Senior Moderator/As well as the Hawaii, the Hawaii-based Airlines, DiningBuzz, & Only Randy Petersen forums
Join Date: Jun 2000
Programs: UA 1P, bd Gold (earned this time!), HA Pualani Gold, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 20,588
I can't speak to HA's practices, but when I was flying on HA LAX-HNL and then connecting to the last go! interisland flight of the day, go! put me on the first flight the next morning with no fee after the HA flight was late. I had called go! from the plane in Los Angeles and they told me that what they needed was a printout from HA showing that the flight was late.
Maybe it would work similarly with an HA interisland flight. I can't imagine that they would make you buy a totally new ticket, and at most you might be out the change fee. If it were me, I'd probably call HA and ask if they could put a note in my record that I was connecting from NW flight # XXX on a separate ticket, and ask what procedure you should use if the NW flight is too late. If you know before you leave the mainland that you are going to miss the flight, then I'd call HA from the plane and let them know.
There is a wealth of info for those connecting into Hawaii, but I could not find any information for those who will be flying into HNL via Aloha or Hawaiian Air, and then connecting to a mainland carrier, such as Continental, especially if the tickets are purchased separately (not on one itinerary). Can the luggage be checked to the final destination from the interisland carrier? It would be difficult to have to claim the bags at HNL, and then recheck them at HNL, as well as redoing the entire checkin process.
Hopfully, the process will be seamless, but it would be nice to know.
Thanks for all of the helpful info in the past.
DD
Aloha,
I have a similar question which I don't think has been aaked (or answered) so far: what happens if I have a long stopover between flights in HNL? For example, I arrive in HNL from an interisland airport at 10 a.m., but depart only at 11 p.m. on a mainland carrier (and go downtown HNL in the meantime). Will HA agree to check my bag through?
I have a similar question which I don't think has been aaked (or answered) so far: what happens if I have a long stopover between flights in HNL? For example, I arrive in HNL at 10 a.m., but depart only at 11 p.m. on a mainland carrier (and go downtown HNL in the meantime). Will HA agree to check my bag through?
Thanks.
No, your bags cannot be checked through because you technically have an illegal "connection." A valid domestic connection cannot be greater than four hours, which applies to interlining baggage even if on separate carriers. So you'll be required to claim your bags in HNL and recheck them when checking in for your 11 p.m. flight.
That said, it never hurts to ask, but the 11 p.m. carrier can always refuse to take on your luggage if the GA in your departure city agrees to check it all the way.
No, your bags cannot be checked through because you technically have an illegal "connection." A valid domestic connection cannot be greater than four hours, which applies to interlining baggage even if on separate carriers. So you'll be required to claim your bags in HNL and recheck them when checking in for your 11 p.m. flight.
That said, it never hurts to ask, but the 11 p.m. carrier can always refuse to take on your luggage if the GA in your departure city agrees to check it all the way.
Thanks a lot for your very quick reply.
It's interesting, btw, that it seems there are no such rules in Europe: SK, LH, and LO have always agreed to check my bag through even when my connections were longer than four hours (or even overnight).
Thanks a lot for your very quick reply.
It's interesting, btw, that it seems there are no such rules in Europe: SK, LH, and LO have always agreed to check my bag through even when my connections were longer than four hours (or even overnight).
Well rules vary by countries and carriers, but the international rule in the U.S. is that 24 hours is a valid connection and therefore one should techincally be able to interline for a 24 hour connection (so perhaps this is why you could interline for 4+ hours on the other itineraries?).
Well rules vary by countries and carriers, but the international rule in the U.S. is that 24 hours is a valid connection and therefore one should techincally be able to interline for a 24 hour connection (so perhaps this is why you could interline for 4+ hours on the other itineraries?).
That might be the reason, although I am not sure if European carriers ever mention the 4-hour-interline rule. It may also vary between airports, for example in CPH I was able to check my bag in the morning for a 9 p.m. SK flight (and go to the city in the meantime), but perhaps this was possible because CPH is the main SK hub.
On the other hand, I've noticed that in the U.S. you can't get boarding cards and baggage tags from a check-in kiosk if your flight doesn't depart within the next 6 hours (at least this is the way it works with US Airways/America West). This was never a problem in Europe with LH or SK, especially if I checked in online beforehand.
Anyway, I guess the interline won't work in my case unless I manage to convince a check-in agent in LIH that s/he doesn't live in the US.
My recent experience with HA and AA and a late flight resulted in change fees.
We were flying AUS-DFW-HNL on AA and HA HNL to Kona. We were delayed in AUS from the start and by the time we got to DFW, we knew there was no way we would make our HA flight. We called HA from the plane at DFW and explained that we were delayed due to weather, etc. There was one more flight that night (luckily) but HA made us pay change fees ($20 per ticket) to move us to the later flight.
The agent on the phone actually verified that our flight would arrive too late for the originally scheduled flight, but had no mercy. So it would seem that you may have to pay to change to the next day......
My wife and I will be travelling from PHL to KOA. We have AA booked to HNL (through DFW) and will be arriving on 4/11 at 4:00 p.m. I am now looking to book the flight from HNL to KOA and don't know how much time I will need to collect the luggage and to check in for the new flight, travel to gate, etc.. Can anyone give any guidance as to what time I should book the flight from HNL to KOA?
Also any guidance on an airline to choose. I have available NW miles.
(I didn't book a connecting flight on AA because the cost was an extra $500 or so.)
All 3 Inter-island carriers have agreements with American, so there is no need to collect you bags and take them to the other airline.
Since you want NW miles, I would point you towards Hawaiian, but some of the cheaper fares do not accrue miles.
You should plan on at least a 90 minute connection, since you didn't book them all at the same time, you are technically purchasing 2 sep tickets, so if you miss the HA flight, they are not required to rebook you.
The advice above -- checking bags from PHL all the way through to KOA, allowing 90 minutes for a connection -- is on the mark. It's also important that you stay inside the secure area after you leave the AA flight. So walk as indicated by signs, or take the wiki wiki shuttle that's upstairs one level from arrivals, to the inter-island terminal. Don't go out to the baggage claim area.
Here's a great guide to HNL airport put together by Slippahs.
I'm arriving on AA at 6:20pm at HNL. I need to catch a connection to LIH that I haven't booked yet. How much time should I allow for a connection to Mesa or Hawaiian? Also, do the prices go up as we get closer and can I check a bag all the way through from PDX-(AS)-LAX-(AA)-HNL-LIH?
On the way home our flight is at 10:25pm. Again, how much time should we leave?
I'm arriving on AA at 6:20pm at HNL. I need to catch a connection to LIH that I haven't booked yet. How much time should I allow for a connection to Mesa or Hawaiian? Also, do the prices go up as we get closer and can I check a bag all the way through from PDX-(AS)-LAX-(AA)-HNL-LIH?
On the way home our flight is at 10:25pm. Again, how much time should we leave?
Just a note that I merged your post with this Guide.
Allow more time with go!, but 90 minutes to be safe with the bags, and roughly 75 if you don't have checked luggage. Add another 15 minutes for any connections to go!
No advance purchases for even the cheapest of fares, so it's all availability that drives prices. And, yes, you can check bags per the instructions in the second post of this thread.
And, on the way home, again allow the same amt. of time.
