Going back to Hawaii for our 5th time!
 

We are so excited and just had to share the news. I was able to find and book 4 FREE tickets (FF miles) there for end of August for 16 days! We didn't really want to go for that long but it was either a much shorter trip or that length. FF tix was really difficult to book, especially for Hawaii! This will be the longest we've been there, and the day we fly home is the day my children start school, so they will be missing the first 2 days of school (kindergarten and 2nd grade), so I hope it will be okay. So, I will be on the board once again, and look forward to talking to you! The last time we went to Hawaii was in 2002, and we only had one baby with us!

Congrats........i am going to Hawaii for my first time in April. I am soo excited.

Congratulations! 16 days won't be too long! :D
It's not worth worrying about the kids missing a couple of days of school IMO (I think this can be contentious!)but do let the teachers know beforehand and send them in with a note on their first day back explaining their absence/ inquiring if they've missed anything (probably just a bunch of paperwork for you!).

Gloat all you want- I'm jealous.

Congrats! Don't worry about the kids out of school a couple of days.

Lots of info including sites with free brochures for all islands:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34812564

That's great! We have been 4 times, and were supposed to go in July with FF tickets, but I just found out I'm pregnant and due in August, so I think we'll go next year with the baby instead. Have a wonderful trip, and don't worry about the kids missing school!

Enjoy your trip! ((r)) Even though the kids will miss a bit of school, 16 days is a lovely length of time to be there, I think. Which island(s) are you going to?

Thank you! We are flying into Honolulu, so we will probably be in Oahu for 5 or 6 days, then 2 other islands, either Maui, Kauai, or Big Island. We've been to all of them, which is why we are shortening our time at each of them.

Sounds great, Maxine! I had a blast this summer in the small surf in Waikiki with my 7 yr old nephew. He tirelessly boogie boarded. We were there late July to early August. He enjoyed Kailua also but it was really windy and rough. Waimea was flat and great for swimming, but he really wanted to climb the big rock that the teenagers and adults were jumping off of. I'm sure your kids will have great fun on O'ahu and the other islands you decide on.

Regarding my FF tix, Frankj93 wanted to know my secret.

My husband and I use the Delta American Express Skymiles card, and we pretty much charge everything onto that one card. The first year of card is free and you get 15,000 miles, too, as a bonus. So after one year, we close the account (in good standing), and open up a new one under the other spouse's name, because I just don't want to pay the $85 annual fee. They used to give us 15,000 miles everytime we opened a new card, but then they stopped (saying that we got it already from a past card) but it seems like last year, they gave us additional miles (maybe 5,000 or 10,000) when we opened. That's it.

Sometimes, they offer a double skymiles promotion on anything you purchase for a time period. And if you travel (like fly Continental), they are a partner, so you can give them your Delta skymiles number and they will add the miles.

I have to tell you, it was seriously frustrating to try to get the FF tix to Hawaii this time around. It was near impossible, due to our timing b/c of school schedule, and the number of miles (they are starting to require more miles for more fights), or the flights have so many stopovers, but with perseverence (and someone told me to check for FF tickets availability after 11PM or in the middle of the night), I was able to get 4 tickets at 35,000 miles each ticket. There is one stop though, so it makes my trip over 12 hours from NJ, but it will be a good to stretch our legs. This time around, my husband's skymile account had enought for 2 tix, and so did mine. Three of the last 4 times we went to Hawaii were on miles, and we flew to Acapulco on miles, so it works and it's worth it, if you travel.

I hope this helps you.

Congratulations! I'm jealous even though I made three trips to Waikiki in the last year - I always get jealous when anyone else gets to go! I went for 16 days this past summer - the only bad part about that was leaving to come home - the longer I'm there the harder it is to leave.