Chicago, Houston, Newark to Four Hawaiian Islands for $541 Through May 2016

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Travel from Newark, Houston, or Chicago to Honolulu, Kona, Maui, or Kauai for $541 to $551 roundtrip. Dates are available for travel from August 2015 to May 2016 on American Airlines/US Airways. You can earn around 10,000 American Airlines miles for the trip, and you can book with cash or 33,800 ThankYou Points.

Departures are available every day of the week except Saturday.

Contents:

1. When are the $541-$551 fares?
2. Booking with ThankYou Points instead of Cash
3. Best Credit Card to Buy the Ticket

$541-$551 Roundtrip to Hawaii

Sample Dates: Newark to Maui, April 8-17 on American Airlines

Search on ITA Matrix by calendar of lowest fares for acceptable trip lengths. Here are searches I ran for Chicago to Kona in September.

There are also cheap dates from to all four major Hawaiian islands from Newark, Houston, and Chicago (United hubs) on American Airlines/US Airways flights.

I believe most roundtrips from these hubs to Honolulu are $541, and to the other islands are $551 excluding Saturday departures. The valid dates are August 2015 to May 2016.

Hover over a departure date with $541 to $551 roundtrips, and you will see a pop up like this, and as long as you don’t select a Saturday return, you should pay $551.

Select the number of nights you’d like the roundtrip to be and find your options.

You cannot book on ITA Matrix. Instead note the dates and search on aa.com.

Open Jaw

I say to see a new Hawaiian Island for every 3-4 days of your trip. I priced out open jaw tickets at about $100 more.

For comparison, a one way interisland flights is usually about $80.

Pay with ThankYou Points

The Citi Prestige® Card come with 40,000 bonus ThankYou Points after $4,000 in purchases made with your card in the first 3 months the account is open. Points earned on the card can be redeemed for 1.33 cents each toward any flight.

These crazy cheap fares show up on thankyou.com.

The $541 fares are 33,800 ThankYou Points. For the Newark to Honolulu roundtrip with a layover in Phoenix in each direction, you’d earn 10,100 American Airlines miles whether you bought the ticket with cash or 33,800 ThankYou Points.

Best Way to Buy the Ticket

The Citi Prestige® Card, since it comes with a $250 Air Travel Credit every calendar year that will cover the purchase of this ticket. If you haven’t used the credit yet, buy this fare with your Prestige, and you will receive an offsetting credit on your next statement, so the total cost of the ticket is $291 to $301.

Even if you’ve already used your $250 credit for this year, the card offers 3x on all airfare purchases.

See my review of the Citi Prestige Card which explains its many benefits like it annual $250 Air Travel Credit, 40,000 point sign up bonus, access to Priority Pass lounges, 3x points per dollar on air travel and hotels, and a $450 annual fee.