Awesome ideas, folks, thank you so much for each and every one!!!

Kailani - are you asking me if I am personally able to fly that route, or if it's possible in general? The answer to the former is yes.

And there will definitely be no checked baggage. :)

Well, I thought at first you would be based out of Oahu and making two short trips, which would be 2 round trips, so flying in a triangle would eliminate one flight, but if you did that you'd be spreading out your time more evenly and splitting up your time in Oahu.

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!

Yes, I'm thinking of a 'triangle' trip, as you call it. Now looking at Suze's idea of jumping right over to Hilo same day I get into Honolulu and at least right now that's looking good. Would still get into Hilo by 6p or 7p and have time to recover from full day of travel. Maybe go sit on a beach for the rest of the night. ;)

My ideas are trying to minimize going back & forth from airports, trust me it's not all that much fun going to & from the Honolulu airport from Waikiki even once, yet alone three times on a six day trip. That's what I'm trying to help you avoid or streamline.

Got it. I should have said I was not going to use Oahu as a "home base" but rather go from Honolulu to Maui to the BI and then back to Honolulu (or the reverse if that works out better for me!).

I understand, but still that would mean you need a hotel at the beginning and again at the end in Waikiki for one night, and a hotel in Maui for 2 nights, and a hotel in BI for 2 nights. 4 hotel transfers in 6 days. Sounds like you're OK with that, my suggestions were to try and maximize time (less going to & fro and more actually doing Hawaii things).

Leg One Booking is complete:

ATL to HNL & HNL to ITO on 12/23. Travel and rest day.

Hotel booked 12/23 - 12/26

Car for 12/24 & 12/25 (that's all I could get; hope to extend to 12/26am when I get to counter).

Plan to spend 12/25 at Volcanoes Nat'l Park. 12/24 too, prolly...

Thank god for online coupons. Saved on the hotel and the car (and heck, the HNL to ITO was only $61).

Y'all might be right about doing too much, but not because of time... because of money. We shall see!

Of course the more you "do" the more it costs (if it's tours or formal activities, interisland flights, taxis, rental cars, gas, etc.) that's just kind of how it works -lol! Trust us on that. Also be ready to encounter "island time" things move a little slower generally speaking in Hawaii. Good luck continued planning...

Crazy and the sad part is you won't get to enjoy any of the islands..you can tell all your friends you went to 3 islands but you won't have a clue what any of them are about!
You'll be extremely knowledgeable about the airports.

Christmas in the islands is a zoo and you will probably get bumped, since they oversell all the seats.
Good Luck..you are going to need it!
Aloha

Ah, ksucat, that may be true of Oahu, and Maui, but not the Big Island. (Maybe spend all your time there, Brandie!)

It's very low key, and tourism has been way down. Hilo and Volcano are very atmospheric and affordable.

Brandie, since you'll have a car, you might want to drive up the coast towards Hamakua or see Akaka falls.

I could make a list of the fun and affordable things to do, even though they're not "must do" things, the lava tree park for example. http://www.hawaiiweb.com/Hawaii/html...tate_park.html

Explore, and stay open to the aloha spirit. Look for free music and hula. I even like the Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory for all the free samples, and the Hilo zoo is free, with a rare white tiger.

I agree that getting to the airport in Honolulu is tedious.

Check out the websites and guidebooks for what interests you, and pretty much everything is wonderful.

https://www.htbg.com/index.php?page=directions

The Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens is quite spectacular. It's close to Hilo, and the drive on the 4 mile scenic route (see map on website) is quintessential Hawaii. The entrance fee is $15, but it is a concentrated dose of beauty.

There is a great Shake Shack (What's Shakin' http://www.yelp.com/biz/whats-shakin-pepeekeo) at the north end of the drive.

For restaurants in Hilo, Café Pesto is good, http://www.cafepesto.com/ and there are some others people recommend (I don't think your hotel food will be that great).

Ksucat, I went to Europe for a week and flew through 8 different airports and I still managed to have an amazing trip. I packed more stuff into 1 day in Paris than many people can do in 3 days. I will MAKE this trip amazing, no matter how many airports or transfers I have to go through. It's all about attitude.

Kailani - thank you for more links! I have to admit, staying in one place looks more and more attractive. It just seems a shame to go all the way to Hawaii and not see that sunrise on Maui. But the more I read, the more I come across things I want to do (and more, and more and more!).

Because I am still planning, I can extend my stay in Hilo if I like. We shall see!

Either way, I plan to go back to Honolulu on the 29th in prep for my return to Atlanta on the 30th. I can spend the rest of the 29th seeing touristy stuff in Honolulu, and in the early morning of the 30th, head to the Pearl Harbor museum. I depart 10pm on the 30th.

Wanna hear about my convoluted return flights? Four airports and 2 airlines in one day. Planning way ahead on THAT, at least, came back to bite me. :)

LOL..I figured you would be one that goes to 8-10 countries in Europe for a week.
Just got back from Kauai and things are real slow on the tourism department so maybe you will have some luck on not being bumped.
sounds to me that you love flying by the seat of your pants and if it works for you, right on!
Have a great birthday and enjoy the aloha spirit!
((*))

Well actually it was only 3 countries :wink: :)

Late-planned frequent flyer mile trips can be tricky, might as well make the most of the stopovers, eh? And I ended up seeing Prince in the Minneapolis airport. Funny!

Two restaurants we like in Hilo--very different - one look at each website and you'll know what I mean.

Ken's House of Pancakes http://kenshouseofpancakes-hilohi.com/

Hilo Bay Cafe http://www.hilobaycafe.com/