HNL > ??? > LHR with Avios
 

I have a 241 booking for next August to Vancouver. We are planning 2 weeks in the Rockies and then heading on to HNL to visit family. I am trying to work out the best route home. I need to fly to the mainland and then book a return to add onto my outbound 241 booking.

I plan to book with Avios on either American or Air Alaska to somewhere suitable. I don't know when they release seats but looking online for availability on different routes I think it is after BA and therefore I think I will have to book my BA flight back to LHR before the flights from Hawaii are released. I am tempted to come home via Seattle with Air Alaska as there seems to generally be good Avios availability on both HNL > SEA and SEA > LHR, however I know I won't get lie flat seats on the HNL > SEA leg.

I have read that lie flat seats are sometimes available with American to PHX, DFW or ORD, but available seats on those routes seem hard to find, and I believe BA treat them as first class so will need more Avios. Should I take the easy option and book the return flight from Seattle, in which case I think we might just fly economy on a day time flight and have a night in Seattle and do a bit of sightseeing before the onward flight the next day. Or, should I book a flight home from ORD, DFW or PHX and spend the next 12 months trying to join up the legs. OR, is there an alternative I have not thought of? I would be very grateful for any ideas or suggestions!

Pretty sure AS and AA both open seats at T-330 so they should be availability opening very soon. You can go through a few west coast hubs including SEA or LAX all served with plenty of frequency by AS or AA, although note daytime flights are less frequent with people wanting to get the most out of their time on the islands 😀 Neither AS or AA have great hard or soft product offerings in coach or first IMO. Seattle in August is a great time of year to visit and if you take BA48 you get most of the day to sightsee before heading to the airport.At least for me I wouldn't do DFW or ORD just to get lie flats would rather do a stopover to break the journey up.

I managed to book AS seat to Hawaii in 2019 for a 2020 trip that never happened. I found ExpertFlyer useful to check and alert me of availability. At least at the time you couldn’t book these awards online (not sure if this has changed with AS joining Oneworld in the meantime).

On American, HNL to DFW (possibly CLT or ORD if those flight are still running) are the only flights that offer lie flat seats on a consistent basis. You may get lucky occasionally on the LAX or PHX route and find a 787 or 777 operating but that is never guaranteed and can easily be swapped out for the vastly inferior F service on the A321. You won't get a BA flight from CLT to LHR so that won't work for you on a 241. Getting Avios availability in F on the HNL - DFW route, or any of the occasional wide bodies with lie flat service is just about impossible so that is not really a feasible option either.

If it were me I would go with a daytime flight on Alaska or American to SEA or one of the other BA hubs that they fly to. A day time flight from HNL and an overnight in SEA (or wherever) will put you in much better shape for the trip back to LHR. Plus, since you will be on separate tickets you probably should build in an overnight as contingency for missing the second flight back to LHR.

Come and see Seattle! BA 48 is a great flight, currently scheduled as a 787-10 (with the Club Suites). We are booked in Club World in late August with a 241 ourselves. Now trying to figure out when in September to return home.


As for the flight to/from Hawaii, I much prefer Alaska Airlines to American. Seats are released at T-330 days as stated above.

Thanks everyone for all of the advice! I think you have all confirmed that Seattle is the best option, just hope that travel to the US is possible in 12 months time!

Thanks for advice, I have booked through BA an economy flight with Alaska from SEA to OGG using Avios. Economy flight includes no checked in luggage but I assume I can add (and pay for) these at Check in. Can anyone confirm?

There does not seem to be any way to reserve seats. Alaska Airline MMB is not recognising my booking, but it does state that will only recognise bookings made direct with airline. Does anyone know if there is a way to do this? Booking is still at T-330 so I am hoping the emergency exit seats with more leg room might possibly still be available.

I think the luggage thing is a bug and you do get an allowance.

Do you have any elite status with BAEC? If so, you will get at least one free checked bag on AS in Economy Class; if no status, I think that you get nothing, and will have to pay.

Edited to add: I don't think that oneworld Ruby (BAEC Bronze) gets a free checked bag on AS in Economy. (AA gives a free checked bag to oneworld Ruby members.)