Flying from east coast, advice needed

eeyoresmom

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 10, 2015
We are in the beginning stages of planning a trip for late January. We will be flying from the Boston area. I need advice as to how to return home ready to go back to work physically. Right now I am leaning towards flying direct Boston to Honolulu, spending 6 nights 7 days. On the return I am considering 2 nights in northern California ( one full day to see San Francisco). Should I break that up differently and spend a day or 2 in California on the way to Hawaii??? The options are endless and I dont know where to start.
 
I always build in at least one full day at home before everyone in the family needs to get back to work or school. We fly from Toronto so for us this usually means leaving from Hawaii on a Thursday night, flying through the night to Friday and then we try to make it to the evening before we sleep. Then we have the weekend to get back to the usual, get groceries etc before the work/school week begins

We have flown with stops in California as well. I really prefer stopping to sleep in California on the way back but our schedule does not always allow it. Plus, we usually want to maximize our time in Hawaii.

Would you be spending less time in Hawaii if you did the San Fran stop?
 
I always build in at least one full day at home before everyone in the family needs to get back to work or school. We fly from Toronto so for us this usually means leaving from Hawaii on a Thursday night, flying through the night to Friday and then we try to make it to the evening before we sleep. Then we have the weekend to get back to the usual, get groceries etc before the work/school week begins

We have flown with stops in California as well. I really prefer stopping to sleep in California on the way back but our schedule does not always allow it. Plus, we usually want to maximize our time in Hawaii.

Would you be spending less time in Hawaii if you did the San Fran stop?
yes one less day in Hawaii
 


We are in the beginning stages of planning a trip for late January. We will be flying from the Boston area. I need advice as to how to return home ready to go back to work physically. Right now I am leaning towards flying direct Boston to Honolulu, spending 6 nights 7 days. On the return I am considering 2 nights in northern California ( one full day to see San Francisco). Should I break that up differently and spend a day or 2 in California on the way to Hawaii??? The options are endless and I dont know where to start.
Definitely plan to do the CA stop on the way back to help with the jet lag
 
Just keep in mind your travel days. It is a long way to travel for basically 4 full Hawaii days. You have your travel day there, your 5 nights, your travel day to San Fran and your travel day home. Depending on your flight times, you might land anywhere from late morning to evening Honolulu time. You might find your pretty tired after the long flight, we always are. We usually try to get something to eat, get to the hotel and get a short swim in so that we can try to adjust to the Hawaiian time zone. If you have specific things you want to see and do, I would consider if you can get them done within those 4 full days. For example, lots of people consider the Arizona Memorial a must do and that can take all day.

I personally love Hawaii and would fly all that way for a weekend! Just giving you my thoughts based on my many trips over the years. I have done it lots of different ways.
 
I always build in at least one full day at home before everyone in the family needs to get back to work or school. We fly from Toronto so for us this usually means leaving from Hawaii on a Thursday night, flying through the night to Friday and then we try to make it to the evening before we sleep. Then we have the weekend to get back to the usual, get groceries etc before the work/school week begins

We will be flying there also from Toronto....how long is the flight there? Time difference? We are doing the cruise back to Vancouver in May, so it will be one way. Scared to see how much it will cost too for the 2 of us.
 


We will be flying there also from Toronto....how long is the flight there? Time difference? We are doing the cruise back to Vancouver in May, so it will be one way. Scared to see how much it will cost too for the 2 of us.

It usually takes about 11-12 hours but we almost always make a connection. I like to break it up and stretch my legs a bit.

Depending on the time of year you should be able to get Toronto to Honolulu flights from around $600/per person Canadian round trip.
 
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It usually takes about 11-12 hours but we almost always make a connection. I like to break it up and stretch my legs a bit.

Depending on the time of year you should be able to get Toronto to Honolulu flights from around $600/per person Canadian round trip.
Thanks for the info. It will be in May . I’m also scared of the time difference when we get there. I just noticed we are late dining on the ship. Flying in a few days before so hope I can get on there time by than.
 
Thanks for the info. It will be in May . I’m also scared of the time difference when we get there. I just noticed we are late dining on the ship. Flying in a few days before so hope I can get on there time by than.

Watch for airfare sales over the Black Friday period. I have gotten some great deals then. May will be a good time ticket price wise
 
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We flew from Buffalo to Atlanta to Honolulu and the same in reverse. We left Honolulu on a Friday at 4:30pm, arrived in Atlanta at 6:30am Saturday, and arrived home in Buffalo around 11am Saturday. Even though we barely slept on the overnight flight home, we made it a point to stay awake and go to bed at our normal time once home so that we could try to get back to a normal sleep pattern. We went to bed around 10:30 that night and slept great. We had the next day, Sunday, to return to normalcy before work on Monday. Worked out fine for us, and I'd say we actually had a harder time adjusting on the way there. We were up and at 'em by 5am the first couple of days after we arrived.
 
Granted we stayed 14 days, but we were practically non-functional on the day after we got home. We needed one full day at home after the travel day...and were glad to have planned for two instead!
 
We just flew from the East Coast this summer, so same time zone as you in Boston. We stopped and stayed over in California (San Jose on Southwest) both ways. On the way home we landed in San Jose at 9 pm and our flight left the next morning at 7 am (schedule change with the Max 8s still grounded at that time). It honestly didn't make that much difference as it took all of us a good week to get back on EST (normal bedtime and wake up times). I am a teacher so I am home with my kids in the summer, but my husband had to go back to work as normal the next day. He was tired, but he doesn't feel like any extra time in CA would have made a difference. It's a 6 hour time change, it's going to be an adjustment. I would rather have more time in Hawaii (we had 12 nights). Good luck!
 
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We flew from Buffalo to Atlanta to Honolulu and the same in reverse. We left Honolulu on a Friday at 4:30pm, arrived in Atlanta at 6:30am Saturday, and arrived home in Buffalo around 11am Saturday. Even though we barely slept on the overnight flight home, we made it a point to stay awake and go to bed at our normal time once home so that we could try to get back to a normal sleep pattern. We went to bed around 10:30 that night and slept great. We had the next day, Sunday, to return to normalcy before work on Monday. Worked out fine for us, and I'd say we actually had a harder time adjusting on the way there. We were up and at 'em by 5am the first couple of days after we arrived.
I agree. We find it harder to adjust to Hawaii time for 2 or 3 days...adjust very quickly after getting home.
 
I wouldn't waste 2 nights in CA. You'll be jetlagged, so I would rather jet lagged at home, and leave more time in HNL. We usually fly late night from HNL to either LA or DFW, then onto NYC next morning. Yes spending a whole day on the plane but we leave last min and enjoy Hawaii.
 

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