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The trip report below is filed as a log of a vacation trip to Hawaii in August, 2010. I used an award ticket on American Airlines for my transportation, and stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki in Honolulu on Oahu, and at the Grand Wailea, in Wailea on Maui.

I'm writing this trip report as I take it, posting it from Starbucks locations in Hawaii, or where I can get free Internet access.
I hope you enjoy the report.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010
American Airlines Flight # 39
SFO – HNL
Scheduled Departure: 8:35am PDT (Actual: 8:35am)
Scheduled Arrival: 10:55am HDT (Actual: 10:51am)
Seat 2E

I started my journey to Hawaii by waking up at 5:45am. My body must have known the time was getting close as I actually woke up at 5:43am, two minutes before my Bose alarm clock was gently going to stir me from sleep.
I showered quickly and packed my final items into my bag. I did my usual “idiot” check to make sure I wasn’t leaving anything of significance behind. But I had my money, credit cards, keys, cell phone, laptop, laptop cable, plane charger, iPhone cable and iPad. Check, check, check! I’m ready to go.

The cab arrived at my house promptly for a 6:30am pickup. I’ve learned that I can leave at 6:30am for an 8:00am flight to DFW, so even having to check two bags (my bag and golf clubs), I knew I should have plenty of time. In fact I even considered going to 6:45, but alas decided not to get too greedy! :-) The cabbie this morning was quite talkative but a nice guy. We made small talk all the way to SFO, I paid my fare - $38, including tip – and I was off to check in with first class.

There was no line at SFO, so I walked right up to the counter, handed over my ID and the agent quickly checked my bags to HNL. At SFO, you have to drop the golf clubs at the end of the AA desks, near security, so I quickly dropped my clubs there and went on to the premium security line.
Clearing security was uneventful and at 7:05am I was having a cup of coffee in the café near security. I had an hour to kill before boarding, so I used my iPad to play a little Scrabble and unwind.

I headed to Gate 67 at 7:55am, knowing boarding would start shortly thereafter. Things were running right on-time this morning, and at 8:05am I boarded the flight and was the first person on the plane, sitting in 2E.
The plane was a 757-200. Today is the first day of the run between SFO and HNL on a 757-200 in several months. Typically it’s been a 767-300, but with fewer people heading this route now that summer vacations are over and schools are back in session, I guess AA is prudent in downsizing the aircraft to the smaller-capacity 757-200.

Still… it’s a drab-looking aircraft. The first class seats are the old-style seats, and while not entirely uncomfortable, they’re just ugly to look at. I actually think they have a bit more space than the NGBC seats that I’m typically in for the SFO-DFW flight. Despite not having the high, adjustable head rest that I like in the NGBC seats, I actually kind of like the old seats. I just wish they would spruce them up a bit! Dreadful!

Whenever I board the plane first, I’m always on the lookout for the person who may be sitting next to me. Being SFO-HNL, I figured the odds of having a beautiful, single woman who would sit next to me were low. Instead I got the next best thing; Everyone boarded and NOBODY sat next to me! Hooray! I got an aisle seat AND I got the window free too. Plenty of room to stretch out, if I wanted to move to the next seat I could, I could control the window shade and I’m guaranteed a great view upon approach to Honolulu.

In fact, most of the first class cabin was open. I counted 20 seats and only 11 occupants. The crew was going to have an easy time with the service! A quick scan of coach didn’t yield the same type of open seating; coach was completely full.

Boarding finished just before our scheduled departure and after an “Aloha!” send off from our ground crew, they closed the door at 8:35am and we started backing out of the gate at 8:37am.

We taxied to Runway 1L and with only a single United plane in front of us, the captain gunned the engines for takeoff at 8:51am. We took off due north and for all days to be flying in the San Francisco area, this was IT! There’s hot weather with highs in the upper 80’s scheduled, and the usual fog that socks in the coast was nowhere to be found. The views from the airplane were phenomenal, and clearly I chose the wrong day to sit on the right side of the aircraft! We flew due north over the western edge of the San Francisco Bay, crossed over the Bay Bridge where it meets San Francisco, banked left over Alcatraz and then flew directly over the Golden Gate Bridge. I had great views of the city from my seat, but couldn’t get any views of the bridge. I took my camera out and tried to snap a few good photos. The views were so good all the flight attendants came from their jump seats and sat in the open seats in first class by the window to take in the view.

The captain came on about 9:05 and indicated that our suggested cruising altitude was 38,000 feet, but if we had a smooth ride he was going to stay at 35,000 feet. He indicated our flying route was exactly that of what many early planes took when flying from SFO-HNL, though at a much slower speed and lower altitude.

Beverage service started shortly thereafter and I settled in for the 4-hour, 58-minute flight to Honolulu by putting together the early part of this trip report and doing a little work on my laptop to close out a few outstanding work items.

There were two movies on the flight today: Shrek 3 and some other movie I didn't catch the name of. I had no interest in either as I had my own entertainment on my iPad.

Breakfast was offered on this flight. A picture of the menu is here, but here are the options:I chose the cereal and fruit. Since I’m on vacation, I’ll be doing my share of savory eating and I wanted something on the light and healthy side this morning. I added a cup of coffee and some OJ and was set for the early part of the flight.

I settled in, watched a movie on my iPad (The Green Zone with Matt Damon), played some more scrabble, a little poker and read USA Today.

About two hours before landing, the FA’s came by offering the warm cookies and a glass of milk. I took one, and the FA was by a few minutes later offering another. This is where eating the healthy breakfast paid off (or so I tell myself), so I had another one. They were delicious!

About an hour before our flight was scheduled to land, the FA’s came by offering the warm mixed nuts. I passed as I wasn’t very hungry – probably because I had 2 cookies.

At about 45 minutes until arrival, the flight attendants handed out the State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture forms to declare any plants, animals or food. I had none of the above so I quickly completed the paperwork and added to this report.

We began to make our decent into Honolulu with a half hour to go in the flight.As we flew over other islands the pilot was good about pointing them out, and we had crystal-clear views of the big island, and I had a great view of Diamond Head and Waikiki as we came in.

We landed on runway 8L at 10:51 – 4 minutes early – and by the time we taxied to Gate 19 and opened the door, it was 10:57. Great timing by this crew!

The disembarkment came through the middle door, and the FA’s held the coach passengers while the first class passengers deplaned. I got off and headed for baggage claim at F2. My bags were marked premium, which meant they were supposed to come out quickly. Luckily they did – bags # 4 and 5. Perfect. Out to the rental car shuttle – which is a small disaster of an operation for Hertz at HNL - just like that the first leg of my journey was completed. Now I was on my way to my hotel: The Sheraton Waikiki.

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I had emailed myself directions as posted on the hotel’s website, so I decided to put those to the test right around Honolulu’s lunch hour. The directions proved easy and spot on.

This is my first time staying in Honolulu. I’ve flown through the airport before, but never had a chance to experience the city itself. The first thing I noticed on my drive to the hotel was how much this city looks just like Miami. I grew up in South Florida and the weather, palm trees, grass and just general cloud patterns gave Honolulu a very South Beach feel.
At any rate, I arrive at the hotel without much trouble and pull in. Nobody comes to greet me as I got out of the car and popped the trunk. They must be a bit short on bellhops. Finally a guy comes over and I asked how much valet was. “Valet is $33 per night, sir,” was his response. I asked about self-parking and he indicated $25 per night. Not much better, but it’s something. I’m on vacation and in no particular hurry, so I’ll park the car myself and save the $24. I did give this gentleman my two bags and he said he’d have them to my room shortly.

I parked the car and found my way to the lobby. I didn’t wait in line at all – a nice young lady named Nili offered to help me get checked in. She checked my ID and credit card and told me check-in time wasn’t until 3pm, but she’d see what she could do to get me a room now. Great! I acted like she was doing me a huge favor, but inside was thinking, “OK… there are like a million rooms in this hotel… surely one must be open and ready for me.” She had to go in the back but came out a moment later confirming she found me a room on the 6th floor. She asked if I requested a city view. I told her no, I booked a room with a city view, but if it would help I would like to request an ocean view. She told me that an ocean view room comes with an ocean view price. I politely told her that I guess I really was requesting a city view room after all.

She gave me my keys, a towel card for the pool and a parking pass for the next time I move my car, and off I went to find my room.

The hotel looks like it was recently renovated, and it’s quite massive. The elevator bank has about 15 elevators, so there’s no shortage of rides coming and going every few seconds. The elevators are just steps away from the pools as well. Instead of going directly to my room, I stopped by the “adults only” pool, which is 16 years and older. (Side note: If that’s adults only, does that mean they can drink? Vote? Have sex? In my mind, 16 is not an adult.)

There’s a Peets Coffee near the pool (another near the parking garage entrance) and two other restaurants close by as well. The Rum Fire bar / restaurant is right by the pools and there’s a small convenience store near the elevators. The adult pool is an Infinity-style pool, and as you enter from the lobby, it’s difficult to tell where the pool ends and the ocean begins.

I made my way up to the room (I’ll refrain from posting the actual room number since as I post this I’m still there) and opened the door to a fairly large room. The bathroom was on my left followed by the room with a king-size bed. There was a closet to my right and the TV was bolted to the wall. The lack of a dresser or armoire makes the room seem a bit empty, yet bigger. There’s a small shelf under the TV, a refrigerator underneath the side table, and the side table on the far side of the bed was actually the desk. It has a coffee maker with complimentary coffee, a $5 bottle of water, an internet jack, clock and phone. My first impression of the desk is there’s a stool, no chair. I thought it would be uncomfortable but it’s actually OK. There’s a bit of a “half sofa”, if you will (it literally looks like they chopped a very small sofa in half) and another small table. A lanai is out back with 2 chairs and a small table. The air conditioning was blasting, keeping the room nice and cool.

Overall, the room wasn’t bad at all. My summary thoughts on the hotel are:
(+)

• Comfortable Sheraton bed.
• Cold air conditioner to keep me nice and cool
• Stiff cocktails at the pool - highly recommend the Island Tea, which looks like lemonade, is somewhat sweet and will knock you on your backside in no time flat!
• Refrigerator in the room.
• A great breeze blowing throughout the first floor, keeping the tropical feel going.
• Very near lots of shopping and food options (Starbucks and free Internet are half a block away)

(-)

• Self-parking is $25/night.
• No free or wireless internet access in the room (There is wireless in the lobby called Sheraton Link, and it is free of charge to hotel guests)
• A very long walk to self-parking garage
• This sounds stupid, but the placement of the elevator buttons. They're actually hard to find.
• And finally, the elevators themselves. As you're waiting on your floor, you can hear them "ding" on other floors, and you find yourself constantly looking around at all 11 elevators to determine if one of them is going your direction at your floor. They don't stay open very long either, so you have to run to catch one

In closing, this is definitely a tourist hotel, but in a strong location. I think I could probably do just as nice in a similar location for much less than I’m paying. 3.5 stars out of 5.

Next filing will be Friday or Saturday, following my Hawaiian Airlines flight to Maui, and checking in to the Grand Wailea Friday morning.

thomas199023

Have a great holiday!

slippahs

Have an enjoyable HA flight over to Kahului. Don't forget to pick up some Maui manju and guriguri for some of the local favorites.

david-alexis

NIce TR but I like pictures at least a few

sobore

They start appearing after you get married. One of lifes cruel tricks.

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David.. pics on the way. I have a new camera, a Canon Rebel Ti1, and they're great pictures, but they're also LARGE - 15MB each! So I need to take some time to shrink them and post them someplace where I can share them out. Just a little time consuming and I don't ahve the software on this computer to shrink them. But hang tight.. they're coming soon!

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Friday, August 27, 2010

Hawaiian Airlines Flight # 146
HNL-OGG
Scheduled Departure: 8:47am HDT (Actual: 8:44am)
Scheduled Arrival: 9:24am HDT (Actual: 9:17am)
Seat 13A

This is one of my first flights ever on a Boeing 717-200 in Coach. It’s a workhorse of the Hawaiian Airlines inter-island fleet. I’ve been on a HA flight before, but it was in first class. I had an option to upgrade for $50, but it’s about a half hour flight, so no thanks.

The plane has 2 rows of first class and 24 rows of coach. I’m smack-dab in the middle in row 13, seat A. I normally choose an aisle seat, but I chose a window since (1) this is a 2-3 configuration, meaning if I truly have to get up I only have to inconvenience 1 person; (2) it’s a very short flight and (3) I want the ability to do some sightseeing and to snap a few pictures from the air with my Canon Rebel Ti1 camera.

I arrived at HNL to drop off the rental car and ensure I had plenty of time to make my flight. I had golf scheduled in Maui just before noon, and there wasn’t any room for error in making my flight. Plus, I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going, how traffic would be early on a Friday morning, etc.
I left my Waikiki hotel at 6:25 and it took about 30 minutes just to get to the airport. Honolulu rush hour traffic was just starting at that time, but the ride was fairly quick. Dropping off the Hertz rental car was fairly easy, and I boarded the shuttle bus for the short trip to the Hawaiian Airlines Interisland terminal.

I checked my bags with almost no line, and headed to Gate 53. I was at the gate about an hour before boarding, so I had a quick breakfast from Burger King.

At 8:17am, pre-boarding started. Hawaiian boards pre-boards and first class, and then goes by row numbers. 19 and higher were first, 10 and higher second and presumably everyone else after. I was in 13A and was the first to board in my group, eager to get on the plane.

The A seat on this plane has very little under-seat storage space. I had a backpack with my computer equipment in it and my Canon camera bag. Both fit, but just barely. I took the camera out for the takeoff so I would have access to it. I was ready to go.

We started backing out a bit early at 8:44am. The flight was packed and every seat looked full, so no reason to wait around, I guess. We taxied out to runway 8L and the pilot gunned it down the runway. We were wheels-up at 8:51am. I snapped a bunch of pictures as we left Oahu. I’ll be posting those soon (they’re large - 15MB – and I need to shrink them before posting them.)

The in-flight service started quickly with one FA going down the aisle with small containers of juice and water, with another following with Kona coffee. I opted for the coffee and quickly downed it as I periodically snapped a few pictures.

The pilot came on a few minutes later and said we were 7 minutes from landing and it was going to get bumpy, so time to start buckling up. As soon as he went off PA, sure enough it started getting bumpy. We passed to the east of Kaanapali with good views of Kapalua. I could tell because of the Kapalua Plantation golf course, which I’ve played several times. Our landing path took us near the massive windmills, and through the valley into Kahalui airport. We landed smoothly at 9:17 and taxied to the gate. We were off the plane quickly and by the time I stopped at the mens room and then found my way to baggage claim, the bags were coming down the belt. Both mine were among the first and I was on my way to gather my Hertz rental car.
Overall, the HA flight was short and simple, and the flight crew did a good job serving drinks on a flight that was just over 20 minutes in length. Thumbs up to Hawaiian!

Next up, I’m off to check in at the Grand Wailea Hotel!

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A quick post about the bus driver for Hertz at OGG. This is a perfect example of how to serve your customers in a phenomenal way. The guy was super nice helping with my bags, and not only made all the announcements over the PA system (even though I was the only person on the bus) and he found out my stall number and dropped me right at the car. He even helped me get the bags into the trunk before he headed back to the airport to pickup more passengers.

Huge kudos to this Hertz guy. Well done!^^^

david-alexis

nice! Looking forward to it

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Pictures are here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/...hotos-_-Sharee

Please let me know if you can't see the link. Lots of photos directly related to the posts I made above + other photos just in general. I hope you enjoy!

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I've taken some time to post all the photos. A few more posts still to contribute to finish the trip report, but I suggest you just review the photos. They kind of tell the story.

http://toddstraveltales.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

Enjoy!

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Photos of the entire trip report are posted here:
http://toddstraveltales.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

The pictures that are pertinent to the Grand Wailea start here:
http://toddstraveltales.shutterfly.com/pictures/32


My stay in Wailea, on Maui, was at The Grand Wailea. This is a part of the Waldorf Astoria Collection of hotels, and is part of the Hilton HHonors program. This was one of the reasons I chose to stay at this hotel, plus the fact it’s on the “dry & less windy” side of the island. I’ll break this report into several categories: Overall ambience of the property, the room, the food and the spa.

Overall ambience – First and foremost, the hotel and property are huge. There are several wings of hotel rooms, and as one lady said one night, “I need a passport just to get back to my room.” There are two pools for your sunbathing pleasure. One is an adults only pool with plenty of chaise lounge chairs. The cocktail service was a bit slow at this one. The second pool is the kids pool, but let’s face it, with waterfalls, many water slides, a water elevator, a lazy river and a swim-up bar, this massive pool is for both small kids and big kids. It was a lot of fun and there’s no shame in an adult enjoying the water slides. I did!!

The hotel was fairly quiet, considering the number of kids and babies that parents brought along. One thing I didn’t like is all the noise the tile floors in the hallway make while the maids are wheeling their carts. They get started early and most mornings they woke me up. Thumbs down for that.

There’s a little shopping on-site, plenty of bars to sit and have an overpriced cocktail, and plenty of beautiful grounds to enjoy. There’s even a wedding chapel on-site, and there’s direct access to the beach. Overall, the ambience is pretty nice. You get what you pay for.

My biggest dislike on the whole was the parking situation. Self-parking is included in the $25 resort fee, however the spaces are tiny, even by compact car standards, and I always had trouble finding a spot where I could fit my car after returning from golf each day.

The Room – The room was pretty large. I had a king bed and the room came with a sofa and coffee table, a desk with Internet access cable, a dresser with a high definition flat screen TV on top, plenty of closet storage, a refreshment center / dry bar and a nice-sized bathroom. The toilet was in its own private room, but had poor lighting. The shower was very good, and the products included (i.e. shampoo, conditioner, etc) were all very good smelling, with a honey mango scent. The bed was very comfortable, the air conditioner worked well and the ceiling fan was a nice touch.

Each night they had a turn down service where the used towels were refreshed, and a flower was placed on the turned-down bed. The shutters to the lanai were closed and the TV was turned on to a pleasant Hawaiian music channel. Overall I was pretty happy with the accommodations.

Food – I had the chance to experience just about all food options at the Grand Wailea. I ate at Humuhumunukunukuapua’a (dinner), Bistro Molokini (lunch and dinner), the Grand Dining room (breakfast), the Kula Café (breakfast and an ice cream snack) and even room service (dessert one night). For the most part, the food was pretty good. Highlights were the crab-encrusted sea bass at Humu (as they call it for short), the buffet breakfast at the Grand Dining Room, and the Maui onion soup and pork tenderloin at Bistro Molokini. While very good, it was also very expensive, running $70-80 per meal. The cheapest was Kula Café where I had a bowl of Kashi, a bagel and a coffee for $16. If you go, make sure you are at Humu or Bistro Molokini for the sunset. It’s a spectacular view.

One note… it seems they give out a $40 coupon to most guests to be used at either Humu, Bistro Molokini or the Grand Dining Room. I used mine at Humu, and it cut the cost of my meal in half. Two thumbs up! ^^

Spa Grande – I went to the Spa Grande to get a men’s facial the last day of my trip. This is widely regarded as one of the top spas in the United States. I arrived for my 4pm facial at 2:50. They asked me to arrive early so I could partake in the Terme. I wasn’t exactly sure what this is, but decided to arrive and just go with the flow. The spa attendant, Dane, showed me to my locker, asked me to change into a towel and then he would show me around.

Now let me take a moment to go on a tangent. I don’t know about you, but I’m not one to go willy nilly naked around a spa with other guys and their junk on display. It’s all very awkward, and though I realize it’s not dissimilar to a locker room at the gym, there’s just something different about it. After all, I could be sitting in a hot tub with 2-3 other guys I don’t know, who are all naked. But I’m not the guy who wears a bathing suit to a spa, even if I’m just getting a facial. Wearing a bathing suit, IMHO, is somewhat junior and even prude in some way.

Anyway, back to my report.

Dane showed me where the 105-degree hot tub was, and the 58-degree ice bath right next to it. He showed me the 5 salt baths, all with different salts targeting different things with your body. He showed me a small bath to go between the salt baths to rinse off, and he showed me what amounted to just a regular tub of massive proportions. They also had a wet and dry sauna, and plenty of fruit, tea and water to eat and drink to stay hydrated.

He turned me loose and I started with a quick dip in the hot tub followed by a tour of all 5 salt baths. After the 2nd salt bath, I was summoned by another guy who was to give me a scrub down. Again, a little odd since I’m buck naked and I’ve got this guy giving me a scrub down, both back and front. He didn’t go near my boys while he sprinkled raw cane sugar all over me and then scrubbed to exfoliate my entire body. It was actually OK and the small talk we made put my insecurities behind me of having a man scrub me down. After this I went back to finish the baths before heading upstairs to the lanai where men and women waited in their robes for their masseuse.

My facial got underway when Helena called me back to the room. I hung the robe, got under the covers on the table and she went to work. We made small talk about my business, traevling internationally and the stuff she was putting on my face. An hour later, my facial was done and I looked so moist you could sop me up with a biscuit! I gave a tip to her and the attendant staff and made my way back to the room. Grand total with tip and all: $180. My spa experience was complete.

Closing – In closing, the Grand Wailea was a positive experience. It’s pretty expensive, with the cost of the room + meals + taxes + fees + everything else adding up to about $2,200 for 4 nights. Not sure I got anything significantly better than my experience next door at the Marriot, which can be half the price. Maybe my bonus was the HHonors points. Not worth the extra $1k or so, though.

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Saturday, August 28, 2010
Snorkeling – Kai Kanani, Makena Resort & Spa

Note: There are no photos of this leg of the trip - yet. I purchased an underwater camera, but I have to get the film developed the old fashioned way. Those will come soon!

In previous trips to Maui, I’ve always wanted to go snorkeling but I’ve scheduled too much golf to do other things. This year was different. I decided to schedule less golf and to do a bit more relaxation by the pool, and to do the snorkeling trip.

I did some research, checked on Yelp for some reviews and decided on Kai Kanani, which leaves from the Makena Resort & Spa Beach Activity Hut. There are two offerings: One that leaves at 6:30am and returns in the 9:30am timeframe, and one that leaves around 10am and returns about 2pm. I decided I wanted the earlier one since (1) the Molokini area would be less crowded, (2) the boat was likely to be less crowded due to the early time and (3) the waves wouldn’t be choppy at that hour, leading to a smooth and enjoyable ride.

I registered for the day & time that I wanted about 2 weeks in advance and got a few dollars off by booking online. Total cost was about $50, all inclusive. It includes a small continental breakfast (we had muffins, pineapple, juice and coffee), all the gear and the great services of Captain Anthony, Kiki, Heather and one other guy.

We signed in about 6:15am and loaded the catamaran promptly at 6:30. They went over some safety guidelines and then we all snacked on breakfast and headed top-side of the boat to enjoy the view as we sped our way 3 miles to Molokini.

It took about 15 mins to get there and they tied the boat down and once again went over some safety points. We all put our fins, masks and snorkels on and I was the third person into the water.

The views are amazing. The reef is pretty close by and once we were in the water, all sorts of fish came to say hello to us. I’ve seen reports / reviews of people seeing eels and octopus (octopi?), but I only saw fish. Some were tiny, and some were huge. And they weren’t bashful, coming right up to me. It was great. I swam all over for about 40 minutes or so before I headed back to the boat. The captain did roll call and then we were off to swim with the turtles at “turtle bay”.

Turtle bay, as it’s called, is about 500 yards offshore, sort of near the Makena Resort & Spa. There’s a reef with caves that the turtles like to hide in, and sure enough we saw maybe 5 different turtles in the water. The captain and crew were careful to tell us to get out of the way when the turtles were coming up for air, since they had to breathe air too. They could hold their breath for about a half hour, but needed to come up quickly to breathe. These turtles were massive too! And beautiful to look at up close. One got within about 10 feet of me. Fascinating. Eventually we went back on the boat and headed back to shore.

Overall I had a great time aboard the Kai Kanani and would highly recommend them. They stressed having fun, but also stressed the safety aspects of what we were doing. They were very knowledgeable about everything and gave great advice on where to go and how to enjoy the session.

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Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Hawaiian Airlines Flight # 133
OGG-HNL
Scheduled Departure: 9:00am HDT (Actual: 8:57am)
Scheduled Arrival: 9:34am HDT (Actual: 9:27am)
Seat 13A

My departure back to the mainland started early on the 31st, rising from my slumber at 6:00am to make a 9:00am flight. I had to do some final packing, drive to the gas station to fill up, return the rental car and then check in. I didn’t really know what the airport would be like on a Tuesday morning for an Inter-island flight, but I figured it wouldn’t be too bad. Still, I budgeted a half hour to get ready, an hour to get to the airport and an hour to check in and get through security.

I left the hotel right on time and I’ve learned over the years to avoid the jampacked gas stations near the airport. I fill up at a Shell station in Kihei. It’s only 10 miles from there, and there are no issues keeping the needle on F for the rest of the short trip to OGG.

I arrived at OGG at just past 7am, running a bit faster than I anticipated. I hate the fact that OGG makes you go through the entire airport grounds before returning the rental car. I’m not clear on why they can’t do this more efficiently and direct. I hit three red lights to let people cross in the crosswalk, and what should be a quick sprint to the Hertz counter took about 10 minutes.

I arrived and the Hertz folks greeted me quickly, gave me my receipt and I boarded the shuttle. The same driver from the other day was there, and once again he provided outstanding service. I tipped him $5 and he initially refused. But I told him he could take it or I’d throw it onto the shuttle anyway, so he took it and gave me a hearty “Mahalo and Aloha” as he dropped me curbside for the Hawaiian airlines check in.

I made it to the counter quickly and confirmed they could check my bags all the way to SFO, but he couldn’t issue the BP there for the AA flight. I’d have to get that in HNL. No problem. He then told me before he could pass my bags through to tag them, I had to return to the agricultural inspection. No problem. A short walk and there’s no wait. They scanned them in seconds and I went right back where he tagged my bags before sending them down to the plane. I got my BP for the HA flight and was on to security.

Security lines were relatively short and since I didn’t have much carry-on luggage, I was through that quickly. I had hoped to be at this point around 8:15 or so, but instead it was just past 7:30 now. So I had time for a quick bite at the only option open: Burger King. (they’re redoing the Starbucks at OGG!!).

I took my time eating and headed down to gate 19 for boarding. The BP said boarding would begin at 8:20am, but the plane we were going on wasn’t scheduled to arrive until 8:32am. No big deal as I have plenty of time in HNL, and I’m in no particular rush. Still, the 717-200 arrived, quickly deplaned its passengers and then boarding started for this flight to HNL.

I took my seat: 13A and noticed this was a bit more cramped than the plane I was on a few days ago. But again, it’s only a short half-hour flight, so no big deal. We backed away at 8:57am and after a quick taxi we took off to the north and then banked left towards Oahu. The views of Maui were spectactular!

They did their quick in-flight service and then started our descent into HNL. We landed on runway 4R and then taxied to gate 55 for our on-time arrival.

In HNL, I did a little shopping for chocolate covered macadamia nuts and other goodies that I could bring into the office. Then I sat down near Starbucks, which offered a great view of a Delta 747, a number of Delta 767’s and a Korean Air A330. I had a coffee and typed up a good chunk of this trip report.

At around 11:30, I headed down to the gate to get my BP and to be ready for whenever they called for boarding on my 757-200 flight back to the mainland.