Here's my idea:
My family of 3 is planning to go to HI for the first time next summer. We live in Yorktown, VA, so have access to Norfolk, Richmond and DC and BWI airports.
We also have access to military resort in Waikiki, but just talked to a friend who said I should spend the least amt. of time there.
My thought was that I'd try to stay two nights in Waikiki or thereabouts, two nights on the North Shore and 4 nights on Maui.
I'm wondering about the most efficient way to book the cheapest open jaw air, including the hops between islands.
I feel like I'm taking on a lot for a first trip to HI, but with ya'll's expertise, I bet I can do it.

If you have access to Hale Koa, take it & spend all your time on Oahu there. No need to get a place on North Shore for a couple days. Not that I don't recommend staying on the North Shore, but Hale Koa is a nice hotel & inexpensive for military.

Oahu is not that big. You can get to the North Shore in about 1 hour from Waikiki.

Lots to do on Oahu. Many of the sites are good for all islands:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...hu_Hawaii.html

Maui:

www.mauihawaii.org Nice site of Maui Jon

www.visitmaui.com Free brochure

http://www.johann-sandra.com/hawaii/maui/index.htm Lots of Maui links

I agree with dusty....the Hale Koa is a lovely resort hotel that gets very good reviews. Why not spend all your time there, so you don't have to hassle with packing and unpacking? The North Shore, however, may take longer than an hour depending on traffic, how fast you drive, if you get lost, etc. Not that it's easy to get lost--I'm just a directionally challenged person so I always factor that into my drive time wherever I go.

Have you done any research/searches on this board yet?

Oh, I would put at least a night or two in the North Shore. The scenery is so very lovely and lush. Whatever you do, though, I would definatly go to the Arizona Memorial.
If you can, try to book a luau in Maui. Even at the prices, you'll be glad you did. We loved the Royal Lahaina luau.

egret - Are you thinking of the Old Lahaina Luau? It's the one in Lahaina, small, and strictly Hawaiian? It's been voted the best luau in Hawaii. The Royal Lahaina Luau is next to the Royal Lahaina Resort in Kaanapali and is not nearly as nice as the OLL.

We are going in October. We do our first night and last night at the Hale Koa. I like that we can spend our entire last day there before our late PM flight and change and shower in their fitness facilities which are very nice. The location is great however, I would not want to spend my entire vacation in Honolulu! The Hale Koa is on a wide section of Waikiki so you are away from alot of the crowds....however I would recommend a stay at the windward side or North shore for some spectacular snorkeling and scenery....

It's only about an hour drive to the NS from Hale Koa.

Thanks we definitely have to check out the Hale Koa. Now how about tips for getting that open jaw air and those hops between islands?

The Hale Koa is lovely and the travel office there has access to great discounts on things like the Atlantis Submarine ride and the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Do you have any odds & ends frequent flier miles laying around? Most of the major airlines have cooperative agreements with the Hawaiian companies and you can generally get use frequent flier miles to hop from Island to Island. This is only worthwhile if you have miles you won't use before they expire. We used up a bunch of Northwest Airlines miles we earned w/ MCI phone service years ago - we just never fly on NWA. We also used up some expiring United points.

Call the airline and ask! There arent any tips just request it and they should be able to accomodate..unless you are referring to traveling on an award ticket(?). We did an interisland hop using our NW miles.. I think it is 5000 miles for an interisland flight on Hawaiian Air...