My mom and I are traveling to Kauai in November. We'll have to catch a connecting flight in Honolulu.

I'm trying to book the connecting flight to Lihue, but I'm not sure how much time I need to leave as a buffer.

We are scheduled to arrive in Honolulu at 6:05pm, and there is a 7:00 and an 8:20 connector. Which is best?

Also, any suggestions for (relatively) low-cost things to do on Kauai?

The 7 pm should be fine!
For the second part of your questiin (low cost Kauai) try posing a separate question and you'll get lots of answers.

Thanks for the quick response!

Thanks for suggesting a separate post for the "things to do!"

I'm a newbie, can you tell?!?

on which airline are you flying into Honolulu ? from where ? Los Angeles or San Francisco ? or ?

why don't you fly to Lihue directly from LAX or SFO?

We're flying ATA from San Antonio, to Las Vegas, to Honolulu. It was a special rate, so we didn't get to pick the connections. I have to purchase the Kauai flight separately since it wasn't part of the package.

The only concern I would have would be your connection to Lihue -- will your bags be checked all the way through. We flew AA and then changed flights in HNL to Hawaiian Air. Since they were partner airlines, our bags were checked all the way through to Lihue.

If you cannot check your bags all the way to Lihue, you may have problems with the connection, collecting your bags in HNL and toting them to the interisland terminal and rechecking them. I think it would be very tight.

If your bags are checked through and your flight is on time, you shouldn't have a problem. Call the airlines to verify if your luggage can be checked through.

Ditto B'man.

If you have to get your bags and haul them over to the int'isle terminal, you'd be cuttin' it waaaaaaaay too close.

I can't even remember the last time we used the Wiki Wiki. Anybody use it still?

Hi kmg123

If ATA will check all the way through to LIH, they may have a minimum time allowance for the connecting flight, so make sure and call ATA before you book. When I flew AA last month to HNL, they required 1 hour 15 minutes between flights in order for them to check the bags all the way through on Hawaiian Air to LIH.

Sorry KMG for a too quick answer, and for assuming you'd be able to having luggage sent straight thru to Lihue. If NOT possible, then yes, as said on other posts., 7 pm would be too tight. IF your luggage is to go thru to Lihue i still think 55 mins from arrival area to your interisland area is enough time. The interisland lflights use a first come first served seating arrangement (like Southwest Airlines) so you may end up sitting separately from your Mom, but if you have a reserved seat you should be fine. Check with the interisland airline (Aloha or Hawaiian) on the LATEST you can arrive at the gate and still make it to the plane.
Re: Wiki Wiki shuttle, Kal--yes, we used it most recently last June for flight Hnl to Lihue. They are airconditioned and fast , drivers are friendly and efficient, and i'v taken it so many times over the years that just the words "the Wiki Wiki" put me in an island mood! On last trip to HI, we flew directly to the BI and it felt like an essential part of the arrival experience was missing. OK...not THAT much missing, as I still prefer for the direct flights!

kmg123

be very carefully with your transit time in HNL !!

If I am not wrong, first airline, ATA in your case, is responsible for the connecting flight only if the second flight connection is included in the same ticket. If you get a separate ticket for the flight from HNL to LIH it might happen that in case of delay of the ATA incoming flight in HNL, some fare restrictions make your ticket useless and not refundable on the next flight !! Re-check well with Hawaiian or Aloha if you can re-use same ticket on a later flight without penalties or extra fees. To be on the safe side I would book directly a later flight.

In addition it might be that ATA in San Antonio will refuse to throughcheck your luggage all the way to LIH and this may also cause a misconnection in HNL if you have to spend time to collect your luggage and re-check it completely to LIH !

Thanks for your replies, all. I took a gamble and scheduled the flight allowing only 1 hour and 5 minutes, especially since they're now saying that's the last flight of the day.

I called the airline and was told it would be tight and that I might have to pick my baggage up the next day. I'm hoping it won't be a problem!

I have checked www.amadeus.net and could not find the 8:20pm flight ! It seems, if I am not wrong, last flights HNL to LIH are followings:

Hawaiian HA 375 at 7:00pm
Aloha AQ 279 at 7:20pm
Island Air WP 1287 at 8:05pm

I have no further information on this later Island Air except they operate with a small aircraft, while HA and AQ operate with boeing 737.

Did you inform the airline HNL-LIH that you have a separate ticket ?
If you miss last flight due to ATA late arrival in HNL do they (Aloha or Hawaiian) allow you to use same ticket next morning without extra charges ?

That would be my major concern, rather than the luggage, which somehow will come anyway ! ! !

Bet you'll be fine on that 7 pm flight!
It's obvious, so forgive me being compulsive re: details, make sure to have an overnight bag with change of clothes and BATHING SUITS on board with you, in case your luggage doesn't arrive til next morning.
\Where are you staying, if ok to ask? Also, the good thing is that Lihue Airport is pretty much centrally located on main road around the island so matter where you'll be, IF you have to get your bags next day, it won't take much time from your day (and there's fun stuff to see/do no matter where you are). Thre's plenty real close to the airport, in Lihue.

We'll be staying at the Banyan Harbor condos about a block from Kalapakee beach and 2 miles from the airport. it'll be no trouble at all to collect the bags the next day. (Or so I'm hoping!)