Travel Briefs
Star-Bulletin staff
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Check-in gets easier
Guests with tickets on Hawaiian Airlines who are staying at four Outrigger and Ohana hotels on Oahu can now check in for their flights in the hotel lobby.
The service, which costs $5 per bag, is also available to people traveling aboard Hawaiian who are not staying at the hotels.
Got a room to spare?
The Kauai Visitors Bureau is seeking help from those with spare accommodations to share with visitors displaced by recent floods.
Those with accommodations are asked to contact KVB at 808-245-3971.
Those arriving on the island are being advised not to drive to the North Shore, to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. Those who already made arrangements to stay on the North Shore are being asked to report to the Pahio Booth at Lihue Airport, where a list of alternate hotel rooms and accommodations is being maintained.
For the latest Civil Defense updates on Kauai, tune your radio to KONG FM 93.5. Online updates also will appear on the Garden Island Web site at www.kauaiworld.com.
From Oakland to Hilo
ATA Airlines is set to begin nonstop flights from Oakland, Calif., to Hilo beginning with an inaugural flight on April 27.
It will be the first direct flight from the mainland to Hilo in more than 20 years and will be welcomed with an official hula and lei greeting at 9:50 p.m. at Hilo International Airport.
Regular daily flights will start on the 28th, departing from Hilo at 8:20 a.m. and arriving in Oakland at 4:15 p.m. The return flight departs Oakland at 7:35 p.m. daily and lands in Hilo at 9:50 p.m. Flights can be booked by visiting www.ata.com.
The new route offers a direct connection to Hilo for mainland visitors and a new gateway to the Kohala Coast, Kona, Waimea and other areas of the island, along with an entryway for all Big Island residents to mainland cities that connect through ATA Airlines in Oakland.
ATA VIPs, led by CEO John Denison, will be on the Big Island through April 29, where they will participate in tours of downtown Hilo, the 'Imiloa Astronomy Center and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Across the Pacific, a "May Day Is Lei Day" celebration will take place in Oakland on May 1, with hula performances and giveaways of 1,000 leis, free trips on ATA and prizes donated by Big Island businesses.
For more information about the promotions, contact the Big Island Visitors Bureau at 808-961-5797.
Star-Bulletin staff and the New York Times