LOSTINHNL

I guess that's just like Aloha and Hawaiian, nothing really to get excited about. Can't wait to fly go! next week. My Hilo friend's been flying them and has no complaints and has had no problems. She says that go! is pretty cool considering they're a smaller craft. And since time and distance is so minimal she finds it funny that the local airlines even serve drinks.

slippahs

I think drinks should be the minimum level of service that anyone should get on even a short flight. This is where go! feels and looks cheap. Why charge for even bottled water? Not even the LCCs on the Mainland go quite that far.

UAPremierExec

well American Eagle started to charge for drinks. Allegiant Air does charge, NW charges for snack mix, etc.

I believe EasyJet AND Ryanair both charge for water.

slippahs

American Eagle never charged for water, just can soda. And, they've since pulled that policy since March. Northwest still offers beverages for free (and alcoholic beverages for free in Y on TATL flights ). You say that Northwest charges for the crummy snack mix (which as a NW elite, I have never purchased FWIW), but go! doesn't offer any snacks--so mixing apples and oranges here.

You might be right about Allegiant Air. However, just because Allegiant Air sells bottled water on its flights, doesn't preclude go!'s selling of water (which you cannot get for free on go!) from being tacky or cheap.

There's really no argument that could be made saying go! is a high class airline. They fly CRJ-200s... They're a no frills commuter airline. But, my point is that all but one (Allegiant Air the exception) commuter/LCC/legacy airline on the Mainland still offers drinks for free.

It's tough to make assertions about European carriers in the American market. Again, comparing apples to oranges.

go! charges $1.50 for an 8 oz bottle of water. That's 1/2 the size of a normal bottle. So, it's $3 for a regular bottle of water, when other carriers will offer it to you for free. It's not expensive to cater your planes with water. So, another indication that go! just wants to make an extra (or save an extra) buck.

bocastephen

I tried Go! on one segment, HNL-LIH and probably won't take them again. I was relieved to be back on HA.

Upon arrival at LIH in a total rain deluge, instead of letting people remain onboard until our gate checked items were take off and carted over to a covered area near the terminal entrance door to be picked up, we were herded off the aircraft so we could all stand in the pouring rain while they brought our now wet luggage to us one at a time. I had a carryon that was big enough to shield me from the downpour, but other pax were not so lucky.

The CRJ is, as most agree, one of the most horrible airplanes to come out of the western world's aviation factories. Luckily there is nothing to see on this route so I didn't need a neckbrace after trying to contort myself to peek out the window which is conveniently positioned near my waist. Also, mahalo nui loa to the gentleman seated in front of me for not reclining your seat into my forehead.

Needless to say, I will be sticking to HA from now on - it appears I can avoid the dreaded *S* curse by getting my CO FFN onto the PNR, so they are cool with me once again.

cblaisd

Unfortunately, the HA flight I was going to connect from was two hours late arriving, which blew my 70 minute connection.

I called go! from LAX when it was evident that I would not make it for my separately ticketed go! flight and they told me that they would not charge me the change fee for going on the first flight the next morning if HA would give me a printout showing the flight delay. I asked the HA CSR at LAX to do so and he did -- a short, inscrutable printout

I must say that when checking in the next morning (after a night at the Honolulu Airport Hotel -- ugh) the go! staff was excellent and indeed did not charge me the change fee.

This was my first experience of misconnecting on separately ticketed itins so don't know if this is common practice with all airlines, but I appreciated that go! was accomodating.

(And I appreciated not having a thigh-opponent on the flight!)

JDunleavy

Hi
I have just heard about Go Airlines (I think opererated by Mesa) providing low inter-island flights in the Hawaiian Islands. Has anyone used this airline? Reputable? Any problems with baggage, secrity or other issues? We are thinking of traveling in May 2007 and would like to go from HNL to Hilo, on to Kauai then back to the mainland. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank You!

obscure2k

You will find good information in the FT Hawaii Forums. Please follow this thread over there.
Welcome to Flyertalk.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Ripper3785

go! airlines has sparked a fare war here. We invite you to try and find the same price on Aloha or Hawaiian.

go! flies smaller CRJs. AQ and HA fly comfortable metal(albeit worn in the case of AQ)

go! has no jetways in HNL, if it rains there is a good chance passengers are getting drenched.

go! is mesa. They have quite a reputation in the continental US for cancelled & delayed flights.

If you don't mind all of the above, go ahead and try go!. There's a go! trip report or two here in this section of the forum.

Aloha!

FlyinHawaiian

For housekeeping purposes, I'm going to move this disucssion into the consolidated thread on Go!'s operations and people's experiences in flying them.

Mahalo,

FlyinHawaiian, Co-Moderator

UAPremierExec

if it weren't for go!, you'd be paying $200 roundtrip (taxes included). Data from the DOT shows avg fare in Hawaii pre-go was $83.00 a segment.

no middle seats on go, easy on, and easy off. shorter waits in security and getting off the plane. plush leather seats (got the old I-Air planes)

CRJs aren't necessarily a bad plane -- maybe for long haul they're aweful, but for a 25 minute flight.....

Not as bad as most. My last few flights on SkyWest in and out of Chicago have taken some hits, don't even get me started on ASA/Comair where On-Time was something they could accomplish back in the 80s. Even Air Wisky out of PHL is having a tough time being on time.

My Mesa flights haven't been "stellar" but they're a lot better than they used to be. I had my best flight the other day, flying to Eugene from Phoenix... crew was fantastic, and the flights were early.

Ripper3785

Your opinions of Mesa are valid but not the majority opinion.

Anything out of ORD is gonna be trouble. Are you saying you'd choose a Mesa over a Skywest flight? That's just plain crazy.

Trust me, I was not paying the prices you speak of for interisland travel pre-go. What's a fair price for a flight up to 20,000 ft, virtually no cruise time, and effectively the least efficient flight distance for jet aircraft?

Is it cheaper now? Yes.

Is go! covering the costs to operate their flights by passenger revenue? No.

Do they admit it? No.

Are they being sued for anti-competitve practices?(among other things) Yes.

donnyb

Aloha gang,
just returned from a extended vacation and wanted to update an earlier post. For what its worth:

About 2 months ago I posted a comment about interlining baggage to/from go! to other mainland air carriers. At that time I was assured by a gate agent from Go! that they did interline baggage.

Did my first RT with go! and had separate tix with CO to mainland. At checkin (ITO) they informed me there is NO interline agreements with any major airline, so were advised to check bags to HNL only, reclaim at interisland baggage, then recheck in with CO, and same on return. Luckily we had big enough layovers to handle this hassle.

Bottom line is I will consider them for interisland, but if traveling onward to mainland it will be much less likely I would fly go! again. Clearing security in HNL is just too much of a hassle, and, its a long walk with a baggage cart from main terminal to commuter terminal.

Otherwise it was fine for a short flight. I like the casual attitude of the commuter area at HNL.

gemac

Got to try Go! OGG-HNL Oct. 16 and return Oct. 23. My opinions:

Checkin was quick and easy in both airports. I really love the commuter terminal at HNL compared to the main terminal. About 5 minutes after stepping out of the cab, I was at my gate. Ground personnel (all locals) were efficient and friendly.

Outbound flights were the day after the earthquake. AQ at the next gate was announcing that their flights were 2 hours or more late. Several passengers were disturbed over there. Go! flights were operating on schedule.

Airplanes were spotlessly clean and I found them comfortable, especially for a 25 minute flight. The preflight briefing recording tried too hard to be funny, and would become grating if you flew Go! a lot. I had never been on a flight where they sold soft drinks, but I didn't really miss the HA FAs dashing through the cabin hurling juice at us. It was interesting that the Go! FA (only one) managed to take drink orders and fill them for the entire plane, and get people their drinks with time to drink them, on a 25 minute flight.

I thought it was a positive experience, and have booked more Go! flights since.

My comparison of Go! to HA:
Ground staff: Go! is somewhat more efficient and friendlier.
Facilities: Big plus to Go! for the HNL interisland terminal.
Aircraft: Go aircraft appear newer and cleaner.

I normally do not connect to/from mainland flights, but if I did, baggage would be a problem for Go. For interisland stand-alone flights, I consider Go! a viable alternative to HA for my purposes.

kaukau

Don't forget about WP Island Air. They service airports that go! does not, as well as ones they do. They have been our carrier of choice, after HA, for years.