Using Frequent Flyer points
 

I was trying to use my frequent flyer points for flights to Oahu. But when I called, I was told"they are not available yet and won't know for 3-4 months"
Should a just buy the tix and forget about Continental points or wait and see. I want to fly in July 2008.

You might be able to get seats on a SkyTeam partner (Delta or Northwest). Ask Continental's partner desk.

Also, be flexible by a day or so and time of day. That helps!

Finally, I have found from using Delta SkyMiles, that seats open up at the last minute --- a couple weeks before the planned travel date. If they don't sell the seats, they release them for miles.

Using FF miles to Hawaii takes some patience but it is certainly do-able. We're heading to Kauai this week using AA miles. Most airlines load their FF seats close to 330 days out. Check out the flyertalk.com miles & points forums to find the details of your specific airline program.

We were able to get FF miles to Hawaii through Northwest; we used a codeshare with Delta. We had to get them about 330 days in advance. We found that if you are flexible with your dates and where you fly in and out of, it is possible to do.

Good luck!

As others said we got them close to a year in advance and they weren't the best of flights but we expected long layovers and didn't quite complain because it was free.

Although July I believe is a low time in Hawaii, so you might very well get good flights. Again try the partner airlines.

A friend of mine recently got FF tix from Continental. He told me that his secret was to check online around midnight. Apparently, that is the time when people's reservations that were on hold expire? He found his a month ago for end of January travel, and they were non-stop flights.

I recently got 4 tix to Hawaii (on Delta), and first it was frustrating trying to find the availability. But my friend inspired me, and I checked, and found tickets for August with dates that worked for me.

Good luck!

Maxine
Did you do what your friend did on Continental on Delta?
Do you think I can do that with continental for July flights?
Would using Amex miles be easier?
Thanks

You need to be registered on the Continental site (Continental One Pass) and have a log in, in order to be able to search their FF flights. After he inspired me, I registered, but still couldn't find anything with my miles (which was the minimum of 35K per person), but I did find a lot of flights for a higher amount of mileage, for both Continental, and on Delta.

Did you check to make sure your time period in July is not considered a "black-out" period? If you have alot of miles, it should not be a problem, because I saw a lot of flights for 52,000 miles, etc...

Maybe you can use your Amex miles for a free hotel stay?

Good luck!

I recommend going to www.flyertalk.com for a wealth of frequent flyer program info.

We went to Hawaii with Delta FF miles
three years ago with no problem. I started looking for FF points with Delta in August 07 for July 08... Tried everything for about three weeks and it was a no go with Delta, Continental, American Airlines etc. The only option left was to transfer our Amex points and fly first class with Delta. From what I understand, they have less coach availability with FF seats now, due to the cost of fuel. Tey want more seats paid instead of giving them away.

<b>Stephanie82</b>,

I just did a quick check on www.aa.com.

You didn't say where you are flying from so I checked Sarasota-Honolulu.

SaverAwards (35K miles) are available if you are willing to travel on MON, TUE or WED.

AnytimeAwards (70K miles) are available for the entire month, any day.

For 75K miles you can go on any day in July in F class.

Take your pick.

AAFrequentFlyer-
Not to put words in Stephaine's mouth, but I assume that since she had Delta points, they looked at Delta, Continential, and Northwest Airlines.

American has probably the best award availiability of any U.S. airline, except for maybe Southwest.
Delta is probably among the worst.

I know that I've misspelled many words in this post, but it's late and I don't really care. :p

The first post read that s/he was using Continental Points. Continental has Skyteam affiliation with Delta and Northwest.

As for July being off season, any month that children are not in school (summer, Xmas, and Spring Break) is high season for Hawaii. And you really have to book FF tickets 330 days in advance to go to Hawaii. Hawaii is the number one FF ticket destination.

I made reservations to go to HNL on 12/28 on Continental Airlines using 70,000 frequent flyer miles. The ticket only cost me 5 dollars; yes, 5 dollars. However, I'm silver elite on NWA and it was a lot easier for me. I'll be going to the Pro Bowl on February 7, 2008.

Also, it's best to check about 1 or 2AM. The systems have been reloaded and updated.

I just cashed in American Express points for flight to Honolulu from LA in Feb on Hawaiian Air. I like storing miles with AMEX because they have so many partner airlines, and you have a lot of options. I'm going on to Sydney and then back to LA, buz class, all with points Qantas said no buz class available for 6 months (I don't believe them). good luck.