Airline recommendations?

[Luv2trav]

We are traveling to Aulani/Hawaii for our 1st time. My DH is very familiar with flying for work but it's only consists of continental US. We currently have United miles. However I am wondering if that is best airline to take on this trip? We live in Ohio with CLE and CAK being our closest airports. We are looking for advice. I like to mention we would be interested in 1st or business class if costs are not too outrageous.

Thanks.

 

[ihearthawaii]

If Hawaiian is an option for you, I'd go with them. Love them.

 

[Drusilla99]

We did Hawaiian Airlines first class in June and really liked it. Food, service & flight was nice all around!

 

[lizard1]

I'm in Ohio also, with CVG being my closest airport. We flew United to HNL. HOWEVER, we chose to fly from Chicago. The flight cost here is outrageous. It would have been $1300 to fly economy from here to HNL. We drove to ORD instead and flew first class for a couple hundred more/ticket (it was right around $1600). We had one layover on the way there and a direct on the way back. It had been 15 years since I had been on a plane, so I don't have any other experiences to really compare the flight to, but I was not disappointed (except in the wait on the runway before take off, there was some unresolved issue that caused our first flight to be 2 hours late departing, luckily it was also our connecting flight so we didn't have issues after that).

 

[longboard55]

I would focus on who has the best connecting flights and not the airline. If there is a direct you can take , always take that. Airlines have one purpose, to get you there, I have long given up on service

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

United would be fine, but flying business or first on a flight from the mainland to Hawaii is a waste of miles. It just isn't a great product.

 

[AcuraTL]

Try Virgin if you can, always on-time and it's a fun airline to fly with.

 

[nkereina]

We are flying from Buffalo and the best options for us were either United or Delta. Hawaiian Airlines works with Jetblue and we could have flown Jetblue from Buffalo to JFK and then switched to Hawaiian, but the flight times weren't great for us. United and Delta both had decent flight times and comparable prices, but we went with Delta because their long haul plane was newer with better amenities. They also changed in Atlanta which was an airport I was more familiar with (United was Newark or O'Hare).

 

[jerseygal]

We flew United non stop from Newark to Honolulu 2 years ago. We paid extra for the extra leg room. Lucked out, both flights on time, flew out early from Newark and left Honolulu something like 8:00Pm, which gave us a full last day at BEAUTIFUL AULANI! ENJOY, gorgeous resort!

 

[Luv2trav]

We are flying from Buffalo and the best options for us were either United or Delta. Hawaiian Airlines works with Jetblue and we could have flown Jetblue from Buffalo to JFK and then switched to Hawaiian, but the flight times weren't great for us. United and Delta both had decent flight times and comparable prices, but we went with Delta because their long haul plane was newer with better amenities. They also changed in Atlanta which was an airport I was more familiar with (United was Newark or O'Hare).

How do you know if the plane is newer?

 

[nkereina]

How do you know if the plane is newer?

I saw when looking at flights that Delta was using the Airbus 330 and United was using a Boeing 767 I believe, so I read up on them on Seat Guru.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We're flying from KCI to HNL next month on Delta. We're using points for 1 of the plane tickets.

On the flight there it's a 1 stop in LAX then to HNL on the flight home, strictly due to points, it's 2 stops 1 in LAX and 1 in MSP before arriving in KCI. All of my stops do have layovers. Cost was a bit more than $900 RT with points price being 55,000.

 

[Elima2015]

I'd look into flying direct from Chicago if you can (and take the 40 min hop over to ORD) or look for an itinerary with one stop in the west to break up the trip somewhat evenly. Unfortunately, Hawaii is a very long flight, but still considered domestic so we found no more amenities on our Hawaii flights than any other continental US flight (have to pay for food and entertainment, no goodie bag of blanket, toothbrush, etc). I've flown to London faster than to HNL and had way more available in terms of comfort. So just be aware of that. But I fly economy with 3 kids, so I'm sure its a whole different experience in first or business class! I've had the most positive experiences on Alaska and Delta. My parents always fly economy+ on United and they like that.

 

[happymommy]

Start reading on flyertalk. It is helpful to know your planes, seats, and all.

Coming back from HNL is pretty much always a redeye. Not so many lie flat seats offered, and those now are so freaking hard to get with miles or cash (I've taken my kids back 9 times and always use miles - never paid but sometimes go coach which is brutal from BWI/DCA/IAD, god forbid IAD). Start looking at 330 days out. There are sites to follow to check - also help is there with The Points Guy and http://pointspros.com/. I've emailed them both, but honestly the amount of booking I've done they can't even help me, LOL!

I can use Delta (not my favorite) through ATL with lie flat seats, but now it's gone from 75K round trip (if you're lucky) to 150K one way. Um, nope.

United has lie flat seats to Dulles - I have no miles or anything with them. I can transfer from SPG but it's not good.

At the very least, do some sort of comfort plus coming back. It's just not fun.

Also go on Seatguru to look at seat maps!

There is no difference between first and business class on these flights - for the most part it's either first or coach.

I've done this trip so many times. Also lived on Oahu so flew back to the mainland a few times.

I wish you well! It is helpful to do research and start checking at 330 days.

 

[CaliTex]

I agree with Happymommy on the importance of upgrading to something more comfortable, especially on the way back. It's BRUTAL without it! I'd look at price and schedule because I, like a PP said, have completely given up on service. If the airlines get me there in one piece, I'm happy. If I get there on time, I'm ecstatic.

FWIW, the WORST experience (like unreal bad) I have ever had, bar none, was on American Airlines. You couldn't pay me enough money to fly with them.

Good luck, and enjoy!!! Hawaii is gorgeous!

 

[blondietink]

We live near Buffalo, but have flown to Hawaii twice, once from Cleveland and once from Pittsburgh. Both flights connected in Dallas, although Pittsburgh has one that connects in Phoenix. We used miles for Frist class tickets for the Pittsburgh flights. All were on American Airlines and we had no issues or problems. Next trip we are looking at paying for coach and upgrading to first class with miles. We are tall people and coach was just too cramped for us.

We are also investigating flights out of Toronto. With the Canadian dollar in our favor, flights leaving there are a lot cheaper to Europe and Hawaii than from the states. It all depends on how far you are willing to drive.

 

[Luv2trav]

Start reading on flyertalk. It is helpful to know your planes, seats, and all.

Coming back from HNL is pretty much always a redeye. Not so many lie flat seats offered, and those now are so freaking hard to get with miles or cash (I've taken my kids back 9 times and always use miles - never paid but sometimes go coach which is brutal from BWI/DCA/IAD, god forbid IAD). Start looking at 330 days out. There are sites to follow to check - also help is there with The Points Guy and http://pointspros.com/. I've emailed them both, but honestly the amount of booking I've done they can't even help me, LOL!

I can use Delta (not my favorite) through ATL with lie flat seats, but now it's gone from 75K round trip (if you're lucky) to 150K one way. Um, nope.

United has lie flat seats to Dulles - I have no miles or anything with them. I can transfer from SPG but it's not good.

At the very least, do some sort of comfort plus coming back. It's just not fun.

Also go on Seatguru to look at seat maps!

There is no difference between first and business class on these flights - for the most part it's either first or coach.

I've done this trip so many times. Also lived on Oahu so flew back to the mainland a few times.

I wish you well! It is helpful to do research and start checking at 330 days.

Our trip is next March so we are well in within the 330 days. Thank you for your advice.

 

[Pooh2]

We did More Leg Room seats on Hawaiian and would definitely do that again. HA more leg room seats were much nicer than United Airlines first class seats and the service was so much better. The price was quite a bit higher but worth it to us coming from the east coast.