OK, we would like to visit Kauai this fall, but, my wife has expressed some concerns about the time change, flying time, etc. Any hints or advice on traveling from the East Coast as to facilitate their experience? Any and all advice appreciated.

You want as few connections as possible. There are a few non-stop flights from the mainland to Lihue (LIH) each day:

United from SFO and LAX
AA from LAX
USAirways from PHX
Alaska from SEA

So, you can fly from your home city to one of those, and connect.

Or if you're in the NYC area, you can fly Continental Newark-Honolulu and then connect to a frequent intra-island to LIH.

Whatever way you choose, you're talking about 12-13 hours each way, including the connection.

1) business class; 2) alcohol; 3) #1 and #2 combined.

The time change is no big deal compared to the time stuck on the plane.

You could always stop off in San Fran or LA for a night or 2 to break up the trip.

Superdan,
We fly to Kauai almost every year and really......it is simply a long trip.

Have done the Honolulu to Newark direct once coming home and it was a red eye, so we got some sleep.

Going, we usually go out of Newark or Philly and break it up somewhere. Have done Phoenix, Salt Lake, Chicago(for some reason, I hate this scenario).

The time change does not affect me much going, but coming back is a killer. Usually takes at least two days minimum to adjust.

Thanks for the suggestions, will be flying out of pittsburgh; looking for that one piece of advice to convince her to make this trip; please keep the ideas coming.....

You can actually fly N/S from Newark on Continental to HNL and change there or perhaps from ATL on Delta.

To see them ALL use www.itasoftware.com

From PIT, the only one-stops to LIH you can get is via PHX (US) or SFO (US/UA).

We do this once a year and yes, it's a long trip from the east coast but for us totally worth it.

We fly from White Plains NY to Chicago. United has good service to Hawaii and we are Mileage Plus members. Depending on the island destination of the year we either take flight 1 directly into HNL or flight 3 to Maui/Kona (flight 3 stops first in Maui and then goes to Kona about an hour or so later).

For LIH we sometimes go into HNL and stay over for 1-3 nights, then fly Aloha over to LIH. Since Aloha is no longer in the picture I guess it will be on Hawaiian next time.

The return flights seem longer even though eastbound flying time is actually shorter. But at some point you're on a red eye and we don't like those. There is a 1-2 day recovery time once back as jet lag seems to work against you going eastbound.

When is your trip planned? There's a six hour time difference if you go while the mainland is on Daylight Savings and five hours when back on standard time. Going to Hawaii the time change is terrific, you get a good night's sleep and wake up early. Coming back you lose time and that's harder.

In terms of facilitating the experience...the biggest improvement for us was using miles to upgrade to first class. More space, more comfort, and a plus for me, a power plug for my laptop. I bring dvds that I've been looking forward to seeing and have my own entertainment system for the entire trip.

I hope this helps you convince your wife to go.

Flying F? We are otherwise loyal Hawaiian customers. However, for comfort, Continental stands head and shoulders above the rest. Their first class offers double the room and far better seats than the competitors. Next is AA (767 only), which wouldn't be as convenient from the east coast.

Aloha, beatofhawaii.com