Jet66

I am a not-so-frequent traveler, but my husband and I have finally amassed enough miles to take our family of four from CMH to Maui. I know I need to call 331 days in advance to book the flights I want but am wondering how difficult it will be to get four seats given our lack of any type of elite status. We don't plan to go until July 2003. Any feedback?

Another question is whether I'm better flying through a particular west coast city (LAX vs. SFO, for example) - is there advantage to a particular city other than the time factor? Lastly, am I better off/more likely to get seats booking online versus calling?

Thanks for any help!

Beckles

Well, first, DL doesn't fly to Maui, only HNL. However, you can book an award ticket on UA to Maui with DL miles, so if that's what you really want to do, go for it.

As for how hard getting the tickets will be, that depends on the time of year ... I had no trouble getting reservations on both DL and UA when we went for two seats ... four seats might be a little trickier ...

NoStressHere

Just for the fun of it, I went to the SkyMils page and Award Travel and picked your city for July 11, return the 16th for THIS year and was able to find 2 seats, but not four. Real hard to say what you will find 18 months from now though. Will DL be flying there? Will award levels change?

By the way, I am glad some people can plan so far in advance. If we plan a trip more than two months in advance, that is unusual. Did Cancun this year on less than two months planning, did Japan on three weeks planning, did a few other domestic with less than two weeks planning included heading north last week.

DFW DL

Last I knew, DL does still offer one nonstop into OGG thru LAX (one-stop from ATL). This is a much nicer alternative than having another connection and flight to deal with before starting your vacation. Beckles' advice on the UA award alternative opens up more options into OGG, but at a cost of 35k per coach ticket (vs. 30k on DL).

IMO, LAX is your best gateway bet for award travel - four nonstops to HNL/OGG on DL versus one to HNL from SFO. Suggest you call reservations directly rather than working online. You shouldn't have much trouble getting seats for July (low season in Hawaii), but I've never tried four seats either. Definitely call as soon as you can within the 331 day window.

flyerwife

Jet66,

Welcome to Flyertalk!

Booking 331 days out should eliminate any problem you might encounter getting 4 tickets to Hawaii. You may have to hold the outbound flight, and call back a week or so later, depending on the length of your trip, to book your return. We booked five award tickets 331 days out, and were able to make changes several months later with no problem. Although we have Platinum status, I do recall that many award seats remained available even up to 3 months before our August flight. Status or no status, you've obviously done your homework, and should have no problem securing the tickets. I would use the website booking system as a guide, but ultimately call and make your reservation so as to avoid any errors.

Beckles,

As much as I readily admit you are far more experienced than I in all things Delta, and I greatly value your opinion, I am pretty sure I didn't swim when I flew from JFK-LAX-OGG last August. Delta continues service to Maui. Could you possibly have confused Maui with the Big Island, which is not serviced by Delta?

jwhite4

Delta defintely does fly to Maui. However, there is I believe only 1 flight per day to/from Maui (actually a continuing flight to/from HNL), so there may not be a lot of availability on it. If availability is tight on it you should try to determine if it is the mainland-HNL portion, or from HNL to OGG (Maui).
United does provide more direct service to the islands (and almost all of them at that), but at a higher 35000 Skymile cost.

Jeff

NoStressHere

Well, without using any guessing, the current timetable (Dec 1st) shows one non-stop from LAX to OGG. No stops in HNL. They show one non-stop coming back as well.

Both ways the flight does go to/from Atlanta though. Again, I will bet all of the miles from all you guys and gals that the flights will be different by time they go, if not by time they book it.

Meanwhile, a bit of humor here. Using the downloaded electronic timetable, if you put OGG-HNL in it, you get a 25 hour flight via Atlanta.

SMF

Actually, Delta does fly to Maui.

I've found recently (this month) that award travel to Hawaii is fairly easy compared to the last couple of years. Last week I had no trouble getting seats in January on the first call.

I would suggest you simply call reservations with a calendar in front of you and try dates. Another option is to register on delta.com and you can look for and book award flights on your own. If you like the web it's a very easy site to use.

Just remember some facts on award travel - the more flexible you are the easier it is to find flights and keep calling back because availability changes especially as you get closer to the flight date.

Steve Falatko

Robert Leach

Booking 331 days in advance is great if you can plan that far out, but you may yet find that only two seats are open on any given flight. Delta may or may not provide more inventory initially.

The key to any award travel, particularly this far in advance, is to waitlist.

If you find flights that are acceptable to you, book them. If they only have two seats in F and you need four, then book the two that are available and then book two in coach for the other members of your party, then have them waitlist those other two people for First. As soon as more First Class inventory is opened up, you'll clear. The only problem is that without status, if a bunch of elite members subsequently get on the waitlist before any more inventory opens up, they'll jump ahead of you.

Also, the suggestion about booking on United using Delta miles isn't a bad one. United has far more flights to Maui, plus its loads have suffered a lot more since 9/11, so your chances are probably better to score on UA than DL.

Once again, play the waitlists. You can even waitlist on more than one flight.

jwhite4

United's 35k Hawaii reward is a great deal if you want to go to islands other than Honolulu or Maui (ie. ones Delta doesn't fly to). You'll easily pay $130+ for roundtrip interisland airfare (ie. you flew DL into HNL then continued onto the Big Island), so the the extra 5000 miles is well worth it.

Jeff

FancyNancy

It is ALWAYS so much fun to plan a trip to Hawaii. We just got back from a December ALON stay at the Hilton Hawaii Village. I was also there in October on business. For the past 5-6 years I have been there at least 2x per year, combination of paid and award travel. (Mostly on Delta, once on American with a reroute to United). Now to your questions:

I have been to HNL from TPA via ATL, DFW, SFO and LAX. The DFW flight is no longer in existance, and the ATL flight stops in LAX to refuel (and I think you have to stay on the plane - check other posts). The LAX flight is very nice, and is the shortest route obviously.

I have made reservations (I am Platinum)for coach and FC travel on many occasions: party of 2, party of 4 and party of 6. Status comes in to play for the other parties on your trip if they are flying with you on the exact itinerary. On my itineraries for 4, and for 6, we had family joining us at the transfer points (DFW one year and SFO another year, which meant "no status" for them.) This in large part dictated the routes that were available for all the parties. Both of these large trips by the way were scheduled less than 6 months in advance.

When my husband and I went in December I flew on a paid ticket (I had Delta vouchers that I had to use up, and I was advantaged by triple miles: double miles for status and a Delta special offer of double base miles). My husband flew on a FC award ticket. When I made these reservations early this summer I called several times over the course of 3-4 days to get the right flights, right schedule and preferred route via LAX. Patience is a virture in this process, as well as being polite. If the individual you are speaking with is not helpful, thank them, hangup and call back.

In October I flew the TPA-LAX-HNL route all in one day - it was exhausting and grueling, more so than in the past: flight connections in LAX meant a longer layover, with arrival in HNL at 6:30 pm. In December we went TPA-LAX on the night flight non-stop, and got a $29 price line room at the Sheraton LAX (got upgraded to a suite!!!) We left for HNL on the 8:30 am flight the next morning and arrived at 11:30 am- very refreshed and ready to start a wonderful vacation.

It is hard to say what the flight schedule will be like for your trip by the time you are ready to reserve, as well as by the time you will actually fly. If the route to Kahalui is D/C, you can purchase cheaper interisland tickets through one of the ticket services in the island. We usually cash in 5,000 AA awards - which are good for a RT (or 2 segment) interisland trip. In fact I keep and AA Citibank card for this exact purpose. We plan a summer jaunt to Kauai and Maui (I haven't made any reservations yet!) And that is how we will do the interisland stuff.

Be sure that when you are making or holding reservations that they tell you how long they will hold them before they are eliminated from the system, and once they are confirmed what the penalties are for changing them under various conditions (change of route, change of dates etc). The rules in these areas have changed over the years.

Best of luck, keep us posted, and remember ANTICIPATION of this trip will be half the fun. If you get the Travel Channel there are always shows about Hawaii, and of course there are the reruns of Hawaii 5-0 on WGN and Magnum on A & E!!!!!

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Fancy

[This message has been edited by FancyNancy (edited 01-02-2002).]

andymo99

I can't compete with the Fancy one's reply, but here are a few observations, as I booked this route today. I wanted a F ticket for my fiancee and a paid ticket for myself (mostly due to the depression of seeing my base miles reset to zero). I got us tix to go in April, which is high season in HI. (How punny ) The key to the award ticket is flexibility. First of all, there is much better availability to HNL than to OGG as there are several more HNL flights. Fiancee and I are on separate flights for the return, but I am counting on her successfully standing by to my (better) flights that day. 3 of 4 segments are confirmed in F for her, the 4th is waitlisted. I won't sweat that, as they are stingy this far in advance.

The lesson here is to be flexible and creative, although planning as far in advance as you are should make things easier. One thing to consider, as 4 seats might be hard to snag together, is to book yourselves 2 and 2 if necessary on different itineraries. Again, day of departure, the later departees can standby earlier.

By the way, I am finding interisland 1-way flights for $50 easy.

Fancy N, any hotel ideas in HNL, Maui, Big Island, or Kauai? Can't miss activities?

InHoc

Agree with all.

I recently looked at going United to get to Kona, but I ran into two issues:

1) It takes more miles on United than Delta; and
2) United does not allow stays at routing cities (we've generally stayed in LA for a few days on the same Delta award tickets).

I finally decided that the $59 Hawaiian Air vouchers were the best way to get to Kona (except that they won't let me check my bags through to Kona this way since it's a non-confirmed shuttle).

FancyNancy

In Honolulu I have stayed at: Hilton Hawaii Village (best beach and all over ambiance), Hawaiian Regent (now Marriott, across the street from Queens Beach far east end of Waikiki); Outrigger Islander Waikiki (on Lewers St, 1 circuitous block from the beach) and the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani (across the street from the Moana Surfrider on the beach). My bias is to the Hilton - but I generally use Hilton points so the stay is free. The property is beautiful and you are bounded by Ft. DeRussey on the east and a lagoon on the west, so there is really a feeling of being on your own Island.

On Maui I have only stayed at the Sheraton - which is absolutely beautiful, completely rennovated about 3 years ago. I have also stayed in condos - prefer the hotels. Maui is known for its resort hotels, so it might be nice to check the hotel boards and the Hawaii travel boards to see if anything has been posted. When we go back this summer (at least we are planning to) we will use Sheraton points to stay there - it is a luxury category for points, but if you get 4 days, the 5th day is free.

On Kauai we have stayed at the Coco Palms (remember the Elvis movie?) which has been closed permanently since the Iniki Hurricane in the early 90's. We have also stayed in private condos on a family trip. 2 years ago we stayed at the Sheraton Kauai, just opened after being totally rebuilt from the huurricane damage. We will go back there - we had a fabulous room, right on the beach, and watched the sun rise and set, and listened to the ocean all night.

On the Big Island we have stayed at the Kona Surf Resort (one of the transition points of the Iron Man Triathlon), we enjoyed the stay, the rates were cheap - we had a great view but felt the rooms were too worn out. 2 years ago we stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village - breathtaking property, and beautiful surroundings. There is a lot posted about this place, so you can do a search on this under the Hilton site. The spa is incredible. Food is expensive, there is no little refrig in the room, and while there is some small eateries close by, you really have to go to Kona to get a nice variety (24 miles). WE also felt that our room was a little too worn in for Hilton.

Hope this is helpful - and we look forward to your trip report!




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Fancy

Beckles

I didn't realize DL flew to anywhere but HNL, but with only one flight per day, that's going to make it even harder to get four seats together ...