<p>I would like to take my mother on a vacation to Hawaii next summer. She will be 79 years old and I need ideas on how to handle the long flight from Northern VA to Honolulu.</p>
<p>Should we get a non stop from here to there? Or fly west, stay somewhere overnight, then fly to Hawaii.</p>
<p>I have found a nice condo to rent so we’re good on the place to stay, but the flying out there is making me wonder on how we should book the trip.</p>
<p>Mom has serious bone issues- right hip replaced last year then she broke her femur nad need plates, screws and wires to hold everything together. Both knees have been replaced and both ankles have been broken several times. Her right ankle has several screws, pins and rods. She also suffers from compression fractures in her back. To top it off, she needs a walker to get around as she’s not too steady on her feet.</p>
<p>If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I would appreciate it.</p>
<p>The main question would be: do you want to go through the airport security once or twice?</p>
<p>Is there anyone in California, Oregon, etc. that you could stop over to see? I found the flight to Hawaii excruciating, and I was 42 and relatively healthy. Be sure you get her an aisle seat, preferably near the plane bathroom.</p>
<p>What island are you going to? </p>
<p>Will your mother be flying first class or coach? (space difference and the club to use while waiting).</p>
<p>There’s a nonstop flight to Honolulu from somewhere near Northern Virginia? What airport and airline?</p>
<p>IMO if you can get a nonstop that’d be the easiest on your mom and the quickest way. It’d be a long flight but she wouldn’t need to deal with the hassles of exiting the plane, going through the terminal, maybe having to transport to a hotel and those hassles, and then head back to the airport/terminal/gate for the next flight and then repeat the exiting again and the entire duration would be much shorter.</p>
<p>We go every other year. There is no nonstop from NoVA to HI that I am aware of. You stop in CA at least. Some stop other places. What airline? United does have one that is in two 5 hour stretches through LA. </p>
<p>Friend who has MS finds the trip too much for one day even in first class. They overnight in either Dallas or LA with AA depending on their flights. It costs a little more unless you can find an overnight connection so that there is a mandatory layover overnight. But those are hard to find. An alternative is to do more than one change and let a couple of hours between flights. That way you are out of the plane a couple of times to walk around. We have done that. </p>
<p>Pay attention to the return. There most likely is an overnight in there if you don’t layover and if in coach it can be hard. In the best of cases it is 12 hours total,sometimes up to 15 hours. Can she do that? </p>
<p>BTW you can only reserve about 330 days in advance.</p>
<p>“Pay attention to the return.”</p>
<p>This is REALLY good advice. Going to Hawaii, 10 hour flight less 6 hour time change means leave NYC at 10 AM, arrive Honolulu 2 PM … Nice! On the return flight, leave Honolulu 10 AM, arrive NYC … oh cr*p, they don’t land planes in NYC at 2 AM!!! </p>
<p>I’m going to suggest a one-day layover in your mother’s favorite West Coast city. Leave NoVA 10 AM, arrive LA/SF/SD/Seattle at noon. Tour a bit, and get a good night’s sleep. Next day, on to the Islands. JMHO of course … but one based on personal experiences. Enjoy your trip!</p>
<p>I do not recommend flying through LAX. It is a real zoo. SEA can be a zoo as well. I like Portland - it is smaller and much less hassle. There are flights to HI from San Diego, Oakland and San Jose as well. Check Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines.</p>
<p>We flew from Dulles to Honolulu about 2 years ago, had to change planes in San Francisco (same on the return, though we left from Maui). At the time, I don’t think a non-stop was an option. Even if there had been a non-stop, I like that it broke the trip up fairly evenly. With your mom’s orthopedic issues, I would think that a non-stop (even if available) would be very difficult. We were on United and upgraded to First Class and even then I think it would not have been a fun flight without that plane change to get up and really walk around. If we had the luxury of extra time, I would have added a day or two in California (esp. on the way back.)</p>