“LOST” Travel Package and Tour

If you’re a “LOST” fan who has been contemplating a visit to “The Island” in January to celebrate the sixth and final season of the show, now is the time to take the leap.

Local officials have yet to confirm the advance screening of the “LOST” season premiere at a “Brunch on the Beach” event on Jan. 30. But with things apparently set on ABC’s side, fans around the world are already making plans to be here to kick off the sixth and final season of the best show on television.

I’ve received a constant stream of inquiries all year from “LOST” fans who were looking for information on the beach premiere, and when word broke on Friday, that stream became a flood. Already I’ve heard from people who will be coming in from the neighbor islands, the East Coast, Europe, Australia, even Afghanistan.

It became immediately clear that I was out of my element when it came to making travel recommendations. I’m a fan, a blogger, a geek… but not a travel agent. So I turned to Bruce Fisher at Hawaii Aloha Travel for help.

Bruce could put together airfare and hotel packages in his sleep, so it was soon obvious we could do more for “LOST” fans. So he called up Hilton and Sakara of Island Adventures to put together something even more unique.

The result? “Destiny Calls,” a special travel package created specifically for “LOST” fans who are making the pilgrimage in late January.

For starters, the packages include airfare and four days/three nights at the Park Shore Waikiki Hotel, which happens to be about as close to the location of the beach premiere as you can get without sleeping on the sand. It also includes a special “Aha Aina” dinner on Friday night (for which Sakara will undoubtedly work her magic), and a “LOST Transmission Brunch” the next morning (a likely geekier affair that I’ll help organize) at Lulu’s, a retro surf-themed restaurant.

Finally, and perhaps most intriguingly, there’ll be a “LOST” locations tour on Sunday. My wife Jen and I will help lead a bunch of “LOST” fans around the island to visit some of the most iconic (and perhaps a few lesser known) filming locations used for the show.

I will say up front that I’m not a professional tour guide, and there are awesome location tour companies you should call if that’s what you need. But if you like the idea of hopping on a bus full of fellow fans for an unabashed roving “LOST” geek fest, I think you’ll have a blast with us. Jen and I regularly meet up with visiting fans, and have helped many get to “LOST” locations on their vacations, but we’ve never done something like this before. I can’t wait.

The “Destiny Calls” travel package also includes a lei greeting at the airport (a nice touch you don’t see much anymore), and transportation to and from the hotel. And it goes without saying that there’ll be other little touches and treats that I’m sure we’ll come up with over the next couple of weeks.

But if you’re interested, you should call today. And that’s not a sales pitch. Between the day Bruce and I first started talking and tonight, the price has gone up by about a hundred dollars. And other fans who’ve already made arrangements on their own are also reporting airfare increases on a daily basis.

I’m not sure if the “LOST” event is a factor, and of course I can’t say if there’ll be price changes in the other direction, but with about 45 days to go, I’d say it makes the most sense to just book now and spend the next few weeks relaxing and planning what else you want to do in Hawaii.

Did you already make travel arrangements but want to come to Lulu’s or take the tour? Are you a local fan who wants to join the fun?  Ala carte options are possible as well. Just ask Bruce.

Stay tuned for more news relating to the “LOST” beach premiere… including, hopefully, final details from the local organizers, and plans for a special edition T-shirt I’m planning on selling to celebrate the occasion!