Welcome to FlyerTalk.

It helps if you update your profile to show your location (closest airport you typically use) and preferred airlines - in my case, MSP and Delta.

Flying free to Hawaii is a great way to use your miles, especially if you'd like to save that $1,600 for something else - like hotel, meals, rental car, scuba trips, helicopter rides, etc!

The Miles vs Dollars question depends on many things that you have to decide

- Will using "miles" make me travel on days or times that I don't want to?
- Will using "miles" make me take a connection, where dollars would give me a non-stop option?
- For the really frequent flyer, is it important that I earn "status miles" on this trip?

On the last point, if one of you is a frequent flyer and the other is not, you may decide to mix a dollars and points redemption - dollars for you so you earn miles towards status level, and points for her - assuming she does not travel much and you do.

In my case, Hawaii is a 4,000 miles flight away from me - so I frequently have done the family with miles, me with cash - so I get that 8,000 miles towards my next "elite level" of status with the airline.

Happy trails and enjoy your time in Hawaii!