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Please post your questions in the correct thread. This thread, as the title clearly states, is for general Hawaii questions only.

If you have any questions that pertains to a particular island, post it in the appropriate island thread. See below for links to all island threads.

You'd get far better answers there, and chances are that your issue was already discussed at length too.

DansMeals: Hawaii For The Kosher Traveler:
-Part 1: General Info And The Island Of Oahu
-Part 2: The Big Island of Hawaii
-Part 3: Maui
-Part 4: Kauai

Related DD Posts:
-Ultimate Hawaii Mileage Chart and Everything You Need to Know About the Hawaiian Islands (2015)
-Trip Notes: Maui No Ka ‘Oi (2014)
-Trip Notes Kauai: Heaven On Earth (2014)
-The Hawaiian Islands. (2011)
-Traveling To Hawaii…With A 5 Month Old (2011)
-View From The Room (2011)
-Pearl Harbor…70 Years (2011)
-Shaloha! (2011)
-Hawaii Trip Notes: Kauai (2009)
-Hawaii Trip Notes: Oahu (2009)
-Which Miles To Use To Fly To Hawaii?

Related DDF Destination Threads:
-Big Island Of Hawaii Master Thread
-Kauai Master Thread
-Maui Master Thread
-Oahu Master Thread
-Lanai, Molokai, and Niihau, Hawaii Master Thread

Background on Hawaiian Islands
You've probably heard of Honolulu. That's the state capital and is located on island of Oahu, the main island with the largest airport. Honolulu hosts the famous Waikiki Beach and if you look at pictures, it looks like Miami. One long beach with a strip of hotels. Most DDFers say to go to one of the other 3 main islands which are less touristy and the hotels are more spread out. In no particular order, the other islands are Maui, Kauai and Hawaii (yes, that's the name of one of the islands. It's also known as The Big Island - confusing because Big Island sounds like it's the "Main Island", but Oahu is the main island). Direct flights from NYC only go to HNL. You can get direct flights from other cities (LAX, SFO, OAK, SJC, SAN, DEN, DFW, PHX, SEA, ORD as examples) to the other islands. Hawaii is amazing - have fun! The main airport codes are:
Oahu: HNL
Maui: OGG
Kauai: LIH
The Big Island: KOA, ITO (2 airports on 2 different sides of the island)

Interisland flights:
Hawaiian is the main interisland carrier and flies HNL, LIH, OGG, KOA, and ITO. They have countless flights each day and are nearly always on time - often even early. Never book a tight connection hoping that the interisland flight will be delayed.

Go and Island Air fly from HNL. Mokulele flies from HNL and KOA, as well as to Kapalua (JHM), Hana (HNM), Molokai (MKK), Lanai (LNY), and Waimea-Kohala (MUE) on the Big Island. Hawaiian's subsidiary Ohana flies HNL to MKK and LNY.

You can also use 5k AA, 6k UA or 7.5k HA miles each way to fly interisland. You can use 15k DL pesos for a RT interisland. United allows a free stopover on a round-trip, so for instance you can fly HNL-LIH-OGG-HNL for just 12K miles.
HA has several tiers, similar to DL, the lowest tier is the only one that's available using partner miles, but with HA miles you can purchase tickets that are otherwise unavailable for additional miles.

@Yehuda's thoughts on deciding between Kauai and Maui:
Here's a list of the main activities on both islands. Decide what interests you, and then you'll know where to go.

Kauai has what many say to be one of the best hikes in the world - Kalalau Trail. Most people will only do the first part, but it's still very highly regarded. The views atop Waimea Canyon are breathtaking, yet Maui also has breathtaking views at Haleakala. Kauai also has some supposedly awesome off-roading on Miloli'i Ridge Road. Sunset at the 12-mile long Polihale Beach is supposed to be quite the sunset. A helicopter tour of Kauai is generally said to be much better than a heli tour of Maui. If the water is calm, Queen's Bath, which is a natural pool in the ocean you can swim in that's protected from the ocean's force by hardened lava, is SICK, but Maui has the same thing by the Olivine Pools. Kayaking down the Wailua River to "Secret Falls" is supposed to be great as well. Of course, the luxurious, tropical amazingness of the Grand Hyatt Kauai is a huge boost for Kauai, except for its beach, but the great Po'ipu Beach is 5 minutes away.

Maui has the Road to Hana, which is an incredible drive through what feels like a rainforest with tons of opportunities to take small hikes to waterfalls and pools. It's just wow wow wow. Sunrise at the top Haleakala is not to be missed. A boat trip to snorkel by Molokini Crater offers what is supposedly some of the best snorkeling visibility in the world. Warren & Annabelle's Magic Show is supposed to be a great night out. The hotels are also magical, perhaps to a lesser degree than GHK, but the beaches by the main hotels are a big plus over GHK's beach. EDIT: The Grand Wailea in Maui is a gorgeous hotel that rivals the GHK (and its lazy river actually moves as opposed to GHK's ). Add in the fact that its beach (Wailea Beach) is swimmable and doesn't require the albeit short drive to Po'ipu Beach that the GHK does, I'm not sure that the GHK should be a reason enough to tip the scales in favor of Kauai over Maui anymore.

So, pick the types of activities you'd want to do and then you'll have your island. I personally liked Maui better mostly because of the Road to Hana, but to be fair, I did miss out on the Kalalau Trail in Kauai due to weather.
« Last edited by jj1000 on December 25, 2023, 10:30:33 AM »

Author Topic: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?  (Read 485217 times)

Offline Something Fishy

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #740 on: February 24, 2014, 10:14:14 PM »
Trying to book LIH-OGG via HNL for 5k AA. All that's coming up is one direct LIH-OGG flight, which doesn't work out time-wise.

However, searching for the LIH-HNL and HNL-OGG legs separately, AA is showing plenty of availability. Is there any way this could be booked as one 5k award?
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Offline Mocha

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #741 on: February 24, 2014, 10:15:27 PM »
Trying to book LIH-OGG via HNL for 5k AA. All that's coming up is one direct LIH-OGG flight, which doesn't work out time-wise.

However, searching for the LIH-HNL and HNL-OGG legs separately, AA is showing plenty of availability. Is there any way this could be booked as one 5k award?
try calling

Offline Dan

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #742 on: February 24, 2014, 10:39:00 PM »
try calling
That'll add $25/ticket.

How much is the paid nonstop?  Don't forget to factor in 2 free bags.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #743 on: February 24, 2014, 10:59:58 PM »
That'll add $25/ticket.

How much is the paid nonstop?  Don't forget to factor in 2 free bags.

There are no nonstops at all that'll work. The LIH-HNL-OGG ones are $137. According to my best math, using 5k AA comes out about $30 cheaper per ticket, even taking into account luggage fees, miles not earned, etc. Not to mention that I can't bear the thought of paying more for the interisland flights than the entire NY-HI flight in biz/first ;)

But don't they usually waive the $25 fee if it's not bookable online?
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Offline Dan

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #744 on: February 24, 2014, 11:02:31 PM »
AA typically won't waive.
Also when flights are that expensive the corp account gets discounts, pm/email JJ.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline Something Fishy

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #745 on: February 24, 2014, 11:08:40 PM »
AA typically won't waive.
Also when flights are that expensive the corp account gets discounts, pm/email JJ.

Interesting, I wasn't aware of that.

On the other hand I'm not going till August, so if I'm paying cash it probably makes sense to wait until it gets a bit closer.
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Offline Something Fishy

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #746 on: March 09, 2014, 06:09:07 PM »
I think I'm the only one here hoping that Hawaiian won't interline my baggage :P

I just got DL to change my glitch flights (schedule changes FTW ;))from JFK-LAX-LIH to JFK-LAX-HNL-LIH. Due to our change in plans to stay on Maui the entire time, I'd want to drop the HNL-LIH segment (which is on HA) and go right to OGG. That way I'll be able to go JFK-LAX-HNL-OGG instead of my original crazy JFK-LAX-LIH-HNL-OGG routing.

Being that JFK-LAX-LIH is on one DL reservation, would HA still not interline to LIH? If they would, is there a way not to have it interlined?
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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #747 on: March 10, 2014, 10:37:02 PM »
Lol. Had no problem booking 5 saver seats on several days recently.

Found saver award seats for dates i want to HNL, but only in coach.  Anyone have experience with using Plan B on EWR-HNL direct?  BF looks almost all open  on the seat map in either direction.

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #748 on: March 10, 2014, 10:44:40 PM »
Spending 10 days in Hawaii - Sunday to following Tuesday.  Am thinking Sun-Fri at St Regis on LIH and Fri-Tues on Oahu by Chabad.  Should I break up the beginning portion and do 2/3 days in both LIH and OGG instead?  Any other comments?

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #749 on: March 15, 2014, 11:39:35 PM »
Anyone sprayed at Hilton Waikiki? Looking to stay for shabbas is it is the closest to the chabad

Anyone have any experience there? Planning on signing up for hilton card for 2 free weekend nights

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #750 on: April 02, 2014, 12:28:46 PM »
So I'm finally doing a dream trip to Hawaii with the wife, so far I have reservations EWR-LIH on January 21.
Now I'm thinking of flying on the 28 or 29th LIH to KOA & then fly back to NY on the 31st motzai shabbos, I know I should stay longer on KOA but thats the max I can do for this trip.

so
Q 1) Is it worth it to fly to the Big Island considering I keep one day shabbos there or just stay in Kauai the entire trip (or maybe go to a different island instead of KOA?)
    2) Is UA the best option to fly LIH-KOA for 6K considering that AA charge 5K per leg


Lets hear the feedback!

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #751 on: April 02, 2014, 12:37:32 PM »
So I'm finally doing a dream trip to Hawaii with the wife, so far I have reservations EWR-LIH on January 21.
Now I'm thinking of flying on the 28 or 29th LIH to KOA & then fly back to NY on the 31st motzai shabbos, I know I should stay longer on KOA but thats the max I can do for this trip.

so
Q 1) Is it worth it to fly to the Big Island considering I keep one day shabbos there or just stay in Kauai the entire trip (or maybe go to a different island instead of KOA?)
    2) Is UA the best option to fly LIH-KOA for 6K considering that AA charge 5K per leg


Lets hear the feedback!

With no disrespect intended, I suggest that you read through this thread (which isn't terribly long) as there is much discussion about what to do on the Big Island, what there is to do on both sides of the island, and how much time you should spend on the Big Island.  After going through the thread, if you have any further questions, I'm sure someone will answer you. 

As to your second question, check what the redemption rate is by booking directly through Hawaiian.  You can transfer Amex points to Hawaiian.  In the past though I have found that UA sometimes required fewer miles for inter island flights.

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #752 on: April 02, 2014, 12:39:15 PM »
Never been but to me I'd either
Jan 22-26 LIH
Jan 27-31 OGG

or Jan 22-27 LIH
Jan 28-31 KOA
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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #753 on: April 02, 2014, 12:46:21 PM »
We were on the BI for less than two days (not counting 2 days shabbos). It was enough to see the volcano and one or two other things, but it left us wanting for more. Mauna Kea, the Saddle, everything around Hilo, Waipio Valley, Kamehameha Bay, etc. Not to mention the north end...

Also AFAIK AA charges 5k even with a stop in HNL.
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Offline skyguy918

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #754 on: April 02, 2014, 01:13:06 PM »
With no disrespect intended, I suggest that you read through this thread (which isn't terribly long) as there is much discussion about what to do on the Big Island, what there is to do on both sides of the island, and how much time you should spend on the Big Island.  After going through the thread, if you have any further questions, I'm sure someone will answer you. 

As to your second question, check what the redemption rate is by booking directly through Hawaiian.  You can transfer Amex points to Hawaiian.  In the past though I have found that UA sometimes required fewer miles for inter island flights.
Lol, 50+ pages in desktop mode is not terribly long? Doesn't necessarily change your point, but I think that's a bit of a stretch.

Offline Something Fishy

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #755 on: April 02, 2014, 01:24:29 PM »
Lol, 50+ pages in desktop mode is not terribly long? Doesn't necessarily change your point, but I think that's a bit of a stretch.

I think he meant the dedicated BI thread, it's much shorter.

http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=1646.0
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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #756 on: April 02, 2014, 01:45:17 PM »
I think he meant the dedicated BI thread, it's much shorter.

http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=1646.0
A very good suggestion, though clearly not what he actually wrote.

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #757 on: April 02, 2014, 01:49:01 PM »
We were on the BI for less than two days (not counting 2 days shabbos). It was enough to see the volcano and one or two other things, but it left us wanting for more. Mauna Kea, the Saddle, everything around Hilo, Waipio Valley, Kamehameha Bay, etc. Not to mention the north end...

Also AFAIK AA charges 5k even with a stop in HNL.

It is a must. We kayaked out there and some spinner dolphins put on a show around our kayaks. They were within hands reach- something that I will never be able to forget.
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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #758 on: April 02, 2014, 01:54:49 PM »
Yes, sorry wasn't clear.  I meant that you should read the dedicated Big Island thread.
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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #759 on: April 02, 2014, 08:54:57 PM »
With no disrespect intended, I suggest that you read through this thread (which isn't terribly long) as there is much discussion about what to do on the Big Island, what there is to do on both sides of the island, and how much time you should spend on the Big Island.  After going through the thread, if you have any further questions, I'm sure someone will answer you.

Indeed I had already looked through the thread before asking, I still wanted to hear people's opinion.

Basically what I'm thinking is that after doing LIH, if I want to see a different island OGG sounds similar to LIH in different ways of course, the most unique island sounds like KOA, I'd rather go there for 3 days and be like 'wow I gotta come back here' rather than not seeing it at all