For those that are interested and with thanks to Etiene in particular for the suggestion - I managed to get roughly what I wanted BUD->LHR->JFK->LAX->HNL | LAX->JFK->LHR->BUD for £2173 ...then Avios seats (unfortunately in economy) for £4.50 plus 16500 Avios for the HNL->LAX (which as a TP run is rubbish....as for £2123 - I could spend 2 weeks in Hawaii and get another 140TP! lol!) .... one thing to bear in mind for anyone else that thinks about this - I either had forgotten or just had never realised that economy seats on AA using BA avios tickets book into basic economy... i.e. no luggage ... I doubt my gold/emerald status will get me anything bags wise - so, its $40 for the first bag and $45 for the 2nd PLUS as thats only upto 23kg if any bag is over - its a further what looks to be $100 for anything over 24kg??!!
Originally Posted by
etiene
There are other airline options for that hop too, though it is about six hours so might be more than you wish to tolerate in Y. I'd probably accept that in an MCE seat for a day flight [there used to be a couple back from the islands too]. Avios J redemptions might be hard to come by though, and I presume the AS/HA merger won't have gotten far enough to help you out on that front.
Originally Posted by
linz36
I would probably stay on the west coast first, and return from Hawaii, that way you get business class on the (invariably) overnight 5h flight from Hawaii too. Seems possible for
2.5k each (edit: now TP optimised routing). The hop LAX-Hawaii might have to be in economy, cash fares are high for that. Try all of OSL, HEL, DUB, PRG, MAD, BCN as starting/finishing destinations.
As much as the west coast first option is a nice idea ... we tend to do a bit of shopping, so our cases are quite heavy - and its probably better to do that shopping on the mainland rather than Hawaii - meaning that, for us, its better to go out to Hawaii first ...which also means less baggage issues on the avios ticket ....though the relaxing part of the holiday 2nd does sound nice!
Thanks to Linz36, Etiene and all others that have helped! :-)