Originally Posted by NWAOldtimer
Any suggestions on a way to lower the price and still earn mostly NW miles? Hawaiian is cheaper but don't earn miles except interisland, I think.
That's true. You can only earn NW miles on Hawaiian when flying inter-island or to the South Pacific.
You could probably also get a cheaper fare if you try routing yourself DTW-LAX/SAN/LAS/PHX/SEA on NW and then a West Coast city to HNL on Hawaiian. Hawaiian usually has some pretty nice deals for a last minute ticket like this (and those fares can only be found booking on HA's website as it's not published on expedia/ITA, etc.). This would allow you to earn NW miles from DTW-West Coast and earn roughly 5,000 HA miles which is good enough for a 10,000 point transfer to HH or a free one-way interisland ticket.
Let us know what you decide on.
aloha