Hi all,
Aulani is on my bucket list, the main thing that is stopping me is the length of the flight. We are from NY so it would be 11 hours for us. We would be traveling with our kids ages 11 & 9, it just seems a lloonngg flight time. I was wondering how the flight is, does it seem like a never-ending flight or does it pass sort of quickly?
The longest flight we have taken with our kids is 3 hours, and by the end of the flight, they are starting to get restless, so i'm a little intimidated by the thought of such a long flight with them. (Of course I load their devices with new videos, bring sticker books, markers etc. to keep them occupied, they each have their own device but i'm worried that if they are ready to land by 3 hours how would they deal with such a longer flight?
Thanks for any feedback/advice, Marina
My wife and I have done the Hawaiian Airlines direct flight from JFK 3 times. (Now, we haven't done it with children yet so you can take my advice with a grain of salt if you'd like lol). It's long. No sugarcoating it. BUT it's doable. Here would be my advice:
- Prepare yourselves for it. Pack plenty of snacks. We even brought PB&J's for ourselves the 2nd time around. The last thing you want on a flight that length is to get "hangry". This was a mistake we made on our 1st trip. Lesson learned. Bring neck pillows, blankets, whatever you think may help comfort-wise for you and kids. I never used neck pillows...until this flight and it was a must.
- Consider the extra comfort seats. We've done them each time. Now in fairness, because we've done them each time, I have nothing to compare them to re: standard seats. We've never regretted spending that little bit extra for them though. We did row 34 each time though which wouldn't work for you guys unless you split up 2 & 2. Only the outer seats on each side in row 34 are extra comfort. The benefit being that on the outer parts there is no row 33 b/c of the exit door. So you get 6-8' of legroom. Take a look at some of the other extra comfort seats though if you're interested, you'll definitely find something that works for you.
- Take the time to sit down and eat a good, filling breakfast at JFK before the flight. This goes back to the "hangry" point lol
- Hydrate, hydrate, HYDRATE! I know this is true for every flight, but especially one this long. I really can't stress this enough. Hydrate as much a possible and then some before, during and after your flight!
- Dress comfortably. Very comfortably. You don't wanna be stuck in something uncomfortable for almost 11 hours.
- Take advantage of the entertainment on the flight. A few movies, some TV episodes, mix in a nap and you're there!... it's that simple, right? LOL
- The flight to Hawaii is always better (in our experience at least) than the flight home. 1) the obvious reason of going to/leaving Hawaii lol 2) The timing. The flight there leaves at 10am (usually). It's like a normal day. You wake up, you eat breakfast, you stay up for the day. Not bad! The flight home is a little weird timing-wise. You leave Hawaii around 4pm, next thing you know it's pitch black as you're flying into the darkness. No big deal, just throws you off a little. Then you land in NY around 6-7am. Where the heck did the day before go!?!?! It's not terrible, just a little weird for the old body clock.
- When you arrive in Hawaii (around 2pm), force yourselves to stay awake until at least 8-9pm. Try to normalize your body clock asap. We made the mistake on our 1st trip of going to sleep at like 6pm that 1st night. Bad idea. We spent the next 5 days waking up at 2am and being completely off time-wise. The next couple of times when we forced ourselves to stay up, the adjustment was MUCH smoother. Same thing when you get home, try staying awake for the day if you can.
It's really not a bad flight at all. It's long, no 2 ways around that, but just because it's long doesn't mean it's awful. Hawaiian Airlines has been a pleasure each time and they do a wonderful job of making you feel like you're "in Hawaii" from the time you step on the plane. The planes have always been very nice and we can't say enough good things about the staff! Now with all of this said, everyone is different. I know people who say there's no way they could ever do this flight (or any flight of similar length) direct. Maybe that would change if they actually tried it, I don't know. For us though, it is well worth it for beautiful Hawaii! We don't even think twice about it anymore. You just kinda accept the flight for what it is and make the best of it. It's all worth it once you get to paradise!
* 1 extra little tip for Hawaiian Airlines... if you do plan on going, apply for the Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard before you go! We did this between our 1st and 2nd trips and received 50% off 1 person's airfare for our next trip plus miles to use in the future. *
