UK to Hawaii

[LGS6753]

I hope to travel to Honolulu, Hawaii later this year. An initial scan of travel websites gives a minimum fare of about £700 with no stop-overs, in June. This is about £200 more than I expected.
Can anyone advise:
- when is the cheapest time of year to travel?
- is it cheaper to book UK-US mainland and US mainland-Hawaii separately?
- which carriers should I consider?
- is anyone offering a freebie?:}

I would like a stopover in mainland USA or Canada, but don't really mind where. Total duration of trip 2 to 3 weeks.

MTIA

[AlanM]

We went LHR-LAX with Virgin and the United to Maui.

Definitely worth stopping over as it is a long old haul!

[er82]

Aloha!!

Have just got back from Honolulu. Flew BA LHR-LAX and then American LAX-HNL...
Went standby all the way. Managed to get on all flights.
AA flights totally awful. 6hrs LAX-HNL and only one round of drinks and no food!

Getting out was ok non-stop. We came back via SFO which broke up the return journey and made it much easier.

Have fun! Try and go for about 2 weeks so you can island hop.

[corsaman]

Hi ER82, 18 months ago, I flew BA to SFO, nitestopped, then UA to Kona. The UA aircraft was tired and scruffy, and the breakfast service mediocre. Coming back at lunchtime, again to SFO, a good meal was served. The UA crew operating these sectors back then were predominantly very senior, and a joy to watch - on the return sector, one of them looked like Helen Hayes! I think the best value fares were the way-in-advance bookings with Hawaiian Air. The best reviews for service seem to be for Aloha. If you get a chance, see the Big Island - it was amazing. Good luck!

[marlowe]

If using BA staff travel take back up tickets had a nightmare getting out of Honolulu on American

[skyman771]

I did the VS LHR-LAX & UA LAX-HNL thing too some 18 months ago routing back via SFO. You need to be aware that UA don't really communicate with VS, so say you have to make a connection without a stop over at SFO you can not check yourself in for LHR leg until you arrive at SFO (though you can route your bags straight through!) & if you are running late inbound, you may incur problems, desks way apart......... I did ! Also if you route via LAX outbound without a stopover you will have a major terminal change which can not be walked, and you will also have to collect & clear bags at LAX. Again you will have to recheck yourself in & suffer waiting another line. It can all really be a pain in the backside. As for UA equipment, they were flying 767's and seats in front ecconomy sections had much better seat pitch than those in rear. It seemed to me these were allocated on a random basis and were infinitely better should flight be full, and some attempt at a rest was required !
All in all the Hawiian Islands are a great place & worth the effort.

[LGS6753]

Thanks for everyone's help so far.

My last visit to HNL was with TWA, with an outbound stopover in LAX. All for £350!!

[CentreFix25]

I went on honeymoon, flew NCL-LHR-LAX-OGG. It took 20 hours from leaving NCL to landing OGG, we lost the first day to sleep! The 5 hours LAX-OGG was a killer after just doing 9+ hours on the previous leg. I would recommend a stopover on the West coast.

[World Traveller]

I did the VS LHR-LAX & UA LAX-HNL thing too some 18 months ago routing back via SFO. You need to be aware that UA don't really communicate with VS, so say you have to make a connection without a stop over at SFO you can not check yourself in for LHR leg until you arrive at SFO (though you can route your bags straight through!) & if you are running late inbound, you may incur problems, desks way apart......... I did ! Also if you route via LAX outbound without a stopover you will have a major terminal change which can not be walked, and you will also have to collect & clear bags at LAX. Again you will have to recheck yourself in & suffer waiting another line. It can all really be a pain in the backside. As for UA equipment, they were flying 767's and seats in front ecconomy sections had much better seat pitch than those in rear. It seemed to me these were allocated on a random basis and were infinitely better should flight be full, and some attempt at a rest was required !
All in all the Hawiian Islands are a great place & worth the effort.

It is walkable, out the TBIT, turn right, [go up a flight of stairs, departures level is more pleasant than arrivals level] second terminal along is United! Will be far quicker than trying to catch the inter terminal shuttle buses.

As for the UA economy section, yes the front half does have more pitch, tpyically 35-36". This is called 'Economy Plus' and is not as randomly allocated as it once was.

WT

[Global Pilot]

Er82
"Went standby all the way. Managed to get on all flights.
AA flights totally awful. 6hrs LAX-HNL and only one round of drinks and no food!"

It is stby so you can't really complain about the onboard service. Don't american offer food for purchase now? Flew with them from MIA to San Juan last week and found them quiet pleasant.