"Hawaii for Dummies" - Flight Information
 

Hi All,

We have been talking about taking a trip to Hawaii for over a year now but I have always put the *kabosh* on the idea because of the distance (we did make it as far as San Francisco, however). So before I spend time researching, I have some fundamental questions to ask. We would depart from NYC from with JFK or LGA and I am assuming that the connection is made in CA. Minus layover time, what IS the actual total flight time to, let's say, the Big Island?

Now, this is another one of my *concerns* - to go inter-island, what *types* of planes fly? Are they 12 seaters, 50 seaters, or something else? DH is used to flying small puddle hoppers but quite frankly they scare me.

Some of you are probably thinking I should just sedate myself and the trip will be over before ya know it, but that's not an option :D

Delta flies direct from Atlanta to Honolulu.

Puddle jumpers wouldn't hold enough fuel to make the distance.

GoTravel: Just to clarify, I'm concerned that they use puddle jumpers between the islands, not from NY or CA to Hawaii.

posted too soon....have you taken that flight from Atlanta to Honolulu? If so, what was the flying time? Thanks.

Not sure on flight time from CA to NY - never done that connection - but it takes approximately 5.5 hours from San Fran to Hawaii.

Interisland flights usually fly those planes that seat around (very roughly) 125 people. It's not a puddle jumper.

There are Island Air flights that use the smaller planes - but even those will seat close to 50.

Then there are the true puddle jumper planes that seat maybe 10 or so - but those are usually for groups that want to charter their entire flight and can't work with the airline schedules.

Flight times from Atlanta to Honolulu on Delta are anywhere from 8 1/2 to 10 hours according to the website.

That is one serious flight.

I don't know if AA or United have a direct flight and I'm sure USAirways does not.

Maybe Singapore or one of the other international airlines has a direct flight.

I also think Vegas has a few flights.

Newark has direct flights to Oahu. We took this last year and it was around 10 hours-the puddle jumpers were no more than 1/2 hour to the islands and held around 100 passangers.

Good luck

Thanks for the explanation on the inter-island flights - that settles my concern of flying around in a *tiny* plane.

Sheesh....a 10 hour direct flight is a bit overwhelming. If we do this trip, a layover might be best. Thank you for the information.

AA has a direct Chicago to Honolulu -- it ends up being 9 hours and 20 minutes. My connecting flight to Kauai is 37 minutes, and on a "normal-sized" plane. Specifically, it's a Boeing 717.

I actually like little puddle-jumpers better, because they fly lower to the ground, you can see more, and are traditionally safer than larger planes (depending on who is flying you!).

I'm looking into Hawaii for Spring Break too. My travel agent found a package from OKC to Maui going thru Chicago on AA. We'd leave Chicago at 11:00 a.m. and arrive in Maui at 4:27. This eliminates the inter-island air which is nice. I think that is a 10 1/2 hour flight which is very long IMHO. I may try to persuade my 17 year old daughter that she'd like Cancun as much since we can go for a lot less and all she wants to do is lay on the beach. ( I know, I should not compare Hawaii and Mexico!)

Anyway - I'm going to hop on seetheworld's thread and ask if this deal I'm getting from travel agent sounds good. $5,585 for round trip air OKC to Maui on AA for four, mid-size auto rental and 6 nights condo on Kanapalli (sp) Beach near Whalers Village, Garden View, 1 bed, 2 bath. Sounds reasonable to me. When I priced air only thru AA website yesterday I got over $6,000.

We have flown from Atlanta to Hawaii twice, and even on the "direct" flights, there is a stop in either Texas or California (I think Houston). I don't think we got off the plane on those stops in Texas on the way to Hawaii. On the way back to Atlanta, both times we had a small layover in California (San Fran?), and then back on to another plane for the 4.5 hour flight from California to Atlanta.

The flights on Hawaian Airlines from island to island are on a smaller jet, but it's not very bad at all. You'll be so interested in the views that you forget about the flight, and most of the flights from island to island are not very long, anyway.

I think you would be much worse off with the overnight layover for two reasons.

First, just get on the plane and get it over with. Who wants to deal with airports, checking in, yadda, yadda more than they need to? Direct is so much less stressful.

Second, airlines don't usually let you have more than a 4 hour layover before they charge you for another ticket. If they layover isn't airline imposed, instead of paying for JFK to Honolulu, you will pay for JFK to SFO and SFO to Honolulu.

We are flying from Pvd-Newark-Honolulu Thursday on Continental. The Newark-Honolulu part is 10 1/2 hrs!

JFK via LAX or SF is much better than LGA. Also, definitely fly into OGG (Maui) directly from LAX or SF. The Continental flight from Newark to Honolulu is okay...long but not unbearable but the down time in HNL to fly to maui is a pain. The airlines leave more time than necessary and the interisland airlines are not as flexible as previously regarding switching to an earlier flight without a penalty.

We flew Boston to Maui with about an hour or so layover in LA. So from Boston to Hawaii was 12 hours total. As daunting as this sounds, if you're able to sleep on planes, you can arrive with plenty of time to check in to your hotel and have a nice dinner, thanks to the 6-hour time difference from the East coast. We left early, 7 or 8 a.m., and were checking in to the hotel by 4 p.m. Island time.
Regardless of the flight time, though, Hawaii is SOOOO worth the trip!

Oh how I wish I could just nod off while on a plane! DH is a pro at it - just one look at a plane and he's snoring :)

The answer to this probably varies airline to airline, but are these "layovers" just for refueling or do you disembark?

Thanks for the feedback.

Check the Sun Trips website, they have specials and fly out of Denver or SF. You would probably need to book your own flight between home and one of the two ports.

http://www.suntrips.com/

The Hawaiian Air and Aloha Air interisland flights are generally 737's, or something similar.

Our first trip to Hawaii, we flew backward from Seattle to Salt Lake, then to Honolulu -- it wasn't so bad.


((B))((B))((D))((D)) ((R)) ~:>

BTW -- to be accurate, Sun Trips goes out of Oakland not S.F.

seetheworld--we actually had to switch flights in L.A. Wish I could remember the airlines we flew...
I can sleep ok on planes, but my DH is like yours. Falls asleep while still parked at the terminal, wakes up as they're pulling back up to the terminal--even on 30 minute flights! Lucky for him though--he flies at least once a week.

American has a non stop flight from Dallas to Maui if that helps. 8 hours going over 7 coming back. No change in Honolulu.

Since the OP mentioned Big Island, UA flies non-stop to Kona (KOA) from LAX, SFO and DEN. UA flies non-stop LAX-KOA. Or you can fly CO from EWR-HNL, and connect there.

Those are the best ways to get to the Big Island from the New York area, as that's with just one connection. Forget about Chicago, Atlanta, DFW, etc...

And a 10-hour flight is much easier to do than two 5-hour flights. Trust me.

Sorry, my 2nd sentence should say "AA flies non-stop LAX-KOA."

seetheworld -
If you take the direct non-stop flight on Continental from Newark to Honolulu, it's a 10-hour flight. If you make connections from EWR, LGA or JFK, it's approximately 12-hours.

By "layover", I'm assuming you mean stay overnight in another city where the plane stops. Not a good idea. Why would you waste your precious Hawaii Vacation time to break up a flight? Even if you say stop in LAX or SFO, there's a bigger possibility of returning there in the next few years than there is returning to Hawaii as quickly. Tough it out.

And regarding naps: try Excedrine PM or Tylenol PM as soon as you get on the plane. You'll nap.

I am about to make my second journey to Hawaii next month from Atlanta, GA. It seems that Delta used to have nonstop flights, but now the "direct" flight stops in SFO for a short time to load/unload passengers. I suppose you can get off to stretch your legs? Anyway, I have read from several travel authors on Hawaii trips NOT to break your trip in half in CA. There are many reasons on why. First, to utilize your Hawaii time- you will need all the time you can get when you are there. Why cut short time in Hawaii you need to have less than adequate in CA? Second, and believe me this is a biggy...you will suffer less from the jetlag (especially on return) if you do not cut the trip in half and have to adjust twice. There is no easy way- but the lesser of two evils is to go all the way and not prolong the agony.

Oh, speaking of napping on planes, I always take the drowsy form of Dramamine -- knocks me out each and every time, without fail.

United Air Lines flys to Hawaii from NYC via Denver. You should check this route if you want to avoid the larger West Coast airports.
The flying time from the East Coast to Hawaii is all about the same. The problem with flying Delta via Atlanta is you are flying due South from NYC for 2 hours, and not getting any closer to Hawaii.
Enjoy your trip!