Late flight from LIH-what to do?
 

We have a 10pm flight out of LIH and are staying at the Marriott.Assuming we need to arrive at the airport around 8,does anyone have any suggestions how to maximize our time after checkout?I think the beach and hiking etc is out,since we will have no shower facilities.I am leaning toward just driving around the island,hoping to catch anything we missed on the previous 6 days.

You might call to see if the Marriott offers day rates (usually run ~$100) so that you can use the room till the late evening and thus visit the beach and shower.

Of course, public beach parks equipped with showers might also be another option. And, your idea of driving around the island might also be a good idea.

the beach parks all have showers. not hot or elegant, but it works. lydgate and nawiliwili are close to airport. don't suggest after dark.

Consider purchasing a day pass at Marriott spa (or any other spa on the island). This is my pre red-eye routine.

Thanks for the ideas--as a bit of info for anyone else that may need to know-the Marriott has a "linger longer" rate of $50.When I called prior to arrival,they said they had no day rate and no hospitality suites,but upon arriving we asked and were told they actually have both.

There is no reason to get to LIH 2 hours before your flight. You'd likely be fine getting there 35 minutes before the flight; I would get there about 45 minutes prior though.

thursday through saturday can be extremely busy at lih, and (having no priority line), getting through security can take quite a while. so can the airline check-in lines if you aren't premier. i'm not comfortable getting there less than 60 min early for those reasons.

AGREED ^

In regards to the OP's original question, I wouldn't pay anything extra for the day. Just hang out during the day at whatever hotel you had for your last night, at every hotel/resort we've stayed at there are workout/general locker facilities with showers that we use to freshen up and then get to the airport for our red-eye flight.

Yeah, I'm with JT here, advising folks to get to LIH 35 minutes before a 10PM departure is flirting with disaster.

At the moment there are 3 red eye mainland flights. All 757's, all departing within 30 minutes of 10PM. Shortly this will be boosted to 4 flights certain days (once HP starts running to PHX).

That means nearly 800 folks hitting the maximum of two magnitometers within a very narrow window. As JT said, theres no priority line in LIH and one of the two magnitometers gets diverted for SSSS pax whenever there is more than 1.

I agree LIH is a great little airport and that things usually run very smooth here. BUT 35 minutes is simply not enough time!

I'd plan on more like 75 minutes and zero stress.

Back on topic, there is a day spa in the Harbor Mall immediately behind the Marriott. Prices run about 1/2 the price of the Marriott.

Lihue1k

Drive down to Poipu and look for Monk Seals and hang out at Brenneke's.

I will second that on a Friday or Saturday night to arrive at LIH no later than 1 hr 20 minutes before your flight. I was there recently, busy summer, peak travel season time. There are 4 WTMDs at the security checkpoint now and they were all being used and the TSA seemed to not be analyzing every, oh so harmful, possible bottle of liquids, but the line took about 15 minutes. To fly in our out of LIH to the mainland you need either $ or miles, in either case, you're probably in on the airport security drill, so point being, the line moves OK.

Worse was the UA baggage check in line, there is one for SFO and one for LAX (and presumably similar setup for the 1x weekly to DEN). Why the separate lines when everyone flowed to the same kiosks it seems, I don't know. Baggage check was at least a 20 minute wait. I was worried we would miss a 45 minute mark for checking bags, but at this airport its still a 30 min. cutoff (wish I knew that so I wasn't wetting my pants during the wait to check the bag)

Remember too, there's the HI agriculture inspection, which doesn't take long, and is a reminder of the days when airport security had bags just breeze through, but its another step.

We arrived 1 hr 5 minutes before the flight, and walked to the gate 20 minutes before departure and walked right on.

I think it would be nice if some of the airport contractors would manage the flow through the TSA lines, i.e. ask folks with the later red-eyes to wait, I think this type of que management happens at some smaller, yet not totally small mainland airports.