguar XK Sport, this Exotic Rentals company can set you up.

A far cooler option (to my mind) would be to rent a VW Westfalia Camper Van! I’ve never done this but it sounds like fun. Spend a week relaxing at Kanaloa at Kona and another week exploring the Big Island in a Westfalia from GB Adventures. (They’ll rent you a tent and Coleman stove too–and check their website for Big Island campground information.)

Need something even larger? Harper Car and Truck Rental is a local company that rents everything from cars to large vans, trucks and motor homes. If that’s not quite your thing, you can also tour the island on a Harley from Kona Harley-Davidson.
This is probably a good place to mention that there are lots of options for bicycle rentals in Kona. You can rent a road or mountain bike by the day, week or month from a number of shops–for starters check out Cycle Station or Hawaiian Pedals.

Anyone have any good or bad experiences to share about any of these companies?