Hi everyone

I'm looking to get to Hawaii with my young family as cheaply and comfortably as possible, next October (2008).

I am in South Cumbria in northwest England (UK), so my nearest major airport is Manchester. Other possibilities are Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds and even Birmginham. The London airports aren't out of the question for us, but they are a little less convenient.

At the time of travel, our two boys will be 4 and a half and nearly 3. So... we will need 4 seats in total.

I don't mind where we arrive in Hawaii, and I was wondering what my options were. Would I fly trans-Atlantic (or is going the other way round - less jet lag??) an option? If going trans-Atlantic, I wouldn't be averse to a night or two stopover at somewhere like NYC or Seattle, or anywhere else for that matter. Does that make it cheaper or more expensive as far as the flight costs are concerned? (I appreciate that there will be accommodation to pay for if we do that.)

Finally, am I best booking now rather than leaving it until later? Some airlines I searched didn't seem to give availability for next October, so I'm not sure if I should be holding out until their options are made available, or whether it's a case of the earlier you book, the better the deal.

Thanks for any help.

PS - I don't have very much in the way of Air Miles (modest amounts from KLM, bmi, and 'miles and more' but nothing of great significance)

I'd probably first look at Manchester to LAX, and LAX to Hawai'i, for comfort and economy of price.

No MAN-LAX flights so that wouldn't work too well.

It isn't possible to do as a one stop from MAN in one day. Its either a one stop with an overnight on the east coast, or a two stopper via the west coast.

Usually all the MAN operating carriers have virtually identical prices, although they do vary throughout the year. You'll be lucky to get anything much less than �500 each on any airline, so any price you see below that, jump up and snatch it before it vanishes.

I believe Continental flies nonstop from Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham to Newark, and they definitely fly nonstop from Newark to Honolulu. I just sent my family Honolulu-Newark-Edinburgh a few months ago.

I would probably make it as easy on the system as possible, and go MAN-ORD-HNL (AA metal, but available as BA codeshares if you want.) The HNL planes depart ORD before the transatlantic flights arrive, so as with the east coast it forces an overnight somewhere. I don't know (but suspect it's the case) with MAN-Newark (CO) or MAN-ATL (DL) flights. Remember the time change is the same between the UK and the east coast and the east coast and Hawaii.

If you don't mind splitting carriers, another possibility would be BMI from MAN to Las Vegas, connecting to Hawaiian from LAS to HNL, or ATA from LAS to OGG (Maui.) You could probably do a same-day connection there, but you'd certainly arrived in Hawaii pretty shattered.

If you don't mind departing from LHR, of course, then the sky's the limit on transfer points - SEA, YVR, LAX, SFO...

Continental is pricing the following with no layover
$1,126.00
Additional Taxes/Fees $183.80
Total Price $1,309.80

This was priced for the first week of October 08. Factoring in a two day layover in NYC the price goes up a bit
1 Adults (age 18 to 64) $1,226.81
Additional Taxes/Fees $194.70
Total Price $1,421.51

Delta was a about $100 more but requires a night over in Atlanta on the outbound, return is direct.

Since you have some KLM miles either Continental or Delta could be parked in your KLM account. Just might want to double ck to make sure the fare basis will accrue miles on KLM, the Continental class is I and X. If they don't give you full miles then best to open accounts for each of you with the airline you choose to fly, cause normally for a fee you could then transfer the miles from your kids account into your own and end up with a nice amount of miles.

SAM

That sounds do-able.......HA departs LAS twice daily: at 02:30am and 10:30am.

www.fare.compare.com lists fares in Oct 2008 at 596GBP on at least one airlines .. and slightly more on others.

This is a tool you might consider using to plug in various airports and check (MAN vs LHR and HNL vs OGG). Just trying LHR brought the fare down 100 quid ..

Thanks, everyone... this is all really helpful. It seems like there are quite a lot of different options potentially, so I'm struggling to figure out which would suit us best.

Please forgive me for asking one or two naiive questions:

1. I assume I'd be best advised to use the same airline (or airline alliance?) for the entire journey...? Presumably then if one flight didn't arrive in time for the next, I would have some assurance of being put on the next flight??

2. If stopping overnight somewhere, do you think it would be better to have a couple of nights in that location to make hte journey a bit more of an adventure, rather than a drag of constant travel? My wife and children haven't been to New York before, so it'd be nice to show them some of the city if it fitted in with our plans. In fact, none of us have seen much of the US at all, really... but maybe we'd just be best pushing on with the journey, getting to Hawaii, and relaxing...

I should have said that I'm probably looking at some time in the last two weeks of October. I don't know the precise dates yet, but it needs to co-incide with the October half term vacation we have here in the UK (which maybe will be a more expensive time??) I *think* we'll be able to leave any time on or after 18th October, and will need to be back by 3rd November at the latest (but each of those dates could be a week earlier, I'm just not 100% sure yet).

Orbitz, Travelnow, Expedia, Sidestep, Mobissimo... they all seem to allow me to search for the first 2 weeks in October, but not the last two... no luck with Kayak or Farecast either... I guess this will change in a fortnight??

As long as it's on the same ticket, you're fairly safe. You're more likely to be delayed by U.S. entry.

A scheduled break of more than 24 hours may result in a (much) higher fare. You may actually want to consider 2 separate tickets as it may be cheaper, even than a U.K.-HNL through ticket. U.S. East coast-HNL was available for about GBP 200 r/t earlier this year. No guarantee that fare will return however.

Or day by day. 11 month/330 day in advance "rule".

You're in luck here. If there is a slow period in Hawaii (rapidly disappearing), it's the mid-Sept thru mid-Nov period. Seasonal prices are at their lowest, where applicable. And the weather may be best, as well - least rainfall during that period for most of the islands. OTOH, it's a bit too early for whale watching or the big surf on Oahu's North Shore.

Cheap and Hawaii do not go together. Hawaii is pricey compared to the rest of the US.

I would recommend one airline for both sectors UK-LAX/SFO/EWR-Hawaii; I am sure you will find it is cheaper and there is easy of luggage transfer (if only back to the UK).

Depending on what you want to get out of your trip, I would suggest the big island of Hawaii itself; only because there are more options of things to do there. Oahu is too built up if you want scenic beauty. Maui is lovely but pricey and more up-market. If you want to see an actually live volcano with lava flows - Hawaii has a one or two.

All I can say is that prior to going, I really wanted to see Hawaii. Having been there, my feedback is "waste for time and money" I can get the same for a fraction of the price in Thailand or Bali.

The Hawaiian island are like the Canaries - dry beaches on the southern part of the island and lush green forests on the wet northern side of the island.

It is a very long flight for the children. Just remember that Hawaii is almost on the other side of the world - 10 hours time difference during UK winters and 11 hours behind in summertime

OK... I suppose there's not a lot I can do until the end of November comes around then. Am I right in thinking that the best prices are likely to be among the first that become available?

Not too worried about watching the surf, but it's a pity about the whale watching. Kids would have loved that.

Is the risk of problems from hurricanes low at this time of year?

This is semi-work related (I work in travel) and my circumstances are such that flights and any extras (drinks, gifts, internal flights, etc.) would be pretty much all I'd pay for. I'm reckoning it'll cost us a total of around �2500-�3000 for flights, inc. all taxes, and maybe �500-�1000 in extras. ie. should come to no more than �4000 ($8000) for the four of us, for everything.

Accommodation and food for us all is likely to be provided in full. I'd probably do 3-4 nights each on any 2 of the following: Kaua'i, O'ahu, Maui or Big Island.

Do you think it's too long for them? They will be aged 4 years and 5 months, and 2 years and 9.5 months at the time of our outward journey.

Thanks again, everyone... you've been so helpful. ^

You forgot the most beautiful island of all. Kauai.

Definitely ranks right up in the beauty stakes.

If you can fly nonstop UK-Vegas and the Vegas-Hawaii that would be the way to go. Flying any other way means multiple stops which increases the time and chances of problems.
The UK- Vegas flights are about the same as the UK-NY flights. But from NY you still have another 5-6 hours non-stop to the west coast and then another 7-8 hours flight to Hawaii. Cut out the extra flight across the States and head to Hawaii if that is where you want to go. I would do this but especially if flying with children!

You can have stop overs in Vegas one way or both ways. Take a few days and see the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. Worth the time. If you allow a couple of days stop over you can easily book two separate tickets.