Best city for non-stop?

[kdonnel]

I'm on the crappy AA flight in question in just a few days. I paid for their comfort+. At the time there were three rows of comfort plus on that version of 767. At some point they changed planes to one with only two rows. Even though I was booked in a row that remained, they took my seats away. They did not notify me or refund the extra I paid. I happened to notice about 30 days after the change, called them and got a long run around to get my refund. It took an additional 30 days to get my refund.

Looking forward to Hawaii, not looking forward to AA flight 5.

I am also on the equally laughable AA 693 from HNL to PHX. An equally old 757 from the same US Airways days as the 767 that does the DAL to HNL leg. It also has no entertainment except the 13 inch roof mounted tube TVs every 10 or so rows.

Welcome to vintage airlines circa 1985.

 

[squirk]

Thanks for all the insight.

Really, the entire point of FC (for this trip, at least) is to get the lie-flat seats so we can sleep for the majority of the trip and not land in HNL feeling completed strung-out.

If there's a fair chance I will get a dated FC cabin with standard recliner seats, rather than the lie-flats listed when I make the res, that's not worth the 100% up-charge. I'd rather just go to Economy/Economy Comfort and save the $$$.

 

[Littlelulu01]

Alaska airlines flies non stop from many west coast cities. I will say that lately Delta planes have been a little nicer though. We use the Alaska airlines visas and they give buy one get one for $119 to Hawaii but they no longer offer for first class. Coach isn't bad at all and first is really only a bigger seat two across instead of three across and a meal on Alaska. If you want Disneyland layover then look at sna or lax. Sna is a MUCH nicer airport but lax not too bad for Alaska- they have their own terminal. We always use pdx or sea ns and typically get best airfare about 90 days out. They'll credit you if price drops. Both husband and wife can have a visa so that takes care of four tickets at serious discount. The sign up bonus on the card should be enough for the 5th person with mileage and most likely a free first class ticket. I usually give husband the first class seat because I'm actually more comfortable in the coach seats on Alaska. you can upgrade for free if you have airline status - MVP or MVP gold. typically only get when mvp gold. Or pay $200 24 hours before flight if available. Can also use mileage to upgrade. The first lounges in Oahu aren't that impressive.

 

[kboo]

I think a lot depends on whether you have a preferred airline, etc. I've flown a lot for work, and grouped all my points together, so now I have lifetime status on AA. We get early boarding, free preferred economy, sometimes free food, free checked bags, so it's an easy choice.

Once you have an airline that you prefer to take, then look at their hubs and what makes the most sense for your needs. We actually all went to Kona a few months ago (2 DD ages 6 and 1) and have taken ODD 2 other times when she was younger, to Kauai. No nonstop from NYC anyway, so we decided to spend the night at LAX both ways. Makes for a long trip but we found it SO worth it for the jet lag and just so it felt more humane. JFK-LAX the planes are pretty nice, and theres a lot of flights out of LAX. We found that we didn't "lose" so much time on arrival since leaving JFK the night before meant we could take the first flight out of LAX the next day, and get in earlier in the day than if we'd tried to do it all in 1 stretch. I.e. we could have flown ALL day friday and landed in Hawaii at 8pm or later Friday night, after having been up for about 20 hours, or we could leave Friday at a normal time, land at LAX, check into our hotel and have some pool/hang out time, sleep in a real bed, and take the Sat AM flight out and land around 1pm Saturday afternoon. You don't actually get that much more quality time on the ground in Hawaii.

FWIW, we stay at the Sheraton Gateway LAX - has a nice pool, good breakfast buffet and restaurants, and you can usually find really good rates. Less than you'd be paying for a hotel/room in Hawaii, for sure! And a 24 hour shuttle bus to/from the airport!

 

[Misty341]

I'm on the crappy AA flight in question in just a few days. I paid for their comfort+. At the time there were three rows of comfort plus on that version of 767. At some point they changed planes to one with only two rows. Even though I was booked in a row that remained, they took my seats away. They did not notify me or refund the extra I paid. I happened to notice about 30 days after the change, called them and got a long run around to get my refund. It took an additional 30 days to get my refund.

Looking forward to Hawaii, not looking forward to AA flight 5.

I am also on the equally laughable AA 693 from HNL to PHX. An equally old 757 from the same US Airways days as the 767 that does the DAL to HNL leg. It also has no entertainment except the 13 inch roof mounted tube TVs every 10 or so rows.

Welcome to vintage airlines circa 1985.

We are on flight 5 also not looking forward to it either!

 

[twodogs]

I'm on the crappy AA flight in question in just a few days. I paid for their comfort+. At the time there were three rows of comfort plus on that version of 767. At some point they changed planes to one with only two rows. Even though I was booked in a row that remained, they took my seats away. They did not notify me or refund the extra I paid. I happened to notice about 30 days after the change, called them and got a long run around to get my refund. It took an additional 30 days to get my refund.

Looking forward to Hawaii, not looking forward to AA flight 5.

I am also on the equally laughable AA 693 from HNL to PHX. An equally old 757 from the same US Airways days as the 767 that does the DAL to HNL leg. It also has no entertainment except the 13 inch roof mounted tube TVs every 10 or so rows.

Welcome to vintage airlines circa 1985.

This is PRECISELY what happened to us. When we booked, the "mini-cabin" of 3 rows of Main Cabin Extra was rows 11-13. We booked rows 11 and 12, so we could have the bulk head and row behind. A few months later, I noticed the plane configuration changed to only 2 rows in MCE (row 11 was gone, I beleive). AA did not alert us at all, but I check seating regularly prior to trips because AA loves to pull this stuff. Our 6 seats were all over regular coach and not together. My husband has the highest status with AA (Concierge Key) so we got on the phone with AA. After much work, we got put in rows 12-13, which appeared to be bulk head and the last row of the mini cabin. This was the refurbished configuration because row 11 had to be removed to make room for the lay-flat seats in first class. I was excited about seeing and flying on a slightly less crappy plane. And we were all sitting together again.

Cue the music; we are boarding at DFW and I notice no lay flats as I walk through FC. Odd. Then see mini cabin has 3 rows. UGH. OLD configuration. Our bulk head row 12 just turned into the middle row. And all other broken items mentioned in my post above. Exact same thing on way back, configuration changed at gate. I was pissed but at least we were still sitting together and didn't pay for MCE (we get complimentary due to DH's status). I really felt for those in FC who thought they'd be laying flat for that red eye, and instead they'd paid $$$$ to sit propped up in a grimey seat from 1982.

 

[twodogs]

I would not trust AA to give you the seats in FC that you are wanting. They don't care. Take an airline that has their fleet established on that route with all lay flats (even then it is possible to have a last minute plane configuration change, but uncommon). And I (have to ) fly AA almost exclusively (for many non stops out of DFW), so I say that with experience!

 

[squirk]

I no longer enjoy status on any airline, and I no longer have a huge "war chest" of points to make a serious dent in the point cost of five FC tix from MSY to HNL. I still have the SW and United Visa cards, but I'd have a hard time racking up enough points on one or both cards to make an impact.

I could use SW points to get me to ATL and back, and use DL for ATL-HNL, but there's no interline agreement so I'd have to collect our bags, recheck them and re-do security. No thanks. Plus, the DL direct FC flight from ATL to HNL is, all in, about $3600 more expensive than the MSY-DFW-HNL FC on AA. I am sure the A330 FC cabin on Delta is much nicer than the 777/767 FC cabin on American, but I'm not sure it's "$3600-plus-the-spent-SW-points nicer".

Yes, I know I am totally overthinking this.