I searched this thread and did not see any returns for flights from HNL to American Samoa - Pago Pago. I've flown numerous times from the US Mainland to HNL to connect with a Hawaiin Airlines flight to PPG. The flight is 2 times a week, Thursday and Sunday around 5pm HNL time. The plane lands in PPG, then turns around immediately and flies back departing PPG about 11pm PPG time arriving back in HNL at 5:30am HNL time.

This itinerary has always been booked seperately with the HNL-PPG-HNL roundtrip being 1 ticket, and my AA (or sometimes United) flight being the other ticket. In this regard, there are often no problems.

HOWEVER, I want to throw warning out that checking bags from the US Mainland all the way through Samoa is a major issue. I've only carried-on for this flight (I go for work on the SUN flight and return on the THURS flight) but co-workers who have tried to check bags have had terrible results with doing so. In 99% of the cases, people are not able to check their bag all the way through to Am. Samoa from the US Mainland, having to reclaim bags in HNL and recheck the bags. The worst scenario was when bags were so late that 2 people missed the HNL-PPG flight and had to fly HNL-LAX in order to catch an Air New Zealand flight to western samoa (apia) on Tuesday, arriving finally in Am Samoa on Wednesday (they departed thursday).

I will throw the question I've been asking for about 2 years: Why can't I get a back checked all the way through to PPG from the US mainland when connecting through HNL. It defies logic to me (knowing there is typically nothing logical about how baggage issues arise.) I should be able to get a bag tag with PPG on it right? Are HNL baggage handlers just so used to pulling each bag off a plane and assuming it is staying in HNL that they can't figure out how to get it to my flight to PPG?

I've called the airlines (Hawaiin air, AA , United) but what they provide is different than the answer I get at the check-in counter in the US from their agents.

Obviously, the two ways to resolve this are to land in HNL with so much time that it does not matter what happens if my bag is late, or to figure out how to get it checked all the way through and then CROSS MY FINGERS.

Any thoughts/help would be appreciated. This one is a total mess to me...