Prices on Vacation Packages Drop

Determined to prevent terrorists from ruling our lives, many Americans may respond to attractive prices for travel within the United States, especially during the autumn lull from Nov. 1 until just before Christmas. Here are some possibilities that are especially compelling:

* Hawaii: Undercutting the big Hawaii tour operators is the Internet booking engine https://www.lowestfare.com (also reachable by phone at [888] 444-5555), with a price of $505 per person for round-trip air fare from Los Angeles and seven nights at the Ohana Maile Sky Court hotel, a 10-minute walk from Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. That’s available until Dec. 10, resuming in January for about $100 more. From Nov. 7 to Dec. 20, Apple Vacations (reachable only through travel agents) offers round-trip air fare from the West Coast, hotel accommodations for five nights and a rental car throughout the stay for $719 per person, double occupancy, to Maui and $739 to Kauai or the Big Island’s Kona resort district. The surcharge for Jan. 5 to 31 is again about $100.

* Las Vegas: Using the Las Vegas-based National Airlines for your round-trip air transportation, tour operator Leisure Link, (888) 801-8808, https://www.eleisurelink.com, will fly you to Vegas from Nov. 1 through Feb. 28 (except Dec. 20 to Jan. 2) and put you up for three nights in the Riviera (2,100 rooms) or the New Frontier (950 rooms) for $199 per person from Los Angeles, double occupancy. Additional nights are $24 per person. A dazzling option: You can upgrade your three-night stay to the ultra-deluxe Mandalay Bay hotel for only $79 more.

* Florida: Now that admission to the Orlando, Fla., theme parks (Disney, Universal, Sea World) costs more than $50 per adult per day, it’s more important than ever to economize on air fare and hotel. You can do that by purchasing an air-and-land package that uses ultra-cheap motels in the bedroom community of Kissimmee, Fla., adjoining Orlando. This fall and winter, the rate of $363 per person, double occupancy, will be charged for round-trip air fare (on Continental or US Airways) to Orlando/Kissimmee from New York or Boston, a five-night stay at a Howard Johnson in Kissimmee and a Thrifty economy rental car for six days. Again, your benefactor is Leisure Link (see above), whose Florida program operates from November through March (but not Dec. 21 to Jan. 2). Leisure Link can also arrange advantageous air fare from U.S. cities other than New York and Boston.

* British Columbia: What we at On a Budget (as well as ski addicts) regard as a top fall/winter ski package at rock-bottom rates is operated via Seattle by Alaska Airlines, tel. (800) 468-2248, https://www.alaskaair.com, to the Victorian-style village of Silver Star Mountain Resort in British Columbia’s interior. The resort has an elevation of 5,280 feet and an average annual snowfall of 23 feet. You’ll get five nights at the 52-room Vance Creek Hotel (part of the Silver Star complex), lift tickets for three days and round-trip air (including a feeder flight from Seattle to an airport nearby) for $492 from Los Angeles, double occupancy. This offer is valid from Nov. 22 to Dec. 21 and then again (at a $49 surcharge) from Jan. 2 to Feb. 15.