Gianni

Ciao,
I have to book in the next days a flight to USA to avoid the expiration of my AA miles.
I plan to go to Hawaii, we (me and my Wife) could travel from mid-April 2009 to mid-May. 3 weeks...
Questions:
AA looks to have direct flights from East Coast (eg LAX) to Honolulu and Maui.
So, I plan to go to Honolulu and fly back from Maui.
BUT, I would like to visit also Kauai.
Is it correct, as far as you know?
How I can arrange our trips from Honolulu to Kauai and from Kauai to Maui, only plane or also ferry?

Last question: for a 15 days stay in Hawaii, are 3 islands too much?

I am pretty sure: this is and will be our only visit to this beautiful place...

Please give us some advice, as usual...

GRAZIE, ciao.
Gianni

Odin

There are direct AA flights from the West Coast. We do similar trips also from Europe, fly from LAX to HNL and then interisland flight from HNL to Maui and then Kauai or whatever you want to do. Last trip we stayed overnight at LAX airport hotel and it really helped with tiredness/jetlag.

You can book the interisland flights on Travelocity or similar, you can't book on the Hawaiian airline website since they do not accept non US issued credit cards so you must go thru an agent.

Difficult to say if it is too much 3 islands in 15 days. Oahu has much to see esp on the north and east side which is very beautiful, Maui is the best all-round island IMO and Kauai had the least appeal for us. Some of my family go to Hawaii from Cyprus every couple of years and stay in Maui only for 6 weeks+ so each to their own.

Gianni

Sorry, I did 2 mistakes.

I meant EAST COAST (not west..), and I think that AA goes to Kauai (LIH) and NOT to Maui!!


Sorry, it is so difficult to manage ... a complex trip planning and in english!!

Grazie, arrivederci.
Gianni (Milan)

JohnD

If you are leaving from east coast (New York City) many US airlines offer direct flights to Honolulu (e.g. United, Northwest, Continental, Delta) but few offer non-stop flights (compare available flights on www.expedia.com). LAX is on the west coast, so it is important to know if you are leaving from LAX or New York City?

Island Air (turbo-prop) http://www.islandair.com/flightinfo-map.asp offers non-stop flights between Kauai and Maui, however most tourists travel between the islands by connecting through HNL airport on jets (e.g. Hawaiian Airlines).

5 days for each island is a good amount of to visit Maui, Kaua`i and Oahu.

Songdoc

I have been able to use AA miles to fly nonstop (from Los Angeles) to Kauai. Otherwise, you can book very inexpensive flights between the islands. I believe the only ferry would be between Maui and Oahu.

I'm sure you will find many posters (like me) who would say that Kauai is by far their favorite island. It depends on what you like.

There's more sightseeing and "activities" on the other islands. But for breathtaking natural beauty -- it's Kauai.

In terms of how many islands ... either two or three would work in 15 days.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.

JohnD

You might also consider using your AA miles to book interisland flights on Hawaiian Airlines between Maui, Oahu, and Kaua`i, suggest calling AA for mileage requirements.

Gianni

Sorry again...it's a disaster! I made a big confusion between "east" and "west" coasts!

To summarize: I have to use American Airline (miles).

Direct flights are from Milan to JFK BUT I have seen that they usually sell the trip to Hawaii with the routing Milan - London (BA) and London - LAX ..

So, I think that if I plan to visit 3 islands I could go from LAX to Honolulu, then by ferry (how long is the trip???) to Maui then direct flight to Kauai then from Kauai to LAX ... and home .

Ciao, grazie again.
Gianni

JohnD

Yes you can go LAX to HNL, depending on how many miles you have and suggest calling American Airlines and inquiring how many AA miles it takes to redeem a flight between HNL (Honolulu) and Maui or Kaua`i on their airline partner-Hawaiian Airlines.

The interisland ferry travels between Oahu and Maui and agree with SongDoc and would not recommend this$-) ~3 hour voyage, when you might possibly be able to travel in less than an hour between Oahu/Maui/Kaui for free on Hawaiian Airlines if you redeem your AA frequent flyer miles.

elsiemoo

I would do three islands in 15 days, especially since you aren't sure you'll return to Hawaii. I would not take the ferry, too much time, and not all that much cheaper, when you consider that you're losing precious vacation hours.

Odin

My advice would be to do the longest flights on international rather than take a long domestic flight from NYC-LAX-HNL unless in business class. So LIN-LHR-LAX-HNL is better than LIN-JFK-LAX-HNL.

langl080

check out superferry.com for the interisland ferry - but I think it only goes to Maui from Oahu. My husband and I are going to three islands over 14 days next month: Ohau, the Big Island, ending with five nights in Kauai. Try Hawaiianairlines.com for inter-island flights. We have three flights on Hawaiian Air (Honolulu to Kona, Kona to Kauai[via Honolulu], and Kauai to Honolulu) for about $200 each.

chepar

I would not bother taking the ferry from Oahu to Maui (or vice versa) unless you specifically wanted to ride the ferry.

It takes around 3 hours and there is typically only one departure time each day. At most there are only two departure times.

The interisland flights are quick (about 35 minutes) and leave frequently throughout the day.

suze

Going from island to island, it is quicker & easier to take a short inter-island flight, not a boat/ferry.

swblouisiana

Kauai is so beautiful--if you can make it there I would go. It is just unbelieveably beautiful and the people are a bit more friendly than we experienced on the Big Island.

I would cut it down to two islands. Island hopping is a big effort on tiny airlines that aren't all that accommodating. Stay on Kauia as long as possible. I'd vote Kaui and Maui. I don't know if American flies direct to Kauai, but you can take Hawaiian Air or Go to get to Kauai. To get to Maui you probably will have to fly through Honolulu but then could fly direct from Maui back to Italy.

I don't recommend the Big Island but it doesn't sound like you are planning on going there. Good luck!

Andrew

Not clear why you need to use your AA miles now. Why can't you extend them another 1.5 years? Just have some activity - any activity - on you AAdvantage account. I joined points.com and registered my AA account and got a whopping 10 miles for signing up - enough to extend all my AA miles 1.5 years (perhaps a waste, because I am trying never to fly AA again if I can help it).

jamie99

American does have a nonstop from LAX to LIH (Lihue, Kauai), we flew it two years ago when our Hawaiian flight got cancelled for mechanical reasons and they rebooked us.

Agree that Kauai is our favorite island.