After scoring an excellent deal on business class flights, I am heading off to Hawaii next year. I’ll be joining friends for a double birthday celebration, sun, sand and some well deserved R&R.
Everyone is leaving on Monday and my flight out is an Alaska Airlines redeye, leaving just before midnight. This means I have an entire day free and I am trying to decide what to do.
Inter-Island With Hawaiian
Since I am in the area, I am going to fly Hawaiian Airlines on their inter-island network. This is operated by the increasingly rare Boeing 717, so it will be nice to fly on one again. The last time I had the opportunity was a few years ago with QantasLink in Australia, which I really enjoyed.
Friends of mine are going to Maui for a few days, so I have the option of tagging along with them for the day, then flying back to Honolulu. That all sounded well and good, until I began my usual slicing and dicing of options.
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- Hawaiian’s inter-island network.
My next plan was to fly Honolulu to Maui, stop for a couple of hours, then Maui to Kona. I can hire a car for about US$100 and drive the long way to Hilo and fly back. That would be a pleasant day out, plus I’d see the big island.
Of course, there’s also Lihue on the network, which I know nothing about. There are plenty of options, but thankfully not too many, so it whittles down the decision making somewhat.
Overall Thoughts
I’d love some feedback here. Is it to be a day on Maui with friends? Or perhaps a day on my own exploring the big island? How about Lihue? Perhaps it would be best just to stay in Honolulu and do a quick out and back to the cheapest place just to say I’ve flown Hawaiian Airlines.
The good thing about it is that first class tickets on Hawaiian are not that much more expensive than economy. I am quite well aware of how short the flights are (no lingering over a four course meal this time!), but even so it will be a nice little treat.
Have you been to Hawaii? What would you recommend I do and why? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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I mean, I live on Maui so I’m partial, but spend time on Maui, SOOO much you could see/do/eat. If you had time I’d say land, drive up Haleakala, see sunset at the summit (AMAZING), then come down. But with Sunset being around 6-7 and it takes a good 2 hours to get down and back to the airport, you might not have time. Instead go to Ho’okipa, see the turtles and the waves, shop in Paia, eat at Paia Fish Market, then leave. It’s an awesome “last day on Maui” thing to do, even better for someone who hasn’t… Read more »
Excellent, thanks so much for the suggestions there. Always good to hear from someone who lives local. I’ll take that into account in my decision making. Much appreciated!! And I really like the 717 as well 🙂