Originally Posted by
wanderingstar
This is something I am dying to do. I've just come back from French Polynesia for two weeks, and it's not cheap at all, although I used my Hawaiian Airlines, which I have a card with, on a rebooked flight from Japan that was not going to work out.
I have accrued some miles but not yet enough. I'd kill to go to Fiji, Vanuatu, or Yap. Hawaiian doesn't serve these though, although it has spots in Asia (but after that much money spent this year, I need to try elsewhere that Hawaiian flies).
Any ideas?
They go to Manila. My husband claims it is politically unstable. I said that was one island, no? I have enough miles for two round-trip international tickets and will lose them if I don't act! Another place that Hawaiian goes is to Sydney, but that's nowhere near where I am interested in going, really. Also, Seoul, which gets closer.
Your post inspired me to look at the HA route map, which I hadn't done in ages.
My one trip to FP was in 2006 where I took in Tahiti and Moorea in the space of a week and had to live like a monk but brought it in at $120 a day using guesthouses, le truck, the truck food vendors and getting around Moorea on a bicycle. Beautiful place, but durn. The Cook Islands were much cheaper...nice private rooms with fan were in the $30s and I could go to island nights AND eat the buffet. And get around on a rented motorcycle.
Have not been to American Samoa but have been to western Samoa (reachable by ferry, I think) and the main islands are really beautiful and only lightly visited. It's very lush and green and you have volcanic blowholes and some really unspoiled-looking beaches.
I was a frequent traveler to the Philippines, though I haven't been since the Duterte era began. The most dangerous areas are in Mindanao and have been off the tourist map for many years. Manila is crowded and has terrible traffic and can be an acquired taste. Most people go someplace like Boracay or Palawan (nice beaches), and you've also got spots like the Banaue rice terraces and the Chocolate Hills, but getting there and back isn't always easy. Cebu is more manageable as a city and has the Magellan historic sites, some megamalls and the Mactan Island resorts.
Fiji itself has some nice countryside, the cute sugar trains and Suva being stick in the 70s, with most people heading to the Mamanucas (think islands like Gilligan's Island) or the Yasawas. I haven't been to Vanuatu but it's endangered like the Marshalls or Kiribati. Yap is very laid-back but if you can go on Yap Day, do it.
It's too bad the old Virgin Blue isn't still around. That could help a lot.