A general question on getting to Hawaii : planning a future trip / possible 1st Class ticket plan

[alwysonvac]

I took advantage of an Alaska Airline’s bonus miles Credit Card offer earlier this year.
I used the bonus miles to book return flights in coach for my sister-in-law and nephew (HNL to DTW) and then upgraded them to premium economy with cash.

I forgot to mention...

TIP: I normally consider the various credit card bonus offers whenever we have a big spend coming up like our annual timeshare maintenance fees, cruise payments, home improvement projects, etc.

 

[csodjd]

I forgot to mention...

TIP: I normally consider the various credit card bonus offers whenever we have a big spend coming up like our annual timeshare maintenance fees, cruise payments, home improvement projects, etc.

Definitely. And American Express gives a 50% bonus if you make a $5,000 purchase or more. So if you have a big purchase you were going to pay cash for, if you can put it on AX and then promptly pay the AX card, you get miles/points.

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

Prior to Covid, I believe that FC flights to HI have been some of the hardest points seats to book. I have to think that there is a glut of points sitting out there (I'm at or near record highs in most of my programs) and that combined with hardly anyone traveling in close to a year will only increase the competition for those seats. To the pent up demand point, I booked two R/T tickets for 10/2021 from the East Coast to Kona back in December for $850 each, which is about $150-$200 less than I would normally expect. Those same flights today are just shy of $1800 each. And that is for Economy!

 

[amyhwang]

Remember that the flight THERE is much longer than the flight back due to wind, so if you are in First only one way, going may be better.

I find the opposite for me; our return flight is a red eye, and I cannot sleep in economy seats. If anything, I need lie flat for the return flight.

 

[TXTortoise]

(The following is for late Jan and mid Feb travel)

As others noted above, Dallas via AA may be your best choice. We do San Antonio to Maui annually, usually in Premium Economy, but went with FC this year.

The lie flat 777 out of DFW will cost you big points, outside the COVID situation. I think we did one leg via points in FC each and it varied from 110K to 145K. Flights via Phoenix or LA were dramatically cheaper.

I prefer to use Chase Rewards to book cash seats at a discount and that might be something to consider. Some good bonuses to get you started on their cards. Points Guy is you friend for learning more about card mixes.

Historically PE from SAT-DFW-OGG Maui would be a great price at $1200-1300 R/T. Was as little as $800 this Jan. Little Rock probably similar.

FC in lie-flat seats is usually $2200-3200+. I’ve seen $1800. These are all for Saturday flights. I found Sun-Tue were much better this year, but this was a weird year.

FC via Phoenix, LA, etc can be $1500 RT in the big traditional seats.

Lots of options, but accruing enough points fir to lie-flight seats in a short window, might be a stretch. Mostly depends on your annual spending after bonuses.

Hope that helps...

 

[DebBrown]

We fly from Chicago and there are not direct flights to any islands except Oahu. If you are going to another island, don't take this. It is painful to get off a 7-8 hour flight, wait in the airport for a few hours for a 45 minute flight to another island. We normally fly AA or United and always first class. If you want to use miles and go for credit card deals mentioned here, be aware that those tickets go fast, usually the first day the flight is offered. You might want to look into Chase Sapphire Reserve. You get a 50% point bonus for travel and you can use points for part of your ticket and cash for the rest.

 

[artringwald]

We fly from Chicago and there are not direct flights to any islands except Oahu. If you are going to another island, don't take this. It is painful to get off a 7-8 hour flight, wait in the airport for a few hours for a 45 minute flight to another island. We normally fly AA or United and always first class. If you want to use miles and go for credit card deals mentioned here, be aware that those tickets go fast, usually the first day the flight is offered. You might want to look into Chase Sapphire Reserve. You get a 50% point bonus for travel and you can use points for part of your ticket and cash for the rest.

We love the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Even when we don't use it to pay for flights, we use the points for stopover hotels and rental cars. You even get a 3x bonus when you use the card for timeshare maintenance fees.

 

[alwysonvac]

We fly from Chicago and there are not direct flights to any islands except Oahu. If you are going to another island, don't take this. It is painful to get off a 7-8 hour flight, wait in the airport for a few hours for a 45 minute flight to another island.

We always take the long non stop direct flight from New York/New Jersey to Honolulu.

Yes, it’s a pain to wait for connecting flight anywhere you go but Hawaiian Airlines has constant flights going in/out of Honolulu. If our United flight arrives late or our Hawaiian flight is canceled, I feel our odds are better in HNL for catching another flight.

 

[artringwald]

Yes, it’s a pain to wait for connecting flight anywhere you go but Hawaiian Airlines has constant flights going in/out of Honolulu. If our United flight arrives late or our Hawaiian flight is canceled, I feel our odds are better in HNL for catching another flight.

HNL is one of the nicest airports for a layover. This garden area is inside the secured area and is close to the gates.

 

[alwysonvac]

HNL is one of the nicest airports for a layover. This garden area is inside the secured area and is close to the gates.
View attachment 32658

Thank you for this reminder. I’ve been meaning to look into this.

From https://airports.hawaii.gov/hnl/shop-dine/things-to-do-while-you-wait/

Cultural Gardens​

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport offers travelers a pleasant break from their travels at several garden sites. The Chinese, Hawaiian and Japanese Gardens were designed by Richard C. Tongg, FASLA, in 1962 when Daniel K. Inouye International Airport was built on this site. The Gardens surround the Ticketing Lobby and the E Gates of the airport.
The C. B. Lansing Garden is located on the ground level of Terminal 1 near the walkway to Terminal 2.​

 

[zentraveler]

Thank you for this reminder. I’ve been meaning to look into this.

From https://airports.hawaii.gov/hnl/shop-dine/things-to-do-while-you-wait/

Cultural Gardens​

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport offers travelers a pleasant break from their travels at several garden sites. The Chinese, Hawaiian and Japanese Gardens were designed by Richard C. Tongg, FASLA, in 1962 when Daniel K. Inouye International Airport was built on this site. The Gardens surround the Ticketing Lobby and the E Gates of the airport.​

The C. B. Lansing Garden is located on the ground level of Terminal 1 near the walkway to Terminal 2.​

Great to know about, and I saw this when we transited there recently and was curious about it.

For overnight flights, the longer the better for me. For daytime connecting flights to the west coast, if interested in breaking up the trip with a night's sleep, SFO quite recently opened an actual onsite airport hotel Hotels in South San Francisco | Grand Hyatt at SFO, and there are also many good hotels quite nearby.

There are a LOT of them and they range in price and points programs from the simple just purely a place to get some sleep and a shower to the somewhat more luxurious place to sleep and get a shower, but on the waterfront and closer to SFO. They all, as far as I know, have shuttles. For locals some of them have parking while we are away.

 

[pedro47]

I also use Chase Ultimate Rewards to apply points towards the purchase of 1st class seats or transfer to a Frequent Flyer program. We fly Premium Economy or First Class on our long flights from the East Coast (NJ).

Chase Ultimate Rewards: How to Earn and Use Them - NerdWallet

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is highly regarded because point values can be relatively high if used strategically. Here's everything to know about it.

www.nerdwallet.com

Keep in mind, 1st class seating can vary greatly. If you want lie-flat seating, you‘ll need to verify which routes and frequency. Here are some articles to give you a general idea of what you need to look for.

Where to Find Lie-Flat Seats on Domestic Flights

The most comfortable seats in America.

www.cntraveler.com

The 10 Best Domestic First and Business Class Airlines [2019]

Are you in the midst of planning out your next domestic flight in the United States? Check out our guide on the best domestic first and business class airlines!

upgradedpoints.com

How to Fly in a Lie-Flat Seat Between the US Mainland and Hawaii

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here – Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard While some travelers would happily take any flight headed to Hawaii, others are a bit choosier. Naturally, we recommend you simply get to Hawaii however you can...

thepointsguy.com

Looking for The Best Lie-Flat Seats to Hawaii? - InsideFlyer

Fly to The Aloha State in style-- and comfort! The Travel Sisters round up all of the best lie-flat seats to Hawaii so you don't have to!

insideflyer.com

Booking lie-flat seats via reduced miles can be difficult.

Flat-Bed Seats to Hawaii on Miles

A flight to Hawaii can take longer than flying to Europe for some. For East Coasters it's a whopping 11-12 hour journey, about as long as it takes to fly between New York and Buenos Aires. There is a considerable shortage of comfortable premium class seats from the U.S. to Hawaii, although they...

www.rewardexpert.com

Excellent information. Thank you.
We will be flying from the east coast. We live in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia area.