I'm about to book our inter-island flights and thought I'd take a quick stop here to see if there were words of warning before I booked.

We're arriving in HNL on Delta at 3:30, so I was going to book a 5:30 flight to LIH (to give time to transfer). Best fare was on Mesa Airlines ($39 pp).

After Kuaui, we are going to BI. Since there are no direct flights, I chose a Hawaiian Airlines flight that routes through HNL (Depart LIH 9:25 am arrive ITO 11:11), figuring we'll get our car and head up to Volcano. ($79 pp).

After the BI, we are heading back to Oahu for a couple of days before our flight home. There were alot of flights to choose from but Mesa was the cheapest ($36 pp).

Before I booked, I just wanted to check in on the board to make sure there isn't some horror awaiting me on the cheaper Mesa Airline. Also wanted to confirm what I think I've heard others state - that in HNL I need to alot more than 1 hr between flights to get my luggage and get over to a separate terminal.

Oh, I didn't say, but I am planning to fly out of BI from the Kona airport - since we'll be on that side of the island.

I checked with Avis and there wasn't a rental car drop off fee

mesa airlines (GO!) is quite nice, smaller plane so fewer people fighting to get off, and it is comfortable. Your flight to Kauai is fine, you can stop at Stinger Ray's in the inter-island terminal and have a mai-tai while waiting for your flight.

We flew GO! twice last month and had great experience. Plane was spotless clean and comfortable. It is smaller than 737 (only 50 seats) but that didnt bother any of us. Check-in was a breeze, shorter lines, etc. Highly recommended.

Thanks for the reassurances - I'm off to book

I read on Flyertalk that Mesa has a different luggage weight requirement than Hawaiian or Aloha. Usually you are allowed two 50lb luggages per person, but I believe Mesa only allows one 50-lb bag per person. Please check their website for confirmation if you are a heavy packer.

My reply from above... it's either Mesa or Island Air. So please check first. I could not figure out how to edit my reply.

Island Air is supposed to start flights from lihue to Kona in September. So you might be able to avoid going through Honolulu.

http://www.islandair.com/flightinfo-map.asp

Go does allow 2 checked bags. See http://www.iflygo.com/goFAQ.aspx#BG

How many bags am I allowed to check?
Each ticketed customer is allowed to check two (2) pieces of luggage. Checking additional, oversized, or overweight luggage will require additional fees.

Maybe their drinks are good, but the food at Stinger Ray's in HNL is awful. We ate there during our OGG -> HNL -> LAX layover and it was such a let down after all that good food in Maui. Plus service was extemely slow.