Hawaii family holiday - HELP!

Jay_E

Thank you all for advice! This is the first time I am planning a trip on such a large scale.
Time off is not an issue as most of my family work in education. We are planning on going for a week.
Hawaii was the chosen destination as a treat for my mum who has recently recovered from ill health and is a place she has always wanted to visit.

Keep the advice coming, it is genuinely appreciated!!

iltisman

I have been to Hawaii several times over Xmas and we always broke the journey in Phoenix LA or SF . It is a very long way and can involve a couple of stops which can be vulnerable to bad weather delays in December.
There is a big difference between Oahu which you see on TV and some of the other islands which suit people who like hiking etc. I doubt all 12 would enjoy this holiday unless you split the group with half enjoying Honolulu shops beach etc and the others who want to get away from contrived entertainment going to Kauai.

Murphy_The_Cat

MasterPoo wrote: »

I'm going to fly out from Dublin for my US flights this time next year, planning on buying in the sale as I want Business class tickets.

I should be able to bag all my US flights in one go as we will be going twice next year:

Easter 2016: DUB - LHR - MIA - LHR.
August 2016: DUB - LHR - BOS - LAX - LHR

I'd love to hear how it works out for you. When I priced my trip, if I ened up in the UK, rather than DUB, the price increased considerably.

Murphy_The_Cat

Jay_E wrote: »

Thank you all for advice! This is the first time I am planning a trip on such a large scale.
Keep the advice coming, it is genuinely appreciated!!

That's one hell of a trek for a week !:beer:

iltisman

I think time off may be an issue .You said you want to go for a week! Thats way too short for Hawaii from the UK .I think 3 weeks minimum if you want to break the jouney with a stopover in mainland USA for a day or so each way.

duchy

A week isn't realistic for Hawaii

Have you considered the Caribbean instead ? Much shorter flight times and all inclusive widely available .........or even a Caribbean cruise (which would be my choice for a week with such a diverse range of ages)

davetrousers

Jay_E wrote: »

We are planning on going for a week.

Hawaii was the chosen destination as a treat for my mum who has recently recovered from ill health and is a place she has always wanted to visit.

That is a blooming long way to go for a week! Any plane delays is going to eat into your holiday time.

Make sure she (and you all) has good travel insurance! The USA is somewhere decent cover is a must.

pelirocco

we went to Maui via san Francisco ( we stayed a few days either side in san Fran) I found that extra flight and time difference a killer.

Not sure why you would go all that way for A.I tbh , in saying that I thought Maui was very resort orientated , not a lot outside in the way of places to walk to in the evening , unless you stay in Lahaina. Whale watching is good at that time of year , and the road to Hana is great fun , but for the money and the distance travelled I was pretty underwhelmed

PeacefulWaters

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

I'd love to hear how it works out for you. When I priced my trip, if I ened up in the UK, rather than DUB, the price increased considerably.

Some BA metal flights out of LHR didn't appear discounted when we looked but others did. I vaguely regret booking Dublin to Philadelphia as the first leg because it means a four hour break and US "first" for the second leg.

But the trip bagged 560 tier points with BA so a whisker off silver status for next year's jaunt.

pelirocco

Jay_E wrote: »

Thank you all for advice! This is the first time I am planning a trip on such a large scale.
Time off is not an issue as most of my family work in education. We are planning on going for a week.
Hawaii was the chosen destination as a treat for my mum who has recently recovered from ill health and is a place she has always wanted to visit.

Keep the advice coming, it is genuinely appreciated!!

We had 5 nights in Maui out of a 10 day holiday in total and we lost a day somehow just in flying back to san francisco . The flights from san Francisco to Maui and 5 nights hotel I think cost us around £5k .....and that was on top of getting to san francisco.

Sorry to be harsh but it's madness to try and do the whole trip in a week