Visiting to Pearl Harbor Part 1
Visiting Pearl Harbor
As most of you know, AA launched their AATHANKS DEQM and DRDM promotion as a gesture of goodwill for their operational issues experienced in autumn. Sitting at 61K EQM, I decided go for broke and mileage run my way to Executive Platinum. So I began hunting for decent fares. There was a nice fare to Honolulu from Houston with a 1 day turn, allowing me to visit another place I’ve always wanted: Pearl Harbor. The fact I was able to visit the day after the anniversary of the attacks, made it more meaningful.
My flights were largely uneventful. I got to experience Main Cabin Extra (AA’s version of United’s Economy Plus) on my DFW-LAX leg. With the middle seat unoccupied, it was very comfortable. My upgrade for my LAX-HNL leg cleared at exactly 72 hours out. I was very pleased that this leg of my journey would be on my favorite aircraft, the 757-200. In addition to having the ability to board through door 2L, the 757 has the best performing commercial plane active today. And in my humble opinion, the 757-200 is one of the best looking commercial aircraft out there, with its perfect proportions and long legs (tall landing gear). Of course, both of those qualifications are second to the immortal Concorde.
American Airlines 297
Los Angeles (LAX) – Honolulu (HNL)
Depart: 4:20 PM
Arrive: 8:20 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200 (N687AA)
Seat: 4A (First Class)
I had a pretty short connection at LAX of 40 minutes, but it was a short walk between my arrival and departure gates so I made it with some time to spare. A couple minutes after I arrived, the gate agent invited First Class to board. My boarding pass was scanned, and I was on my way down the jet bridge. Our flight attendant, Alejandro, warmly greeted each passenger at the door with an “Aloha”, setting the tone for the flight. I was happy to find myself on another refurbished 757, which had a nice “new airplane” smell. I know a lot FTers on the AA forum dislike the new domestic First Class seats, but I find the new seats to be a big improvement over the old brown recliners, especially in the area of lumbar support.
I settled into seat 4A, which already had a pillow and blanket there. Despite the full flight, boarding wrapped up early. My seatmate arrived toward the end of boarding, and he turned out to be quite the talker. More on that a bit a later. Just before the boarding door closed, Alejandro came around with a tray of orange juice, “champagne”, and mimosas. I chose a mimosa, which was alright. We ended up pushing back a few minutes early, and began taxiing toward Runway 25R. Take off was powerful and our climb to cruising altitude was quick, as expected with the overpowered 757. We had a gorgeous view of the sunset throughout our climb.
Service began as we reached cruising altitude. The flight deck added their welcome aboard at that time. Alejandro warmly greeted each passenger by name and offered us some” light reading” (menus), as the familiar smell of nuts being warmed slowly wafted through the cabin. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer tonight, shall we.
Not long afterwards, Alejandro came around to take drink orders and those lovely ramekins of warmed tropical mix nuts, which is essentially the regular nut mix with some dried pineapple and macadamia nuts. It was tasty and went down nicely with my gin and tonic. Dinner orders were taken as drinks and nuts were delivered.
As I had mentioned earlier, my seatmate was very talkative. We had struck up a conversation as we pushed back. He was a SVP with Marriott, but retired to Hawaii a few years ago. Marriott Rewards has been my primary hotel program since I began working in 2009, so I am quite knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the program. We talked about all things Marriott Rewards, and the travel industry in general. Unlike most of the talkative seatmates I’ve had over the years, he was an absolute pleasure to talk to. While we were talking, the purser, Brandon, came around offering to refresh drinks and refill nuts, which I took him up on.
10 minutes later, Alejandro came around with the salad cart and Brandon followed with bread basket. I chose the spicy Asian dressing, which was a bit sweet with a spicy kick. The salad itself was a big step up from the typical mid-con First Class salads, with asparagus, cucumbers, and radish. The vegetables were fresh and crisp, and the dressing was delicious. And the King Hawaiian rolls were pretty good.
Salad plates were cleared, and main courses were delivered at each passenger’s pace. I chose the beef…which was a mistake. It had the consistency of pot roast, and the rice was way over cooked. The vegetables were the redeeming part of the meal. But I was hungry, so I ate it anyways.
We were offered after dinner drinks, as mains were cleared. Brandon came around to take dessert orders, after a nice lull. I went with the ice cream sundae, and told him to surprise me with the toppings. He certainly did not disappoint. I got the works with a dash of Bailey’s, which went well with the glass of Bailey’s on the rocks I was already working on.
Bailey’s with more Bailey’s. Life is good
After dessert, I unwrapped my blanket, made of substantially higher quality than the blankets offered in regular domestic First Class, and reclined my seat and took a nap. I woke up about 40 minutes out of Honolulu. Alejandro made a pass through the cabin a couple minutes after I woke up, and offered me a drink. I went with a water, which was delivered with a package of AA’s “premium” snack mix. Soon we were descending into Honolulu, which was interesting. Everything was pitch black until we were well into our final descent. Touchdown was smooth and the taxi to the gate was quick. I thanked the great crew on the way out, and gave them AAplause certificates. They certainly earned it.
A wall of warm and humid air greeted me when I stepped into the jet bridge. 15 minutes later, I was waiting for the shuttle bus to Hertz. The line at the service counter was about 20 deep when the bus dropped me off at offsite location. Thankfully, an agent asked for Gold members to come see her. I was the only one that approached her. She had some difficulty with my rental contract printed, and I found out after I got back home she ended putting 5 separate holds on my credit card while trying to fix the problem. But everything worked out, so no harm, no foul. A little while later, I was driving off in a crappy sky blue Chevy Impala. The worse thing about driving in Hawaii is the freaking speed limit, which tops out at 60 mph…which drove me absolutely insane. It was quite a chore to make sure I was within a reasonable deviation from the limit, as I was tired and constantly glancing at my iPhone for directions. 30 minutes later, I was pulling into the JW Marriott Ihilani Ko Olina.
The most important thing about mileage runs is keeping your costs to a minimum. When I found the fare to Honolulu, I kind of forgot about how expensive hotel rooms are there before I booked. To complicate matters, I went the weekend of the Honolulu Marathon, so every hotel room I found was in excess of $350 per night. It pained me to do it, but I ended burning 30,000 points for a room at the JW as it was certainly the most cost effective way to remedy the situation, or so I thought. More on that in a bit.
Rather than saving a few bucks, I splurged on valet parking for convenience. Upon entering the lobby, I found there was a bit of the line at the front desk as my AA crew was checking in. I exchanged a quick greeting with them before I approached the desk. Check in was prompt, and I was in my upgraded ocean view room 10 minutes later, as I got lost. Go figure. Anyways, my room was nice. The room itself was generously sized and well appointed.
Entry way
Nifty multi-function alarm clock
Welcome gift of water and some amazing macadamia nuts
View from the balcony the next morning
After an amazing shower, I opened the balcony door, closed the screen, and fell quickly fell asleep on the very comfortable bed while listening to the soothing sound of the surf. The next morning I woke up about 7, feeling completely refreshed, and decided to take a run along the beach. I was treated to some really nice views through-out my run.
View of the JW Marriott
When I returned to the hotel, I got a Facebook notification from a high school friend, since I posted I was Hawaii. I completely forgot he was stationed there. D’oh! Of course, I find out then I could have crashed with him, as he lived off base. Anyways, we made plans to grab lunch. Though it would cut into my time to visit Pearl Harbor, it would be worth it as we hadn’t seen each other in couple of years.
At around 11 AM, I checked out and headed over to Waikiki to meet my friend for lunch. We met at a place called Chibo in the Ala Moana Center, next to the Sheraton Waikiki. We caught up and watched our beloved Saints get pounded by the Giants over a delicious lunch of Okonomiyaki, washed down by a couple of ice cold Kirins. We bade each other farewell after lunch, and then I spent the better part of 30 minutes looking for my car as forgot where I parked. Finally, I swallowed my pride and I asked a couple of valets to help me out.
It was short drive from Waikiki to Pearl Harbor Visitors Center. Of course, I had forgotten to charge my iPhone the night before, so I improvised by using the camera on my iPad to take pictures. The center is located just next to the active Pearl Harbor base. One of the most popular attractions of the memorial is visiting the USS Arizona. I had pre-booked a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial, but I had missed it due to my impromptu lunch plans. The ticket agent told me the next available tour at 3 PM didn’t look full so I could stand by for that one. So I walked around the memorial for a bit before heading over to the boarding area, where I was greeted by a friendly park ranger, whom I chatted with a bit. The tour was not full, as expected, and I made it on the tour. The group was herded into a small theatre where a short film about the attack was shown.
After the film, we headed to the dock where a boat, operated by the Navy, was waiting to take us to the USS Arizona memorial. The boat was operated by the US Navy. My high school Naval Science Instructor used to say, 99 percent of the women in the world are good looking, the other one percent join the Navy. Well, the cute Petty Officer 3rd Class in charge of our boat today must have somehow slipped through the cracks. Boarding was quick and we were soon knifing through the harbor toward the USS Arizona.
Last edited by dat4life; May 30, 2013 at 9:10 pm