Topic Wiki

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 485068 times)

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2520 on: March 10, 2022, 05:08:39 PM »

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2521 on: March 10, 2022, 05:48:01 PM »

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2522 on: March 10, 2022, 05:49:15 PM »
Awards in Jan are decent for Delta!


127.5K in J is decent?
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 #2523 on: March 10, 2022, 05:59:10 PM »
127.5K in J is decent?
United is 135K, Main cabin is also cheaper then united
Edit looks like united is 100k and 22.5k for Y (some dates)

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2524 on: March 10, 2022, 06:34:03 PM »
United is 135K, Main cabin is also cheaper then united
Edit looks like united is 100k and 22.5k for Y (some dates)
@Joel United had Y for 12.5k in August! Possibly still has. I actually snagged 7 tix via Turkish for 7.5k each.

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2525 on: March 10, 2022, 06:44:38 PM »
@Joel United had Y for 12.5k in August! Possibly still has. I actually snagged 7 tix via Turkish for 7.5k each.
Thnx my dates I can go are end of June
Wasn't able to find any savor space unfortunately 😕

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2526 on: March 10, 2022, 07:19:28 PM »
@Joel CORRECTION: My flights are EWR-OGG. Thats the route that had great availability. Seeing saver Y in June 5,6,9,12...


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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2527 on: March 10, 2022, 07:29:49 PM »
@Joel CORRECTION: My flights are EWR-OGG. Thats the route that had great availability. Seeing saver Y in June 5,6,9,12...
22.5k not 12.5k and I am not flying 11 hours in Y  :)

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2528 on: June 07, 2022, 04:16:03 PM »
Well I just happen to check my August flight EWR-OGG...and the flight was cancelled! Looks like the entire summer route was cancelled. I know June was cancelled because of 737 max delays but that was resolved a few weeks ago...I dont see anything about this online. And now I'm stuck dealing with calling Turkish to help with this  :'(

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2529 on: June 07, 2022, 04:17:44 PM »
Well I just happen to check my August flight EWR-OGG...and the flight was cancelled! Looks like the entire summer route was cancelled. I know June was cancelled because of 737 max delays but that was resolved a few weeks ago...I dont see anything about this online. And now I'm stuck dealing with calling Turkish to help with this  :'(
Call UA and ask to be rebooked via ORD?
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 #2530 on: June 07, 2022, 04:25:01 PM »
Ya also Denver. But my wife aint gonna be thrilled about a stopover/14 hr traveling with our five kids under 12...EWR-OGG was a gem. Would love to know what happened. I think they just couldnt sell it...

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2531 on: June 07, 2022, 04:31:01 PM »
Ya also Denver. But my wife aint gonna be thrilled about a stopover/14 hr traveling with our five kids under 12...EWR-OGG was a gem. Would love to know what happened. I think they just couldnt sell it...
https://thepointsguy.com/news/united-route-suspensions-june-2022/

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2534 on: June 07, 2022, 05:57:41 PM »
Very odd. What does this mean for August? Any chance flight is coming back?

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2535 on: June 07, 2022, 06:07:19 PM »
I now see EWR-OGG weekly on Saturdays until end of August...

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2536 on: June 07, 2022, 06:10:27 PM »
I now see EWR-OGG weekly on Saturdays until end of August...
Wonky schedule indeed. Probably lack of pilots/planes/demand/profitability.
As I said, ask for ORD reroute or choose one of these dates:

EWR-OGG nonstop dates:




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 #2537 on: June 07, 2022, 07:23:17 PM »
thanks Dan!

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2538 on: June 08, 2022, 08:02:47 PM »
Lor told me not to fly out of Hawaii Thursday night… anyone can help me figure out based on flight path if I will have a issue with United Ogg flight 348 leaving Aug 25  520pm shkia 647

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Re: Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
« Reply #2539 on: June 08, 2022, 09:31:16 PM »
You're not going to be out of the safeq areas before it gets dark but it is less problematic once you are already in the air, according to some, so ask your LOR about how you can "keep Shabbos" on the plane until you hit the date line of Rav Takachinsky, if you have no other option.