Hawaii travel deals: Hotels under $100/night, giveaways and cheap flights

If you’ve been at all keeping on top of recent travel trends or looking for the best deals out there, you are probably aware that there are a few destinations that have been especially hard hit by the shaky economy—and Hawaii, Mexico and Las Vegas are among them. Despite Hawaii’s spectacular scenery, beautiful beaches, warm weather year-round and plenty of aloha spirit, Hawaii has been badly hurt in the recession. With hotel occupancy number down all around the islands, many resorts and hotels are offering up some pretty rad deals in hopes of attracting more travelers to the isles this year (and maybe stop some of the hemorrhaging happening in the travel industry there). Relax in the Sun and Save: Hotel Deals in Hawaii

Airfare to Hawaii from West Coast is especially cheap

If you are traveling from the West Coast especially, I have found some truly amazing deals out there on cheap airfare to Hawaii. As it runs out, there are a plethora of fabulous fall and winter travel Hawaii travel deals. As a Portlander myself, I have been tempted by many a round-trip ticket deal for just around $300-$400. While I learned in an interview with Keoni Wagner of Hawaiian Airlines last year that fall is often the cheapest time of year to travel to the islands, I was still surprised when I did an airfare search this morning and found round-trip fares from Portland to Honolulu hovering around the $350 range for September, October and much of November.

Hotel deals abound in Hawaii

Add this amazingly cheap airfare to Hawaii with a great deal available at one of many hotels on islands and you’ve got yourself the makings for an affordable trip to Hawaii—something that many never thought would be possible just a few years ago. Much like in Vegas (where the once very expensive Wynn Hotel is now offering rooms for just $139/night), many upscale hotels in Waikiki are now offering huge savings for customers.

One of these such deals can be found at the 3.5 star Ilikai Hotel and Suites in Waikiki, which is offering ocean view rooms steps from the beach with a continental breakfast all for just $89/night. The best part of this deal? While some hotel and resort deals have blackout dates and exclude weekends, this deal is available ANY NIGHT between now and December 31, well into the Christmas holiday season when prices usually go up.

Tweet your way to Hawaii for free

If a cheap vacation in Hawaii isn’t enough to get you to head to island paradise, then there are also some free trips to Hawaii up for grabs. The Marriott Hawaii started a “Tweet yourself to Hawaii” promotion, which is awarding a total of 25 free trips to Hawaii including round-trip airfare for two on Hawaiian Airlines, a 5-night stay in the Marriott hotel in Honolulu and a car rental from Hertz. Read more about the contest at the web site, www.marriotthawaiitweets.com or check out twitter.com/marriotthawaii for more information on how to enter via Twitter.

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