We left Tuesday afternoon and drove up to Detroit in preparation for our 7 am flight on Wednesday.
We met up with our longtime friends, Erika and Fred Heegan for dinner at Mitchell’s Seafood House. We hadn’t seen them in over a year, so it was great to catch up!
After dinner, we returned our 1-way rental car and took the shuttle to DTW and checked into the Airport Westin, which is connected to the ticketing level. Although we planned to wake at 4:45am the next day, we also recognized that Hawai’i is 6 hours behind EST. We also know that Pat doesn’t adjust quickly to new time zones (but Cheryl is the all-time champion). So, we did our best to stay awake until 11pm or so, looking forward to catching some sleep on one or both of our long flights on Wednesday.
We were up and ready to go by 5:15 am. When we arrived at the airport, we realized that Pat didn’t have TSA Precheck on his boarding pass (our first issue)! We had built in a little extra time for “just such an emergency”. I took his electronics and liquids so that he wouldn’t have to pull everything out. Fortunately, he was able to clear TSA fairly quickly and we were at our gate when they started boarding.
We had three flights throughout the day. Detroit to Minneapolis; Minneapolis to Honolulu and Honolulu to the Big Island. In total, our journey was 19 hours. We both slept on and off throughout the day, helping pass the time and adjust to the new time zone.
Upon arrival at HNL, we had to collect our checked bags and make our way from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 to re-check our bags for a Hawaiian Air flight to Kona. It was about a 10 minute walk, and there were no issues. And on this flight, Pat had PreCheck for TSA Security! You may ask, “Why did you book separate flights instead of booking everything on one airline? Surely, Delta flies to the Big Island, right?” Check out the Tips section (below) for the reasons we did it this way, and for an explanation of why Pat got PreCheck for this flight on the same day as a flight without PreCheck.
The best flight was to the Big Island, where I had a window seat. Below are some of the amazing views we had as we took off from Oahu, heading for our final destination.
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Travel Tips, Tricks, and Lessons Learned:
Either before or after our various travels, friends often ask if we used a travel agent or how we planned our trips. In most cases, the planning is done by us (Pat usually takes the lead, and Cheryl will handle specific tasks within the broader itinerary). We thought it might be helpful (and interesting?) to detail some of the tips and tricks that we use, as well has calling out some of the (hard) lessons we learned along the way (such as not having TSA Precheck on your Boarding Pass). Without fail, regardless of how much planning we put in ahead of time, we either forget something, or circumstances change due to weather, travel delays, or mistakes we made upfront. We then have to adjust on the fly, but don’t let it ruin our trips.
Rather than include the planning tips within our daily recaps, we thought it made sense to collect them in one place. It will save those who aren’t interested in these micro-details having to wade through them within the trip updates, and also will collect them in one spot. I hope you find them helpful as you consider planning your next venture.
There won’t necessarily be tips with each daily update, but look for this button/hotlink, which will take you to the Tips section of our site.
Happy Travels!
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