[DEAL GONE] Detroit to Hawaii $355+ Round Trip Apr 2019 - Feb 2020 on United Airlines

UPDATE: This sale is expired :(

$355+ Detroit to Hawaii Apr 2019 - Feb 2020

Book now and decide later!  PLEASE follow this advice if you are interested in this deal.  This sale could end at any moment.  Flights have a 24-hour free cancellation period after booking.

Too many people wait and try to contact friends and get things arranged and figure out logistics before booking the flights, then come back to book once everything is 'set' and they discover the cheap flights are gone.

Detroit (DTW) to Hawaii:

• From $355 round trip in basic economy
• From $445 round trip in regular economy

To These Hawaiian Airports

• Honolulu (HNL)
• Kona (KOA)
• Lihue (LIH)
• Kahului (OGG)

Context

Christmas timeframe is excluded from this fare sale.  Otherwise, dates are widely available from today through Feb 2020.

This is a great price to Hawaii and includes summer travel.  One- or two-stop flights from DTW.  United does not fly nonstop from DTW to Hawaii.

This is as good or better than Hawaii flights from Toronto, which is usually a much cheaper origin than Chicago or Detroit.

Secret Flying reported this deal on March 28 (though their post is dated March 29).

Search on Google Flights and click through on desired flight to book directly with United.

Google Flights Search - Regular Economy

Selecting one carry-on bag from the search filter eliminates basic economy itineraries from the results

Sat 3/30 - Mon 4/8 $450 (regular economy) - last-minute Hawaii spring break trip for cheap!

Fri 8/23 - Sat 8/31 $445 (regular economy) - summer travel before school starts

Tues 11/19 - Thur 11/28 $445 (regular economy) - Thanksgiving timeframe

Google Flights Search - Basic Economy

Mon 12/30 - Sat 1/11 $393 (basic economy) - New Years week

Fri 1/31 - Sat 2/15 $359 (basic economy)

Background

Secret Flying - Detroit to Hawaii from $355 round trip 

Toronto/Chicago/Detroit to Europe - Sampling of sub-$500 round trip fares

This post is a compilation of good airfare prices from airports within a 5 hour drive of Grand Rapids MI:  Chicago O'Hare (ORD), Detroit (DTW), Toronto (YYZ), Pittsburgh (PIT), Cleveland (CLE).

This post shows how plentiful that sub-$500 roundtrip airfares to Europe are, at various times of the year.

European cities with sub-$500 fares include:

• Munich (MUC)
• Dublin (DUB)
• Frankfurt (FRA)
• London Heathrow (LHR)
• Amsterdam (AMS)
• Lisbon (LIS)
• Porto (OPO)
• Faro (FAO)
• Barcelona (BCN)
• Madrid (MAD)
• Rome (FCO)
• Milan (MXP)
• Reykjavik (KEF)
• Oslo (OSL)
• Paris (CDG)
• Cork, Ireland (ORK)

None of these current airfares are part of any advertised 'sale.'  Prices are just very competitive to Europe and these are just examples.

Portugal:  TAP Portugal is a Portuguese airline that flies nonstop from Toronto (YYZ) to Lisbon (LIS) and 1-stop to Porto (OPO) and Faro (FAO).  TAP has very good prices to Portugal for many different times of year.

Iceland:  Air Canada and Delta are offering very cheap fares to Reykjavik (KEF), in apparent response to WOW Air and Icelandair offering consistently cheap fares to KEF from DTW/ORD/PIT.

Fall 2018:  Sun Oct 7 - Mon Oct 15.  Detroit to Barcelona $445+  1-stop
Star Alliance airlines (United, Lufthansa, Air Canada, etc) (also $328 roundtrip Chicago to BCN on WOW Air)

Late Fall 2018:  Sun Nov 11 - Tues Nov 20.  Various cities < $450
Many of the cheapest flights here are on Icelandair or WOW Air, with 1-stop connections in KEF.

• ORD-DUB $309 (WOW Air) $373 (Icelandair)
• ORD-AMS $380 (WOW Air)
• YYZ-AMS $406 (WOWAir)
• ORD-MUC $407 (Icelandair) 
• ORD-LHR $424 (Icelandair)
• DTW-BCN $448 (Air Canada) $472 (Lufthansa)
• DTW-DUB $450 (United) $480 (Lufthansa)
• YYZ-CDG $406 (WOW Air) $411 (Icelandair)

Late Fall 2018:  Tues Nov 13 - Weds Nov 21.  Various cities < $450

• ORD-CPH $332 (Icelandair) $439 (Swiss) $444 (United/Lufthansa) $453 (Austrian)
• ORD-OSL $349 (Icelandair)
• YYZ-AMS $383 (WOW Air)
• ORD-HEL $357 (Icelandair)
• ORD-AMS $361 (Icelandair)

Year-end Fri Dec 7 - Sun Dec 16.  $356-$400 various cities
YYZ-KEF $356 (Icelandair) nonstop $472 (Delta) 1-stop
DTW-KEF $360 (WOW Air) nonstop

PIT-KEF $399 (Delta) 1-stop

ORD-CPH $412 (Icelandair) $466 (Swiss) $471 (Lufthansa)

ORD-LHR $420 (Icelandair)

Spring Break 2019:  Sat Mar 30 - Sun Apr 7. Nonstop Toronto to Lisbon $502. 1-stop Porto $501
A couple of flights from Detroit in the $550 range sprinkled in here also

School's out 2019:  Fri May 31 - Mon Jun 10.  Toronto to Faro or Porto $448 1-stop
Also $490 nonstop to Porto

Summer 2019 Portugal:  Mon Jun 3 - Tues Jun 11.  Toronto to Porto $418 nonstop, Faro/Porto $443 1-stop

Summer 2019 Iceland  Sun Jun 9 - Sat Jun 22.  $311+ round trip to KEF.

Summer Milan/Rome/Paris/Barcelona Fri Jun 7 - Sun Jun 16 $510-539

[FARE GONE] Detroit/Chicago to LA $120+ round trip on United/Alaska Sept 2018 - Feb 2019

This deal has expired.

Two separate fare sales posted today:

United Airlines Detroit (DTW) to LA $120 round trip (basic econ) or $170 (reg econ)
Late August to Feb 2019.  Cheap price NOT available around Thanksgiving / Christmas / New Years.  These are 1-stop flights from Detroit to a United hub such as Denver (DEN) Washington Dulles (IAD), Chicago (ORD), Newark (EWR).

Sample Google Flights - Thurs Nov 29 - Mon Dec 3.  LINK

Background article HERE lists fares as $134/184 (basic/regular economy), but these flights are pricing out cheaper than that on Google flights and United.com as of 12:50pm on 6/26/2018.


Alaska Airlines Chicago (ORD) to LAX. Nonstop. $176+ RT. Sept - early Dec 2018
Tues/Weds/Sat flights only.  Nonstop flights available from $217 for travel on other days of the week.  Sale ends today 6/26.  United has matched Alaska's pricing on this as well.  American has prices from $197.

Background article HERE.

Sample Google Flights - Tues Dec 4 - Sat Dec 8.  LINK.
These are good, but not great, flight prices from the Midwest to LA.

[FARE GONE] Detroit/Seattle/Minneapolis/Atlanta to Madrid $395 Roundtrip Sept - Dec 2018

6/9/2018 this fare sale has expired

Quick deal post.  It is possible to book tickets around Thanksgiving or Christmas via this fare sale.

Star Alliance airlines - Air Canada, Lufthansa, United, etc.

Detroit to Madrid.  Late September to December 2018 flights.

As low as $395 round trip.

Connections thru Toronto (Air Canada), Newark (United), Frankfurt (Lufthansa), etc.

Watch out for some United Airlines fares being a near-basic economy that does NOT include a free checked bag.

Sample Google Searches for Detroit (DTW) to Madrid (MAD):

Fri Oct 5 - Sat Oct 20 from $401 1-stop

Fri Nov 16 - Mon Dec 3 from $395 1-stop

Tues Dec 11 - Sun Dec 30 from $465 1-stop

Background information here:  https://www.theflightdeal.com/2018/06/08/united-402-seattle-atlanta-detroit-minneapolis-madrid-spain-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

[Expired] Detroit to Europe $400+ Round Trip May/early June

This fare sale has expired

Excellent price on United and other Star Alliance carriers (e.g. Air Canada) from Detroit to Europe with departures in May thru early June.  As low as $400 per person round trip.

More details here:  https://www.theflightdeal.com/2018/03/27/united-starting-457-fort-lauderdale-miami-boston-philadelphia-atlanta-charlotte… 

NOTE:  fares are pricing out cheaper on Google Flights as of 4pm Eastern than reported on The Flight Deal's article (link above)

Most of the cheap fares look to be to Amsterdam, but some availability to Paris and other cities is also sprinkled in.

Sample searches on Google Flights:

May 5 - May 19 - $400 and up

June 4 - June 15 - $407 and up

[Expired] Mainland US to Hawaii from $296 Round Trip

This fare sale has expired

no time to get into all the details, but search from your desired departure cities.  Many large cities - particularly Delta hubs such as Detroit, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City - have the best fares.

Most of the sale flights are to Honolulu (HNL) but some good fares also seem to be available to other airports in Hawaii including OGG and LIH.

Spring break (first week in April) and summe are EXCLUDED from this sale.

FYI - Toronto (YYZ) has sub-$500 Hawaii flights almost all the time, so check there if you are within reasonable driving distance.

MSP and SLC are cheapest, from $296.  DTW from $515.  Delta fares are basic economy, so add $70 if you want to get an advance seat selection, upgrade eligible, etc.  American's fare is a standard economy.

From GRR, could possibly book separate flights to and from MSP and combine with the $300-310 round trip fares.  Or drive to Detroit.

American, United, and Delta are all participating in this fare war.

Deal popped up earlier today and could expire at any moment.

Advice
Recommend booking flights right away - *even if you are not sure you can go.*  Get the ticket booked and take the 24 hours afterward to figure out if you can keep the reservation or if you need to cancel.

Background articles
Note that prices are cheaper than stated from certain cities mentioned in these articles.

http://faredealalert.com/2018/02/08/united-starting-318-las-vegas-orlando-kansas-city-maui-kona-honolulu-kauai-hawaii-and-vice-versa-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

http://www.secretflying.com/posts/many-us-cities-hawaii-vice-versa-395-roundtrip/

Sample Searches
April 4 - 16 DTW from $515

May 9 - 17 MSP from $306

[Expired] Widespread Fare Sale US to Europe $450+ Most US Airports to Rome, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Brussels etc.

This fare sale has expired

Big fare sale, apparently started by Delta and matched by United.

Dates:

• Now thru May
• Mid-September thru early December

7-day stay required.  Must book 28 days in advance.

Big airports around the US, including Detroit (DTW) and Chicago O'Hare (ORD) are showing the cheap fares.

So are small airports in Michigan, all showing sub-$500 roundtrips to various European cities.  Includes flights from:

• Grand Rapids (GRR)
• Lansing (LAN)
• Traverse City (TVC)
• Muskegon (MKG)
• Flint (FNT)
• Kalamazoo (AZO)

Destination Cities Available Include:

• Rome (FCO)
• Milan (MXP)
• Paris (CDG)
• Amsterdam (AMS)
• Munich (MUC)
• Brussels (BRU)
• Frankfurt (FRA)
• Dusseldorf (DUS)
• Berlin (TXL)
• Marseille (MRS)
• Zurich (ZRH)
• Geneva (GVA)
• Prague (PRG)
• Krakow (KRK)
• Warsaw (WAW)
• Bucharest (OTP)
• Zagreb (ZAG)
• Barcelona (BCN)
• Madrid (MAD)
• Valencia (VLC)
• Bilbao (BIO)
• Lisbon (LIS)
• Porto (OPO)
• Possibly others

More details here:  https://www.theflightdeal.com/2018/02/05/united-starting-507-united-states-amsterdam-milan-rome-paris-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

Sample Dates with Cheap Flights:

• Fri Oct 12 - Sat Oct 20.  From GRR/LAN/TVC/FNT/MKG from $453.  Google Flights
• Weds Nov 21 - Sat Dec 1 (Thanksgiving is Nov 22).  From $451.  Google Flights
• Mon Mar 12 - Tues Mar 20.  From $451.  Google Flights
• Fri Mar 30 - Mon Apr 9.  From $503.  (Spring break week).  Google Flights
• Sun Apr 1 - Mon Apr 9.  From $458.  From Detroit.  Google Flights

Google Flights "Explore" View from October showing available prices from GRR

[EXPIRED] US to Auckland New Zealand from $329 Round Trip! Chicago/Detroit/GR etc.

UPDATE 325pm this deal has expired.  You may still be able to book via a travel agent.

More details later, but search Google Flights NOW from your favorite airport for unbelievable airfares to Auckland (AKL) or Wellington (WLG), New Zealand.

Flights at these prices are on Star Alliance - United, Air New Zealand, etc.

Smaller airports are also included on this pricing!  Sub-$350 round trips from GRR, LAN, FNT for folks in Michigan.

DTW > AKL June 1-10 $341 round trip

GRR > AKL Mar 24 - Apr 9 $340 RT

Fares seen at these prices from March thru June 2018.

Book now and talk to your friends and family later!  You have 24 hours to cancel after booking.  Don't be one of those people who misses out on a great fare deal because you had to get everyone on board first, before booking.  That's a 101-level ROOKIE MISTAKE!

Michigan to Hawaii $650+ Roundtrip Jan-May 2018

Michigan airports other than Detroit have cheap flights to Hawaii airports from $650 and up roundtrip.

Search on Google Flights.  First week of April - traditional spring break - is excluded from the fare sale.

• Cheap fare found from:  Grand Rapids (GRR), (Lansing) LAN, Traverse City (TVC), Flint (FNT), Kalamazoo (AZO)
• Cheap fares found to:  Honolulu (HNL), Kahului (OGG), Kona (KOA), Lihue (LIH)
• Some 1-stop flights from GRR via Denver on United
• Toronto to Hawaii flights as low as $424 roundtrip!  As is usually the case, Toronto (YYZ) flights are much cheaper than flights from Michigan

Very good price for Hawaii flights from Michigan!

Background Articles

Originally, this deal was from Detroit for lower price, but the Detroit fares are gone.  

http://faredealalert.com/2017/12/29/united-537-atlanta-kauai-hawaii-and-vice-versa-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

Sample search - Jan 19-29.  DTW from $598, GRR from $678.  Book flights with confidence | Google Flights

Sample search - Feb 1-12.  DTW from $569, GRR from $650.  Book flights with confidence | Google Flights

Sample search - May 3-11 $670 and up. GRR/LAN/AZO/FNT/TVC Book flights with confidence | Google Flights

[MOSTLY GONE] Europe on Sale across the U.S. $400+ Round Trip Jan - March 2018

UPDATE 11/25/2017 most of the cheap fares have disappeared.  However, certain destination cities continus to pop up for early 2018 travel < $500 round trip.  Keep an eye out if you are still looking to book something.  And feel free to ask if you need help!

The past few days is one of these times when domestic airlines started having mini fare wars on Europe flights.  American and Delta in particular are going back and forth, although United also has gotten involved.  The result is lots of cities available for $400-500 round trip Jan/Feb/March 2018 and also some in May if you look.

I leave it to you to do your own flight searches at Google Flights or ITA Matrix (matrix.itasoftware.com) -- beware that no flight search engine or aggregator will show ALL the cheap flights; sometimes you'll see things on Matrix that aren't on Google Flights, or vice versa.

Detroit and Chicago are definitely available for many destination cities.

Grand Rapids is also available to many destination cities, at similar prices.

Background Articles:

http://faredealalert.com/2017/11/20/american-starting-at-401-united-states-europe-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

https://www.theflightdeal.com/2017/11/20/delta-klm-royal-dutch-401-dallas-chicago-miami-philadelphia-phoenix-charlotte-d…

https://www.theflightdeal.com/2017/11/20/american-starting-430-united-states-milan-rome-venice-italy-roundtrip-including…

If you are more 'adventurous' with booking thru a third party online travel agency (OTA) rather than booking directly with the airline, you can save another $25-50 per person by searching at Momondo and then clicking thru and booking with whichever OTA has the cheapest price on your desired trip.  More info here:  http://www.secretflying.com/posts/sale-usa-europe-434-roundtrip/

Detroit Flights

Grand Rapids Flights

Book flights with confidence | Google Flights

March 3 - 11.  Zurich, Brussels, Munich, Rome, Milan $550 or less RT.  LINK

Jan 13 - 21.  Paris and Amsterdam $405-450 RT.  LINK

Feb 18-25.  Barcelona, Madrid, Frankfurt, Milan $417-510 RT.  LINK

Big Europe Fare Sale Jan-May 2018 - $340+ RT from ORD/DTW, even GRR, LAN, & TVC!

Many U.S. cities are on sale to Europe - including Grand Rapids (GRR), Lansing (LAN), Kalamazoo (AZO), even Traverse City (TVC).

Do some searches for yourself thru approx May 2018.  Use Google Flights or Kayak or your favorite search engine.  Most of the cheapest flights are available thru March, but some are thru May.

Background Articles

• The Flight Deal - $400 and up to many cities Jan-Mar 2018
• Valid for travel from late January 2018 – mid March 2018.  A 7 day minimum stay is required. Availability is limited. Must purchase at least 50 days in advance of departure

• Spain on sale from many U.S. cities from the $400s - Fare Deal Alert

• Helsinki from most of the U.S. from $445 round trip - Fare Deal Alert
• Valid for travel from mid-January 2018 – mid-March 2018 for Thursday through Sunday departures and for Friday through Monday returns. A 7 day minimum stay is required. Must purchase at least 50 days in advance of departure.

Which Cities are On Sale?

• Cities showing flights available < $500 round trip include:
• Barcelona (BCN)
• Madrid (MAD)
• Rome (FCO)
• Milan (MXP)
• Zurich (ZRH)
• Amsterdam (AMS)
• Paris (CDG)
• Helsinki (HEL)
• Munich (MUC)
• Frankfurt (FRA)
• Geneva (GVA)

Deal Breakdown - $340 Round Trip Chicago to Geneva

• Chicago to Geneva (GVA) from $340 round trip

ORD>GVA Friday May 11 - Sunday May 20 - $340 and up RT

ORD>GVA Sun May 20 - Sat May 26 - $354 and up (includes Icelandair flight w/24 hr layover in Reykjavik)

• It is possible to book a routing with a long enough layover in Montreal, Brussels, or other connecting city to get out of the airport and explore the city.
• If you like the sound of a long layover, you'll probably want to use ITA Matrix for your search, and experiment with the connection times as a way to find these longer connections.
• Otherwise, Google Flights should work well enough.
• Once in Geneva, it's easy to get cheap intra-Europe flights if there are other places you'd like to visit.
• Minimum 7-day stay.
• More details at The Flight Deal

Sample Fare Searches on Google Flights

GRR/LAN/AZO/TVC/FNT to FRA, MUC, MXP, FCO, TXL Sat March 17- Sun March 25.  $450-500 round trip to Frankfurt, Munich, and Rome

GRR/LAN/AZO/TVC/FNT to AMS, CDG, BCN, MAD, BRU Sat March 3 - Sun March 11.  AMS from $425, MAD from $434, CDG from $441, BCN from $453

GRR/LAN/AZO/TVC/FNT to BCN, MUC Sun March 4 - Mon March 12.  BCN from $408, MUC from $462

ORD/MDW/DTW to Helsinki (HEL) Fri May 25 - Sun June 3.  $450+ RT

ORD/MDW/DTW to MAD, BCN, AMS, CDG, ZRH Sat Feb 3 - Mon Feb 12.  AMS from $348, CDG from $378, BCN from $404, ZRH from $423

Don't Forget About Toronto!

These aren't necessarily 'sale' prices, although they are very CHEAP prices.  Toronto offers a great alternative to Michigan-based travelers since it's only about 5 hours drive from Grand Rapids.  Lots of inexpensive Europe flights are available from Toronto (YYZ).

YYZ to Copenhagen (CPH), Dublin (DUB), Stockholm (ARN), Berlin (TXL), Paris (CDG) from $346 RT on Wow Air