Hoping to visit Kauai this fall until my wife expressed her concerns over long flight from East Coast (Pittsburgh) and would appreciate any and all advice from experienced travlers and how they minimize any discomfort......thanks in advance....dan
long flights %26amp; time change
My advice would be to fly to the west coast and then change planes...at lest you can get off of the plane for a while and walk around. If you have the time, maybe spend a few days in CA and then fly to Hawaii. Do the same coming back.
long flights %26amp; time change
We fly from Michigan and yes it is a long flight. We have done the stop/sleep over in Ca. I liked that but hubby just wants to get there and get the flight behind us. What I do now is we fly from MI to Chicago, change planes and straight to HNL and then to Kauai -- we could fly direct from MI to LAX to LIH but it puts us there late in the evening - the way we go now I am on Kauai by 4 p.m. Problem is we are ready to crash when we get there so we fight to stay awake till 9 -- we still get up early (5) but by the second day we are more on Kauai time.
We have never had any issues with the time change. Not sure when you arrive but you will be excited. Try to stay up till 10 PM if you can then when you wake up early (and you probably will be up just before the chickens) make a nice pot of island coffee, sit on your lanai and talk about what you two will will be doing that day as you take in all the nice smells, different bird calls etc and watch the island wake up before your eyes.
Don%26#39;t drink too much on the plane (it dehydrates you anyway) and just play it by ear once you arrive.
Whenever I take a trip, whether it be to Europe, East Coast or Hawaii, my husband and I change time zones the second we are at the airport (just be careful to not get confused about when your flight leaves...)
This way, if it is night time in the location we are going while we fly, we try to sleep (bring a mask to cover your eyes to create darkness). If it is morning where we are going, we stay awake and maybe take a nap when it hits ';afternoon.';
The more I do this, the less likely I am to experience jet lag and the time difference is no big deal.
Given how long the flight is, I would say it is definitely worth it as long as you stay at least 7 full days. For me coming from Phoenix to Europe, it takes about 12+ hours depending on where we go and we only go if we are there a solid week or more to justify spending a full day of travel counting all airport time.
Thanks for the replies; please keep them coming. Our plan was to stay at least 10 days; we usually go to Jamaica and the travel and jet lag bother her her more than me %26amp; Isuppose I am looking for a sure fire cure to convince her to make this trip. Like everyone else I am not sure what to make of the fare increases, but, that%26#39;s a seperate subject; hey thanks again..........dan
superdan,
We live here in Ohio....When we first went to Kauai we took the straight flight from Columbus to Minneapolis to Lihue. This flight was only 8-9 hours but it was the most miserable.To sit and be on the same plane for that long and not much movement was not fun.
So the other 4 trips we took we made sure we split the flight up. From Columbus to Chicago to San Fran to Lihue we were able stretch the legs and get something to eat. We also have done Columbus to Phoenix to LA to Honolulu to Lihue. Both of these are approx. 11-12 hours. The split up flights are also cheaper than a direct. Mind you we always fly high season (July).
It takes us about 2 days to get over the jet leg we spend about 10 days...
When we fly back we always catch the 10pm flight. You can find other threads on how to deal with a late flight.
I have to say this is the worst of the trip, ';the flight';......
Just checked on flights avg. From Ohio to Lih. approx.$1200.-$1400. per person
Ohio to Montego Bay $490-$600 per person.
';Don%26#39;t get me wrong I love Hawaii, hate the ride,hate the price,but I still want to go back!!!
Although those Montego prices sure look nice!!!
Everyone had good ideas for their long flights. Guess it just depends on what you personally can handle.
LAX to australia was one long puppy, I think it was about 14hrs one direction ( averaging them out ).
Erica slept, but I didnt have much luck.
Still, once we arrived, we landed in Sydney at night, and were able to get some sleep. Woke up the next morning and the fun light was on ( for 30 days).
But, as visitors,when just returning from Lihue to LAX, my internal clock would be messed up for three days. I can imagine how I would do heading back to the east coast.
I would think by taking all of the great suggestions, and sharing them together, you can do your best to make an educated decision based on your own tollerances.
The trip to the mainland, a couple of weeks or so back, I took the redeye, and a sominex, and did manage to doze off a bit. Arrived at 6:30 am, and just stayed up, and saw friends, had a great time, but was asleep by 8pm. no problem with jet lag.
Actually, I was surpirsed.
I also set my watch as soon as I am seated to the time zone that we are headed for.
Denny
There are some reseach findings suggesting that east-to-west travel adjustment is easier than west-to-east, and I have found this to be true for me. So, coming from the mainland, the adjustment upon arrival is not so difficult as the adjustment upon returning home.
My biggest difficulty is tendency to a caffeine headache the first morning---have to make sure we have coffee available! And getting out in the sun early in the morning seems to help my internal clock reset more quickly.
We fly to Kauai from NE PA and always do our travel in one day. We typically leave PA around 6AM and get to Kauai anywhere from 2PM - 5:45PM. Approaching the trip with a positive attitude rather than focusing on the negative really helps make it a good experience. I always compare the travel time to our frequent 13 hour drives to Myrtle Beach. On a plane I can read or take a nap but when I drive to the beach I have to drive the entire way. Although it%26#39;s a long day the anticipation of our stay on Kauai always makes the trip go quickly. We%26#39;ve never minded the 5 hour time change and get used to it in a day or two. Coming back we always take a red eye flight and sleep most of the flight back to the mainland.
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