Short notice Kauai (LIH) trip help

[haserfauld]

Hey all,

Normally I pride myself as being pretty knowledgeable when it comes to award bookings. I'm struggling to make something work here. My wife and I are moving from CA to NC in 5 months, among other factors, and we're looking to take a trip back to Kauai (honeymoon spot) before that gets a lot harder. Also need it due to the stressful time we're in, uprooting and moving cross country.

Because of that, I'm actually debating just burning what it takes to get there and back, even at non-saver rates. That's brutal, though, and I'd rather be smart. I have the miles for anything, really.

320K AA
50K UA
110K BA
320K Chase UR (with CSR)
45K SPG
105K MR
55K TY (with Prestige)

Travel dates are 4-15-17 through 4-22/23-17 (either return date works). Departure airports in play are LAX, SNA, ONT.

Anyone feel like doing some matrix ninjaing and helping out?

Thanks in advance!

 

[italdesign]

Do you have the BOA AS companion cert? That can save some $$ on cash ticket (Y only, I think). April should be shoulder season so it might make sense to pay cash. It's always been hard for my circle to use miles for Hawaii.

Or if you can wait until last minute, award space might open up.

 

[haserfauld]

Sadly, I don't have the AS card / cert. I've got 10K AS miles from the VX merger, but that's not enough to do much with. Cash is pretty painful ($800+). I was looking at UA out (saver award is there) and cash back on AA using TY points @ 1.6 cents. Might be my best option.

 

[Cmonman76]

If there is UA awards available you can also transfer MR's and TYP to Singapore to book UA. Not sure how this past weeks devaluation affected it but it used to be cheaper this way. And a good way to burn TYP's.

 

[italdesign]

I have an extra BOA companion cert that you're welcome to use for one way or RT. Let me know if you want me to check prices.

 

[kristian]

I book a lot of UA with Krisflyer miles. Space almost always opens up for me within two weeks. Only problem is you have to make the transfer to Krisflyer before the award space opens up since it is not instant. And then of course there are no guarantees that space will open up. But, like I said, it usually works for me

 

[Maverick17]

So west coast to Hawaii the golden tickets are BA Avios, Singapore miles, and Korean miles. But remember KE charges for RT only, and is a pain to book for anyone other than yourself, so might be more of a hassle if you're a bit stressed late anyway.

For outbound, the best option I see is DL with 2 seats on the nonstop LAX to LIH for the outbound on your date. That's 45k DL miles for 2, and would be a pretty good use of miles. It's also only 65 for economy plus, which might be a good choice for a 6 hour flight.

I'd snag those asap.

If that doesn't work, you'd have to do a stop. There is space LAX to OGG on your date, so if you're interested in Maui for a day or two, then using miles or cash to go over to LIH. I don't see anything to HNL, which has many more transfer options.

You've got the UA site figured out it seems.

The other option is Hawaiian Airlines. They have decent space usually and can be booked with KE over the phone, or with JetBlue or Virgin America.

Return, I'm not seeing much, but didn't have much time now. Alaska has low level on the overnight flight to SEA on the 23rd, but then you'd have to fly down on Monday morning to get home on presumably a work day. You might book on cash on the way home as you suggest, using the TY points.

 

[haserfauld]

Thanks for all the data points so far! I hadn't seen the DL flight before, but I also see a non-stop saver award on United available at the same rate:


I'd probably be inclined to take that one, especially since I believe I have an economy plus subscription from something that's still active on UA. I have zero relationship with DL (I don't even think I have a FF account with them, lol).

Return, as you all mentioned, is the problem. This cash fare is very tempting, but we both have to work Monday, and this would be absolutely brutal:



This could work, especially since I have United selected as my airline on my AMEX Plat, and haven't used the 2017 credit yet. Same redeye (ugh), but fairly low cost:

 

[haserfauld]

I have an extra BOA companion cert that you're welcome to use for one way or RT. Let me know if you want me to check prices.

I don't know entirely how that works, but I'd certainly appreciate quotes for 4/22 or 4/23. Thanks! We really don't want to do a redeye in economy to end our "relaxation" trip.

 

[italdesign]

No problem. I checked and found nothing good. No direct flight to any LA-area airport, and the available options are either red eye or requires overnight layover in SEA. The UA $269 is a fantastic deal. I would try to psychologically downplay the misery of the flight and think about the cost saving

 

[haserfauld]

No problem. I checked and found nothing good. No direct flight to any LA-area airport, and the available options are either red eye or requires overnight layover in SEA. The UA $269 is a fantastic deal. I would try to psychologically downplay the misery of the flight and think about the cost saving

I think we'd have to do the Sat-Sun redeye, which would save us a night of hotel and give us all day Sunday at home to nap, rest, unpack, etc. I'm hoping that if we book it, knowing that flight is coming up won't put a cramp on our island vibe

 

[haserfauld]

Crap, the $319 sold out fast.

 

[haserfauld]

This is my new favorite option (via TY points):



The stop is 2.5 hours in HNL.

But that $270 is crazy (via TY points):

 

[haserfauld]

Out of curiosity-

My wife is flying to the east coast in May. Might there be any opportunity for saving/hacking by booking her LIH > east coast with a month-long open-jaw at LAX? I've never worked with extended open-jaws.

 

[haserfauld]

We ended up booking LIH > LAX on Saturday, direct, 12:50pm to 9:25pm, and using points + paying $300 OoP. We decided it was worth it not to have a terrible flight to end our trip, and almost the entire travel cost (flight out, hotel, car) will be covered with points / CC travel credit (CSR and Prestige). Stoked!