planninig on going in august with the wife. best fare i have found is thru ATA, looking thru the board, some people do not prefer them..

I also wanted to fly out of ontario, california, and looks like ATa is the only non stop, but how many people are really going to fly out of ont in august?

lax is also a choice, but fares seem to be more expensive from LAX, any thoughts?

i have flown NWA, Ha, UA, and i think Delta, to hawaii, but that was years ago, all semmed satisfactory, no real complaints ...

also if i bought couch tickets now, how much is it to usually upgrade to buss class? when checking in?

I flew LAX to HNL a few weeks ago. I got a fare of $242.00 round trip on Expedia. At the airport I paid $120.00 for the upgrade one way, but was also able to buy it on the return. The seats are just ok in business. No tv screen, seats go back a few inches, and no food, except the snack box which included a granola bar. some peanut butter crackers, oreo cookies, and some other high carb snack that everyone got in coach as well. I do like extra comfort so I decided it was worth paying for the upgrade.

Flight service was fine and check in was very fast at both airports. Flight from HNL to LAX was one hour late and the baggage took another 45 minutes.

I would fly them again at these prices and I think you can get SWA credits now for the flights to Hawaii.

Hope this helps.

I'm not a first class flyer person, so I can't address that--I don't fly enough to get first class upgrades and the flight experience for me, for a less than 6-hour flight, is not that important to spend the money on upgrading. That said, I've flown ATA roundtrip three times between the west coast and Honolulu in "steerage." It's like flying in a big bus--but really, the service was not bad, at least when I flew. No amenities (although they did do the warm washcloth thing near the flight's end--maybe they've stopped?); flight staffing seemed variable, some really nice attendants and a few stinkers who didn't seem to care much about passengers other than doing the minimum of their job.

All six legs of the flights arrived and left on time. No baggage loss. Acceptable cleanliness. One time the plane was new and only on its second ATA flight--that was a nice one.

As far as how many folks will be flying from Ontario to Hawaii in August--in my experience with ATA and Southwest, they generally fly pretty full flights 'cause that's how they're known for making their money, but I'd check it and see ahead of time to determine your chances of upgrading for a price if that's important to you.

ATA codeshares with Southwest. So I imagine many passengers flying on ATA (especially from PHX) are connecting from WN codeshare flights. I can only tell you my experience on ATA from PHX. I flew on TZ many years ago. It was basic service. I do not think they have first class seating on their flight but they still offer assigned seating. I also remember they served a snack bag which consist of a sandwich and chips. ATA gears toward budget travelers. They work with tour groups that sell packages. Again I have not flown ATA in over 7 years so I do not know what has changed with their Hawaii service. To me, flying is all the same no matter what airline you choose. Having said that, my favorite airline is Hawaiin Airlines. I have used them the last 3 times, they provide good service. They even provide complementary meals on their flights. I have always had good experiences with HA so I think I will stick with HA.

my gf flew ATA from LAX-HNL 1.5 years ago, and the the 2 primary complaints were:

1) seriously delayed luggage in HNL (not ground crew fault, just some ATA screwup)

2) annoying passengers (not the most well-mannered flyers) who were inconsiderate and quite loud.

With many other airlines cutting back service (e.g., no meals in Y) to the Islands, ATA doesn't look that bad compared to its competitors.

Still, I don't find any real value in the ATA/SW mileage/credit programs and choose to take my business to the legacy carriers (and especially try to stray away from SW on the Mainland b/c of their refusal to rebook on other carriers in case of mechanicals--though I am taking my first SW flight in May).

Have flown ATA several times over many years. No complaints. Wouldn't hesitate to fly them again. My theory is any airline heading to Hawaii is fine by me

These reviews a spot on. There isn't a whole lot to say about ATA, very limited service, but they get you there most of the time. I would say if you don't have status on any other airlines (for preferred seating), or their price is low enough, go ahead and take them.

Dear Ft'ers,
I'm travelling on ATA OAK-ITO in June. Really confused on what to expect as far as amenities. The ATA website claims there will be a movie on flights longer than 5 hrs. (that would be this route r/t), but no-one else has mentioned this.
The consensus on food however, seems to be snack boxes available for sale with a credit-card payment only. Quite a long flight for just snacks. Help please!
Kendall

Really good fares on AA.com at the moment. I flew ATA to Phoenix from Chicago once. It was a TIGHT FIT. I can't imagine doing that all the way to HNL. Of course, I'm rather spoiled as I have status on AA and can always get the exit row if not an upgrade.

I've done it once or twice thanks to clients who insisted I travel on the absolute lowest available fare. Not that bad. The aircraft are newer and in better shape than many in the majors' fleets, and the service levels in economy are comparable to, say, Northwest (e.g. nothing but a soft drink) without the side dose of Bitter Employee Syndrome. If you don't care about major-carrier miles -- and now you can even earn through RapidRewards, I guess -- I say go for it. No worse than some big network carriers.