Hi,
Can anyone give me suggestions of the best/cheapest way to get to Kona? I am coming from the Uk and there will be no problem getting a flight to San Fran or LA but from hear it seems to become a bit messy. Seen a deal to honolulu but is it easy to get internal flights?
Thanks
There are some direct flights to Kona from the mainland but flying into Honolulu and hopping to Kona using Aloha Air for about $100CDN (or USD) seems to be the best way.
Internal Hawaiian flights seem to be frequent and easy. Just don’t expect your luggage to come with you but it will come eventually.
Try for a direct flight into Kona, it’s a lot easier. Interisland flights are very frequent and pretty cheap, but the connections in Honolulu are a pain after a long flight. You have to get your luggage and take a shuttle to a different terminal. There are some good deals from California direct into Kona. I have also take the US Airways flight from Detroit to Phoenix to Kona. Avoiding California and Honolulu makes it much easier.
Dave
Interisland flights are very frequent and pretty cheap, but the connections in Honolulu are a pain after a long flight. You have to get your luggage and take a shuttle to a different terminal.
We’ve flown connections from Honolulu to Kona 14 times. We have never had to collect luggage. Also, there is an easy covered walk to other terminal, it takes about 5 minutes. It feels good to stretch your legs after the long flight. It is actually faster than the shuttle.
“We’ve flown connections from Honolulu to Kona 14 times. We have never had to collect luggage. Also, there is an easy covered walk to other terminal, it takes about 5 minutes. It feels good to stretch your legs after the long flight. It is actually faster than the shuttle.” The OP is flying from the UK, and I fly to Hawaii from Canada, while you are probably flying from the mainland US. If you are going through US customs you have to collect your luggage before your proceed through customs. Going through customs in Honolulu is often a very long a stressful experience after a long flight, which is another reason that I like to simplify things and fly from the mainland to Kona. You also need to transport your own luggage when flying from the mainland and going on an interisland flight depending on which combination of airlines you fly and how your book your ticket. I’d rather stretch my legs in Kona and skip Honolulu 
Dave
If you are going through US customs you have to collect your luggage before your proceed through customs. Going through customs in Honolulu is often a very long a stressful experience after a long flight, which is another reason that I like to simplify things and fly from the mainland to Kona.
Yes, I thought that might be the case. Don’t you have to go through customs before you get to Kona? I didn’t think they even have a customs department at that tiny Kona airport.
Yes, you do have to go through customs before you get to Kona. I have flown from Canada through Honolulu to Kona and found the Honolulu airport very inconvenient when you are moving your own luggage around. Customs seems more rigorous too, perhaps they have problems with all the international flights. Dealing with customs on the mainland and then just flying into Kona has worked a lot better for us. After a long international flight I find it to be stressful to tack an extra connecting flight on at the end, even if it is a short flight.
Dave
I agree with the Honolulu customs being a PIA. We flew from Kona to Sydney once and had to clear our luggage in Honolulu. It was a big ordeal.
Support Crew
I was curious so I plugged London to Kona into Travelocity, October 10-17. You can fly United with just the one stop in San Francisco for $1186, which sounds like a good deal to me.
Dave