PaulN

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time I thought, as I boarded the second of six flights in a 72 hour marathon Tier Point run. I’ve never done a TP run before but the lure of Gold in one trip for a touch over £1000 was too much (as was, I admit, a bit of FOMO).

As a bit of background for those who don't frequent the BAEC board BA was offering business class flights to the US and elsewhere for around 1000UKP.

I won’t dwell on the BA part of the trip on a B747 as such trips are well documented. Suffice to say a cold bus stop was an inauspicious start to a long trip but the X26 gets me almost from the door to Hatton Cross for a quick change onto the Piccadilly line to T5.

Not quite as comfy as a BA lounge


Lesson 1 – as I had plenty of time I stayed on the bus to Heathrow Central and headed for the HEX service to T5. Do not do this! First of all HEX is a much longer walk from the bus station than the tube and the first train expected when I arrived was 19 minutes (and looked like there had already been a long wait). I jogged back to the Piccadilly line and was in the terminal before the HEX would have arrived at T123.

Flight : LHR-JFK
Airline: BA
Flight: BA175
Plane: B747
Class: J

Upper deck on BA175 to JFK was uneventful. I’d forgotten how useful the side bins are though.

A couple of photos of the lunch.

Starter and salad


Beef main


Afternoon tea (Unpacking the sandwiches would be a much better presentation?)


At JFK I had a generous 3 hour transfer window and, having used the Airtrain to transfer from T7 to T8 (make sure you get on the train going in the right direction) I was in T8 Admiral’s Club within 30 minutes clutching my one free drink voucher (swiftly followed by clutching my one free drink). The club has a bar with food for sale but with tea/coffee/fruit and cookies for free as well as free wifi. The lounge was almost empty initially; a reminder that just having a first class ticket is not enough to get you in here. Airline or One World status is the key (or payment or some credit cards I understand).



Flight : JFK-PHX
Airline: US Airways
Flight: US639
Plane: A321
Class: A (First)

Boarding of US Airways 639 to PHX started promptly. Clear time allowed for 1st class and One World status holders to board first. The aircraft is an Airbus 321 with plenty of legroom and seat width but very little recline on the seat (just a few inches).

This is a photo of the seat on the way back. It feels like the legroom on the D/F Starboard side is a little less than the port side.


There is no inflight entertainment … none …. unless you count observing other passengers so bring your Ipad charged and full of movies or music). Food was good, in my culinarial challenged view, steak with pasta or pasta. I have no idea what the wine was – it is red or white; no menus are handed out.



The flight arrived 20 minutes or so late due to headwinds but good effort by the crew to get transferring passengers off the plane first.

Some of the itineraries on offer for the special price fare allowed for an onward flight to HNL the same night but that was just a bit too hardcore. I stopped overnight at the Aloft which is just off the airport – accessible by shuttle bus (call from the baggage reclaim area) and not too far from the Skytrain station connecting to the LRT. The lobby décor can best be described as “jazzy” but it was a quiet and convenient spot for a few hours sleep. Breakfast (coffee, bagels etc.) is available but not included.

Room at the Aloft


Flight : PHX-HNL
Airline: US Airways
Flight: US690
Plane: B757
Class: A (First)

Before the 0835 PHX-HNL flight I visited the Admiral’s club at PHX near gate A14 a very small lounge again with a bar and snacks available. It is close to the departing gates though.



Priority boarding enforced again and I boarded a rather tired looking 757. This was the bit I wasn’t looking forward to as lots of online reports reference the lack of comfort. On the plus side the seats are wide enough but only have limited leg room. I’m 6ft and I could just about stretch my legs out straight but not cross them without some impressive contortions. For a day flight of nearly 6 hours, not far short of LHR-NYC, it was just about tolerable. IFE is limited to a screen on the bulkhead showing a single movie (Hundred Foot Journey and some TV episodes). IPAD required for sure.





I can’t fault the single flight attendant who looked after the cabin. She was up and down the cabin regularly throughout the entire flight and very attentive. The meal served on this early flight is breakfast - omelette or oatmeal with some fruit and a bread roll. I didn't have either so the photo doesn't really do the breakfast justice


Arrived into HNL around 15 mins early. One great thing about US internal flights with hand baggage is that there is no immigration and hanging around. Out to the transportation area within 10 mins of landing and straight on a 19 bus into town. OMG ….. did this bus take a long time to get to Waikiki beach.

See next post for Honolulu and the return trip.

PaulN

Can I just say I really really hate the way that Flyertalk loses content as it is submitted. Either the login time out has been hit or there's some other failure. Most other forums seems to deal with the back button going back to the draft content but not FT for some reason. And, yes, I should save often.

Hence you'll see this post appear bit by bit .....

After just 10 hours it was time to head back to the airport via the massive Ala Moana mall (not very Hawaian but plenty of US staple shops for the avid shopper or gift buyer).

HNL airport departure area is small so just a few minutes after hopping off the bus I was through security and into the Sakura lounge which hosts on behalf of all One World customers. Self service drinks and snacks are available as is free wifi and plenty of power sockets.

I had arranged to meet up with Jamier45 and JMS87 who had arrived in HNL a day earlier and made a valiant attempt to drink Waikiki dry by all accounts (well by their accounts).

Flight : HNL-PHX
Airline: US Airways
Flight: US675
Plane: B757
Class: A (First)
Depart : 2350

JMS87 was off to LAX on American but Jamie and I were headed for PHX on the dreaded 757. Proving that YMMV Jamie reported that he slept like a log but I have to say I could not get comfy but still managed 4 hours or so of fitful sleep. Worth noting that there is no evening meal or snack provided; the only meal is breakfast which is fruit, yogurt and a rather nice cranberry scone. I'd recommend getting something before you fly. I was so tired by this point I completely forgot to get any photos but courtesy of Jamie here's one he took


courtesy Jamier45

Arriving in Phoenix at Gate A13 a few minutes early we had to get to Gate A14. One might think these are adjacent but actually they are the last and first gates in different wings of the terminal. Still only a 5 minute walk and we were back in the Admiral's Club I had left only about 24 hours previously.

We could see our plane, rebranded into AA livery, being prepared out of the window.

Sorry for the terrible picture - it was right into the sun.


I had tossed several thoughts around since booking the trip. One - was I mad (yes) but also whether I should have booked the reportedly more comfortable AA flights to HNL via LAX. In this instance though it was probably the right choice as JMS87 who had booked AA texted to say his plane had to return to HNL due to a technical fault and the following flight was delayed. Last report said he was likely to just make the last overnight flight back to the UK from JFK.

Flight : PHX-JFK
Airline: US Airways
Flight: US425
Plane: A321
Class: A (First)
Depart: 0958

By chance Jamie and I had booked adjacent seats which was handy to keep us both awake ready to sleep on the transatlantic sector.

Just before departure the pilot stepped into the first class cabin to thank everybody for flying with US Airways. That was a first for me. He also reported that due to high speed tailwinds we would knock off an hour or so from the flight time.

As with the outward flight there is no IFE on this plan at all. Meal on this plane was lunch of either chicken or pasta. Here's the chicken -



Arrival at JFK was, as promised, around an hour early but unfortunately there was no gate available and so we sat on a remote stand for all of the time we'd gained, finally arriving on stand a few minutes late off schedule. The gate also felt like it was in the farthest possible reach of the terminal and so a lengthy trot to the Airtrain ensued. Including wait time to the transit it was around 20 minutes from the gate to get to Terminal 8 and through the security check.

Jamie and I said goodbye outside the lounge. He'd got an invite into the Concorde Room lounge and I was "making do" with the Galleries club lounge. Luckily, despite not being on a sleeper flight I was able to use the preflight dining service (pulled pork and vegetables) in order to maximise sleeping time.

Flight : JFK-LHR
Airline: BA
Flight: BA174
Plane: B747
Class: J
Depart : 1855

An uneventful flight on the quieter upper deck. I was already asleep before the plane took off, woken briefly for hot chocolate and some rather nice cranberry cookies and then completely out for the count until woken with a cup of tea some 30 minutes before landing.

On the ground some 30 minutes ahead of schedule but unfortunately at a remote stand which appeared to be somewhere near Staines judging by the length of the subsequent bus journey (why pick a plane with so many passengers to be bussed into the terminal). Still, due to the lack of queues at the immigration E-Passport gates I was able to make it onto the Underground some 30 minutes after landing and then out into a cold and frostly South London morning.


Hopefully anybody making a similar trip will find this useful. Please ask questions or PM me.

PaulN

A few photos of my lightning trip to Honolulu / Waikiki

Approach to airport over Pearl Harbor


Waikiki Beach


A small beach off the Kalanianaole Hwy


Beach opposite the Sea Life park. Already losing the sun at about 3.30pm


Sunset at Waikiki

Arsey00

Thank you for writing up your whirlwind trip. Helpful indeed to know what to expect. I'm going as far a PHX in a similar manner, then up to Alaska rather than Hawaii, but in April I'm doing a madder-than-thou OGG trip. So bits are applicable to both. Hope you manage to rest up a little before any NYE festivities you may be enjoying!

thejohn

Thanks PaulN a good and really useful TR as we will be going to HNL using US, and it didn't seem as bad as I was expecting. And we are glad you survived such a short lay-over in HNL were not as hardcore as you we are allowing 6 days to R and R before our return.
John

Richmond_Surrey

I'm glad I'm flying via LAX. These 757 look tired.

thejohn

I agree Richmond_Surrey but we want the Teir points as my wife will be going from 0 to 1500 on this trip.
John

Richmond_Surrey

I just checked my seats reservations, 757s on LAX - HNL - LAX. What a crap and they call it First Class ...

wrp96

The 757s out of LAX will be AA. Not much better (if at all) but won't look exactly like the ones above.

El_Duderito

Thanks for the report. Btw: I was the German guy you met in HNL.
My 11:15PM HNL-PHX US flight was changed from the usual old domestic F B757 product to the old International Enjoy B757. I slept very well, albeit much better if there wasn't a drunk guy 'entertaining' the cabin.

Enjoy the BAEC Gold status!

PaulN

Thanks. Sorry, I couldn't remember your FT user name. Sounds like you got very lucky with the plane change.

Arsey00

That's the second swap I've read of wrt these sale flights. I've no idea in which thread I read it or who it might have been, but someone had their exHNL 757 switched to a 772 and sat in AA's old intl F.

pinkcat

Have fun, there is an Alaska via PHX trip on my blog if you are interested, Alaska is the most amazing place

Arsey00

Thank you, I'm very interested in reading it but I don't know what your blog is called.

chris1979

nice report - thanks for writing.

reminds me of our trip at the end of November.

think to keep remember when flying those US 757s is "210, 210, 210" :-)