Hawaii Vacations News Roundup for April 3rd
Posted on Thu, Apr 3, 2008 by Sheila
There’s a real mixed bag of news today with some good and bad.
- Another airline with Hawaii ties is biting the dust, unfortunately. ATA Airlines is discontinuing all operations. ATA flew several routes from the US mainland to Hawaii.
- Registration has started for the 27th Annual Kapalua Wine and Food Festival. This prestigious Maui event runs from June 26th through the 29th. I wonder if they are offering press passes?
- Skeet hosted the new chapter of the Carnival of Aloha with a collection of Hawaii articles.
- If you are going to Kona after July 21st, then mark the Hard Rock Cafe off your list of restaurants as it will be closing.
- The Wyland Waikiki has several tempting new special packages. Some packages include free nights stay and upgraded room.
- Hilo is the place to be this week as the 2008 Merrie Monarch Festival is underway. This annual festival is THE event that showcases Hawaiian hula, arts and crafts. I have this festival on my wish list of things I want to do in Hawaii.
ENJOYED THIS POST? SUBSCRIBE BY RSS OR EMAIL AND GET FREE DAILY UPDATES!
We flew ATA to Hawaii out of Oakland the flight wasn’t too great, I’m not surprised they’re going under. I really don’t understand the nickel and diming they go through when they should just scrap it and charge people $5 more per ticket. Plus, all the advertising? Ridiculous.
What’s funny is I swore I wasn’t going to fly ATA again, though I probably would if the price was right, but now I don’t have to hold myself to the promise.
Jim – speaking of nickel and diming, have you seen this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSJwzYiB_Pc
My best ATA story. Flying home from Maui to Oakland on ATA my wife and I had confirmed seats together. The ticket agent insisted on changing our seats before issuing our boarding passes. I told her we were happy where we were. She said, “I don’t think so sir, we’ve had a plane change and your seats are now 4 rows behind the tail.” We changed.
We never had a bad flight on ATA and the price was right. My understanding is they went under after losing their Military contract. They transported troops to Iraq and back.
Could have handled the shutdown better though. There’s no excuse for leaving people standing at the gate with no warning whatsoever.
David – It’s kind of scary how two airlines close up shop so abruptly.
I’m glad you were able to change your seats on that ATA flight as 4 rows behind the tail could have been windy and cold.
Sheila,
It is scary. One lesson learned is to always purchase your airline tickets with a credit card. That way you can at least get a refund for the ticket if the airline goes under.
One surprise, I used Kayak to price tickets from San Francisto to Maui for May 8th and they were actually still quite reasonable. $401 round trip including tax. Hopefully there’s enought flights to keep fares competitive.
David
Sheila: No I hadn’t but it’s hilarious, thanks for posting it!
David: Unfortunately every airline that goes under does it the same way…
Skybus just joined the bankruptcy bandwagon, fortunately they didn’t run any service to or from Hawaii.
David – What’s strange to me is trying to understand why anyone would not want to purchase tickets with a credit card? Credit cards offer so much more protection. Oh, and don’t make me jealous that you live closer to Hawaii than me.