Dreaming of a Hawaii Bowl trip? This 4-night itinerary costs just under $1,000

Want to attend the Hawaii Bowl to watch Fresno State’s football team take on Houston, but think it’ll cost as much as as a slick, ultra HD TV?

A few cost-cutting measures, through the magic of the internet, and making the road trip with a friend could get you Hawaii Bowl tickets near the 50-yard line and a four-night stay in Waikiki for about $1,000.

And you’ll even get back to Fresno by Christmas morning.

But there are three key factors to get that rate:

▪ You’ll need to fly out of Los Angeles International Airport.

▪ You’ll have to split hotel and taxi fees with a friend.

▪ You’ll want to book flights sooner than later since rates are subject to change.

As of Wednesday evening, a flight that left LAX for Honolulu on Dec. 20 – so you could be on the island of Oahu in time to attend the first Hawaii Bowl event – and leaving the island shortly after the game on Dec. 24 costs as low as $581.

That travel plan includes an 11 a.m. departure from LAX and 5:45 p.m. arrival at HNL on Hawaiian Airlines (with one stop in Kona).

Then after the game, which begins at 3:30 p.m. Hawaii time, you’d leave the Honolulu airport by 10:30 p.m. on Virgin Air or 11:59 p.m. on United and get back to Los Angeles sometime between 6:07 and 7:32 a.m.

That flight fare is available on Priceline.com and was considered the cheapest tickets, according to Kayak.com.

Because a rental car would be extremely expensive on the island during the holidays – a compact would cost $460.73, according to hotwire.com – it’s suggested to skip that option while also avoiding any parking fees. Just take a taxi or Uber from the airport to the hotel (about $30), from the hotel to the game ($60) and from the stadium to the airport ($42).

Those three taxi fees combined, when split between two people, projects to about $66 per person, according to www.taxifarefinder.com.

And as of Wednesday evening, Hotwire.com was advertising a three-star hotel for $84 per night for the four nights in a Waikiki Beach area, which after taxes and fees totaled just under $500.

Split that hotel cost in half, and a person is looking at $250 for the stay.

Tickets for the game range from $15 to $45.

The Hawaii Bowl is known for not drawing big crowds. So good seats around the 50 likely will be available and cost just $45.

Since you’d be taking that cab to the stadium, you’ll avoid the $7 for stadium parking.

Factor in the price of gas to and from Los Angeles ($20 per person) and airport parking near LAX, which runs as low as $8.95 per day (about $30 per person when divided in two after taxes and fees), and you’ll start to see that a bargain trip to the bowl game runs more along the lines of an iPhone X – but not nearly as much as the latest in 80-inch flat screens.

Here’s the price breakdown, per person, when splitting costs with a travel buddy:

Flight: $581

Hotel: $250

Taxi: $66

Ticket: $45

Gas, parking: $50

Total (excluding food, drink, souvenirs): $992

If you traveled solo, your total would be $1,358.

And if someone was looking to fly out of Fresno instead, a round-trip ticket from FAT (leaving Dec. 20 and returning via a red eye Dec. 25) was going for as low as $740 on United.

Either way, make it to Hawaii and you could witness Fresno State history – if the Bulldogs were to beat Houston.

Not only would that mark Fresno State’s first bowl win under coach Jeff Tedford and cap a 10-win season, but it’d be the Bulldogs’ first postseason victory since 2007.

This story was originally published December 7, 2017 at 2:28 AM with the headline "Dreaming of a Hawaii Bowl trip? This 4-night itinerary costs just under $1,000."