Once upon a time Continental business class space to Hawaii, such as Houston-Honolulu and Newark-Honolulu, was plentiful:
After the United merger, long-haul business class saver awards to Hawaii became a true unicorn, some of the toughest United awards to find.
But there is incredible business saver availability from January-May 2021 on Hawaii flights now.
For example, here is availability from Newark to Honolulu, with connections allowed:
Here is the unicorn availability nonstop from Newark to Honolulu:
Here is nonstop availability from LA to the Hawaiian Islands:
There’s also space between other United hubs and the Hawaiian Islands and much more:
Hawaii currently requires a 14 day quarantine, but they hope to lift that on October 1st with a pre-travel negative COVID test. If you book a United ticket by 8/30 you can make free changes.
Business saver class award booking options:
- You can transfer miles from Chase Ultimate Rewards to United (1:1 ratio) instantly. United charges 22.5K one-way in coach, 40K in business class, or 50K one-way in long-haul lie-flat business class for United flights to Hawaii.
- You can also redeem United miles for business class even when there is only coach available. Read this post for how to do that via “Plan B”.
- Having a Chase United Explorer card or a Chase United Club Infinite Card greatly expands the saver award space that you can book. United.com only shows the lowest available award rate when you’re logged in, so a cardholder may see a saver rate while a non-cardholder will see a higher standard rate. Cardholders also have the ability to book the last seat available in any class with Standard/Everyday awards.
- Turkish charges a mere 7.5K in coach or 12.5K in business class one-way. There are no fuel surcharges for United flights. Points transfer within a day (1:1 ratio) from Citi. Transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days. Unfortunately I have not had luck getting Turkish to book the long-haul flights to Hawaii, but they have been able to book connections in California. You may have better luck calling Turkish at 800-874-8875. Read more here for how to book these awards.
- Singapore charges 17.5K in coach or 34.5K in business class one-way. There are no fuel surcharges for United awards. You can transfer points from AMEX, Chase, or Citi at a 1:1 ratio, but it will take a day or 2 for points to show up. Transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days. You can book partner awards like this online.
- Air Canada Aeroplan charges 22.5K in coach or 40K in business class one-way. There are no fuel surcharges for United flights. Points transfer instantly (1:1 ratio) from AMEX. Transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days. You can book partner awards like this online.
- Avianca Lifemiles charges 22.5K in coach or 40K in business class one-way.There are no fuel surcharges for any flights. Points transfer instantly (1:1 ratio) from AMEX, Capital One, or Citi. Transfers from Marriott (60K:25K ratio) can take 2-20 days. You can book partner awards like this online.
Want to read more about Hawaii?
My love of Hawaii began 13 years ago when I posted and grabbed a deal paying just $87 for airfare and hotel. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to spend several months between the stunning islands, which each offer a unique and wonderful experience. You can’t go wrong with any of them, there are just 2 things is to be careful of.
1. Don’t get stuck in Honolulu. I’ve heard from too many people who spent an entire week and never left the city limits. That’s just a shame, they may as well have gone to Miami Beach. While I prefer The Big Island, Kauai, and Maui to Oahu, there is still plenty to see and experience on Oahu as long as you leave Honolulu behind.
2. Don’t try to “do” several islands in a week. If you just have 4-7 days of vacation then you should stick to one island. There will be plenty to do to keep you busy and it will allow for some time to relax. There’s no need to add the stress of interisland travel just for the sake of “doing” another island. With 9 days or more to play with, it does make sense to experience more than 1 island.
As for which island is best, read on and decide for yourself! If you ask 5 people you’ll probably get 6 different answers 😀
DansMeals: Hawaii For The Kosher Traveler:
- Part 1: General Info And The Island Of Oahu
- Part 2: The Big Island of Hawaii
- Part 3: Maui
- Part 4: Kauai
Trip reports and posts on Hawaii:
- Trip Notes: The Final United 747 Flight And 2 Days In Maui (2018)
- Trip Notes: Maui No Ka ‘Oi (2014)
- Trip Notes Kauai: Heaven On Earth (2014)
- The Hawaiian Islands. (2011)
- Traveling To Hawaii…With A 5 Month Old (2011)
- View From The Room (2011)
- Pearl Harbor…70 Years (2011)
- Shaloha! (2011)
- Hawaii Trip Notes: Kauai (2009)
- Hawaii Trip Notes: Oahu (2009)
DDF forum threads:
- Hawaii Master Thread: General Questions And Which Island To Visit?
- Big Island Of Hawaii Master Thread
- Kauai Master Thread
- Lanai, Molokai, and Niihau, Hawaii Master Thread
- Maui Master Thread
- Oahu Master Thread
- Links to trip reports from other DDF members.
Signup for free text message or push notification alerts here and you’ll be the first to know about every deal!
Will you book award travel to Hawaii?
Do you know which Hawaii destination have widebody or 757-200 service with lie flat seats ? Besides ewr-hnl
Off the top of my head these would all be lie-flat:
EWR-HNL
ORD-HNL
IAD-HNL
DEN-HNL
IAH-HNL
ORD-OGG
DEN-OGG
DEL-LIH
DEN-KOA
Sometimes SFO/LAX-HNL/ITO/KOA/LIH/OGG get lie-flats as well, but usually those are 737s.
no notstop available fro the way back:(
There is, for which dates?
To maximize time..Any sun-Thur in he whole month of Jan
“If you book a United ticket by 8/30 you can make free changes.”
Question: Can I make a reservation from Newark by 8/30 and change to a flight in July 2021?
The change fee is waived, but different in fare still applies.
the turkish phone agent found the business class nonstop for ewr – hnl 25k rt in less then 5 minutes
Nice, insane deal!
Which number did you call
Nereden Nereye Tarih Sefer Kalkış Varış Sınıf Kabin
New York Newark Airport/EWR
Honolulu/HNL 20 January UA363 08:20 14:18 I Business
Honolulu/HNL
New York Newark Airport/EWR 25 January UA362 16:10 06:57 I Business
So what dates are you going Dan?
There’s just no way my 2 year old would be able to keep a mask on for a long-haul flight 🙁
Also, just not the same without Jonelle.
https://www.dansdeals.com/more/dans-commentary/personal-messages/goodbye-jonelle-maui-photographer-thanks-memories-rip/
Just flew on AA and masks were not enforced for little kids, so ymmv.
United doesn’t enforce it. I’ve flown many times with my 2 year old, never had a single issue.
AA didn’t enforce for 3-4 year olds, so there 🙂
If transferring miles from chase, why should I do direct to United vs Singapore? All they seem to do is charge an extra 10k for round trip.
same question, anyone ?
Can I still do a free stopover on United? A sample itinerary would be ord-ogg-Lih-ord
“If you book a United ticket by 8/30 you can make free changes.” Are redepositing miles for cancellations included in the “free changes?”
Do any of the partners (Avianca, etc) offer free changes or cancellations?
I think ac
Seems like Turkish has a $25 fee for cancellations in advance. But still looking for info about United’s free changes with regards to cancelling tickets booked with points.
FYI, I found the nonstops bookable via ticket offices. I posted about it this morning.