A question for the forum about using miles for flights between the Hawaiian islands:

I'm planning another vacation to Hawaii and am planning to visit 3 islands (over about 18-19 days). My question specifically concerns the big island. Has anyone ever split up a trip (using miles) where you fly into ITO, stay a couple of days on the East side, then drive over to the West side to stay a few more days and then fly out of KOA (the reverse would be fine too).

What I'm trying to do is spend a couple of days looking at the volcanoes, lava flow, black sand, etc... and then spend a few days on the other side doing other things. Given the sheer size of the island, I'm trying to avoid having criss cross in a rental (eating up hours and hours each way).

Our general itin is: MSP - HNL (stay 4 nights), Round trip from HNL to Hawaii (stay 5 nights), Round trip to Kauai (stay 7-8 nights). It will cost 40k points for each round trip for my fam of 4 and I'm hoping that I can break up the round trip from HNL to Hawaii.

Also, anyone ever stayed in any of the hotels on the East side (near ITO and the volcano village?