My wife and I are flying into the Honolulu airport on Aug. 3. I belive we get in around 9:00 p.m. Our flight to Kauai does not leave until about 6:30 a.m. the next morning. We were planning on just sleeping in the airport.

I was wondering how far the airport is away from the city center. Trying to figure out what resteraunts or places would be open that time of night, and how much a taxi or public transportation (probably too late for that) would cost to get us there.

Thanks for your help!

Honolulu is a small city--the airport is very close to places to eat, etc. I would say 15-20 minutes max. I would suggest checking TheBus schedule to see if it is still running then--it is an excellent public bus service.

I posted and saw your response over at Frommer's - that you plan to check your luggage through.

As far as sleeping/staying in the airport overnight, I'm not sure if security shoos people out.

I've taken several late flights (departing at midnight) and I've noticed security questioning people who looked like they were lingering. Perhaps they are just trying to shoo out the homeless people - if you have flight plans they may let you be.

As I said on Frommer's, I wouldn't want to catch the bus that late.

I'd spring for a hotel room near the airport, myself.

But Waikiki is only about 25 mins. by taxi and would cost around $28 each way.

Suze- Ya, I was thinking about a hotel room. But I just could not bring myself to getting the room for only around 6 hours. Flight gets in around 9:40 p.m., then out at 6:30 a.m. the next morning.

But we shall have to see. If the airport is small, and if I get chased out by the security, I will have to check out that hotels are nearby, cheap, and have shuttles.

August 3 is a Friday....lots of places open, just not necessarily near the airport. How much sleep are you hoping to get? It's First Friday in Chinatown, so all the bars & art galleries will be open (not sure what time). Also Aloha Tower Marketplace restaurants should be open till 12 or 1.

Hi Dukeuni,

Have had many flights back home to Kaua'i coming in late to Hon. You do have to pick up your luggage on ground level. There is seating just inside - but you can not go back in to the secure area - we stayed with many other people who had early flights the next morning to Kaua'i just outside the secure area. The only thing that was open was down by luggage pick up vending machines. If you get in early enough I believe that the snack areas and a bar/restuarant inside before you must leave the secure part are still open till 10:00 or 11:00 pm - are flight did not arrive until 11:55pm - there are security guards that walk through the area where people are napping or just relaxing and walking around after a long flight - they do not bother you as they now that you have an early flight and do not wish to pay for a hotel room for just a few hours to return back to the airport. You can even go outside walk around for fresh air - not a problem. As a resident of Kaua'i I just did this trip back home with my father who lives in Canada - the security guards are very friendly and do not bother passengers - they only watch for people who should not be there. It is up to you if you can handle the wait.

Best of Luck

Darlene

Hi Dukeuni-
I posted a similar question a few days ago. We are arriving in HNL at 8:30pm on 8/2. We had considered going out for a bit and then just sleeping at the airport also, but we decided to get a hotel room so we could shower and sleep before our 5:30am flight to BI. We just didn't want to spend our 1st day on the BI catching up on sleep.

If you do decide to get a hotel, the Pacific Marina had the best rate ($109 internet rate), and they have a 24 hour shuttle.

My reasoning would be, if I had a night with NO sleep at the beginning of a vacation, it could really ruin things for me for several days (but maybe you are younger than I am?)

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier...if you arrive and decide you just can't stay the night in the airport, why not try the YMCA? I actually do not know if they check people in late, but heck...they're cheap.

www.ymcahonolulu.org
I believe the Central and Nuuanu branches are the branches with rooms, that are closest to the airport.

Traffic can be rather bad in Honolulu. Allow plenty of extra time, whereever you go. It will take a LOT longer to get there than what it seems. Beware the cab drivers. We ran across one who tried to charge us a lot more than our fare.

Sleeping in the airport is not a good idea. There are absolutely no facilities in the arrivals terminal and I think you are required to exit the arrivals terminal upon arrival.

All of the restaurants and facilities are in the departure terminal and you can't get in there unless you have a boarding pass for that day.

If you want to sleep at the airport you will be sleeping on a hard bench in the open air outside of the departure terminal. The area is covered if it rains and you will have access to a public restroom.

The interisland terminal does not open until around 5 am.

Still want to sleep at the airport?

I know I had two votes already ;-)

but to have a shower and a 4 hour nap would be worth the price of an airport hotel room to me. There are loads of ways to economize on a vacation (don't eat in fancy restaurants and drop a bundle of high-end activities and tours) but this would not be one of them for me.