Newark to Honolulu
 

Anybody fly this route?

I was just wondering what you expriences were.

Any seat recommendations for 2 adults, and 1 7 year old?

Yes, this is a very long flight for a both adults and kids. Don't overpack, but be sure to pack some items that will help pass the time for your son/daughter. While meals are served, it is best if you bring snacks that you and your family like.

Good Luck and Aloha

this subject has been discussed extensively. i would do a search.

the flight is on a 767-400 and there are very few "good" coach seats. what i mean by "good" is that there aren't ANY exit rows or coach seats with extra leg room.

www.seatguru shows row 16 AB as being better than 16 KL. i have no idea why that is.

i would shoot for the bulkhead simply to not have someone reclining into you for 9/10 hours or whatever it is.

and, three words: "Au Bon Pain." Continental's food is abysmal.

edited to add: not that i think Au Bon Pain is any great shakes. they cut that little chicken breast so fine that even Cosmo Kramer would be proud ("The Slicer" episode, a classic). when i get a chicken breast sandwich on four grain, it's basically a bread sandwich with a hint of chicken breast flavoring.

but, it still is better than CO's food.

[This message has been edited by fly co to see the yanks (edited 02-10-2003).]

I'm with FCTSTY on this one - the croissants are heavenly! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I was actually able to snag a BF upgrade when I flew this flight last June for my wife and myself. I was quite persistent about calling in for the upgrades, and finally spoke to a friendly agent who was able to get us in (1KL) on the outbound but not on the return. And get this- we were issued B fares! I consider that to be my crowning achievement as a OnePass member and perhaps the luckiest moment of my life. Service was stellar.

Return was in Coach overnight, and while the flight was long, the movie selections were decent, as was the catering ex-HNL. There were 4 beverage services, 1 hot meal, 1 cheese and cracker midflight refreshment, and a light breakfast prior to arrival at EWR, similar to an eastbound transatlantic. I picked up some packs of macadamia nuts at the gift shop and some snacks were set out in the galley, so I stayed fed for the duration of the flight. We sat in row 31AB for this leg, and even though I am 6'2" 230 I found the aisle seat of this bulkhead to be surprisingly comfortable, even though seatguru won't say so. Check the recent topic on 764 seating if you can't get the B/F upgrade. BF is by considerable measure the best front cabin product to Hawaii (I've flown 'em all, AQ has better food for the first meal but you can't beat the BF seat), and if possible try the double-daily IAH flights for upgrades if the nonstop EWR-HNL is dry. I would recommend the upgrade on the way out at the very least, it makes for an awesome way to begin your trip to paradise. Enjoy!

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Dave

If you are fortunate to have a means to upgrade one way, I'd make the exact opposite recommendation. Suffer through coach on the way to Honolulu, and ride up front on the way back. Here's why. . . On the way to Honolulu, you will have paradise with which to look forward. So no matter how miserable you are in coach, you can always think happy thoughts about being "X" hours from nirvana. The only time I have ever seen an entire cabin perk up (with smiles all around) on approaching a destination is when the plane is on final approach to Honolulu.

Conversely, the main reason to use the upgrade on the overnight return is so you actually have a chance at catching a few zzz's. That, and your disappointment at leaving paradise will be tempered by the BusinessFirst seating.

Any BF upgrade is excellent, as I said before, the best way to get to Hawaii, bar none.

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Dave

now isn't this a conundrum wrapped in a riddle. the BF upgrade on the way or or the return????????

on the way out, the flight is longer (jetstream) so the upgrade would be nice. and, you will be awake to enjoy the luxury.

on the way back, you will have a much much better likelihood of sleeping. but, then again, you will be sleeping thereby depriving you of the glamour of BF. and, the flight is shorter on the return, thereby making the cost per minute more.

what to do? what to do?

In addition to the "one way upgrade" issue, there is the "nonstop or connect" issue.

If you choose to upgrade in one direction, you clearly should choose to fly nonstop in that direction in order to get the longest BF segment. That is, unless you're not guaranteed an upgrade and want agonize about whether there will be a higher probability of availability out of EWR or out of IAH. In addition, you might be thinking that you may want to hedge your bet and pick the connection in IAH so you can at least get the Elite upgrade for part of the way.

On the coach half of your one-way upgrade (the non-upgrade half), you may want to connect in IAH or even LAX to maximize your Elite upgrade benefit. On the other hand, if this is the redeye, you may find it unbearable to wander around LAX at 5am after a 4.5 hour flight and may find prescription sleep aids a better choice.

Does anyone fly this route, you ask? The answer is... yes.

I usually fly this two or three times a year. Four times last year.

There is a nice fare sale from the 48 to HNL this week on CO. So here is what i did.

It is almost impossible to get a mileage upgrade HNL to IAH or EWR.

So I booked the following:

out bound CLE to EWR to HNL flight15
in bound HNL to LAX to IAH to CLE

all this in "Q" class was $587

I had the agent then put the EWR-HNL leg CO15
into "k" class. This made the fare $662 and I upgraded it for 17,500 miles. 11 hours in BF is well $75 and 17,500 miles. My back and neck have about had it after 25 years of hauling bodies and hose. 11 hours in a cold coach seat is too much.

On the return I can manage just less than five hours in coach on CO76 HNL-LAX. LAX-IAH is a 767 and IAH-CLE is a 739 and I usually get an elite upgrade anyway.

[This message has been edited by UGLY FIREMAN (edited 02-10-2003).]

I too took advantage of the sale fares and booked the direct from EWR to HNL for flights in July at $525.

a month or so ago i was bumped from Honolulu (HNL) to Newark Liberty (EWR) and put on CO76. the coach seats toward the front (and particularly the first row of coach) looks great. on this plane, the first six or so rows of coach are a mini cabin that actually looks quite nice.

Just curious, what did you get ($$$) for your bump???

$500 going out and $300 coming back. dutifully reported on www.bumptracker.com.