LAX stopover before Aulani..GOOD PLAN?? Hotel suggestions please!

[linco711]

Flying from Hilton Head to Aulani In October. I’ve decided to not do direct flight because my husband and I both have health issues that would make it difficult to sit crunched in an airline seat for 13 hours straight. So we’ll fly from Hilton Head to Lax for 1 night, than fly Lax to Hawaii the next day after we’ve gotten some rest.
Does this sound like a good plan? Anyone have any helpful suggestions...and no we can’t afford first class! I’d really appreciate hearing from you..

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Hi
I am from the Uk
Both times we have flown London to lax. Stayed at airport hotel. Then caught very early flight to Hawaii the next day. Some say waste of a day but it works for me
On the way back stay at Disney few days then flight back to London
We always go economy

 

[alohamom]

We did this once and stayed at the Sheraton LAX. It was super close, you could almost walk to it. It was over ten years ago but it was super clean, very comfortable and a great value. It was a wonderful way to break up the flight and honestly, if you stayed both on the way there and on the way back you still would not spend even close to what first class would cost. I kind of remember there was not very much in the area to eat though so we were at the mercy of the hotel restaurant. I am sure it is different now and there is always Uber Eats or another delivery service

 

[GoofyCoaster]

Thank you for starting this thread and for the replies. I’ve been wondering the exact same thing! I’ve been thinking of breaking up the trip too. Thinking maybe stopover at LAX one way, stopover in San Diego or some other west coast city on the reverse flight. The return flights back east look especially tough to do in one day.

 

[ECMD2018]

Sounds smart -- We are traveling to Aulani in July and are essentially doing the same thing (tho actually staying 2 days to also go to Disneyland). Recommendations above are good for staying near airport.

Don't know when you would be arriving in LAX or leave for Hawaii, but if you want to get away from the airport you can also stay in the Santa Monica/Venice Beach area, and enjoy some Los Angeles beach vibe (we usually do Santa Monica) It's about 20-30 minutes from LAX and you can get there without having to deal with traffic from L.A. freeways. Hotels run the gamut in terms of budget and amenities, so something to fit every taste.

 

[nkereina]

We flew from Atlanta to Honolulu and it was a little over 8 hours. I can't imagine flying from Hilton Head adds an extra 5 hours? We preferred to fly straight through so as not to waste any vacation time. We just wanted to get there. It wasn't nearly as bad as we anticipated, and having a comfortable flight made the difference - we flew on Delta which had a 2-4-2 seat configuration and tons of TV shows and movies on the seatback TV. It would have been much more uncomfortable if we were in seats 3 across.

If you do decide to stop somewhere, LAX is a good option and I would also look at San Francisco. There seems to be a lot of nonstop flights to HNL from there as well, and sometimes the prices are better from what I have noticed.

As for the return flight, we took the later flight home leaving Hawaii around 5pm. With the time change back to the east coast, it was an overnight flight. Sleeping on the plane is not comfortable, but again at that point, we just wanted to get home. When we did get home (around 11am eastern time the next day), we forced ourselves to stay up until about 10pm so we could go to bed at our normal time and try to return to a normal schedule. That actually worked out well for us and we didn't have as much of an adjustment on the way home.

 

[eeyorefanuk]

While think of it southwest now fly to Honolulu
They will be doing from lax but not sure which American airports they do at the moment

 

[linco711]

Thank you for starting this thread and for the replies. I’ve been wondering the exact same thing! I’ve been thinking of breaking up the trip too. Thinking maybe stopover at LAX one way, stopover in San Diego or some other west coast city on the reverse flight. The return flights back east look especially tough to do in one day.

The return flights are bad. Done it several times in the past when I was healthier and I was crunched and couldn’t sleep.

 

[linco711]

We flew from Atlanta to Honolulu and it was a little over 8 hours. I can't imagine flying from Hilton Head adds an extra 5 hours? We preferred to fly straight through so as not to waste any vacation time. We just wanted to get there. It wasn't nearly as bad as we anticipated, and having a comfortable flight made the difference - we flew on Delta which had a 2-4-2 seat configuration and tons of TV shows and movies on the seatback TV. It would have been much more uncomfortable if we were in seats 3 across.

If you do decide to stop somewhere, LAX is a good option and I would also look at San Francisco. There seems to be a lot of nonstop flights to HNL from there as well, and sometimes the prices are better from what I have noticed.

As for the return flight, we took the later flight home leaving Hawaii around 5pm. With the time change back to the east coast, it was an overnight flight. Sleeping on the plane is not comfortable, but again at that point, we just wanted to get home. When we did get home (around 11am eastern time the next day), we forced ourselves to stay up until about 10pm so we could go to bed at our normal time and try to return to a normal schedule. That actually worked out well for us and we didn't have as much of an adjustment on the way home.

Delta is great! I was looking at Delta comfort class...but it’s about 400.00 more per person and you only get an extra 4 inches, which is helpful but still not comfortable. We’ll figure it out. Flying over for my daughters wedding so would like it to be a good flight.

 

[nkereina]

Delta is great! I was looking at Delta comfort class...but it’s about 400.00 more per person and you only get an extra 4 inches, which is helpful but still not comfortable. We’ll figure it out. Flying over for my daughters wedding so would like it to be a good flight.

We flew Delta in standard coach and loved it. For that extra money, at least on the flight from Atlanta to Honolulu, the only things you're getting are that extra 4 inches and seats closer to the front of the plane. I think they can board earlier too. Otherwise, we got all the same amenities including free meals, drinks, and entertainment! And on the planes with the 2-4-2 seat configuration, DH and I had our own row so it was easy for us to get up and stretch when needed.

 

[chainkid]

Personally flying from East coast, we always stop both ways in Las Vegas. Tons of hotel choices and restaurants and we make it a couple days to catch some shows as well. We take the Red eye to HNL and start the day fresh as its pretty easy flight.

 

[LPnerd]

Flying from Hilton Head to Aulani In October. I’ve decided to not do direct flight because my husband and I both have health issues that would make it difficult to sit crunched in an airline seat for 13 hours straight. So we’ll fly from Hilton Head to Lax for 1 night, than fly Lax to Hawaii the next day after we’ve gotten some rest.
Does this sound like a good plan? Anyone have any helpful suggestions...and no we can’t afford first class! I’d really appreciate hearing from you..

sounds great to me! But then, we are planing same, from Greenville, LOL. ( we lived on hilton Head for 3 yrs. ( got out winter before Mathew.)

 

[wilbret]

We flew direct, but I'm used to long haul flights for work. The flight was about dead on 8 hours. This was a breeze. I prefer a little suffering over cutting into vacation time at destination, dealing with airport more than I have to, etc. The flight back was +30 minutes early, it really wasn't bad at all.

The Delta 767 flying the route was pretty ancient. Had the same seat both ways, including a spoon I left in the seatback on the way there LOL.

 

[linco711]

Personally flying from East coast, we always stop both ways in Las Vegas. Tons of hotel choices and restaurants and we make it a couple days to catch some shows as well. We take the Red eye to HNL and start the day fresh as its pretty easy flight.

We’ve thought about that. Do you stay close to the airport? When we’ve been to Vegas I always dread all the traffic from the airport to the hotels..

 

[DLgal]

There is a Courtyard Marriott adjacent to LAX that is great and usually pretty cheap.

 

[linco711]

sounds great to me! But then, we are planing same, from Greenville, LOL. ( we lived on hilton Head for 3 yrs. ( got out winter before Mathew.)

Lucky you! We were there for Mathew and our house was devastated! Never want to go through that again.

 

[jagron11]

Just did this. We were only in LA for about 12 hours. Stayed at the Embassy Suites (south). From landing to hotel took about 1.5 hour (that’s off boarding, luggage retrieval, call for shuttle, wait for shuttle, commute). In the morning we had a full breakfast, with made to order omelets, all included. Shuttle left at 6:30 am we were seated at the gate by 7. Airport traffic was much better in the morning. Now that was with FF status to check our bags and TSA precheck to fly through security. We are a family of 6. Me, DW, kids 11, 9, 7, 5.

 

[gatechfan99]

Last week we flew direct from Houston, about 8.5 hours. I was nervous beforehand because I've never flown more than about 4 hours straight, and I'm 6'7 so folding into airplane seats is not ideal. But honestly, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, and that's with 3 kids under the age of 11 with us. I think in retrospect, you're excited to get there and if you plan ahead with enough entertainment and snacks, the flight goes by faster than you think.

What I would not have wanted to do would be a connection in LAX or SFO that would've gotten there around 9:00 at night Honolulu time. We got there at 1:30 local time and had crashed in bed by 7:00 (midnight for us). I can't imagine how tired all of us would've been on a flight arriving around 9:30 local time.

So I would encourage the direct Houston or Atlanta flight. However, if that seems too long to be on a plane, splitting it up in LA or SF overnight and catching the first one out the next morning is probably the best option.

 

[linco711]

Last week we flew direct from Houston, about 8.5 hours. I was nervous beforehand because I've never flown more than about 4 hours straight, and I'm 6'7 so folding into airplane seats is not ideal. But honestly, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, and that's with 3 kids under the age of 11 with us. I think in retrospect, you're excited to get there and if you plan ahead with enough entertainment and snacks, the flight goes by faster than you think.

What I would not have wanted to do would be a connection in LAX or SFO that would've gotten there around 9:00 at night Honolulu time. We got there at 1:30 local time and had crashed in bed by 7:00 (midnight for us). I can't imagine how tired all of us would've been on a flight arriving around 9:30 local time.

So I would encourage the direct Houston or Atlanta flight. However, if that seems too long to be on a plane, splitting it up in LA or SF overnight and catching the first one out the next morning is probably the best option.

In many ways it seems much easier than landing & picking up luggage etc. etc...but my husband has serious back problems so am concerned about his flying that far. If we fly out of Lax early we would arrive about 11:30 am after sleeping all night in a bed and more refreshed...but haven’t ruled out a 12 hour flight from Atlanta..just thinking about it...thanks for your thoughts....it sounded like a good flight for you.

 

[tankin]

@linco711 Remember that your tickets probably won't be linked to you need to make sure that you build in extra time... Stink if you east to west coast flight is cancelled and you miss (and lose) your west coast to HI flight