The title says it all. Just two nights in Honolulu...what?!? I found out that my brother Ed, his wife Angela and daughter Abby were going to be there for a week in early May. Kaleb and I were booked on a 3.5 week trip to Europe around mid-May for his sabbatical. Kaleb had to work, but I had a few days free before our flight to London - the luxury of being "funemployed". Why not go? I had points I could redeem for hotel nights and a non-stop flight to Honolulu. There was a tiny risk that my flight returning to the mainland could get canceled, throwing a wrench into the start of the Europe trip, but I was willing to take the chance. Jet lag issues could arise from gaining and losing three hours flying to and from Hawaii in a few days, then losing eight hours going eastward a day later, but I like doing crazy things once in a while. (like multiple
mileage runs in the past)
My parents decided to come as well and I had enough points for all of us to go. I transferred
AMEX Membership Rewards (MR) points to Hawaiian Airlines (plus 0.06 cents per point fee) to book a roundtrip ticket for myself and one-way inbound tickets for them. Their outbound tickets on Alaska Airlines were booked by redeeming AMEX MR points using the
50% points rebate benefit from the
AMEX Business Platinum Card, a great deal! (AMEX realized it was *too* good and lowered it to 35% nowadays) For example, the tickets cost around $650, which would translate to 65,000 MR points. With the 50% points rebate, we got 32,500 MR points back.
The hotel was booked with
Hilton Honors points, accumulated from past stays and during the springtime
Daily Getaways promotion. Since my parents could stay longer, I made a reservation for five nights. Due to my
Diamond (or any elite) status, if you book four consecutive award nights, the fifth night is free. The $35/day resort fee is waived for award stays. A $10 per guest per day dining credit was also provided for Diamonds; a total of $100 for the stay. Also, when I got to the booking confirmation page, I noticed a banner ad with a $15 offer. After I clicked through and filled out a form, I received a certificate for $15 food and beverage credit to redeem at the front desk. It does pay to be observant!
FYI: I got Diamond status back in spring 2016 through a match with my IHG Platinum status that I got from merely having the IHG credit card. I was surprised it would be good until March 2018, which came in handy for many of our trips this year.
Ed and his family ended up flying a couple of days earlier into Honolulu (I couldn't change our flights by that time) and told me that they managed to get a room in the desirable
Rainbow Tower when they checked in at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I decided to try using mobile check-in on the Hilton Honors app, available 24 hours before arrival, to see if I could get a Rainbow Tower room ahead of time. In the app, I could see all of the available rooms in all towers, and thankfully, I was able to choose from four available Rainbow Tower rooms.
It was a very early morning flight to Honolulu, but at least it was non-stop. Hawaiian Airlines serves a
complimentary in-flight meal. For breakfast, it was a veggie and egg sandwich with fresh fruit and a
Honolulu Cookie Company shortbread cookie (yum!).
 |
| aisle seat with decent legroom |
|
 |
| breakfast...note the seatback USB charging plug |
|
 |
| snack before landing |
Ed was picking us all up from the airport. I arrived a couple of hours earlier than my parents, so I went to the
IASS Lounge, located in a courtyard inside the airport. Entrance was complimentary using the
Priority Pass, a benefit of many credit cards such as
AMEX Platinum and
Chase Sapphire Reserve. It wasn't a great lounge, but it had free wi-fi, cold drinks, a few power outlets and a Pokestop. :)
 |
| courtyard in the airport |
|
 |
| one of the few plugs in the lounge |
|
 |
| lounge was empty when I got there, but got busy later |
|
 |
| used a lure to pass the time |
|
I met my parents at their gate, retrieved their luggage from baggage claim (I only had a carry on) and walked over to the car rental area as Ed was swapping cars. All six of us fit into an SUV with third-row seating.
Next stop was
Costco for lunch. The parking lot was madness; this location is the busiest Costco in the US. We ordered from the outdoor food court, but Angela braved the crowds inside to get some fresh poke. I'm always amazed at how similar the prices are to the mainland. It's great that the Hawaiian Costcos offer items like poke and other local foods. Too bad no containers of fresh cut papaya were available for purchase today.
 |
| poke for lunch |
We headed to the
Hilton Hawaiian Village afterwards. The property was undergoing renovations with temporary outdoor walkways that were too narrow and caused jams, especially with baby strollers. We made our way to the open air lobby and approached the "Digital Check-In" counter as I had done so on the mobile app. The desk agent gave a friendly greeting, thanked me for being a loyal Diamond member, and told me she'd search inventory for a better room than the one I chose, and bingo, my 4th floor harborview room was switched to a oceanfront room on the 19th floor...spectacular!
 |
| iconic Rainbow Tower |
|
 |
| view from our room |
|
 |
| double beds |
|
 |
| coffee/tea service |
|
 |
| safe in the closet |
|
 |
| standard bathroom |
|
|
|
 |
| resort benefits |
|
 |
| Diamond benefits |
|
 |
| dining credit locations |
|
 |
| towel and DVD rental card |
|
 |
| free water - though I think they ask you to go on a timeshare tour |
|
 |
| press the floor you want... |
|
 |
| ...since there are no floor buttons in the elevator! |
|
For dinner, I had found a restaurant on Yelp called
Yotteko-Ya, serving Kyoto-style ramen. (which closed a month after we were there, sold to another ramen place) We walked back to the hotel parking garage, stopping by an ABC store along the way. This is where I get my favorite
7D Mangoes.
 |
| in my opinion, the best dried mangoes |
|
 |
| spam musubi! |
|
 |
| lots of reasonably priced food |
It was a short drive to Yotteko-Ya. There was a parking garage for the strip mall. The ramen restaurant was located on the second floor. We ordered various set menus that included an appetizer, a bowl of ramen and fried rice. It was very tasty, though it would have been great if they offered soft-boiled eggs.
 |
| sliding wooden door entrance |
|
 |
| my dinner |
|
One night down, one more to go! On Tuesday morning, we indulged in the breakfast buffet inside
Rainbow Lanai. Everything was super fresh, with omelettes made to order. It cost about $32 total per person, but the quality was there. It also helped to have the daily dining credit. Even though the Diamond benefit is advertised as $10 per person per day (max $20 a day), in our experience, the 5 days of dining credits were lumped into one $100 statement credit on the final bill, so you could just enjoy one big meal on property if you wish.
 |
| made-to-order omelette, just the right proportions |
|
 |
| so much yummy fruit |
|
After breakfast, we changed into our swimwear and enjoyed the afternoon in the man-made lagoon. There was hardly any shade in the area, so renting chairs and umbrellas were essential. We did a little bit of snorkeling in the lagoon - not a lot to see. We also rode the water slides at the resort pool...they were short but fun, especially the dark enclosed tube.
For dinner, we went to another highly rated restaurant on Yelp,
Sura Hawaii, a Korean/yakiniku BBQ. It was different than the places I've been to on the mainland. The exhaust fans were flexible, so when a server came to cook our food, she would pull down the fan so it would suck up the initial pouring of smoke from the sizzling meats on the grill. It helped to cut down on the all-too-familiar BBQ smell that clings to your clothes for hours, even days afterwards. Also, there were sections next to the grill where eggs and veggies could slowly cook using the residual heat...delicious! If this is your first time eating in this fashion, ask the server to explain how everything works. Parking was easy as there was a dedicated lot a couple of blocks from the restaurant, free with validation.
 |
| the setup, with salad and few panchan |
|
 |
| flexible exhaust comes down to suck up smoke |
|
 |
| pork belly |
|
 |
| rib eye (the egg on the side is cooked now) |
|
Second night over - time for me to go home! My flight was leaving early Wednesday afternoon, so we grabbed a quick breakfast at the
Pronto Pickle and went to the
Ala Moana Center to pass time and grab lunch before heading to the airport.
|
|
 |
| just oatmeal |
|
I had never been to Ala Moana Center, an upscale shopping mall. We had fun window shopping, looking at the koi pond and visiting the
Tesla showroom.
 |
| lots of choices in the food court - I got sushi and poke |
I was dropped off at the airport with just an hour to spare before departure, cutting it a bit too close for most people. With only a carry-on and
TSA PreCheck, I sailed through security and got to the gate just before boarding started. The return journey was non-eventful, with complimentary dinner served in economy, a nice
inclusion on Hawaiian Airlines. Thankfully, I was able to make it home as scheduled.
 |
| similar seat with slow-charging USB plug |
|
 |
| snack and beverage |
|
 |
| garlic pepper chicken |
Tomorrow, I fly to London with Kaleb on our European adventure...perhaps it'll cancel out my westbound jet lag? (ha, not likely!) Stay tuned...
***
If you came here from a Facebook or Twitter link, thanks for clicking the "Facebook Like" button below or retweeting!
Don't miss a blog entry! Sign up for updates direct to your inbox
here or add the blog to your
RSS feed.
Getting excited reading about these trips and want to go? I am a travel agent - contact me at
yellowdogtravel at gmail d0t com with your ideas and I can help you plan it! Or if you've already put a deposit on a cruise through the cruise line, contact me to get more information on transferring the reservation to me to get bonuses like extra onboard credit or gifts. I have lots of happy returning clients - references always available.
Come check out my other blog "
What in the world is Kat Kong doing now?", documenting things other than traveling...sign up for blog updates direct to your inbox
here!
Another disclaimer: The intention of this blog was to remind Future Me in full detail about where I went and what I did. I could have made it private, but I frequently get questions from family, friends and internet folks about how I planned things, got deals, etc., so instead of repeating the story over and over, I direct them here. If you are offended by anything I say or do, save yourself the discomfort and kindly click away from my blog. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
