Originally Posted by
jasonapr78
I am currently thinking of flying direct SAT-IAD the day before I fly from IAD-HNL direct. My real reason for wanting to route to IAD to catch the international version of the 777-200 with AVOD is because of my toddler. Since that flight would be from 9am EST - 205pm HST, my daughter will be up for most of the flight and with AVOD's games, movies, etc. she would easily be entertained whereas no other metal flying out of SAT and heading west offers that (via LAX or SFO). I could go through IAH and catch a different version of the 777-200 but it offers OHV (not AVOD) and is in the 2X5X2 configuration vs. the 3X3X3 configuration of the international version of the 777-200. The return flight home to SAT from HNL will be a night flight obviously with the difference being the IAD flight departs at 5pm with AVOD vs. the PHX 752 leaves at 11:50pm and since we're checking out of our resort at 11am that's a loooooong time to wait with a 2.5yr old! If I could snag business savers on the 777-200 it would be great but I don't have enough miles for 3 business standards (currently have a little over 310K).
There are plenty of kids who survive without AVOD - for the past 50 years. And lots of them make it to Hawaii w/ the OHV. There won't be any AVOD going to IAD, and then you have to retrace a couple of hours flying time. Travelling all the extra hours for AVOD part of the way is borderline ridiculous. What if you get to IAD and they switch out aircraft and no AVOD, or AVOD goes out on your trip? How about a tablet with entertainment loaded? It's just not worth the extra flying time.
And if you're thinking of buying a hotel room at IAD, cut that hassle out (re-claiming bags, checking back in, etc), fly west from SAT, and just buy a late-checkout in Honolulu instead. The more I learn about your plan, the worse it gets.