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Fiji or Hawaii? Help us decide!

Fiji or Hawaii? Help us decide!

While researching the flights that were supposed to kick-off our around-the-world adventure, we made an alarming discovery.

One-way tickets can be more expensive than return fares!

After sharing this with our Facebook community, we soon found that we weren’t the only ones who thought that it was crazy! Unfortunately though, the thoughts of a few travelers via social media don’t count for much in the eyes of these billion-dollar airlines. We posed this question to VAustralia:

Question to VAustralia on Twitter

At the time of posting, we still haven’t received a response.

The Original Plan

While far from being confirmed, our tentative plan was to fly one-way from Melbourne to Los Angeles in late July with VAustralia for under $1000 each. We flew with Richard Branson’s airline on our last visit to the United States and were thoroughly impressed with the modern planes, the friendly staff and the wonderful on-board entertainment they provided. Add affordable flight prices to this and you’ve got two very loyal and satisfied customers.

But a search of their website made us realize that their affordable flights don’t extend to one-way tickets. The current cost of the cheapest one-way ticket in July? $1,383/person (total: $2,766). Considering our budget for the initial flights, this was a big blow to our plans. But was it really?

Our New Options

Unhappy with the price of these one-way flights, we started searching various airline carriers and flight aggregators to see if we could find a better deal. The result surprised us, revealing two options that weren’t really considered previously.

  • Option 1: Fly Melbourne – Honolulu and then Honolulu – LAX for approximately $894/person (total: $1,788, savings: $978).
  • Option 2: Fly Melbourne – Nadi, Fiji and then Nadi – LAX for approximately $1,044/person (total: $2,088, savings: $678).

Should we take two shorter flights with a Pacific Island stopover for at least 25% cheaper than a direct flight? Does this question even require a moment of consideration? Hell yeah we should! But now we’re faced with a difficult decision, but probably the best dilemma we’ve ever had!

Fijian Beach Huts

Fijian Beach Huts?

Waikiki Beach, Hawaii

Or Waikiki Beach, Hawaii?

Fiji or Hawaii? Which one do we choose?

Both destinations will have near perfect weather in late July, both have beautiful beaches and both are home to some of the friendliest people in the world. Although the flight costs are slightly higher to travel via Fiji, the lower cost of living offsets this to the point where staying in either destination for 1 week will cost roughly the same amount.

We’re giving Don’t Ever Look Back readers the opportunity to help shape our round-the-world itinerary! Would you choose Fiji or Hawaii and why? Leave your opinions in the comments below.

Flickr Photos: jbself20, Itinerant Traveller, bethers

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