My Personal Tips on Getting Cheap Plane Tickets to Tropical Islands

Informally known as ‘paradise’, tropical islands are usually referred to as “heaven on earth” by most people. Unfortunately, whether it be the Caribbean, Pacific or Indian Ocean islands, the majority usually come with hefty price tags that can deter most travelers. However, having since traveled to Hawaii and the Caribbean twice, I’ve worked out a little hack that you might want to consider should you be trying to get your own slice of the Garden of Eden.

This isn’t by any means a full proof method, but it’s tried and tested and should at least allow your some extra wiggle room for acquiring the cheapest tickets.

Getting to Hawaii I have found is cheapest when flying from California, being the closest point on the mainland to reaching the Aloha State. It would appear that Hawaiian Airlines by far has the most reasonably priced flights (this is who I flew with), though most other major US airlines fly this route – so don’t limit your options without checking first.

On the other hand, budget airline JetStar offers direct flights to Honolulu from Sydney, Australia (and more limited options from Melbourne) for a more than reasonable price tag. JetStar is to Australians, what RyanAir is to Europe. Don’t expect luxury, but I think most travelers would bear the lack of amenities in exchange for a chance to explore these Polynesian isles.

So, if you are looking at getting to Hawaii without paying an arm and a leg, then consider combining your trip with at least a few days in California or Sydney (if you’re not already there, of course). This naturally requires a bit more flexibility, but in doing so, you can hopefully save a bit of cash to spend on the islands.

Florida is your saviour for pretty much every Caribbean destination. Both Miami and Fort Lauderdale offer ridiculously cheap direct flights to most, if not all, airports within the Caribbean Sea. Return flights can regularly go below $100 for otherwise extortionate tickets from other locations. Though this also depends entirely on the time of year you are looking to fly out – it should go without saying that peak seasons and national holidays have higher than average ticket prices.

Similarly, I have become aware that the Maldives is cheapest when flying from Singapore or Sri Lanka (both offering direct flights to the capital, Male).

Another idea is to fly to an island from the mainland if the island entity falls within the jurisdiction of that country (if applicable). For example, Colombia offers extremely cheap flights to its Caribbean Island, San Andrés, from Bogotá. Another case in point being that you can also find relatively inexpensive flights to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands from mainland India. Of course, there are other factors to consider that might work against this theory. While Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is administered by Chile, flights appear to be routinely expensive – as there is only one airline flying there, it has allowed them to monopolise the route.

So, no matter your budget, always be sure to shop around and try different routes, possibly with more than one stop – and you could find your way to paradise!

If you liked this article and would like to support my work, then please consider clicking on one of the buttons above to donate a little to either buy me a coffee or support my business initiative. Your generous support enables me to keep creating new and better content, as well as cover business development costs. Please only do this if you are financially able to do so, as these are challenging times for us all – Thank you!