United to Mainland

[hilot.h.]

Since United dump Hilo I have been bummed out. All my years on here in Hilo I felt that getting to the mainland was just a redeye away. Now I feel a bit stuck. With that said any ideas on getting to Kona for a flight or am I destined to fly out of Maui or Oahu? Does anybody have any insight?
 Mahalo,
 Michael

[Thronester]

Alaska flight 880 non stop leaves Kona at 10pm and gets to Seattle at 6am. That’s the one I usually take.

[leilanidude]

Hawaiian, America, United, Alaskan and Southwest all have non-stop KOA to LAX flights and they were always cheaper than flying out of Hilo.

['elepaio]

I forget the schedule, and for sure its a redeye, but there is a bus that leaves from Hilo around 4:30ish and swoops into KOA decent time still.

You can call them, they answer AND are helpful.

'e

[terracore]

Since Southwest moved in it's cheaper to pay for a flight to HNL to get to the mainland than it is to park your car at the Kona Airport. I can get a ride to ITO. I wouldn't ask anybody to drive to KOA twice.

Sure, there is a bus, but asking somebody to drive me to the bus stop is the same distance as them dropping me off at ITO.

[hilot.h.]

Since Southwest moved in it's cheaper to pay for a flight to HNL to get to the mainland than it is to park your car at the Kona Airport. I can get a ride to ITO.  I wouldn't ask anybody to drive to KOA twice. 

Sure, there is a bus, but asking somebody to drive me to the bus stop is the same distance as them dropping me off at ITO.

That sounds good I will check it out.

[TomK]

I just picked a date in mid-March for a one-week trip. You can get some great deals from Kona, around $280 return, but you have to factor in all the other costs. Flying from Hilo on the same dates is about $200-250 more but probably can get someone to give you a ride to the airport. One other thing to factor in is luggage. If you're checking in a bag you have to pay for that anyway if you pay the cheapest price. With United, you also have to pay for your carry-on.

[kalakoa]

Choose between a 2-hour drive to KOA or a 2-hour layover in HNL or OGG, because ITO will always be a regional airport.