As others have mentioned, SFO - NRT is a better route. It gives you a lot more options than HNL. I'm GUM based and can tell you that HNL is a toss up. One day it's wide open, others you'll be #91 of 92 with a bunch of DOH 1970's ahead of you. NRT... Easy

Thank you folks, that's very helpful. Really appreciate it :)

If you're OO, I'd definitely use the DAL bennies to do NRT/ROR as plan A. If needed, UAL plus ID90 options on Korean/JAL (not sure what the OO agreements are presently) are all viable emergency exit routes. Avoiding HNL for unpredictable non-rev loads is probably sound advice. As with all non-rev travel, plan for the unexpected, but this one's definitely doable without buying tickets.

Do not try to jump/nonrev on the island hopper.

What did you find was the best way to get to BKK? I'll be going out of SFO. Need to be there at a certain time, but lots of flexibility on return. Leaving middle of Jan.