Family Trip to Hawaii – Getting to Hawaii

Hawaii Trip – Part 2

Read Part 1

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The trip to Hawaii’s Big Island took a lot of planning (see Part 1 of this series for the details), but now we were finally on our way.  Needless to say, we were really looking forward to seeing a new place that we had only heard about.  We were also nervous, as this was Elizabeth’s first trip of any kind, not to mention her first flights. 

Getting Ready for Family Trip to Hawaii

When it comes to packing, our family tends to wait till the last minute.  Since our flight out of El Paso did not leave until Saturday night, guess what? 

We packed Saturday afternoon, of course.

As we’ve traveled more, we’ve tried to get better about not over-packing.  This is easier said than done, however.  For this trip, we specifically planned to wash clothes at least once.  So, we only needed a week’s worth (theoretically).  Since we were going to have to pay for checked bags on the LA to Hawaii portion of the flights, we wanted to only check one bag.

We tried out some packing cubes for the first time on this trip.  I had looked at them before but was always unsure about using them.  We decided to get two sets with 3 bags each of assorted sizes.  These were used for my wife and my clothes, and everyone’s swimsuits.  With those taking up a little less space and being better organized, we were able to also fit clothes for both kids in our one suitcase. 

Of course, there’s also the normal baby stuff that had to go along like; diapers, formula, car seats, etc.  One thing we did to get a little extra space in our checked luggage was to take advantage of our car seat bag.  The bag we have was purchased when our son was young and has been used several times.  We learned that there is a decent amount of empty space in the seat of the car seat when in the bag.  This is the bag we have and have gotten good use out of. 

One good thing about traveling with kids is that car seats and strollers fly free (on all airlines, I think).  So, we have gotten in the practice of putting a bag of diapers in the car seat in the bag.  We don’t want to take advantage of the free car seat bag too much by packing heavy stuff in there.  But diapers are perfect. 

On some trips we have traveled without a car seat, so why take them?  Basically, it comes down to cost and plans.  On a trip where we are not renting a car the entire time, lugging around a car seat (or two), is a pain.

Also, most car rental companies charge a fee for renting seats.  In the case of National that we used on this trip, it is $10 per seat per day. 

That would add $20 per day, and $180 for the trip!! No, thanks.

So, we decided to take ours.  Actually, we took our infant seat for Elizabeth and got a booster seat for Daniel to try out.  He is just big enough, so we thought it was worth a shot.  That why both seats would fit into the bag we already had.  So, we were able to fit both seats and a bag of diapers big enough for the entire trip into that one bag that would be checked for free. 

We also took a stroller for Elizabeth (or Daniel sometimes).  This also gets checked for free.  We don’t have a bag for our stroller and never have.  I know a lot of people recommend them, and I can see the use, we just haven’t tried one out and haven’t had any trouble with our stroller. 

Not having the stroller in a bag makes it very convenient for helping move stuff around the airport until you check it as well. 

So, to sum up we traveled with the following luggage:

• One large bag with all our clothes – checked
• One car seat bag with two car seats and diapers – checked
• One stroller – checked
• One roller carryon bag with our cameras, formula, and a few odds and ends
• My Backpack with our laptop and a change of clothes for us all
• A diaper bag for Elizabeth with more than enough formula and water for the flight along with blankets
• Daniel’s backpack with his tablet, some books, and toys
• A Baby Bjorn Carrier

Yes, we are a sight at the airport!! Especially, going from the car to the check in. 

Now, you see why we wanted to pack lighter on the clothes.  We tend to pack heavy in other places. 

Flight From El Paso to Los Angeles

When traveling with a lap child, make sure to have a copy of their birth certificate with you.  A lap child must be less than two years old, and they can check.  Not every airline will ask to see the certificate, but if they do you want to have it ready.  When checking in with Southwest for the flight from El Paso, they asked to see the certificate. 

Being a small airport, the check in line was short and we got through quickly.  That’s the best thing about traveling from a small airport.

Victoria and I got approved for Global Entry shortly before this trip.  The Global Entry program includes several benefits, but the one that impacts this trip is TSA Pre-Check.  This was our first trip with Pre-Check.  Note that with Pre-Check; if an adult has it, any children under 12 traveling with that adult also are granted pre-check. 

Even if the kid’s boarding pass doesn’t say Pre-Check, they can still go with an adult who has it as long as they are under 12.

This is really nice when traveling with kids, as it simplifies going through security.  You don’t have to remove shoes, remove large electronics, and a few other things.  It also usually has a separate line that is shorter than the normal security line. 

In El Paso, there normally isn’t a long security line, so the benefits there are limited, but still nice. 

Going through security with an infant allows you to carry some water through with you.  Technically, you are allowed a reasonable amount of water or milk for the duration of your trip.  They seem to be fairly generous with this.  We carried through a couple water bottles and the formula mix for several bottles.  The water will get scanned by security, but it is quick, and no issue when they see you have a baby along.

One thing we didn’t think about was the larger tub of formula we had in our carry-on roller bag.  This was a tub large enough to last the entire trip.  On every trip through security with this, it caused that bag to get flagged for search.  They then opened the bag, checked out the contents, and we had no problems.  But it is worth noting that it will likely cause extra scrutiny if you take a tub of formula with you.

Our first flight was with Southwest.  We have traveled with Southwest multiple times without any real issues.   Most people are aware that they use an open seating process.  You do not have an assigned seat, and you board according to the order you check in for the flight. 

Boarding is done in groups A, B, and C.  In each group you are numbered 1-60. 

This can cause some concern with some people as it might be difficult to get seats together if you don’t get an early boarding position, especially with children.  The good news, is that they have family boarding between groups A and B.

So, get checked in when you can, the worst you will do is be between these groups.  We have done this several times and never had an issue getting three seats together. 

For this flight, I checked in right when it opened, 24 hours prior to departure, and we got spots A-56, 57, and 58.  Yay, we beat the family boarding by a couple of positions.  (Not a big deal)

With this being Elizabeth’s first flight, we were a little nervous about how she would do.  When Daniel was young, we never had an issue with him flying.  If he started getting fussy, he could nurse and stay calm.   Elizabeth is a little different in that she doesn’t always calm down when nursing or drinking from a bottle. 

It turns out that we didn’t need to worry about her.  She did very well. 

Daniel stayed entertained with watching movies on a phone.  (we took a tablet for him, but had some issues getting movies downloaded on it). 

This was the first flight where Daniel complained about his ears and stomach feeling funny.  In the past he has occasionally had ear pain when descending, taken care of with gum.  This time though he complained more.  We got him some ginger ale and the pretzels.  They helped, but he still said he felt funny.

When we got into LAX, we were able to get our luggage easily and made our way to the area for Hotel shuttle pick-ups.  The shuttle showed up soon, we got boarded and headed to the hotel.

The hotel was selected due to it being close to the airport with a free shuttle.  This was true, but we didn’t really anticipate how long it would take to get out of the airport on the shuttle.  It took almost 45 minutes to get out of the airport.  After that, it was a quick trip. 

When we got to the Crowne Plaza, LAX, we checked in quickly, and found out we got an upgraded room!  In this case, it was an upgrade to the Executive Floor.  The main benefit normally would have been free breakfast and evening lounge.  Unfortunately, we arrived after the lounge was closed, and the breakfast is only offered on weekdays (we arrived on Saturday night).

Flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii

On Sunday morning, we were finally actually heading to Hawaii!!

We got an early start and decided to just eat breakfast at the airport.  We weren’t sure how long it would take to get to the airport on the shuttle, checked in, and through security. 

The shuttle ride was short, the traffic was not as bad as the night before, and we got dropped off at the American Airlines area soon enough. 

Then came the fun of getting checked in.  Since we had a lap child, we again had to check in at the airport, even though we had done it on-line we couldn’t get the boarding pass for Elizabeth.  The check-in was only via a kiosk. 

I don’t normally mind the kiosks, but this time we had an issue, as it wasn’t showing Elizabeth and didn’t ask about a lap child.  There were only a couple of employees helping in the area, so it took about 10 minutes, before we could get anyone’s attention.

The issue was quickly resolved, and we got our boarding passes and our bags were checked in. 

This is when the TSA Pre-Check really shined.  As we approached the security checkpoint, there were signs for pre-check travelers to go a different direction.  When we followed the directions, we only had 3 people ahead of us for the security check.  She quickly checked us through, and we were on our way (Yes, the tub of formula was checked again).

We had made the mistake of telling Daniel that we would get him a donut at the airport.  We assumed there would be somewhere to get one in the terminal.  It turns out, we could not find anywhere in that terminal to get him a donut.  So, he got chocolate milk and some crackers. 

I’m not always the best at food planning, which led Victoria to take over the food planning for the rest of the trip. 

One thing that we didn’t know, but was a real benefit, was that the plane had in flight entertainment screens on every seat.  Daniel really loved this, we found a kid’s section with games and movies that he wanted to watch, so it was very helpful.

Victoria and I also made use of the screens and watched some movies on the way.  We took turns holding Elizabeth, and she did really well on the flight even though it was a little over 5 hours. 

Daniel started to get bored of sitting and wanted to walk around.  When he was told he couldn’t, he didn’t even complain.  However, he suddenly had to go to the bathroom several times for the rest of the flight. 

Once we got over the island, we started looking around out the plane and getting excited about landing and seeing the place.  Since we were landing on the west side of the island, we flow over the majority of it.

Finally on the Ground in Hawaii

Once we landed, we could see what we had read about.  This side of the island looked desolate.  Black lava rock everywhere, short trees, and scattered grasses.  We knew this was what to expect, but it was still not what you really expect for landing in Hawaii. 

I mean, it’s paradise, right?

The Kona airport is a little different than any we had landed at before.  The airport is almost entirely outdoor, with just covers over the waiting areas and some fans blowing air around.  It was hot and humid, and we definitely felt it after coming from El Paso. 

Once we retrieved our bags, we followed the signs to the area to await the shuttle bus to the rental car area. 

Since a couple of planes had just landed a lot of people were lined up for the shuttles.  The area you wait in is just a sidewalk area that has shade over a couple of sections.  All the companies pick up from the same general area, but just stop in an available spot.  

So, you don’t really know where to wait and it gets a little confusing.  One time, the bus stops at the far left of the waiting area, and the next in the middle.  There’s no consistency.

Since we had a lot of luggage and two small kids, we couldn’t just run to the area with the shuttle, so we ended up waiting a lot longer than others as the busses filled up before we could get there.  We kept seeing shuttles from the other companies that we hadn’t booked, and it started to get frustrating.

Victoria went and asked a man directing traffic in the area to find out if all the rental facilities are in the same place.  He said that yes, they were all in the same area, but that we were supposed to get on the bus where we have a reservation.

This is of course how it’s supposed to work, but we were tired of seeing other busses leave almost empty and not seeing our shuttle.  I looked on Google maps for the location and saw that one the location for the bus coming up was located next to ours.  So, we just got on the next one.

It was a short walk to down the sidewalk to the right place.  Of course, the shuttle we would have been on had we waited passed us on the way.  Oh well, it didn’t really hurt to take a different one and we were happy to be doing something other than standing there getting annoyed. 

I mean, who wants to start a trip in Hawaii getting more and more frustrated waiting for a shuttle. 

I had reserved a standard size car for us, but we were offered our choice of many cars and small SUVs at our original price.  We decided to get an SUV since it had more room in the back for all of our stuff, and just worked well.

Now, we are in Hawaii, have our car, and are ready to start exploring.

I’ll continue with our experiences in Kona in the next part of this Hawaii series. I hope you’re enjoying this, learning a little, and keep reading in the future.