Hawaii Help
 

Hey All,

Thinking about doing East Coast-HNL in January. I have about 32k WP miles in the bank, and figure on buying another 5k to put me at 37k.

Now... NW prices at $1000 for an upgradable fare and CO prices at about $1200 for an upgradable fare, best I can tell. Any suggestions on which airline to take? Which aircraft to avoid?

Based on my experiences, you're cutting it close. Actually...very close. There might not be any award seat inventory right now.

I booked 5 months out & it was very difficult to get anything - I was lucky and had a large 3 week window of dates to work with. If you can find something, especially with only one stopover, I'd take it for either airline.

I will call CO first to check the upgrade availability. If there is seat open, book it right away.
IMHO, CO's BusinessFirst beats Northwest First. It's worth the $200.00 difference.
Northwest First to Hawaii is basically their regular domestic First. 38" seat plus tray meal service. No in flight movies.
CO uses their BF plane to go to Hawaii. Often you get half lobster as appetizer, print menu with 4-5 selection. 55" seat with individual entertainment system. CO also allows you use their airport lounge, while NW won't.
The only problem is to get a CO seat. CO BF seat is hard to get. Make sure when you book CO, you need to get a H, K or Y ticket in order to get upgrade. If you can’t get seats from DCA-IAH/EWR-HNL, try DCA- IAH/EWR/CLE-LAX-HNL. I find LAX- HNL is easier to get, but the flight is shorter.
Good Luck!

NOT TRUE!!!

NW doesn't have anymore DC-10-40s on the schedule, all HNL flights are run by the -30s which have a WBC cabin--and a more comfortable seat than CO. The NW service is, however, domestic F.

Here's my suggestion. Save your money and redeem a coach award on CAL for 35,000 miles. You'll then have $1200 to spend in Hawaii (and you'll need it -- Hawaii ain't cheap). While cramped, CAL's 767s are relatively pleasant in coach, with individual movie screens, decent food etc.

Now if you had more miles to burn, CAL's 60,000 BF award to Hawaii is a good deal, especially from the East Coast. But if you don't have the mileage, it's hard to see how buying an upgrade is "worth" it.

This is true. The WBC seat is reasonably comfortable, some say better than BF some say not. However, cabin/meal service and IFE are many times better on CO.

ps..the DC-10-40's were only used on the LAX and SF runs to HNL; MSP and DTW hve -30's and a 747-200 MSP-HNL during the winter months.
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Friends don't let friends fly RJ's
I am not real smart, but I can lift heavy things.

[This message has been edited by Seth (edited 09-17-2002).]