Standby Question
 

Not sure if this is the correct place for this...

I am considering Non-reving from HNL to TKK via GUM in October on CO Mike. Does anyone know how full these flights get? What are my chances of getting on the flight? I understand they are few between them, so should I plan on flying out earlier than I need, or do I have a good chance?

Basically, I'm getting a reduced ticket, but only can fly if there is room and not weight restricted. I'm planning on going a diving trip. I've just started looking at availability and it seems available right now. Will seats fill up closer to the travel date?

Help! :)

CO 1 from HNL to GUM is usually full so you might check out the island hopper.

I hope you are diving on the "Odyssey" which is in a class all its own. ^ ^ ^

It was pretty damn full both times I flew it this year. Both were on time though.

EmailKid

Kinda spooky!

I live in Kosrae and right now I'm in Guam (transit) and head back home tomorrow on flt 957.

The flights are normally pretty full; however I know a lot of folks that can get the non rev seats. I would count on a few extra days however ahead of time just in case. Chuuk has other flights then just 957 / 956 island hopper flights however so you'll be fine, you can make it there within a few days max. Generally the 956/957 are weight restricted or full up especially between Kwaj / Maj, and Chuuk / GUM.

CO 1 is not that hard to find a non rev seat on, harder to do so on the island hopper as I said certain segments will be filled up and you'll get bumped. Many friends of mine have been bumped in certain areas for over a week before.

In Oct it will be easier on weight restrictions as they will drop their weight on luggage from 70 to 50 and majority, majority of islanders are not silver level or higher, and they are the ones that have full luggage (69.5 lbs each bag (yes I'm like that too, but x 3 !!!!!!!)) and multiple carry on's etc...

On a side note, Chuuk is not the best place in the world. You ever consider Palau instead or Yap? I came out here as an instructor many many years ago to Yap first then moved to Kosrae but have dove all over the Pacfic and Asia. Unless you're a deep diver and into wrecks then I'd suggest you look at Yap or Palau. Pohnpei isn't bad for diving either, reefs and such. Yap's Manta's are incredible, Palau has some nice diving, Kosrae is nice but slow paced and the most slowest or behind the times island. I'd love the divers coming to Kosrae but I still gotta say Yap has the best diving in the region, then Palau.

Just my two cents, enjoy your trip.

Yes I was going on the Odyssey trip, however, it looks like the boat may have filled up already.

Perhaps next time.

Thanks for all the info. :D

:cool:

OK the trip is back on. And I'm considering buying a ticket in order to get the miles! For those who have done this trip...

I'm considering flying from NRT to GUM to TKK round trip. The outbound flights through GUM have a late arrival with either a 20hr or 15hr connection. Will my checked bag be tagged all the way through to TKK? Or, do I have to claim them in GUM and recheck them in the next day? It looks like I will be arriving into GUM on the later flight at about 1am. What to do...until 7pm the next day?

TIA

IAH-GUM (with a direct stop in HNL) is CO1

-Vincent

I agree, CO1 goes via IAH to GUM with a stop over in HNL (about an hour and a half), CO2 goes GUM to HNL to IAH. I'm not sure I'd go through Japan at all on this. Unless you want the extra miles of course.

But if you do and have your layover in Guam that long you have to get your bags as it's a different customs and immigration system then the US as it is a commonwealth and they operate their own system there, and you will be coming in from a seperate foreign country (the FSM).

I'm going to take off next week from here (the island hopper) and transit GUM while taking CO2 back over. If you want a cheap decent clean hotel look up Harmon Loop. It's near the airport, decently clean, cheap at 50 bucks a night, across from a McD's, has a little convient store right in it's parking area, and is near a decent restaurant called Shirley's (nothing fancy but decent food at a reasonable price). Harmoon Loop is where a lot of the local Micronesian's stay when they transit GUM.

As far as what to do you can go visit the worlds largest KMart which is in Guam, or go drive around the island. There are some nice places to stop and see the beaches and such. There's the main drag of hotels that has some nice shopping and views of the ocean but are geared toward Japanese tourists but you can walk around that area and such.

If you head over to Harmoon Loop they have a shuttle that operates certain hours but I normally grab a cab anyways. If you want a rental car and are there Thrifty will pick you up and take you to get the car.

I thought I would add this to my original post. I did miss the flight indeed. Long story...

I was supposed to arrive in Saipan around 8amish but didn't until 10am. The flight was 2 hours delayed. Then in the evening when I went to the airport to catch a flight to Hong Kong, the flight was supposed to leave about 5pm but we waited and waited until almost midnight when they finally called us in. After 20 minutes on the plane, they told us to get off. They put us on different hotels, I got to stay at Hyatt. They called about 4am that we all would get on a Northwest flight in the morning and that we should get ready at 6am. So at 9am we flew from Saipan - Nagoya - Tokyo. They planned to put me on Cathay Pacific flights Tokyo - Hong Kong - Bangkok but after some conversations, they finally put me in Northwest flight Tokyo - Bangkok.

In conclusion, I would never want to go to Guam or Saipan again :) Not because of what happened but they were such boring places.

This is funny. Compared to Thailand and the rest of SE Asia they are very boring places. :p

Personally I do not enjoy GUM and I agree with you're statement; however there's a large number of folks who find some of the out of way beaches and such just a wonderful place and purposely stop over for multiple days just to enjoy the place. I only use it as a stop over as I pretty much have to go that route and take the most immediate flight back off the island. Then again I find Hawaii extremely boring as well. However I've been through the islands for last 12 years with multiple trips to both GUM and Hawaii each year so after a while there's absolutely nothing new in these places for me. To each his own. ;)

I'd rather be there than Walmart...

-Vincent