Have You Flown From the Midwest?

[sjmbruce]

I'll be headed to Hawaii from Detroit's airport. I know it's a little early to be looking at flights, so maybe I am psyching myself out.

Has anyone flying from the Midwest found well timed flights? The earliest flights I see now leave Detroit around 8:00 am and don't arrive in Honolulu until past 9:00 pm. I know it's a long distance to travel but I was hoping to at least get dinner and a sunset out of our first day.

Any flight advice or even calming words (haha) would be helpful. Thanks!

[greatlakesgirl]

We flew from Grand Rapids, MI. to Chicago, then to San Francisco, and then to Honolulu. We left GR about six AM and landed in Honolulu around three PM Hawaii time. We flew United. The connection in SF was tight, only had about fifty minutes, but we made it. The layover in Chicago was about two hours.

 

Sorry, I don't think my post was very helpful! :o

Edited October 12, 2015 by greatlakesgirl

[CruiserBruce]

As this is really about air flights and fares, I would be asking on the Cruise Air board- lots of experience and expertise there.

 

 

I see American leaving at 7:45, arriving HNL at 2:12. Using some random dates in April 2016.

 

I see United leaving at 6am, arriving HNL 12:59pm.

 

Another United leaving at 6:10am, arriving 1:13pm.

 

Lots of options...

Edited October 12, 2015 by CruiserBruce

[sjmbruce]

We flew from Grand Rapids, MI. to Chicago, then to San Francisco, and then to Honolulu. We left GR about six AM and landed in Honolulu around three PM Hawaii time. We flew United. The connection in SF was tight, only had about fifty minutes, but we made it. The layover in Chicago was about two hours.

 

Sorry, I don't think my post was very helpful! :o

 

Very helpful! At least I know the flights exist :)

[sjmbruce]

As this is really about air flights and fares, I would be asking on the Cruise Air board- lots of experience and expertise there.

 

 

I see American leaving at 7:45, arriving HNL at 2:12. Using some random dates in April 2016.

 

I see United leaving at 6am, arriving HNL 12:59pm.

 

Another United leaving at 6:10am, arriving 1:13pm.

 

Lots of options...

 

Thanks. I was using my exact flight dates but maybe not the best search engine? What site do you use?

[CruiserBruce]

Thanks. I was using my exact flight dates but maybe not the best search engine? What site do you use?

 

If you look on the Cruise Air board, you will see many references to ITA Matrix.

[cccole]

What we would do to limit our daytime hours on a plane was to catch a flight to LAX after work, overnight, and catch a morning flight into HNL. It worked for us. Sometimes a roundtrip from the midwest to HNL is more than two round trips, one to/from LAX and one to/from HNL. The San Francisco area airports and Phoenix are also options for you. It takes some creativity but you can find flights that work. Cherie

[punkincc]

What we would do to limit our daytime hours on a plane was to catch a flight to LAX after work, overnight, and catch a morning flight into HNL. It worked for us. Sometimes a roundtrip from the midwest to HNL is more than two round trips, one to/from LAX and one to/from HNL. The San Francisco area airports and Phoenix are also options for you. It takes some creativity but you can find flights that work. Cherie

 

Most of the flights we looked at out of Chicago seemed to involve very high prices, or included a long layover in LAX or SFO, and an extremely long day of travel. Instead, we flew into Phoenix late in the day and just did an overnight near the airport. Early the next am, we boarded Hawaiian Air nonstop to HNL and were there around 11:30 am and arrived relatively refreshed. And for some reason, the flights from Phoenix were way less than NS from Chicago. We used miles for the first leg, so no extra expense except for the hotel. If you can find some good prices, it might be worthwhile to break it up into two days of travel, if you have the extra time available.

 

And no, it is not too early to look at booking flights. Start looking at possibilities, and if you see a good fare, jump on it. We got a roundtrip for what some people end up paying for a one way.

[cb at sea]

We left from the East Coast..5:30 am, flew to Chicago, touched down for 15 mins, then went to SF....2 hour layover, then on to Maui...landed at about 4pm....I was freaking exhausted!

 

Be careful with return flight...most are very late, so get a late check out if you have a hotel room...having no where to be is a horrible last day!!!

[greatlakesgirl]

My mom-in-law's TA managed to snag a return flight that left Honolulu at 2PM. Definitely don't find those very often.

[CruiserBruce]

We left from the East Coast..5:30 am, flew to Chicago, touched down for 15 mins, then went to SF....2 hour layover, then on to Maui...landed at about 4pm....I was freaking exhausted!

 

Be careful with return flight...most are very late, so get a late check out if you have a hotel room...having no where to be is a horrible last day!!!

 

 

15 minutes at ORD? Impossible. Just couldn't have happened.

 

 

There are flights departing from HNL to the mainland every hour, starting at about 6am.

[mainecooncat]

I'll be headed to Hawaii from Detroit's airport. I know it's a little early to be looking at flights, so maybe I am psyching myself out.

Has anyone flying from the Midwest found well timed flights? The earliest flights I see now leave Detroit around 8:00 am and don't arrive in Honolulu until past 9:00 pm. I know it's a long distance to travel but I was hoping to at least get dinner and a sunset out of our first day.

Any flight advice or even calming words (haha) would be helpful. Thanks!

 

If you have a few months until you fly, keep checking weekly. I found straight thru flights from Newark, NJ. Only $100 more than flights with layovers, and if it makes my husband happy to not have layovers that's all that counts!

 

I checked for months before and used kayak and hipmonk. There really are a lot of options you have to keep looking

[whogo]

I see flights between Detroit and Honolulu lasting from 10.5 hours, no nonstops.

[Silver Sweethearts]

United has a non-stop (9 hours) from ORD-HNL that flies during daylight hours, but you will have to get to Chicago and you will pay extra for the convenience of a non-stop.

[CruiserBruce]

I see flights between Detroit and Honolulu lasting from 10.5 hours, no nonstops.

 

 

As I illustrated back in post #3

 

United has a non-stop (9 hours) from ORD-HNL that flies during daylight hours, but you will have to get to Chicago and you will pay extra for the convenience of a non-stop.

 

 

The 6:10 United flight I mention in Post #3 is the United flight through ORD.

[paulav99]

I just booked ours for our Dec. cruise from Milwaukee. We're going from MKE to Chicago; then straight to HNL. We arrive in HNL at 2:30pm and it was one of the cheapest options available.

[punkincc]

I just booked ours for our Dec. cruise from Milwaukee. We're going from MKE to Chicago; then straight to HNL. We arrive in HNL at 2:30pm and it was one of the cheapest options available.

 

Yeah, 2:30pm sounds great until you realize that 2:30 is actually 8:30pm at home. I hope you are younger and snap back faster than we do:). I don't know what time you leave Milwaukee, but that is one very long day before your feet are on the ground. How many hours are you actually flying, 12 hours+?

 

There are no easy answers when it comes to getting to Hawaii. I just know we can't handle 12 to 14 hours flying combined with jet lag from the 6 hour time difference,, and prefer to break it up into two days. There are trade offs to be made between price and convenience and saving wear and tear on your butt;). Something anyone planning a flight to Hawaii should keep in mind when figuring out your itinerary.

[CruiserBruce]

Some good points. However, when you get to HNL, it will be warm and bright. We are not young either, but we have found that it is helpful to stay up as late as possible in the new time zone. It being warm and bright certainly helps. If the OP stays in Waikiki, there is tons of activity to keep you going. Walk around. See the sights. Keep moving as long as you can.

DON'T start watching TV.

 

 

Does make the adjustment easier.

[punkincc]

Some good points. However, when you get to HNL, it will be warm and bright. We are not young either, but we have found that it is helpful to stay up as late as possible in the new time zone. It being warm and bright certainly helps. If the OP stays in Waikiki, there is tons of activity to keep you going. Walk around. See the sights. Keep moving as long as you can.

DON'T start watching TV.

Does make the adjustment easier.

 

I agree:). That is exactly what we did! But, kept wondering why we felt so crappy and then realized what time it actually was at home. It think it was about 3:00 AM accordimg to our body clocks when we finally caved and went to bed. It was several days until we felt fully rested. It is well worth some jet lag, but just pointing out there are things to consider other than price, which is what most are fixated on.

[CruiserBruce]

I agree:). That is exactly what we did! But, kept wondering why we felt so crappy and then realized what time it actually was at home. It think it was about 3:00 AM accordimg to our body clocks when we finally caved and went to bed. It was several days until we felt fully rested. It is well worth some jet lag, but just pointing out there are things to consider other than price, which is what most are fixated on.

 

 

I should clarify we try to stay up to as close as our normal bedtime in the new time zone as possible.