I know this thread is three months old, but I was just looking through threads about HNL since I'm flying Delta there next month, and for those who may see this thread in the future one thing I can add from my personal experience having booked my flights nine months in advance is that worrying about connecting airports and layovers 11 months in advance is pointless, there will be many changes to your itinerary and options once the ticket is booked, this was true in pre-Covid times, but more so in current Covid times. Book the cheapest option available regardless of connecting airports and schedules and you'll be able to get it on the itinerary you want when (it really isn't a question of if) the schedule changes in the future. For our trip I booked a cheap LIH-LAX-MCI fare in first class on Thanksgiving day, and after many changes, it's now LIH-HNL-ATL-MCI, with the overnight flight now being HNL-ATL on an A330 instead of LIH-LAX on a 757. Getting there I got 63k mile award tickets the Thursday before Thanksgiving, that was originally MCI-LAX-HNL, after several changes it's now MCI-ATL-HNL on the Friday before Thanksgiving (even changing days wasn't a problem). Of course mileage accelerator made these longer flights even more attractive.