First it was a charge for a second checked bag. Then it was a charge for a first checked bag. Checkmate and angry interisland travelers. $10 more down the drain but hey, since all the airlines are swimming in red…

Check it out here at search.hawaiirama.com. Tell us what you think and what can be made better -- or if it totally rocks, tell us that, too. Hint -- this thing is best for detailed searches into Hawaii topics. We…

Comedy for a hot day in Hawaii. Gotta love Rap.…

Hawaiian Airlines loves to publicize that it has, year in year out, one of the highest on-time arrival rates in the airline industry. This is good. Except when you consider that all their flights (I think) land in Hawaii or…

Like the rest of the airline industry, Hawaii's remaining interisland carriers have decided to charge for second bags (at least they aren't charging for first bags). go! started with a $25 charge and Hawaiian followed with a $17 charge. I…

So I jumped the gun on proclaiming joy at word that you can put rental cars on the Superferry. Turns out, according to the Unofficial Superferry Blog, the rental car companies have imposed a one-way drop-off fee of $400. Which…

Lots of bad signs .…

We knew it was coming. After Aloha shuttered and with go! apparently on the rocks, you can't blame Hawaiian Air for raising prices on interisland travel. Considerably. We noticed prices had gone up before this announcement but this seems to…

Here's to hoping that the recent spike in ticket prices to and from Hawaii brought about after two of the major carriers, Aloha and ATA, crashed and burned, is a temporary phenom. SmarterTravel peers into its crystal ball and finds…

First Aloha Airlines goes belly up, leaving travelers in a lurch and decimating the interisland market. Now it looks as if go!, the upstart that shut down Aloha with low, low fares and a nasty fare war, could be circling…

What they don't mention in the release, however, is price. It's not what you think you should pay to fly to Hawaii. It's what the market will bear. Methinks that bankruptcies of carriers can mean one of two things. Either…

I'd hate to be a travel agent with a large Hawaii client list today. As if the Aloha Airlines shutdown didn't cause enough chaos, the ATA closure comes right on its heels -- and was equally abrupt. Heck, the airline…

Lotsa fallout from the sudden closure of Aloha Airlines. Experts are saying interisland airfares will likely rise. No doubt, considering that roughly 25-30% of the carrying capacity inventory has been ripped off the market. I managed to book a trip…

The Hawaii Tourism Authority just sent out a release offering assistance to travelers holding Aloha Airlines tickets on transpacific or interisland flights. The struggling airline is shutting those flights down this Monday. HTA lists a bunch of places for travelers…

Matson, one of the two primary shipping lines servicing the Hawaiian Islands, announced that it would soon boost its fuel surcharge on island container shipping to a whopping 33.75%. That's on top of the regular shipping costs, some of which…

This video explains why you might not want to ride this big boat. It also inspired Brad's Barf-o-Meter.…

So Hawaiirama blogger / contributor and most excellent Hawaii-based travel agent Bruce Fisher was right. A while back he posted a story on his blog about NCL pulling all of its boats out of Hawaii. NCL said no, we retracted…

The much maligned Superferry has had its fare share of problems. First, there was the surfboard flotilla protest. Then came the court mandated stoppages. Then came the resumption of passages but with extreme seasickness (crew members were handing out barf…

My friend Carnet and his team at Sprout Builder have made building rich widgets incredibly easy. Here's a quick and dirty Hawaiirama newsfeed widget with an excellent graphic from PK at House of Pretty. Put this widget wherever you want…

Well, that's an exaggeration. But Bruce, who blogs here, is one of the first to post prominently about a splendid trip on a boat better known for delays and barf bags. Here's a bit about what a Superferry trip is…

The upstart launched by Mesa Air buckaroo Jonathan Ornstein probably played a key role in parent company losses in the most recent quarter. go! has been offering A LOT FEWER dirt cheap specials, from what I can tell. An $80…

UPDATE: I spoke to NCL and Hawaii cruises are NOT CANCELLED so Bruce's report was apparently wrong. However, you STILL will have trouble booking a passage in 2008 b/c according to NCL they are almost completely booked. So book now…

A mahalo to Hawaiirama contributor Bruce for telling me about the breaking drama regarding Norwegian Cruise Lines and the rumors / news that it would be suspending all Hawaii cruise operations. I did a quick Web search on the topic…

Doh. According to Pacific Business News' coverage of the annual Hawaii state government survey, more visitors to Hawaii from the Mainland U.S. rated Alohaland as an "excellent destination." That doesn't surprise me as I've long suspected Hawaii is at a…

I don't know how better I can describe the situation on the Hawaii Superferry on its maiden re-voyage from Oahu to Kahului than Honolulu Advertiser writer Dan Nakaso. "At least 25 passengers all over the Alakai were openly vomiting, said…

Upstart go! airlines has been keeping the two incumbents, Aloha and Hawaiian Air, on their toes with unsustainably low-priced tickets for interisland travel (as in, sometimes less than $20). This has been hurting Aloha and Hawaiian, which have much higher…

My name is Bruce Fisher, I am a Hawaii based Travel Agent and the founder of Hawaii-Aloha.com. So why am I posting here? Millions of visitors come to these islands every year without ever speaking to a real person…

Here's why the environmentalist opponents of the Hawaii Superferry say it's a nautical nightmare. This is one side's POV so take it in that light.…

I've been remiss in blogging about the ongoing Saga of the Superferry. A lickety-split Hawaii State Legislature session churned out a law specifically designed to answer a court injunction won by ferry opponents that had convinced a Hawaii State Court…

Hawaiian Air flying from Phoenix to Hawaii for $278. That's pretty dang rockbottom. Wide travel window, from Nov. 26, 2007 – Mar. 14, 2008. Book before Nov. 27. Cheap wings, friends.…

What is it about Oahu that encourages actors to drink and drive? Particularly actors from the cast of "Lost"? First it was former cast members Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros, busted for DUI in 2005. Then, last week Daniel Dae…

The CEO of the beleaguered Hawaii Superferry told the State of Hawaii that the Courts needed to quickly decide whether the ferry would run or the company would shutter operations for good and flee to kinder shores. This could be…

Summer travel for 2008 is starting to look pretty pricey so don't book early -- they should drop. Otherwise, Hawaii fares out of SFO to Honolulu tracked by travel supersite Kayak.com seem pretty cheap. Still a good time to go…

It's a pretty sad saga at this point. The Hawaii Superferry was a ballyhooed solution to expensive and inconvenient interisland travel in Hawaii. Bring your car seats and your bikes and boards! No need to pay ridiculous fares to fly…

So it looks like the Big Island dodged a bullet. Flossie has been downgraded to tropical storm status. She did not make a landing and actually slowed down considerably as she hit colder waters and passed South of the Big…

Here's the latest Kayak Buzz alert from San Francisco to Honolulu. Fares below $300 for much of the next few months, quite cheap. Now if only the hurricanes will cooperate.…

So Flossie appears to be slowing down even more. We had a spate of what looked like stormy weather on Oahu this morning but since then the skies have cleared. We do have big gusts of wind. The storm has…

The latest forecast, at 11 am Hawaii time, has Flossie still passing just South of the Big Island but it should sling plenty of rain, wind and waves towards the Hilo / Windward shores. I would assume the whole island…

The National Weather Service Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu just posted an update on Flossie. She appears to be losing a little bit of momentum as sustained winds have dropped down to 125 mph. The storm is supposed to…

So the latest in from the National Weather Service and the Pacific Hurricane Center have Flossie passing only 100 miles South of the Big Island. She's currently a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 140 mph, moving north-northwest at…

Those who don't live in the islands probably have not been tracking the progress of Hurricane Flossie as she plows across the Pacific towards Hawaii. The forecasters say she likely will pass south of the Big Island sometime late next…

Have not idea on the veracity of this one but a commenter on Hawaii had this to say about the founder of Hawaii Travel Network, Michael Bennie. "Be aware that Michael Bennie is still around!! He has a new travel…

So I'm lagging -- this Kayak Buzz Alert is about a week old. But airfare from New York City to Hawaii rarely dips below $600. Here it looks like fares are going to be pretty reasonable for quite a…

Local surf diva Catharine Lo has long scribed for the Honolulu Weekly, Oahu's "alt press" entry. Not too long ago she rolled out Mixed Plate Special, a Webzine that covers a whole lot more ground. She's got choke arts and…

Looks like the usual holiday fare spike will be negligible. And if you want to fly to Hawaii for Labor Day, flights are below $300 according to my weekly Buzz report from Kayak.com. Check it out. These fares from from…

So how did this link to a site put out by Guerba travel garner the top rank for a Google search for the term Hawaii beaches? No pictures. Scanty and lame information. They can't even spell the names of the…

Not quite sure what to make of ClubHawaii.com. The hook is four travel writers and 300 insiders suggest itineraries. ClubHawaii screens the info and assists paying customers -- that's right, they want you to pay money for their insights. Me,…

The Honolulu Advertiser is reporting that Hawaiian Airlines passengers have been waiting 45 minutes or so to get to a live phone rep. The airline cited an unforeseen spike in call demand. A recent move to outsource a call center…

Maui is a wonderful place to relax after prison. At least, that must be why Paris Hilton, the recently sprung from the slammer heiress, has come to the islands. You kinda feel bad that even in Hawaii the photogs hound…

I've been blogging about the Superferry for some time now, a boat that will take cars and small trucks -- and people, though that's less interesting -- around the islands on short hop, short duration trips. This means, you can…