Hawai‘i 10-Day Mega-Transfer Cheat-Sheet

📍✈️Day -1 24 Sep 2025 – PVG ➡️ KOA (via KIX + HNL) Route: Shanghai ➡️ Osaka-Kansai 5 h layover ➡️ Honolulu 8 h ➡️ Kona 55 min. Carrier: JAL return ticket ≈ ¥6,000 all-in. That is legit the cheapest item on the whole receipt—cheaper than 5 nights resort parking. 😂 🎌 Kansai T1 Survival Kit 5 h sounds plush until you remember Japanese immigration + security eats 90 min. Food: only one ramen house (perpetual 30-min snake). Grab the curry rice—comes in 7 min, tastes like edible hug. 🍛 Retail: capsule-toy shrine (perfect for inflating suitcase weight later), outdoor gear corner (Snow Peak drops faster than Shanghai stock), and a tiny drugstore with 3-for-1 face masks. Remember gate shuttles: some int’l departures need a 10-min bus; board 40 min pre-time. 🚃 🌺 Honolulu Arrival 101 Immigration: use the Mobile Passport Control app—scan face, bypass 200-person line. 📱⚡ Bag re-check: HNL forces you to collect even inter-island bags. Signage looks like a 1995 website—just follow “Baggage Claim” then “Inter-island Connections.” Shopping: Polo RL factory store opposite carousel 25. Basic tees 2 for $30; WeChat/Alipay/UnionPay all accepted—stock up so you smell less like jet fuel. 🏷️💳 Walk to inter-island terminal 10 min via roofed walkway; moving sidewalks actually work (looking at you, LAX). 🛫 Inter-island – Southwest Airlines 🐬 Ticket: ¥1,300 pax booked Aug-2025 back when 23 kg free still lived. Policy died 01 Sep—now $35 first bag. Pro-tip: buy bags online; airport price $40. Lobby: SWA hides in Lobby 6, Zone D. Ask info desk or you’ll wander past Hawaiian, Mokulele, and a guy selling coconut water for $9. 🥥💸 Timing myth: 2 h connect is ENOUGH. My plane touched down 12:10, bags on belt 12:35, SWA boarding 13:25, wheels #US #Hawaii #Honolulu