In May 2009, I am going to Hawaii to attend a wedding. Given the expense to go, I want to make the most of it and see a couple of other islands as well. Having been to Ohau several times, and Maui once, I was thinking about spending a couple of days on Kauai and the Big Island. My traveling companion has never been to Hawaii, and I want us to see and do as much as possible.

In trying to plan a few days at other isalands, I was wondering what is the best air travel between HNL and other points. Also, any suggestions on which islands to see and where to go are welcome.

Maholo

If you're choosing to see the Big Island and Kauai this time around, you're making a wise choice. They are the most beautiful/spectacular of all, IMO.

As far as what the "best air travel" is, I'm not sure if I understand the question. There are two carriers that operate regularly scheduled flights: Hawaiian, and Go! (Mesa). The main difference for you will be schedule and a/c type. But since the flights are all about <45 minutes, it doesn't really matter.

As for where to go... I highly recommend searching through this forum, as well as purchasing the guides "Hawaii The Big Island Revealed" and the "Ultimate Kauai Guidebook". Both offer "from the mouths of the locals" advice on where to go and what to see.

Enjoy your trip!

There are actually at least five airlines that do inter-island flight, but not all of them do every station:

Hawaiian
IslandAir
Pacific Wings
Mokulele (branded as go! Express)
go!

If at all possible, please don't fly go!

Their business practices (evidenced by a multi-million dollar judgment against them) helped drive Aloha Airlines out of business, thus hurting a large number of local families.

They also have the single most uncomfortable aircraft I've ever been in, the CRJ200

Any of the four airlines would do what you need to do, but each has its idiosyncracies

This shows how long I've been away. How could I forget about IslandAir?

You MUST go to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island to see Kilauea! Seeing the eruption in the caldera and hiking across a lava field to view the lava at night were the highlight of our vacation. You can't see something like this anywhere else on earth.

Also try to visit the astronomical center at the visitor center on Mauna Kea. We were able to see the craters on the moon with incredible detail. We also saw the moons of Jupiter and were able to make out the stripes on Jupiter.

Each island has its own personality so I think it is very hard to choose between them. Kauai does have beautiful beaches because being the northernmost of the main islands, the ocean has had longer to do its work to whittle away at the volcanic rocks. (The islands are created at the southern end of the chain - there is a new one growing but will not break the ocean's surface in our lifetime.) Kauai is also smaller than the Big Island and is therefore a little more manageable in a short period of time. Don't try to schedule too much - if you don't have a lot of time, stick with one outer island and save the other for a future trip.

Any updates in the best inter-island? I'm looking to fly a family of 4 OGG-KOA in late July.

Pacific Wings looks like it flies 9 seat Cessna's with 1 bag allowed. We'll be in the middle of a 2 week trip, so this seems to be a no-go.

Island Air has Dash-8's, not that much better, though the first bag is free

go! doesn't seem to have non-stops. Flyng to HNL and back seems quite out of the way, turning a 30 minute flight into a 90 minute flight, though it's a semi-real jet (CRJ)

Hawaiin - direct, no cost 1st bag, 717, but they look more expensive - $102 one-way right now according to Kayak. I remember big fare sales last time I was looking, but that was when the original Aloha was in the mix. Any chance they'll have the $19/$39/$59 fares available for next summer?

Any other options? I can use UA miles - 5K for a one way on Island or Hawaiian.

EDIT - so much for trusting Kayak. Hawaiian's site has tix for $75 all in. Thoughts on that going lower?

I doubt it, except maybe for short, unpredictable times. The peace of mind would be worth it, imo.

Don't fly go! please; their shoddy business practices were responsible for driving Aloha out of business.

IslandAir is fine, particularly if you want some terrific views from a bit lower altitude. The OGG-KOA flight will likely hug the coast giving you a view of the road to Hana without the trouble of driving it

All in all, I'd pick Hawaiian first, IslandAir second, and Pacific Wings third.

Btw, my experience is that Kayak never picks up Hawaiian web-only fares.

How come there are so few non-stop inter island flights? It seems like the majority stop in HNL. If I want to go LIH-OGG I see only 1 non-stop on Hawaiian out of about 25 daily departures.

You mean so few non-stop flights between LIH and any other city beside HNL? That's just the way the carriers do it. There's just not enough demand for non-stop travel to LIH from other cities than HNL, so they'll route you through HNL to get there.

Fair enough. Just thought it was strange I had no problem finding a non-stop LIH-OGG this past January, but for this coming February there's literally only 1 flight available...at 9 in the morning.

Island Air has two LIH-OGG flights M-Th and three Fri-Sun - 10:50 (F-Su), 12:10, and 2:20p - in addition to Hawaiian's 9:20a

Thanks for the info. Since those flights are pretty much in the middle of the day I think I'll go with Hawaiian and make the stop. Even though I'd prefer non-stop, it will all be after dark so I can still get a pretty full final day in Kauai before heading to Maui.

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Wait the HA nonstop is at 9 in the morning right? That wouldn't give you a full day on Kauai but give you a full day on Maui instead.

True, but since we're arriving in Kauai the previous Saturday night, and heading back east the following Saturday night, we'd like to split the two weeks evenly between the two islands. Ok, the truth is neither of us want to get up at 6 in the morning on our vacation.