Leg 1 of 15 Seattle to Hawaii
When we decided on Australia and seeing the 16 hour flight, we thought it would be a good idea to stop off in Hawaii. Even better, Alaska Airlines allows you to redeem the companion fair on a multi-leg ticket. After crunching the numbers, we decided to book the following trip: Seattle–>Hawaii –>Sydney –>Hunter Valley –>Bayron Bay–>Brisbane –>Carines
–>Live Aboard –>Sydney–>Hawaii –>Seattle –>Chicago –>Dubuque
–>Chicago –>Seattle. The last leg (from Carines to Dubuque) will take over 42 hours!! We are not going to think about that as we fly First Class to Hawaii on the first leg. Since we were able to book a multi leg ticket for BOGO the flights from Seattle to Hawaii and then on to Chicago and back to Seattle were all “one” leg. This was much less expensive and it also meant that for at least half of the long flight we could enjoy the perks of being 75K MVP Gold on Alaska.
After a quick celebratory drink in the Alaska Lounge, we were off to Hawaii. This 6 hour leg flew by (no pun intended) in first class. I have never had such a better first class experience. There was a 4 course meal and with the entertainment center, we had a blast drinking Longboard and watching horrible movies.
We landed late in Honolulu and headed to the hotel ($50 cab ride but now we know that Lyft MIGHT be coming to the Honolulu Airport) They are in a 3 week trial however the Lyft driver we requested did not know this.
We arrived at the Aston “Resort” … it seems that everything in Waikiki beach is called a resort which I have no idea why as it was basically a motel…maybe it is because they can charge a resort fee. The bar was pretty cool and we enjoyed an arrival Mai Tai before heading to bed as we have a long (but fun) couple weeks ahead!
Postcards to Iowa 