SoCal to Hawaii
 

I'm based out of OC and I'm looking to go to Hawaii 1 year from now in May 2015. I paid 75k for first class RT LAX to Maui 3 years ago(150k total for my fiancee and I) and first class was kind of a waste, vowed coach only from west coast to HI after that.

Last Dec (2013) we went LAX to Kauai bc they had discounted fares so RT coach was only 30k each ( I forgot what they call these periodically discounted fares?). That was a great deal!

So now I'm looking for 2 RT tickets, dates somewhat flexible but would like to go in May 2015 since it's low season in HI and hotels/flights are usually cheaper than normal. What are my best options for getting there based on the points balances I/my fiancee have below?

Me:
170k AA
74k Amex MR
70k Chase UR
65k US Air
35k Citi
55k Barclay

Her:
110k AA
65k Chase UR
40k US Air
30k SPG
25k Citi
10k Barclay

I can't do any cards in the next couple months but I could definitely do some new ones after that, I already have most of the big ones but my fiancee only has a few. I have a lot of AA miles so ideally I'd like to use those to go AA/Alaska to Hawaii(island is tbd??).

What's the best way to do it? I know there are some good redemption values from west coast to Hawaii but have never really looked into it too much. Any help would be appreciated!

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By far, the best redemption from SoCal to HI is to use British Airways Avios on AA or AS nonstops (AA from LAX, AS from SAN). Only 12.5K Avios one way in Coach.

Amex MR points, Chase UR points, and SPG Starpoints can all be converted to BA Avios. Amex occasionally runs transfer bonuses of up to 50% for converting MR points to BA Avios. @:-)

Thanks that's what I thought, I don't have any BA points/account though so maybe I'll go sign up right now and play around with it :)

I looked up a couple LAX - HNL on BA and they came up as 75k RT? What am I doing wrong?

I went to AA website first and looked for AA only saver fares from LAX to HNL and found a bunch for 35k round trip, but couldn't find the same ones on BA website?

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Did you find SAAver availability on AA metal nonstops at aa.com? Routings via DFW on AA would cost the same number of AA miles, but a lot more BA Avios.

Also, aa.com will display award availability on HA, which is an AA partner, but which is not a BA partner.

I'm from oc too. Just booked lax ogg feb 2015 for three. Transferred Amex mr to. British avios. Found the flights on br avios site and then transferred. 25k + $5

Good luck.

Don't forget to look for AS availability. I am in SAN and last summer we booked the nonstop SAN-OGG flight for 12.5k one way. The trick is that AS does NOT show up on the BA website (someone correct me if this has changed). You need to look for the saver flights on AA, which should be the same availability that BA has. You will then need to call in to book - and they will charge a phone ticketing fee which can sometimes be waived based on the fact that it is not bookable online.

Keep in mind that you can also use a different carrier in each direction depending on availability. We ended up using Hawaiian on the return since they had awesome availability. They are more expensive on miles, but I was OK with that since the outbound was so cheap.

Have fun!

Ah ok, that was it. I searched AA website for AA metal nonstops and found some at 17.5k one way from LAX to HNL. Thanks! Found the corresponding flight on BA's website for 12.5k one way :)


Nice, is it easier to search BR site, I always read to search on AA and then book with BR, not sure why though?

Ah gotcha, I think we flew out of SAN 3 years ago on AS (booked with points through AA) in May. Is there a better way to search for AS reward flights that I can pay for with AA points? When I search AA's website and include other carriers it also shows HA.

You're right though, HA seems to have awesome availability. I think I should be in pretty good shape b/c I can transfer amex to BR (and pay 12.5k per one way ticket) and/or use AA points to book AA, AS or HA at 17.5k per one way ticket. Does that sound right?

Not that I know of. The AA site is the resource I usually use for AS.

I'm assuming by BR you mean British Airways, not EVA. BA is the code for British; BR is the code for EVA.

Otherwise, that sound about right. Remember you can transfer Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, AND/or SPG points to BA. Membership Rewards frequently has bonuses, SPG transfers at 20k:25k, and Ultimate Rewards is 1:1. So in your case, your Fiance could in theory transfer 20k SPG points and get BOTH of your seats one-way (or one of your round-trip tickets). Keep in mind that SPG transfers are not instant.

Also remember that HA is a Membership Rewards transfer partner, too. Their rates can be kind of high but as noted, their availability is great.

Yea I meant BA, thanks.

Nice, I didn't realize all 3 could transfer to BA, lots of options :) Thanks for all the help guys.