Sign up for Northwest's e-mail updates. That should give you 1K miles. Monitor the nwa.com web site for promotions like "Fly Free Faster" where if you register and use 5 of their mileage partners in a specified period, you can get a 10K bonus. Check out the current "Mileage Mania" promotion on their web site and see if it applies to you.

We fly frequently from HNL to EWR using our WorldPerks miles on Continental. If you're coming to Hawaii from the east coast, this is definitely the flight you want to take (if available).

Also, if they can get the Delta codeshare approved and implemented, that may give you more options, although Delta eliminated their non-stop flight to HNL from ATL.