Advice on this itinerary
 

Looking to book travel now for July 2018 trip with the family (3 kids). I'm flying on united points and here are my thoughts...

1) Fly IAD-HNL on a non stop. Stay 2 nights on Wiakiki
2) Fly to OGG and use Marriott 7N cert and stay at the Wailea
3) Fly to LIH and spend 5N at (possibly) Kauai Marriott
4) Fly back to OGG to catch a return flight home to east coast.

My ideal is to fly into OGG rather than HNL but for 45k UA miles PP, I can only do fly into HNL and fly out of OGG. Should I avoid Honolulu altogether or is it a nice easing into Hawaii especially for the kids?

Thoughts? Will have 3 kids in tow. I will look to use excursionist perk to take me from HNL-OGG and then fly an inter-island flight from OGG-LIH and then from LIH-OGG on the return.

Thoughts?

Personally I would do 4 nights Waikiki and 5 nights OGG. 2 nights Waikiki I wouldnt even be rested up from my initial flight before heading to the airport again. I just think it would be a waste of time.

Traditional FT advice, which I happen to agree with, is that you should spend at least seven nights on one island before you island hop. It is time consuming to check out of one hotel, drive to the airport, take your flight to the next island, drive to your 2nd hotel, check-in, etc.

Considering that you have three kids in tow, I think that the seven night threshold is even more relevant!

Heed above advice. If flying into HNL and out of OGG, split your time between Oahu and Maui. Only one interisland flight will save you hassle, time and money. Final split determined by getting hotel locations and deals that work for you.

You could also safely skip Waikiki. Interisland flights are cheap, so after UA drops you off at HNL you could hop the short flight to Maui.

I love the Wailea Marriott, so good choice there. And if you skip the two nights on Oahu, you could book another 7-night package on Kauai.

Try to minimize your Island hop. Preferably, I will do at least 4 nights at waikiki (do Pearl harbor early in the next morning to maximize your jetlag), go to Kauai, and Maui last.