Hawaii & San Francisco

Hi all [y]

Want to book a holiday visiting Hawaii & SF and could really do with some advice from people who have done the same trip. I want to have a week in SF and then on to Hawaii for the next 2 weeks, or It could be that I do 4 days SF and 10 days Hawaii, obviously I would like to have the 3 week option but not to sure if the boss will allow 3 weeks holiday so the 2 weeks might be my only option. Again obviously my first choice of holiday company to book with would be Virgin, but can anyone else recommend another company, who might be better or even cheaper!

Thanks in advance for all the replies.

Cheers

Trev

Hi Trev,

I have done a trip to Hawaii and whilst we went out via LA we came back through SFO.

I think the thing that hit us most was the fact that you are 11 hours time difference from the UK so the jet lag and sleep pattern stuff can get pretty acute. However - we tried to negate that with four days in LA on the way out then a week in Hawaii and then 3 days in SFO on the back - even so it was tough!!

Couple of other things to mention - the flight to Hawaii is five hours so you have that to eat into your holiday too and then depending on the time of year you go SFO can be a bit mild and Hawaii can be nice and warm - we had to buy fleeces on our way back to keep warm!!!

However theres some good stuff to see in Hawaii but I woudl recommend you get the hell out of Honolulu - but make sure you do go to Pearl Harbour - its eerie!!!

Have fun[y]

Hi there

Last year, we did a tour of the Hawaiian islands with Archers Direct who are part of the Cosmos Group. On the 15 day tour, we visited Oahu, Kauai, Big Island and Maui. It was a great to how different each of the islands are. My favourite by far was Kauai - it was the most like I'd envisaged Hawaii to be. I would have been VERY disappointed if I'd only visited Oahu as it's very commercialised; Waikiki is just like Benidorm!

We came back via San Francisco, stopping there for 3 nights, although you can stop as long as you like.

If you'd prefer to book a package where you do your own thing, compare prices with United Vacations, Kuoni, Travelsphere and Page and Moy.

Enjoy, U2fan

Hi Trev are you thinking of travelling in y/w or J as there are a number of routings depending on your pref.

Hi Trev

We did SFO and Hawaii for our honeymoon in 2003.
We booked it all with VH (they have definitely gone down hill since then !)
We flew PE, out to SFO and stayed 4 nights at Fishermans Wharf. Really loved it there. I would say that 3/4 days is enough time, unless you want to go further afield.
Recommend a trip to Alcatraz, a trolley bus tour, and pier 39 to see the seals.. they are hillarious but a bit pongy [:$]

We then went on (flying Hawaiian Airlines) and did 8 nights on Oahu. Hired a car and managed to go round the island to find some amazing deserted beaches. Ahhh.. memories Also did a submarine trip (amazing), Pearl harbour and lots of shopping, although annoyingly no tax free was allowed as we were going back via LAX.
Think thats a bit unfair as you can't get back to the UK from HNL without stopping somewhere and LAX airport is rubbish for shopping [:(!]

If we go again we would probably visit another island but for a first visit Oahu is great.

HTH
L2H

Hi all

Thanks for the replies

ade99, Haven't really thought about which class to fly! Could you please advise on what routings are available for the following.......y/w or J [:?]

Again thanks [y] for all the replies, all very helpfull indeed

Cheers

Trev

Originally posted by Trev2283
Hi all

Thanks for the replies

ade99, Haven't really thought about which class to fly! Could you please advise on what routings are available for the following.......y/w or J [:?]

Again thanks [y] for all the replies, all very helpfull indeed

Cheers

Trev

Trev,

If you want to go Y you have the option of going any route even if you're willing to go on the CO codeshare from LGW to EWR they then have a direct flight to HNL.

If you're looking at W or J then again you get the option of SFO or LAX or LAS and can then fly on with Hawaiian Airlines, getting you VS tier points and miles. The LAS route has a late departure whereas one of the LAX and the SFO flight have a nice early flight getting into HNL for about 1pm. Their return flights put you back on the west coast in the evening with time for sleep and then to pick up the return UK flight the following afternoon evening.

If you really want to splash out the best transpacific service is with CO (using their international bizfirst seats)and you can pick that up from Newark or Houston both having daytime westbound flights but overnight flights back which means either a long wait for the connecting same day return or a longer stopover.