Time Between Flights
 

We will be arriving in Honolulu on a Sunday morning at 8:35am. How long would it take to clear customs, pick up luggage and to move over to the inter-island terminal? I'm wondering what time of flight I could book for Lihue, Kauai. I obvisouly don't want to be rushed, but I also don't want us sitting around the Honolulu airport when we could be starting our vacation in beautiful Kauai!

Thanks,
Betty

Betty, Toronto has a US Customs and Immigration station. You may actually clear customs before you leave Canada. You might want to check with your airline, though.

If indeed you clear customs upon departure from Canada, and your luggage is being forwarded to Kaua`i by the airline, allow yourself about 30 minutes between flights.

The free Wiki-Wiki shuttle will transport you to the inter-island terminal.

On one occassion out 4, we have experienced problems with an airline being able to check luggage all the way to LIH when flying from mainland through HNL, for example one airline claimed that the computer was down and they could not connect to Hawaiian Airlines to schedule the baggage tag.

Try to make sure that your airline can TAG & transfer the luggage from Canada to HNL to LIH, and make sure it says LIH on the tag when you check it. If you are flying on different (non- partner) airlines would recommend allowing at least 90min. and closer to 2 hours if you have to claim luggage at HNL (i.e. if your luggage can not be checked to LIH and you have claim at HNL and recheck for interisland). :S-

Ahhhh...a breakfast mai tai with an extra shot for a dollar at Stinger Ray's!
Correct me if I'm wrong, their flights over to Kauai are like busses and if you're booked on the noon flight and there is room on the 9:30 flight and vice versa you can get on and catch up with you luggage later if it hasn't beaten you there.

We never use the Wiki Wiki anymore. After a long flight there is nothing better than the warm walk over to the IntIsl Terminal.
34 mo' days! ((#))B-)

Betty...Are you coming in from Asia/South Pacific? If so, I would recommend that you adhere strictly to the 2 hour MCT.Immigration is slow and customs clearance may best be descirbed as a health hazard.It only takes one time for me to learn not to make HNL my point of reentry.But once thru you will find flights to Kaui almost hourly.

Conversely, my wife and I are catching an early flight out of Lihue and need to connect in Honolulu for our flight to Narita/Tokyo. We are scheduled to arrive in Oahu 0801 and depart for Japan 0940. Any tips to make sure we don't miss our flight home? Thanks.

slimm.....looks like you are departing HNL on Northwest.NWA.com shows that for an international departure, the MCT is only 60 minutes..so you are fine....
http://www.nwa.com/plan/guide08.html
HTH...............S

Wow, what great help from everyone. We are actually coming from Hong Kong via Narita, Japan. (Spending 10 days in HK first).

I didn't think about checking our luggage all the way through. I'm okay with getting it in HNL but I didn't know the walk to the inter-island terminal was so close.

Kal, you talk about moving around easily on flights, if there is room. Don't you have to have a full-priced ticket to do that?

Also, can anyone help finding the cheapest fare. We have to go HNL to LIH; and then back to HNL to fly to Hilo for the second week. Seems like okay prices until we convert to Cdn $$.

Appreciate everyone's help. This forum is sooo useful!

No you do not need to have a full priced ticket to move around your interisland flights. When you check in at the Aloha or Hawaiian service desk they will put you on an earlier flight if there is availability. Also you may hear the gate agent on the loudspeaker announce there are seats avaiable on an flight that is about to depart and you may get on that plane.

Passengers and luggage don't necessarily travel together on the same flights. For example, I picked my college daughter up on Wednesday and saw her luggage already in the baggage claim at least a half hour before her flight arrived. This has happened to me many times. Of course, a few times my luggage has arrived after me which is not convenient!

Thanks to BeachBoi for the info.
Slimm

if this is ur port of entry from narita, u have to claim ur luggage and go thru customs. u.s. citizen line moves very quickly. for non-u.s. citizens, mornings are busy bc a lot of flights from asia come in ard the same time.

i'd give myself 3 hrs to feel safe, keeping in mind an extra checkin at the interisland counter and waiting in line at the security checkpoint.

Thanks for the feedback Mari808. I was thinking of a 12noon flight. That's three and a half hours, but maybe I can move that up as Kal has suggested.

If our luggage is on a flight behind us, that's okay as we can get our car retnal worked out in Lihue and then come back for the luggage.

I think now they make you and your luggage be on the same flight--I have tried to move to earlier flights a couple of times since 9/11, and they told me I couldn't do it as you and your checked luggage have to stay together--to prevent someone packing a bomb I suppose.

Thanks for the feedback RachelG. I think you're right that things have changed since 9/11. I guess I'll stick to the 12noon flight so we're not rushed. That gets us to Kauai before 1pm and we should be away from the airport by 2pm. That gives us plenty of time to look around before our B&B is ready.

Well if they changed it I guess that leaves mo' time for Mrs K to have her Mai Tai special at Singer Ray's!

Always look on the bright side! ((H))

I could have sworn we could have gotten on an early flight last year.

You can still get earlier flights than your ticket states from HNLU to Lihue. You're not imagining it, Kal. At least last February, we were able to move up to an earlier than our scheduled flight. Everything is so casual with the inter island flights. If it has changed, it must be somewhat recent.

We were there in Sept. and they told us we could standby for an earlier flight. Only problem was all the flights were full, nobody was able to get on.

Aloohaaaa klq! How'zit back there?

Thank goodness they still let you get on early. Now, if only Stinger Ray's had "Go Cups"! ((Y))

Thanks for this updated info. We arrive at 8:30am and I've booked our flight for 12noon. Not sure if they'll let us move up since it's on airmiles with American, but I've heard these inter-island flights are like buses and there shouldn't be a problem. I'm not sure how busy it will be on a Sunday morning, but we'll see.

Thanks again to everyone for your help!

Betty
(Freezing in Toronto and counting down till May)