Getting There

If possible, fly directly to Kauai; doing so can save you a 2-hour layover in Honolulu and another plane ride.

There are no direct international flights into Kauai. You must go through Honolulu to clear Customs and Immigration if you are flying directly from a foreign country. From Honolulu, take an interisland plane to Lihue, Kauai.

Airlines serving Honolulu, Hawaii, from places other than the U.S. mainland include Air Canada (tel. 800/776-3000; www.aircanada.ca); Air New Zealand (tel. 0800/737-000 in Auckland, 64-3/379-5200 in Christchurch, 800/926-7255 in the U.S.; www.airnewzealand.com), which runs 40 flights per week between Auckland and Hawaii; Qantas (tel. 008/177-767 in Australia, 800/227-4500 in the U.S.; www.qantas.com.au), which flies between Sydney and Honolulu daily (plus additional flights 4 days a week); Japan Air Lines (tel. 03/5489-1111 in Tokyo, 800/525-3663 in the U.S.; www.japanair.com); All Nippon Airways (ANA; tel. 03/5489-1212 in Tokyo, 800/235-9262 in the U.S.; www.fly-ana.com); China Airlines (tel. 02/715-1212 in Taipei, 800/227-5118 in the U.S.; www.china-airlines.com); Air Pacific, serving Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific (tel. 800/227-4446; www.airpacific.com); Korean Airlines (tel. 02/656-2000 in Seoul, 800/223-1155 on the U.S. east coast, 800/421-8200 on the U.S. west coast, 800/438-5000 from Hawaii; www.koreanair.com); and Philippine Airlines (tel. 631/816-6691 in Manila, 800/435-9725 in the U.S.; www.philippineair.com).

Operated by the European Travel Network, www.discount-tickets.com is a great online source for regular and discounted airfares to destinations around the world. You can also use this site to compare rates and book accommodations, car rentals, and tours. Click on "Special Offers" for the latest package deals.

Airlines from the U.S. Mainland flying directly into Lihue, Kauai, are: United Airlines (tel. 800/225-5825; www.ual.com), which offers direct service to Kauai, with daily flights from Los Angeles. American Airlines (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com) offers a nonstop, daily flight from Los Angeles. America West (tel. 800/327-7810; www.americawest.com) has direct flights from Phoenix to Lihue. SunTrips (tel. 800/SUN-TRIP; www.suntrips.com) offers a charter from Oakland International Airport (OAK) once a week. Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays (tel. 800/742-9244; www.pleasantholidays.com), one of Hawaii's largest travel companies offering low-cost airfare and package deals, has two weekly nonstop flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco using American Trans Air. All other airlines land in Honolulu, where you'll have to connect to a 30-minute interisland flight to Kauai's Lihue Airport.

There are three interisland carriers: Hawaiian Airlines (tel. 800/367-5320, 808/245-1813, or 808/838-1555; www.hawaiianair.com); go! (tel. 888/IFLYGO2; www.iflygo.com), and Mokulele Airlines (tel. 866/260-7070; www.mokuleleairlines.com) where there is a flight at least every hour to Lihue.

Arriving at the Airport

Lihue Airport is a couple of miles from downtown Lihue. There is no public transportation, and there are no shuttle vans available at the airport, so you must either rent a car or hire a taxi.

Flying for Less: Tips for Getting the Best Airfare

• Passengers who can book their ticket either long in advance or at the last minute, or who fly midweek or at less-trafficked hours may pay a fraction of the full fare. If your schedule is flexible, say so, and ask if you can secure a cheaper fare by changing your flight plans.
• Search the Internet for cheap fares. The most popular online travel agencies are Travelocity.com (www.travelocity.co.uk); Expedia.com (www.expedia.co.uk and www.expedia.ca); and Orbitz.com. In the U.K., go to Travelsupermarket (tel. 0845/345-5708; www.travelsupermarket.com), a flight search engine that offers flight comparisons for the budget airlines whose seats often end up in bucket-shop sales. Other websites for booking airline tickets online include Cheapflights.com, SmarterTravel.com, Priceline.com, and Opodo (www.opodo.co.uk). Meta search sites (which find and then direct you to airline and hotel websites for booking) include Sidestep.com and Kayak.com -- the latter includes fares for budget carriers like Jet Blue and Spirit as well as the major airlines. Site59.com is a great source for last-minute flights and getaways. In addition, most airlines offer online-only fares that even their phone agents know nothing about. British travelers should check Flights International (tel. 0800/0187050) for deals on flights all over the world.
• Watch local newspapers for promotional specials or fare wars, when airlines lower prices on their most popular routes. Also keep an eye on price fluctuations and deals at websites such as Airfarewatchdog.com and Farecast.com.
• Try to book a ticket in its country of origin. If you're planning a one-way flight from Johannesburg to New York, a South Africa-based travel agent will probably have the lowest fares. For foreign travelers on multi-leg trips, book in the country of the first leg; for example, book New York-Chicago-Montreal-New York in the U.S.
• Consolidators, also known as bucket shops, are wholesale brokers in the airline-ticket game. Consolidators buy deeply discounted tickets ("distressed" inventories of unsold seats) from airlines and sell them to online ticket agencies, travel agents, tour operators, corporations, and, to a lesser degree, the general public. Consolidators advertise in Sunday newspaper travel sections (often in small ads with tiny type), both in the U.S. and the U.K. They can be great sources for cheap international tickets. On the downside, bucket-shop tickets are often rigged with restrictions, such as stiff cancellation penalties (as high as 50%-75% of the ticket price). And keep in mind that most of what you see advertised is of limited availability. Several reliable consolidators are worldwide and available online. STA Travel (www.statravel.com) has been the world's leading consolidator for students since purchasing Council Travel, but their fares are competitive for travelers of all ages. Flights.com (tel. 800/TRAV-800; www.flights.com) has excellent fares worldwide, particularly to Europe. They also have "local" websites in 12 countries. FlyCheap (tel. 800/FLY-CHEAP; www.1800flycheap.com) has especially good fares to sunny destinations. Air Tickets Direct (tel. 800/778-3447; www.airticketsdirect.com) is based in Montreal and leverages the currently weak Canadian dollar for low fares; they also book trips to places that U.S. travel agents won't touch, such as Cuba.
• Join frequent-flier clubs. Frequent-flier membership doesn't cost a cent, but it does entitle you to free tickets or upgrades when you amass the airline's required number of frequent-flier points. You don't even have to fly to earn points; frequent-flier credit cards can earn you thousands of miles for doing your everyday shopping. But keep in mind that award seats are limited, seats on popular routes are hard to snag, and more and more major airlines are cutting their expiration periods for mileage points -- so check your airline's frequent-flier program so you don't lose your miles before you use them. Inside tip: Award seats are offered almost a year in advance, but seats also open up at the last minute, so if your travel plans are flexible, you may strike gold. To play the frequent-flier game to your best advantage, consult the community bulletin boards on FlyerTalk (www.flyertalk.com) or go to Randy Petersen's Inside Flyer (www.insideflyer.com). Petersen and friends review all the programs in detail and post regular updates on changes in policies and trends.

Coping with Jet Lag

Jet lag is a pitfall of traveling across time zones. If you're flying north to south and you feel sluggish when you touch down, your symptoms will be caused by dehydration and the general stress of air travel. When you travel east to west, as you do when going to Hawaii, however, your body becomes thoroughly confused about what time it is, and everything from your digestion to your brain gets knocked for a loop. Traveling east, say, from Kauai to Los Angeles, is less difficult on your internal clock than traveling west, say from Atlanta to Hawaii, as most peoples' bodies find it more acceptable to stay up late than to fall asleep early.

Here are some tips for combating jet lag:

• Reset your watch to your destination time before you board the plane.
• Drink lots of water before, during, and after your flight. Avoid alcohol.
• Exercise and sleep well for a few days before your trip.
• If you have trouble sleeping on planes, fly eastward on morning flights.
• Daylight is the key to resetting your body clock. At the website for Outside In (www.bodyclock.com), you can get a customized plan of when to seek and avoid light.
• If you need help getting to sleep earlier than you usually would, doctors recommend taking either the hormone melatonin or the sleeping pill Ambien -- but not together. Take 2 to 5 milligrams of melatonin about 2 hours before your planned bedtime.

What to Do If Your Luggage Is Delayed or (Gasp!) Lost

You're standing at the luggage carousel, watching the same baggage go round and round when you realize there are no more bags being unloaded and your bag is not there.

The first thing is not to panic; most bags are delivered to their destination within 24 to 48 hours. Here are some tips to help you and your bag get reunited as soon as possible.

• Have your name and destination address both outside and inside your luggage. At least you'll have a fighting chance of being contacted if your bag is tagged with where your bag is going (not just your home address, but the address of your hotel/condo in Hawaii, with a contact phone number). While you're at it, get rid of all the old airline baggage tags to other destinations.
• Know where the lost baggage claim counter is for your airline. While you are waiting for your luggage, make sure you know where you will have to go to file a claim; that way you can be the first in line if your bag did not arrive. If you flew on more than one airline, always go to the last airline you flew on; they are the ones to start processing your claim.
• To wait or not to wait for the next flight. The lost luggage claims desk loves to tell people: "Oh, your bag will be in on the next flight." Smile, and politely ask them if they have proof that the bag is in the system and booked on that flight. If they can't guarantee it, you might want to proceed to your destination, rather than wait around the airport in hopes that the suitcase "might" be on the next flight.
• Before you leave the airport (without your bag), be sure to get the following: a copy of your lost luggage claim form, the phone number to call to check on your luggage, an estimate on when they will have more information on when your bag will arrive, and what you should do if your bag does not arrive.
• If your bag is lost, don't expect the airlines to write you a check for $2,800 on the spot. You will have to make a list of what was in your bags (no exaggerating here -- you probably did not have a couple of designer dresses in your bag to Hawaii); be sure to list the cost of the suitcase itself and any money you have had to pay out to replace items in the suitcase. Unfortunately, the airlines will only reimburse you for the depreciated value of your items, not the replacement value.

Your Departure: Agricultural Screening at the Airports

All baggage and passengers bound for the mainland must be screened by agricultural officials before boarding. This takes a little time but isn't a problem unless you happen to be carrying a football-size local avocado home to Aunt Emma. Officials will confiscate fresh avocados, bananas, mangoes, and many other kinds of local produce in the name of fruit-fly control. Pineapples, coconuts, and papayas inspected and certified for export; boxed flowers; leis without seeds; and processed foods (macadamia nuts, coffee, jams, dried fruit, and the like) will pass. Call federal agricultural officials (tel. 808/877-8757) before leaving for the airport if you're not sure about your trophy.