East Coast to Kauai, HI in August - Travel Tips?

Parent Cafe
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My niece is getting married in Kauai in late August. I’m responsible for getting me, daughter (21) and mom (93) there, and back. I haven’t started too much research yet, but already I’m in high agita. So far, it seems best for me to go from NYC to Florida to get mom, next day go with mom to maybe LAX, stay overnight and take a flight to HI next day. DD wants to meet us in LA on her own. It sounds simple but if anyone has ideas or tips on best routes, worst routes, which airlines best or worst, anything would help. Is stopping over in LA best, or is there another stopping place?

Also, DD will probably have to zoom back to NYC day after wedding because her school starts that same day and as it is she’ll have to miss at least that day and maybe next. Tips on her best routes flying in one day from HI to NYC?

Also, if we do stay over in LA, tips on airport hotels? I’ve never been to LA or HI so I’m in the dark on everything.

BTW, don’t ask me what I think about niece from Seattle deciding to get married in HI, beautiful though I’m sure it is, when the only connection anyone has to it, is the boyfriend’s parents, who live in LA, “have a house there.” So everyone from Northwest, where bride, groom, and her whole extended family on one side, and Northeast, where rest of family resides, have to all go there? As I said, don’t ask. And, to expect 93 year old
Grandma of bride to make that trip?

As I say, we don’t ask these questions, Only about logistics.
Any help much appreciated.

Once in HI, we are at Sheraton, as per FOB instructions.

2

The best flights from the east coast to Hawaii are probably the Hawaiian airlines direct to Oahu, and then Oahu to Kauai. If your mom can get to NY on her own, I would recommend that, and certainly for your DD on the way home. The problem with stopping in LA is that if you miss your connection, there are not a lot of later flights going to the same place. If you make it all the way to Honolulu, there are flights every hour to Kauai, plus at least you are in Hawaii!. I loved Kauai but I can understand your frustration with the wedding thing - that sure is a far distance for the family to travel.

3

Does grandma have a carer? She shouldn’t go. If no one is around to care for grandma, then you can’t go. I don’t see a big dilemma. It’s crazy to even think of taking a 93 year old person on a trip of that length and duration. The niece was probably assuming that she had to include her, and fully expects grandma not to attend. Grandma should decline the invitation with no hard feelings.

As for the niece wanting to marry in Hawaii, why not? The wedding day is about the couple getting married. The niece and her groom probably think they are creating a nice opportuntity for friends and family to attend a wedding and have a lovely vacation at the same time.

FWIW, my husband and I got married on the West Coast. We lived in England at the time. Most of,his family did come, but some couldn’t. That was fine. We knew it was going to involve time and expense to get to the wedding. I never got the impression that the family members who didn’t come were upset about our choice of location. Frankly, we didn’t consider that anyway. It was our wedding, and while we wanted to celebrate, we also wanted to do what we wanted to do. If no one had showed up, we would have been ok. It’s your niece’s wedding, not yours or grandma’s.

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Patatty Thanks for the info on trying to get straight to Honolulu. It is really helpful to hear that because it’s helping me to maybe change my fixed idea that we should do it over the 2 days. If my mom thinks she can sit for that long then maybe we can all do it. I’ll see if there are flights nonstop from JFK. Did you mean nonstop?

To Lindagaf, mom is very much master of her domain and with all her faculties. And a very determined person. She wants to go. So I am going to help her. She lives alone and takes care of herself. But flying alone for a big trip like this, even I wouldn’t want to do it alone.

just going to add that yes it’s niece’s wedding but to just coldly disregard the only grandparent she has and think “well she just won’t come” is not acceptable to me. Does she want to pay mom back for the portions of her Ivy League degree she contributed? I don’t think so. I’m not going to revisit this part of it all again on CC.

5

If you have to make a stop on the West Coast… Take a direct flight to LIH from SJC or OAK or PDX. Or even SEA. Avoid LAX at all costs!!! It is a nasty airport. Check Alaska, Delta, and Hawaiian Air.

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@amylou, yes the Hawaiian Airlines flight is nonstop from JFK to Honolulu - leaves about 10am from JFK, arriving early afternoon, giving plenty of time to catch a connection to LIH on Kauai. The return flight leaves mid-afternoon from Honolulu, again giving plenty of time to get there from Kauai. The food and service on Hawaiian Airlines is pretty good too. If you can snag a premium economy seat, you will have a bit more legroom on the long overnight flight home.

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I would fly direct to Lihue. We flew into Honolulu once and it was very tiring to change planes after a long flight. You can fly directly from Dallas and Denver as well as the west coast cities.

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Mom will have to travel to NYC to catch that long flight to HNL, so that is 3 plane changes. If your mom lives near a major airport like Miami, Orlando, Tampa, etc., break that travel up into two parts: FL to West Coast and then direct to Lihue. Don’t do red eye flights… and splurge on first class. Buy your tickets now - they will not get cheaper.

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How much experience do you, your mother, and your daughter have with flying on commercial airline flights, including those with connections?

10

Looks like non-stops from the mainland to LIH (Līhuʻe, Kauai) can be from:

OAK (Oakland) or LAX (Los Angeles) on Hawaiian
OAK, PDX (Portland), SAN (San Diego), SJC (San Jose), or SEA (Seattle) on Alaska

Otherwise, the most available flights are likely to be to HNL (Honolulu; Hawaiian has flights from many mainland airports) followed by an interisland flight to LIH.

11

I just wanted to give a voice of encouragement. My sister took my then 88 year old mom to Kauai a couple years ago. My mom sounds like yours - she is now over 90 and I know would go again. They left from a smaller Mid-west city, so no connections to suggest for you, but I know the arrangements my mom and sis had were not non-stop and mom managed fine.

DH and I were in Honolulu for the 75th Pearl Harbor attack commemorations. We flew out of Chicago with a number of 90+ year old survivors and family members. A very spry group, even those returning with us on a pre-dawn flight.

I don’t know Hawaiian Airlines. If their seat configurations are as miserly as United, I would recommend paying a bit extra for more legroom. (I am a small person as is DH, but we appreciate the extra room on longer flights.)

12

Thanks all. At this unofficial point, looks like mom and I may go from ft Lauderdale to Seattle or LAX, then nonstop to LIH next day. DD maybe will go the JFK-Honolulu-LIH route alone if she agrees. This has now taken me 3 hours, so far, and I haven’t even begun the return flights, hotels, and car. I thank everyone for their advice. Sometimes it’s good to have a lot of people’s ideas because eventually a few options start to repeat themselves, then you know you’re on the right track.

Also mom has old miles on Delta so we’re trying to use them up, which we can do between Seattle -LIH. She’s more of a trooper than I am. I’m the main one mad about this whole thing. lol

Thanks all. Aloha

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Delta has a mileage partnership with Hawaiian, but its mileage partnership with Alaska ended last year.

14

Seattle over LAX times 1000.

Transfer in Honolulu to LIH is not bad, but don’t book the last flight of the day. Your DD should be fine JFK route.

Remember that the local commuter airlines and some of the long haul (LIH to SJC) in LIH are down in the “dungeon” which can be VERY VERY crowded, hot and confusing.

15

My mom (92) has always been invited to out of town events but it is not expected that she can attend. She discontinued attending any graduations over 15 years ago so that she was not a logistics issue with all of the walking involved. She discontinued long flights, too, due to logistics. When S2 got married in the mountains of CO she declined and no one thought less of her for that. So it is a choice.

That said, I get us from east coast to HI almost every year. I have done the NY-HON nonstop and it is a very long flight. I agree with your plan to stay overnight on the west coast if you can afford to break up the flights. It usually costs more unless you can combine sales, Alaska airlines is running a flash sale right now. They fly a lot of the old Virgin America planes from the east coast that we loved. More room in economy that others. Check with them, they do allow for a layover on one way flights, too. Hawaiian is running a sale from the west coast. It is a pain but worth it to go through all of the iterations if you do not want to use a travel agent. We also use credit card and airline points to defray costs.

You can also check vacation plans from the airlines that can reduce the hotel and car costs significantly.

16

I live in Hawaii. I travel to Toronto at least once a year. I’ve been doing this for over a decade. I’ve tried doing an overnight on the west coast and it is much more exhausting than pushing through in one day. I don’t recommend it at all. Don’t forget you’d have to collect your luggage, get to your transportation, check into a hotel and then check out, get to the airport and checkin and go through security again. And wait for your plane to take off. If I were 93 and someone tried to make me do that, I’d probably refuse to get on the second plane.

HNL is a pleasant airport. It’s in Hawaii, there’s Hawaiian music playing. The majority of people are on vacation and in a good mood. There’s no winter storms or major delays. I would just do one of the nonstops to HNL from New York on Hawaiian out of JFK or United out of EWR. It’s then a quick flight to LIH. It’s not clear that NYC is the most convenient starting point for your mom though. If not, start from where she starts and just do the whole trip in one day. Allow for a few days before the wedding so that everyone can rest up and not be exhausted.

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Sorry, too late for me to edit. LIH is a fun open outdoor airport. The commuter section is HONOLULU is affectionately called by our family as the dungeon.

18

Thanks to all. Looks like a plan is forming, in principle. I will fly with mom from Florida - Seattle where DD will meet us from JFK. Looks like all of that will be on mileage, including my flight to Florida, yeah!! Then we spend the afternoon around Seattle, jet lag or no, and go nonstop to Kauai next day. Mom prefers this to an 11 hour flight, as do I. ( I have to look on the Save the Date card for how to spell Kauai each time. So many vowels!)

DD will fly the 11+ hours home the morning after the wedding alone and mom and I will go back to Seattle with FOB (aka her son / my brother) and MOB for a few days.

Nothing is booked yet but at least my head isn’t exploding any more! I’m actually even looking forward to seeing Hawaii ! Hawaiian music!! I even liked and approved of niece’s boyfriend when I met him last summer!

And yes, we’re arriving there Thursday for Sunday night wedding. There are dinners Friday and Saturday night too. Daytimes, I guess we’re hanging out at the tiki bar in the pool! Works for me.

Thanks CC.

19

You will love Kauai. It is one of my favorite places to visit. Safe travels!

Here is the tip for Seattle lodging. I recommend staying at the Cedarbrook lodge at the airport. It is awesome, and they can send a shuttle (or you can Uber in). The restaurant there serves excellent food. Breakfast is included in the room rate. Even though it is so close to the airport, you would not believe it - the rooms are soundproof, and it is surrounded by woods.

Or you might want to venture out and stay downtown.

In any case, research and reserve your room early. Alaska cruisers snap up all rooms downtown!

20

It took days and days but finally all booked! Well flights anyway. Most on Mom’s credit card. I miss the days of travel agents. I’m going to look into Cedarbrook, it sounds nice, esp the built-in breakfast, which I’m a big fan of.
they better not cancel the wedding is all I can say!