Hmmm....planes with weight issues...an inferior F product.....telephone agents at HP (US) that had no clue as to how to go about upgrading this US1 for an upcoming trip to HNL....
Guess what gang? I gave up and booked E+ on UA. I'll take their 777 through ORD over this nonsense any day....

I flew first on United about three years ago and think they would rival US from what it sounds. We had no pre-flight drink, the seating seemed only marginally better than E+ and the food was a joke. It was of course a 757 so there was nothing in the way of IFE. Hawaii is a vacation destination obviously...the airlines I've been on to get there try to get as many people in and spend as little on them as possible to reflect that.

With all of the comments that have been posted above, why in the world would anyone pay a premium price for the F product described above? If I am going to expend dollars for a premium service, I want something at least remotely worth it. I know of at least one legacy carrier that would meet this requirement and this is the one I would book for front of the plane travel.

Well by all means keep the identity of that carrier a secret for crying out loud!

Presumably CO?

Well by all means keep the identity of that carrier a secret for crying out loud!

I am sorry about being mysterious. I try not to push one airline versus another. Yes, it is CO, but to be truthful. I don't fly anything other than US and CO, so I do not know about other's first class offerings. I have not flown NW F in several years but it was deteriorating even back then. However, I do fly F and pay for it and I don't do it on US. It is strictly a value thing.

UA 757's do have IFE. Was it malfunctioning that day???

A reality check here, folks --

First, the level of First Class service to Hawaii sucks and will continue to suck. It's simply not a priority for the new airline. I wish that wasn't true, but it is. If you somehow have a choice which airline to fly FC to Hawaii on, I'd choose someone else.

Second, the weight issue is obviously unfortunate. I understand that it is mostly a "paperwork" matter, and will be resolved in February. After that, there should not be this kind of ridiculous bumping. I haven't heard a good explanation for why the paperwork wasn't done before launch. I guess the winter headwinds (the time they blow) have been stronger than usual. Still, this strikes me as a screw-up, and I think US should simply apologize for the mistake.

Third, I think future month customers can book with confidence on these flights. I'll be very surprised if these troubles continue once the paperwork issue is resolved. Despite the name calling here, HP's management is very responsive to operational issues and they usually get their act together quickly (if they have a weakness, it is in PREVENTING the operational issues from arising in the first place, like in this instance).

Fourth, a lot of the service to Hawaii is now on narrowbodied aircraft and the service is pretty crummy. Earlier this year, I flew UA on my Dividend Miles points and it was fairly disasterous. Outbound, UA's 757 was massively overbooked and my confirmed seat assignments had mysteriously disappeared from my record. It was pure chaos at SFO, and I wasn't sure whether my entire family would actually make the flight. At the last minute, we all got on-board, but we weren't able to all sit together.

On my return, UA's HNL airport agents did not understand a change made to my reservation by US's rez agents and wanted to assess me a several hundred dollar change fee that I was not liable for. It took more than 2 hours of hassle and phone calls to get them to follow the rules. We barely made the flight.

So travel is sometimes fraught will unexpected and "stupid" trouble. My guess is, that at the end of the day, US's new service will prove to be a useful if utilitarian way to get to Paradise. Give 'em a couple months to get the bugs out.

This is not new territory for HP, they served Hawaii back in the 80's with widebodies (747, I believe). They should have foreseen these "glitches" ahead of time.

The weight wasn't an issue with the 747, though. Being a quad-engine jet, it's not subject to ETOPS restrictions (the T being "twin"). The issues with the 747 were its poor fuel economy and low loads. I doubt they had to bump anyone from those flights ever.

I hope they use some of the new 757's there trying to get from ata for this rout.

All Continental service to Hawai'i is BusinessFirst seating with modified BusinessFirst Cabin service, e.g. no amenity kit and no cheese course. I have taken both IAH-HNL and EWR-HNL - and it is well worth the extra out of yoru way trip. Less out of the way if you take IAH-HNL.

-Vincent

Ahh..can you point out the times that you would beat me to HNL? I dont see how its possible 10% of tthe time let alone 80%. Because I dont know what you are offering, but I'll take that bet. We will go 5x's to Hawaii and I will get there faster than you atleast 2x's on HP/US.

Whats our bet? Free stay at the Princeville ? Hyatt Poipu?

US Airways certainly needs to clean up this problem. But my experience from the last 35 years is to avoid EWR and PHL for connections. If I have to fly through these cities I try to have at least 2 - 3 hours for the connection. Over the past 20 years Houston has been good for connecting, but if I am flying from Phoenix I would like the nonstop because of the value of my time.

The beautiful truth about UA's FC service to Hawaii (on a 777 from ORD):

Hot towels
Drinks flowing from boarding until right before landing
Linen tablecloths, real glasses and real silverware (except knives, which were gray plastic)
Liqueurs with dessert
Multi-course meals
Hot fudge sundae assembled in front of you
Salads assembled in front of you
Deli plate before landing
Final food served: warm chocolate chip cookie with a glass of milk, just before landing
Red Carpet Club at HNL

I am RUINED after this flight as flying in coach or on an inferior product would be such a letdown; absolutely wonderful!

Thank you, UA!