# How have you done it? [2 island travel]



## silentg (Jul 26, 2015)

Hi, we are planning a trip to Maui next June. Already have a place, Trying to get a couple of days in Oahu. Have a hotel picked out. now looking at air travel. I see lots of flights from Orlando with stops in Honolulu, have ay of you stopped and stayed a few days and then continued on to Maui? 
Looking at doing this but in a cost effective way. 
How did you do it? Please be kind, I am getting some harsh feedback from TUggers who want to sell or rent weeks to me, I would rather do hotel points or a direct exchange than deal with them and outrages deals they are asking.
Sincerely asking because I don't know.  Maui is all set! 
Thanks!
Silentg


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## Tacoma (Jul 26, 2015)

If you want to book it yourself this is called an open jaw fight I believe and you need a flight search engine that allows you to put in the 3 flights you will need. Another option is to call a travel agent and have them do the booking, sometimes that is just less stressful.

Good luck
Joan


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## gmarine (Jul 26, 2015)

Im looking at doing something similar next August from NY.  I'm going to book my flights from NY to Hawaii and then book the interisland flights on Hawaiian Air seperately.  
I'm curious, are you getting harsh feedback because you are making lower offers than what they are asking ?  I always find it funny when people are offended at low offers.  They dont have to accept, all they have to do is decline the offer. Most of the time the asking prices are generally way out of line with the demand anyway.


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## Luanne (Jul 26, 2015)

I know you can do this through United, and I'm sure the other carriers allow it as well.  You just change the search option to multiple flights (or maybe it's multiple cities).  You can enter the dates you want to arrive, and then depart.  You can also probably just try doing this through Travelocity and see which carriers would give you that option.

Hope that made sense.

I was also going to suggest doing a round trip and then the interisland separately, but if I'm interpreting correctly you want to fly to Oahu, stay a couple of days, then go on to Maui, and return home from Maui, right?


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## DeniseM (Jul 26, 2015)

silentg said:


> I am getting some *harsh* feedback from TUggers who want to sell or rent weeks to me, I would rather do hotel points or a direct exchange than deal with them and outrages deals they are asking.



By harsh, do you mean rude responses, or high prices?

One factor that you may not be aware of, is that both maintenance fees and demand, are high in Hawaii, so rent is high. For example:  the Westin on Maui routinely rents for $3,500 for a 2 bdm. Island view.

Also - June is high season, and Oahu and Maui are the 2 most popular islands, so people are looking for top dollar for their rentals.  

For the same reasons, it may be difficult to find a private exchange, because Maui owners may consider it a "down-trade" - not because your resort is inferior, but because their resort has high maintenance fees, and they can rent it for top dollar.

Flights:  Book your flight to Oahu.  Book an inter island flight with Hawaiian airlines.  Book your flight home from Maui.

*Coming from Florida, I would seriously consider 2 weeks, and do a week on each island.  Personally, I would  not endure that long flight for a 9 night stay.

Day 1 - Looong flight from Florida - arrived fried
Day 2 - "Do" Oahu - trying to recover from 6 hour time change and long flight
Day 3 - Fly to Maui:  rent car, drive 45 min., check-in, grocery store, reservations, settle in, etc.
Day 4-8 - "Do" Maui 
Day 9 - Looong flight home

A nine day trip only gives you *6 days* when you don't have to spend most of the day flying/settling in.


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## dioxide45 (Jul 26, 2015)

We booked our inter-ialand flights independent of our flight to and from Hawaii. On our last trip, we flew to Kona and flew home from Lihue on United. With United, you use the "Multiple Destinations" option and select your departure and arrival airports for the trip there and different ones for the way back. Though your home airport will remain the same. Then we booked our inter-island flights on the Hawaiian Airline website. 

MCO --> HNL (3 nights), HNL --> OGG (7 nights), OGG --> MCO

With this you would book the HNL --> OGG flight with Hawaiian and the other two flights with United (or whichever carrier you prefer)

United does allow a stop over when flying with them. Meaning that you could book the entire trip on one itinerary for the same price as MCO --> OGG and OGG --> MCO. BUT, they don't do this for trips to Hawaii. It works well for other destinations though


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## DaveNV (Jul 26, 2015)

I regularly do two-island trips to Hawaii.  To my mind, it's not worth the hassle to spend less than two weeks in the Islands. If I was flying from the East Coast, I'd try to stay even longer. But I understand you need to do what works for you.

I primarily use Alaska Airlines because of the $99 companion fare I get through the Alaska Airlines Visa card, so the second ticket is very affordable. If this is something that appeals to you, check the Alaska Airlines website for the link to their card.  It's a great deal, if you think you'll use it.

Because Alaska flies to each island, it's a matter of booking a multi-city flight into the first island, then book the return flight from the outbound city back to the city I started from. (e.g. Last trip, I flew Seattle to Honolulu on May 30, and from Kona to Seattle on June 13th. After the first week on Oahu, we flew Honolulu to Kona on Hawaiian Airlines on June 6th, booked at their website.)

So if you find decent travel from Orlando to Honolulu, go for it, stay for a few days to acclimate and see things, then hop over the Maui.  Inter island travel within Hawaii is very easy to do.  Hawaiian Airlines is the primary carrier, and they have lots of daily flights. At the end of your Maui stay, book a direct flight from Maui back to Orlando.

Enjoy your trip!

Dave


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## silentg (Jul 26, 2015)

Thank you all for suggestions. I did not try to low ball anyone on rent, offered my timeshares of similar size and value, as I have read on TUG. I have had a person who has what I want, but won't rent it, wants only to sell. I do not want to buy, since this is not a trip I can afford every year. Another person was highly insulted, told me to rent it at his price or take my timeshares and give them to exchange company to rent so I could rent his place.  I have only had one positive person, she is the one I am getting an exchange for Maui. We just were able to click.  I find people on direct exchange very limited on what they will exchange for. I have no available timeshares right now to exchange but will have when I pay Maintenence fees. So have put my requests out there to see. 
As for the plane travel, I will take your advise and check which airlines have the best fares and hopefully do 2 weeks instead of one.
Silentg


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## DeniseM (Jul 26, 2015)

silentg said:


> Thank you all for suggestions. I did not try to low ball anyone on rent, offered my timeshares of similar size and value, as I have read on TUG.



No offense, but in general, your timeshares are not going to be of similar value to Hawaii timeshares.  It's not because your timeshares aren't nice - it's because it timeshares in Hawaii have high MF, high taxes, and they get high rent in June.

*That doesn't excuse rudeness, if you got rude responses, but that's why you aren't having success with a private exchange.


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## Egret1986 (Jul 26, 2015)

*Just completed our first trip to Hawaii from East Coast in June.*

I used three different Airlines; American, Hawaiian and Alaska.  We stopped in San Jose before heading to Lihue on Kauai.  We got into San Jose early afternoon.  We were able to take a break, have dinner and get a good night's rest.  The next morning we had a non-stop to Lihue.  We got there about noon.  We were able to enjoy the day doing things close to the resort.  We stayed two nights on the South Shore, then drove up to the North Shore for the rest of the week.  We got to see and do a lot for our seven days on Kauai.  We flew to the Big Island into Hilo on Hawaiian with a brief stop in Honolulu.  We got to Hilo late morning.  We had two days and an overnight on that side of the Island.  We drove to Kona, making a couple of stops along the way for sight-seeing.  We had five days and nights in Kona.  We flew from Kona to Seattle on an overnight flight non-stop.  We had a four hour layover there, then flew home.  Travel days, no matter how short the flight or even the drive from one side of an island to another, is still a travel day.  We were glad that we had 15 days for the two islands.  We were glad that we stopped in San Jose for an overnight break.  We're glad that we spent time in two different areas of each island visited. There was nothing that we would change about our trip to Hawaii.


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## artringwald (Jul 26, 2015)

dioxide45 said:


> We booked our inter-ialand flights independent of our flight to and from Hawaii. On our last trip, we flew to Kona and flew home from Lihue on United. With United, you use the "Multiple Destinations" option and select your departure and arrival airports for the trip there and different ones for the way back. Though your home airport will remain the same. Then we booked our inter-island flights on the Hawaiian Airline website.
> 
> MCO --> HNL (3 nights), HNL --> OGG (7 nights), OGG --> MCO
> 
> ...



We do it the same way all the time. We pick flights that stop over somewhere on the west coast, fly into one island, and fly home from another island. The multi-destination price is very close to the HNL or OGG round trip price. We use Delta or American miles (5,000 for each segment) to do the interisland flights.


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## Lydlady (Jul 26, 2015)

BMWguynw said:


> I regularly do two-island trips to Hawaii.  To my mind, it's not worth the hassle to spend less than two weeks in the Islands. If I was flying from the East Coast, I'd try to stay even longer. But I understand you need to do what works for you.
> 
> I primarily use Alaska Airlines because of the $99 companion fare I get through the Alaska Airlines Visa card, so the second ticket is very affordable. If this is something that appeals to you, check the Alaska Airlines website for the link to their card.  It's a great deal, if you think you'll use it.
> 
> ...



Is this possible with Alaska Airlines companion fare? Since it's really two 1-way flights instead of a round trip?


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## DeniseM (Jul 26, 2015)

Lydlady said:


> Is this possible with Alaska Airlines companion fare? Since it's really two 1-way flights instead of a round trip?



You can both flights on one reservation.


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## artringwald (Jul 27, 2015)

Lydlady said:


> Is this possible with Alaska Airlines companion fare? Since it's really two 1-way flights instead of a round trip?



Alaska will let you use the companion fare for as many segments as you want as long as they're booked at the same time.


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## DaveNV (Jul 27, 2015)

Lydlady said:


> Is this possible with Alaska Airlines companion fare? Since it's really two 1-way flights instead of a round trip?



If you book it as a multi-city flight, the two segments are considered one itinerary.  You just have to return to the city you departed from. I do it this way often. And the entire second ticket is $99 plus tax. Easy-breezy.

Dave


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## tfalk (Jul 27, 2015)

One other thing to be aware of... If you book mainland to HNL on one itinerary and same day inter-island on another itinerary, they (usually) will not check your bags through to your destination.  You would then have to get your bags in HNL, carry them over to the inter-island terminal and check them in for your inter-island flight.  To top if off, they will also hit you with a checked-bag fee again.

If you are going mainland through HNL to one of the outer islands, best bet is to to book the same-day flights on the same itinerary.  Might cost a few bucks more but saves you aggravation and checked-bag fees when you get there...


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## Lydlady (Jul 27, 2015)

Thank you for the info.  Just thinking ahead to next year.  Not sure if I'll do a 2-island vacation but was curious since I could use the Alaska Air companion fare.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Jul 27, 2015)

BMWguynw said:


> If you book it as a multi-city flight, the two segments are considered one itinerary.  You just have to return to the city you departed from. I do it this way often. And the entire second ticket is $99 plus tax. Easy-breezy.
> 
> Dave



I'm not sure you even need to return the same city.  The only requirement is that it be one itinerary.  It can be open-jaw, it can be multi-city.  I think it works with any coach itinerary you can build at Alaska.  The chief constraints are that all flights need to be operated by Alaska (no codeshares), and that both travelers must have identical inventories.


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## DaveNV (Jul 27, 2015)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> I'm not sure you even need to return the same city.  The only requirement is that it be one itinerary.  It can be open-jaw, it can be multi-city.  I think it works with any coach itinerary you can build at Alaska.  The chief constraints are that all flights need to be operated by Alaska (no codeshares), and that both travelers must have identical inventories.




As I recall, when I've tried to book a return to a different city, the site wouldn't complete the reservation.  Something about it not being a round trip. ?

Dave


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## artringwald (Jul 28, 2015)

When I tried to book 3 segments to 3 different pairs of cities I got this message:



> We are unable to complete your request. You may only book one round trip per itinerary.



When I changed the pairs from:

MSP -> SEA
SAN -> LIH
JNU -> PDX (denied)

to:

MSP -> SEA
SAN -> LIH
JNU -> ORD (allowed)

It let me continue and pick out flights. I think the 2nd itinerary worked because the JNU -> ORD segment connects through SEA. I don't know what the algorithm is, because when I tried this:

MSP -> SEA
SAN -> LIH
OGG -> FAI
JNU -> ORD (denied)

I got the message:



> The Discount Code entered is valid for round-trip or one-way travel, however the itinerary selected exceeds the maximum stopovers.


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## BocaBoy (Jul 28, 2015)

Actually, the open jaw rule is that the distance between the two intermediate cities must be shorter than both of the departing and return legs of the trip.  Otherwise it is not considered round trip.  For instance, the itinerary ORD to SFO and LAX to ORD works because the distance between SFO and LAX is shorter than both the distances from ORD to SFO and LAX to ORD.  By contrast, ORD to MSP and SEA to ORD would not work because the distance from Minneapolis to Seattle is greater than the distance from ORD to MSP.  A leg can involve a connecting flight but not a stopover.


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## Timeshare Von (Aug 1, 2015)

*Late to The Party Here*

Ordinarily, we only do two week trips to Hawaii for the reason that Denise mentions.  In fact, my husband has a general "time zone" rule about air travel regardless of which direction we're heading (east or west) . . . we must be vacationing (excluding travel days) at least 2 days for each time zone we cross.  Hawaii is 5 or 6, so that means 10-12 days of RnR there.

He is making an exception for our upcoming trip to Hawaii in January when I'm going mostly for a conference in Honolulu and adding four days over on Kauai.  That trip will only be a week . . . he'll suffer through it.   

As for the two island experience, usually we do a week at our timeshare in Waikiki and then a second week elsewhere.  We done both the Big Island (twice) and Maui as the other week.  We have also done both week just on the Big Island.

My my girlfriends or sisters, I have done singleton weeks on the Big Island as well. (They have no silly "time zone" rules.  LOL)

I will admit, I have never been able to make the open jaw booking work for me, so I've just bought an interisland flight separately.  One year, I was able to book a three segment itinerary that worked out pretty well and was rather inexpensive (Milwaukee to Honolulu to Kona to Milwaukee).

Also, back in the day of Aloha Airlines, we were able to check out bags all the way through, for our connecting flight on DL out of Honolulu . . . we didn't have to retrieve and recheck bags.  Admittedly, that was about 8 years ago, so I don't know if that has changed since.  A call to the airline would be advised.  I know I'm hoping on our return from Kauai we're able to check through on Hawaiian to Alaska Air for the flight(s) home.

>>>We use Delta or American miles (5,000 for each segment) to do the interisland flights.<<<

I wish I had looked further into this option for our Honolulu to Kauai side trip in January.  I've already bought out tickets ($163 pp r/t) . . . although come to think about it, saving $326 for 20k miles might not be the best use of our miles since we typically use 25k miles to fly r/t to Alaska which is often a $650 - $800 ticket.


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## lgreenspan (Aug 1, 2015)

*Coming from Florida said:


> 6 days[/B] when you don't have to spend most of the day flying/settling in.



On our first trip Hawaii we went for 10 nights and I would not do anything less than that flying from the east coast. Next year we are going for 14 days and would stay longer if I thought I could stay away from work longer.


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## dioxide45 (Aug 1, 2015)

Timeshare Von said:


> I wish I had looked further into this option for our Honolulu to Kauai side trip in January.  I've already bought out tickets ($163 pp r/t) . . . although come to think about it, saving $326 for 20k miles might not be the best use of our miles since we typically use 25k miles to fly r/t to Alaska which is often a $650 - $800 ticket.



This is one reason we have always paid cash for inter island flights instead of using miles. It seemed like a lot of miles for flights that are usually under $100 each. For four inter island fares, I could put those 20K miles to better use.


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## artringwald (Aug 1, 2015)

dioxide45 said:


> This is one reason we have always paid cash for inter island flights instead of using miles. It seemed like a lot of miles for flights that are usually under $100 each. For four inter island fares, I could put those 20K miles to better use.



2 cents/mile seems like a pretty good deal to me.


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## MichaelColey (Aug 1, 2015)

We regularly book our interisland flights separately.  At under $100 (or 5k AA miles) each, they're quick and easy to book.

I do agree with the sentiments about staying longer.  The big expense (for us, anyway) with Hawaii vacations is just getting there.  You might as well enjoy it longer for not much more.

Many times, we use our flexibility to book.  We'll set up an ongoing search for a real gem that's hard to get.  Once we get that, we'll book airfare that encompasses that exchange plus an extra week (or two) before and/or after.  Then we'll watch for easier exchanges for those additional weeks.  If nothing comes through, we fall back to hotel points or cash reservations.

As we've gone more, we've shifted to just visiting one (or sometimes two) islands on a trip, and even prefer to stay at the same resort for multiple weeks.  It's just so much easier.  In May, we spent three consecutive weeks in Marriott's Ko Olina.  Incredibly relaxing to be able to settle in and just enjoy the vacation!


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## taterhed (Aug 1, 2015)

You know....

 Are you into Oahu for Pearl etc... or why Oahu?  If it's the museum, I understand.  Have you been there?  not my fav, but worth seeing

 Maui is busy and has traffic and shopping and people etc...
 Oahu is packed with traffic, shopping, tourists, noise etc....

 If you're looking for a cheaper, easier 2 island vaca....  
 What about a nice stay on Kauai? (vs Oahu)
 You could stay at KBC--should be easy to get, don't need rental car if staying at resort or rent 1 for 1 day to see canyon etc....
 If you want cheaper, there are tons of north shore resorts that would be available. You would need a car for north shore or Poipu. 
 Luwai can be a nice place (cheaper) for a great experience.

 I too would push for closer to 14 days (at least 11 non-travel days).

 good luck!


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## PDXGolfer (Aug 2, 2015)

MichaelColey said:


> At under $100 (_or 5k_ AA miles) each, they're quick and easy to book.



I've been checking on the possibility of using Hawaiian Airlines miles to book an interisland flight (on Hawaiian Airlines), and it requires at least 7.5k miles (if not more).  So, I am intrigued that only 5k miles are required if booked through AA.    I need to look into this further.  Thanks for the tip!


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## sdbrier (Aug 2, 2015)

We've done multi island trips in the past. It was the worst of our Hawaii trips. I'll never go for less than 14 days again and only one island at a time. It's not that it wasn't possible. It's just so much work it doesn't feel like a vacation and then you're wore out at the end.


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## myhrse11 (Aug 2, 2015)

We usually book our flights on United or any other airline directly to HNL. Then at some point travel on to another island. On the return trip we just connect through HNL. Interisland we use Hawaiian. On the return we just pay Hawaiian the $15 baggage fee (join their loyalty program) and check the bag all the way through to the final destination. No lugging bags through the airport. Hawaiian air has so many flights that you can pick one that aligns with your mainland flight.


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## topdog (Aug 2, 2015)

We are going for 2 weeks this year, one week Maui, second week Kauai.  Its a long trip from FL, so 2 weeks is much better.  Inter island flights are short trips, but you still have the check in/check out and pack/unpack chores.


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## Henry M. (Aug 2, 2015)

I often go to one island and return from another.  In July I flew into Kona, and returned from Maui. It is easy to do, but you do basically lose a day to transfer between islands, so it is best if you have enough to time on both islands. I usually go for a week or two to Maui and then a week or so on one of the other islands, rotating between them. 

I book the flights to the mainland separately. The interisland flight cost me about $130 this time. The mainland flights don't cost more to go to one island and return from another one, as mentioned above.  

I almost always fly with American Airlines frequent flyer miles, since I travel a lot for business. I book each leg separately, as I find it. I have enough status with American that it doesn't cost me anything to change. Thus, I grab the best flights I can get early on, and if better ones open up, I change to them. Keeping the legs separate simplifies the changes, as I don't have to worry about availability of the leg I'm not changing. I find availability opens up over time. Just in the past two weeks we've changed a couple of flights for our family trip that starts August 14. My daughter is getting married on Maui and we have lots of different reservations to juggle. 

Theoretically, frequent flyer tickets are released 331 days before the travel date, but usually only a couple of seats, and sometimes you have to wait a few weeks more. More seats open over time.


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## MuranoJo (Aug 3, 2015)

We've done multiple islands several times, but prefer not to do that any more.   Just realize you basically lose one day moving, what with packing & unpacking, exchange of rental cars, flights, checking in at the new place, stopping for provisions, etc.  (These days, I think it's a pain just to move from one resort to another on the same island.)

When we do island-hop, we fly into one island, do the hop, then fly home from the second, as others have said.


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## silentg (Aug 15, 2015)

Ok, I have the resorts, now just have to book the flights. Got a 4 night rental in Oahu and a direct exchange in Maui. Going to stay in San Diego on the way over and maybe on the way back too. Thank you for all the advice, looking forward to this trip!


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