Time to get from Aulani to HNL

[Anal Annie]

I am working hard to finalize our airfare for this summer SOON. If I look at the Hawaiian Airlines website directly there are more choices for less money than if I include the hop from HNL to Maui along with our other flights on some of the big search engines so I am going to book it as a one-way flight all on its own. Anyway, the times are filling up & selling out fast so I want to get this flight booked ASAP. We will only have 3 nights on Maui so I want to go sort of early in the day...but I don't want to get caught up in morning rush hour if I can avoid it. We've never rented a car on Oahu and have always taken a shuttle or a taxi - and of course we stayed in Waikiki before so it was a different "commute" to the airport. How much time do you think we'd need to allow to drive from Aulani to the airport, drop off the car and get checked through Security for our flight? Do I need to count on allowing at least 3 hours? Trying to decide between a 9:42 AM or a 10:07 AM flight to Maui. Guessing that either of them might still put us in rush hour?! TIA.

 

[Sir William]

Hawaiian Airlines recommends 1 1/2 hr to check-in, clear security and get to your gate for inter-island flights. Figure a minimum of 45 minutes to get to the airport from Aulani, depending on the time of day. I've done it in less, but mid- morning on a Sunday. How much time to return the car depends on the rental location, and how busy the are when you get there.

(I should know better than to try and respond on my iPad. While trying to move the cursor the machine went into SENT mode.)

 

[Anal Annie]

Hawaiian Airlines recommends 1 1/2 hr to check--in, clear security and get to your gate. Figure a minimum of 45 minutes to get to the airport. I've done it in less, but mid- morning on a Sunday. How much time to return the car depends on the location,how busy the are.

Thanks. I was guestimating 3 hours. I see we are neighbors (sort of). I HAD been pricing things out of Dulles but yesterday found an itinerary out of DCA using Alaska Airlines. Do you ever use DCA? We never do so I'm a little nervous about the parking there....I was thinking we should go offsite to one of the Crystal City hotels? Thoughts on that??

 

[joeabate]

We just returned and rented a car despite everyone complaining about traffic. We are from a suburb of NYC so compared to what we have here, there was not traffic in Hawaii, just a lot of cars on the road It was never the stand still traffic, was always moving, sometimes slow. Took us 45 minutes to get to the airport at 11:00. Did drive in earlier for site seeing a few of the days and it did take a little longer, maybe an extra 10 minutes.

Hawaii Air was the best. They even still serve food and drinks for free, including wine! They do however recommend 2 -2 1/2 hours before flight arrival.

 

[Sir William]

Thanks. I was guestimating 3 hours. I see we are neighbors (sort of). I HAD been pricing things out of Dulles but yesterday found an itinerary out of DCA using Alaska Airlines. Do you ever use DCA? We never do so I'm a little nervous about the parking there....I was thinking we should go offsite to one of the Crystal City hotels? Thoughts on that??

Howdy Neighbor!

I haven't been out of DCA since 2010. I always parked in the garage as I was only gone for only 1-2 nights but never had any problems. I don't know about the long-term lots, but I would think no worse than IAD or BWI, or most other airports.

I'm going out in April and after Aulani we're going over to Kauai for a wedding. We picked a noon departure as I figured the morning traffic might be dying down by the time we start for the airport (though I know it's not as bad as DC traffic). I estimated 3 hours as well, but with my luck I'll be there and through security in less than an hour. On the other hand, I'd rather have too much time than not enough and end up watching my flight depart without me.

 

[Anal Annie]

Howdy Neighbor!

I haven't been out of DCA since 2010. I always parked in the garage as I was only gone for only 1-2 nights but never had any problems. I don't know about the long-term lots, but I would think no worse than IAD or BWI, or most other airports.

I am just nervous about not knowing the area around National...and I can manage to get lost even with a GPS telling me when to turn. We always use either Dulles or BWI so I know the parking drill at those airports...I thought maybe there might not be as much long-term parking at National? I saw a deal for this offsite and wondered if it was legit:

http://easyparkfly.com/0281ppc/

 

[Sir William]

I am just nervous about not knowing the area around National...and I can manage to get lost even with a GPS telling me when to turn. We always use either Dulles or BWI so I know the parking drill at those airports...I thought maybe there might not be as much long-term parking at National? I saw a deal for this offsite and wondered if it was legit:

http://easyparkfly.com/0281ppc/

I've heard of them, but never used them. The few times I flew out of DCA I was on business and a tight time schedule, so just parked at the airport. I think this location is fairly close to the airport but I'd allow extra time to get from the parking garage, wait for the shuttle, and negotiate the traffic, which can get pretty crowded some days (usually when you're in a hurry). I took a shuttle from the Pentagon into Chrystal City once that went so slow (heavy traffic) that I eventually got off and walked - and beat the shuttle.

 

[nordkin]

I am just nervous about not knowing the area around National...and I can manage to get lost even with a GPS telling me when to turn. We always use either Dulles or BWI so I know the parking drill at those airports...I thought maybe there might not be as much long-term parking at National? I saw a deal for this offsite and wondered if it was legit:

http://easyparkfly.com/0281ppc/

They are legit, but plug in your dates to get the actual rates and see if the dates are available. They often are not. We usually park at the airport, but the rates are high even for economy parking. They have about 850 spaces available. Have you thought about a shuttle service? It may be less expensive than parking for two weeks and then you would be able to leave from one airport and return to another. We have also done this as well.

We just returned from Aulani yesterday and without traffic it took 40 minutes to get to the airport. We went into Honolulu on Thursday and left the hotel at 6:45 AM and arrived at the airport exit arount 7:45. There is traffice, but if you are used to Washington traffic you should not have a problem.

 

[Anal Annie]

They are legit, but plug in your dates to get the actual rates and see if the dates are available. They often are not. We usually park at the airport, but the rates are high even for economy parking. They have about 850 spaces available. Have you thought about a shuttle service? It may be less expensive than parking for two weeks and then you would be able to leave from one airport and return to another. We have also done this as well.

We just returned from Aulani yesterday and without traffic it took 40 minutes to get to the airport. We went into Honolulu on Thursday and left the hotel at 6:45 AM and arrived at the airport exit arount 7:45. There is traffice, but if you are used to Washington traffic you should not have a problem.

Hi - another neighbor!! Thanks. Yes, used to bad traffic but DON'T LIKE IT!! I will plan to allow 3 hours to return to the airport from Aulani and return a car etc. BTW here's another parking link I found...a little more expensive than the other one but maybe more reliable? http://www.cheapairportparking.org/parking/index.php?airport=DCA&kw=reagan%20national%20airport%20parking%20rates&gclid=CM7uipTSiLUCFYLd4AodEDIA5w. When we use BWI we use the "Fast Park" lots and when we use Dulles we use either a local hotel (sometimes find a Groupon deal) or the economy lots. BWI always has the cheapest parking.

I HAVE thought about using a shuttle (mostly because I'd like to sometimes fly in / out of different airports) but we live in upper Montgomery Co. and are on the "wrong side" of Rt. 355 (Frederick Rd. aka Rockville Pike / aka Wisconsin Ave.). Our neighborhood literally has 1 entrance directly onto Rt. 355 but because we're on the west side our zip code is for a little nothing town out in the boondocks that doesn't even have an operating Post Office any more (our mail is now sorted in Germantown)!! The shuttle people go by zip code and won't come to pick us up even tho that's NOT WHERE WE REALLY LIVE!! In fact, the neighborhood directly across Rt. 355 from us has a different zip code and they WILL service them!! It's frustrating the heck out of me! I sent the Super Shuttle people a message online last week and they never answered me. (I haven't been able to negotiate a pick-up over the phone either.) I priced car services once and they were ridiculously priced to come up here.

 

[rpcvpanama]

I too live in MoCo...but I hate National Airport. Parking garage is horrendous and very expensive. National does have a "long term" lot that is a little more reasonable and you get picked up by a shuttle. I have used that before and it was fine...outside lot. I can't remember the pricing offhand but I think it is on National's website. Have you thought about Metro. I know, not the most convenient but maybe a taxi to a Metro stop and then the train. Would save a ton on car parking.

 

[Sir William]

I too live in MoCo...but I hate National Airport. Parking garage is horrendous and very expensive. National does have a "long term" lot that is a little more reasonable and you get picked up by a shuttle. I have used that before and it was fine...outside lot. I can't remember the pricing offhand but I think it is on National's website. Have you thought about Metro. I know, not the most convenient but maybe a taxi to a Metro stop and then the train. Would save a ton on car parking.

For us a taxi to Dulles is $25 one-way so $50 round trip. Long term parking is $10 per day so when we go anywhere more than 5 days it is more cost effective for us to take a taxi. When we go to Hawaii in April for 10 days, it's a no brainier how we'll get to the airport, but if we were flying out of National or BWI it'd be more of a toss up between cost and time/convenience.

 

[Anal Annie]

I too live in MoCo...but I hate National Airport. Parking garage is horrendous and very expensive. National does have a "long term" lot that is a little more reasonable and you get picked up by a shuttle. I have used that before and it was fine...outside lot. I can't remember the pricing offhand but I think it is on National's website. Have you thought about Metro. I know, not the most convenient but maybe a taxi to a Metro stop and then the train. Would save a ton on car parking.

Shady Grove would be the closest metro station to us and I would NOT leave a car parked there over night let alone for 2 weeks. I don't think the parking there, even in the garage, is very secure. Plus our little family is so dysfunctional I can't imagine trying to navigate the metro with luggage. It would be a Griswald family movie in the making!

For us a taxi to Dulles is $25 one-way so $50 round trip. Long term parking is $10 per day so when we go anywhere more than 5 days it is more cost effective for us to take a taxi. When we go to Hawaii in April for 10 days, it's a no brainier how we'll get to the airport, but if we were flying out of National or BWI it'd be more of a toss up between cost and time/convenience.

Oh you must live really close-in. We're about an hour from Dulles so a taxi would be outrageous. BWI would be the easiest now with the ICC open but the flights have been higher there the past couple of years...

ANYWAY, it's all a done deal now. I booked everything on Sunday and will figure out the parking at National thing eventually. I'll probably look for a deal at a Crystal City hotel that offers a shuttle. I couldn't stand worrying about the prices going up any more and the price difference between using Dulles and National (for comparable flight times / stops) was around $314 pp!! In fact, the first class seating on Alaska air was less than the economy price on United!! So for almost $950 less for the 3 of us I sort of HAD to book through National. I ended up choosing the 10:07 AM inter-island flight from HNL to Maui so we'll plan to leave Aulani by around 7:15. That will be almost 3 hours. Hopefully that will be enough time.

 

[Sir William]

Oh you must live really close-in. We're about an hour from Dulles so a taxi would be outrageous. BWI would be the easiest now with the ICC open but the flights have been higher there the past couple of years...

ANYWAY, it's all a done deal now. I booked everything on Sunday and will figure out the parking at National thing eventually.

I'm about 20-25 minutes from Dulles.

You might check out some of the taxi and shuttle services and see if they have a set rate for longer distances. You may be able to find a less expensive option than parking at/near the airport for two weeks.

I use these guys pretty much all the time to get to the airport: www.citycabsandlimo.com They will also do return pickups but we usually just grab a taxi outside the terminal.