TR: Older people travel too - JER-HNL again!
Jan 19, 2016, 10:02 am
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,140
TR: Older people travel too - JER-HNL again!
I know this is going to upset some people on the BA Forum, but we had long planned to do another winter holiday somewhere with decent weather (NOT a TP run), so HNL with the side benefit of renewing BAEC Gold (or ‘Honolulu Gold’, as it’s now been termed) was the answer. A couple of elders therefore packed their bags, sentenced The Cat to another fortnight in her prison/cattery, and launched themselves on a rather tiring journey.
It went … JER-LGW-LHR-DUB-PHL-LAX-HNL-LAX-LHR-DUB-LHR-LGW-JER. 17,453 miles, and 1,110 TPs and some more Avios [that I don't really count these days, as they're hard to use in our life]. Yes, of course we went via DUB
Total cost was Ł1,599 each [not the cheapest by any means] but did include the luxury of BA’s Club Europe flights between JER-LGW and LHR-DUB. We abated the connection costs by using Avios, otherwise BA was asking c. Ł500 each to get to DUB 
We have done it before, of course [same week last year] but by a more relaxing routing!
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-citizens.html
OUTBOUND
Day 1: JER>DUB
The saga starts at 0630 on Sun, 3 Jan 16, when our taxi arrived. I am NOT an early morning person, so this was a bit unpleasant - but it got worse!! A simple 10 minute run to JER airport at that hour/day, quick bag-drop and easy Security before entering the ‘enhanced’ BA Lounge. Hmmm. Some new furniture, squeezed in to every available inch/cm, and a small extension into what was part of Gate 3. All rather bleak, especially at such an early hour, and the food offering is somewhat diminished too.
Sector 1: BA2769, A319, CE seats 2A/C, 0745 JER-LGW 0830
As usual, priority boarding is something that happens at other airports. For whatever reason, we were also late getting airborne and furthermore enjoyed holding at LGW before being put onto a bus stand. The bus was typically slow, as were our 2 cases, so by the time we escaped into the real world we had missed our scheduled 0940 National Express coach to LHR by 5 minutes. As novices, we had taken the precaution of paying extra for fully-flex tickets, and we’re glad we did. Tickets: Ł70 [2 pax return], Flexible Add On-Return: Ł20. The change was quick and easy at the National Express desk, we were re-ticketed for the 1005 bus to Derby via LHR T5 and Milton Keynes. So that’s how it works!!
A perfectly painless and comfortable motorway journey between London’s 2 main airports had us at T5 at 1050. We are now convinced by this method of connecting! And so to the wonders of the Greenhouse called T5 … where we strolled nonchalantly to the First check-in Zone to exercise our rights as Golds (and anyway, there were queues at the Club World desks)! South Security … hmm … queue was reaching back into the Departures Hall, so for a change we used the standard lines. No problem, just a bit slow. And then down and back and up again to the BA First Lounge … what an annoying arrangement.
The Lounge was fine, with no space issues despite the apparent concerns of some about overcrowding due to too many Gold members of BAEC, and eventually headed for Gate A11. Now that’s a new one on us, but we found it just to the left of the lifts down to the inter-Terminal Transit train. it’s obviously “Students Going Back To Queen’s University” time
Sector 2: BA0836, A320, CE seats 4A/C, 1320 LHR-DUB 1445
On-time departure, followed by the most extreme example of ‘feet on bulkhead’ ...
... and a nice salad for lunch.
... and the weather improved. Eventually we could see Ireland!
We were on stand at 1430, and bags started arriving at Reclaim at 1445 … and then add another 12 minutes before ours emerged. Then the walk to Zone 14 in the car park to find the Hilton shuttle-bus for our overnight stop. It was a VERY long wait - we had just missed the bus, so we waited about 40 minutes [I now have their schedule, so I hopefully won’t make that mistake again].
And so to the Dublin Airport Hilton, which is about 10 minutes away from the airport. A perfectly acceptable room for a night-stop, until we found that the hot water in the bathroom wasn’t running! Fortunately they unlocked the connecting door to the next [empty] room so we could use that bathroom. A very reasonable €63 for the night.
Day 2: DUB-PHL-LAX
Monday 17 Jan. Dammit, another early start! We had booked the 0700 shuttle (€2 each to get back to the airport) and woke at 0530 to make a gentle start to proceedings - it’s going to be a long day! Bag-drop at DUB T2 gave us our boarding passes for the day’s travels, and we were given another piece of paper telling us that “US Pre-Clearance (USPC) can be heavily congested during this peak season” and that we should “present ourselves to USPC a minimum of 2 hours before boarding time which is 50 minutes before departure.”. Well, they were so emphatic that we obeyed … it’s nearly 0800, and the flight is at 1040, so off we go.
Up the escalator to Departures, where USPC is clearly signed all the way with American Flag logos. So, first it’s Security (it has fast-track, on the left), turn right through the shops and then along a corridor to “Almost America”, down an escalator to US Customs, security/agriculture screening, and Immigration. By obeying the instructions issued at bag-drop we were the ONLY people there [apart from the Staff]. The whole process took <30 minutes, most of which was spent walking. It was so quick and painless that we ended up sat at Gate 404 [on metal seating] by 0830 for 1 1/2 uncomfortable and tedious hours with only a coffee shop nearby to relieve the monotony!!
Sector 3: AA723, A332, Business seats 1H/2H, 1040 DUB-PHL 1340
Priority Boarding at 1000 was very effective, and we were impressed by the quantity and quality of the rose petals strewn in our path as we made our way to our very comfortable window seats in AA’s nice 1-2-1 Business configuration. Whilst consuming the usual pre-departure fizzy drink, the FA took the post-departure drinks order, and revealed that AA had failed to load the Sauvignon Blanc. I decided to pass on the Chardonnay and went for red instead!
A decent lunch, with a mezze starter followed by a chicken main … both perfectly edible.
(Our Salt and Pepper mills - never travel without them!)
Otherwise it was a typical TATL … fairly boring, but with good CC and a very comfortable seat. I think I watched a film on the good IFE, but I have no recollection of what it was! The landscape below showed indications of winter somewhere on the North American continent …
… which made the snack meal slightly incongruous!
And here we are in PHL for the first time. A bit of research on FT [in the AA Forum] gave us enough clues to know what we were doing … a long walk from our arrival gate [A-West] to the AAdmirals lounge near the B-Gates, where the access lift/elevator is cunningly hidden round the back of a coffee shop.
Google Earth suggests its about 1 mile from the A-gate where we arrived to the F-gates: mercifully we were departing from B-gates, which was only about 900 yards
Only an hour or so to kill before the next sector.
Sector 4: AA755, A321, First seats 4D/F, 1610 PHL-LAX 1922
Boarding from Gate B-15, priority again worked efficiently by AA. Why is it BA seems to have so much difficulty organising it? A full flight, and consequently much shuffling of large carry-ons all over the place. A rather tired old aircraft too, and although the seats are reasonably comfortable there’s no real sensation of ‘luxury'.
What’s the time? About 1700, so this must be Dinner. Despite the challenging tray-table, the meal was … OK. Some sort of Mediterranean mezze concoction, followed by Garlic Shrimp with Grits … well, this is America!
Just one FA handling the 16 pax in Business (F) but very efficient. And so we droned across the Continent, 6 hours of increasing discomfort as the seat is a bit on the short side and doesn’t support your thighs very well. And, of course, it’s now getting on for 14 hours in the air. It must be nearly bed-time?
And, at last, it’s LAX arrival time … nearly 1 hour early, which resulted in us having to wait on a taxiway for about 15 minutes until a stand became available. And here we are in Terminal 6, where we wait about 30 minutes for the cases to emerge on the belt, and then cross the roadway to the shuttle-bus waiting area for another 15 minutes until the Hilton Shuttle arrives. But eventually we are at Reception, where we got the explanation about the ‘smoking room’ we had selected when checking in on line with Hilton. It’s not actually a smoking room, but it has a sliding door accessing one of their internal courtyard gardens [the Malibu Garden in this case] where smoking is permitted and chairs/tables/ashtrays are provided. Good enough for us, but the 2nd priority is shower and bed …. it’s another early start in the morning. Oh, we were given access to the Executive Lounge as HHons Gold, but as it was now 2030 and that closes at 2100, we decided not to bother!! Cost for the room … $206.
And so …. ZZZZZZZ
Day 3: LAX-HNL
Tuesday 18 Jan. With our next sector due at 0800, we went for the 0545 shuttle to T7. No delays, no problems, and at First bag-drop we encountered the same lovely Agent who had rescued us from the queue last year With our BPs boldly printed in large capital letters with nice things such as ‘TSA PRECHK’, ‘FIRST’, ‘PRIORITY’ and “AACCESS’ we ascended the escalator to a quick and easy TSA Pre✓ process, and made our way to the AA Lounge complex near Gate 40. There we were issued with our magic key-card to gain access to the Flagship Lounge for our first time. VERY pleasant and comfortable, but not too much time to enjoy it as we have our flight to catch at Gate 47B.
Sector 5: AA31, A32B, First seats 2D/F, 0800 LAX-HNL 1213
At 0730 we boarded, and settled down for 6-hour run to HNL. Or not. We pushed back around 0800, and then pulled forward again. Much activity in the cockpit area, with men in hi-viz jackets. The Captain then announces that the left engine won’t start, and “we’re working on it”. Eventually at 0915 we are all offloaded back to the Gate area - one of those typical American circular ones, with several collocated Gates. There we wait while they find another aircraft and a gate to put it on! Such is life ... suck it up and move on! Ahh ... I can see my Hi-Viz yellow backpack in this photo, being guarded by iWife
A fairly quick IRROPS recovery … we re-boarded the replacement aircraft at an adjacent gate at 1030, pushed back at 1135 and were airborne at 1153 [my notes tell me!]. A 4-hour delay isn’t exactly ideal, but at least this was at the beginning of the day, and with no onward connections involved it certainly wasn’t a crisis! I just hoped our bags made it onto the replacement aircraft!
Breakfast was duly served, although it pretended to be lunch by this time. Whichever, it was quite tasty … a cheese strata, with sausage and potatoes, I believe. And a fresh-baked biscuit, of course!
Six hours of Kindle reading and seat-back IFE followed, IIRC. I remember none of it! It was just another 6 hours in a metal tube somewhere over the Pacific. But, eventually, after 3 days’ travel we arrived at HNL, got our 2 cases at 1630 [phew!] and boarded the Roberts shuttle bus to our hotel … inevitably the last ones to be dropped off after a tour of other Waikiki hotels having struggled through awful rush-hour traffic. It's just our luck that the HNL one-way streets make our hotel the last to drop off and the first to pick up
And finally we were back at the Pacific Beach hotel, where we were pleased to see [as requested] that we were back in the same room as last time … 2864, smoking permitted For pictures of room/view, see my previous HNL TR here >>> http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-citizens.html
An urgent run downstairs to the ABC store on the 1st floor to grab some snacks for ‘dinner’ and breakfast and a bottle or two of wine, a relaxing moment on the lanai with a chilled glass of Matua Sauvignon Blanc [still on offer at $12.99], and then shower and bed.
ZZZZZ
It went … JER-LGW-LHR-DUB-PHL-LAX-HNL-LAX-LHR-DUB-LHR-LGW-JER. 17,453 miles, and 1,110 TPs and some more Avios [that I don't really count these days, as they're hard to use in our life]. Yes, of course we went via DUB
Total cost was Ł1,599 each [not the cheapest by any means] but did include the luxury of BA’s Club Europe flights between JER-LGW and LHR-DUB. We abated the connection costs by using Avios, otherwise BA was asking c. Ł500 each to get to DUB We have done it before, of course [same week last year] but by a more relaxing routing!
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-citizens.html
OUTBOUND
Day 1: JER>DUB
The saga starts at 0630 on Sun, 3 Jan 16, when our taxi arrived. I am NOT an early morning person, so this was a bit unpleasant - but it got worse!! A simple 10 minute run to JER airport at that hour/day, quick bag-drop and easy Security before entering the ‘enhanced’ BA Lounge. Hmmm. Some new furniture, squeezed in to every available inch/cm, and a small extension into what was part of Gate 3. All rather bleak, especially at such an early hour, and the food offering is somewhat diminished too.
Sector 1: BA2769, A319, CE seats 2A/C, 0745 JER-LGW 0830
As usual, priority boarding is something that happens at other airports. For whatever reason, we were also late getting airborne and furthermore enjoyed holding at LGW before being put onto a bus stand. The bus was typically slow, as were our 2 cases, so by the time we escaped into the real world we had missed our scheduled 0940 National Express coach to LHR by 5 minutes. As novices, we had taken the precaution of paying extra for fully-flex tickets, and we’re glad we did. Tickets: Ł70 [2 pax return], Flexible Add On-Return: Ł20. The change was quick and easy at the National Express desk, we were re-ticketed for the 1005 bus to Derby via LHR T5 and Milton Keynes. So that’s how it works!!
A perfectly painless and comfortable motorway journey between London’s 2 main airports had us at T5 at 1050. We are now convinced by this method of connecting! And so to the wonders of the Greenhouse called T5 … where we strolled nonchalantly to the First check-in Zone to exercise our rights as Golds (and anyway, there were queues at the Club World desks)! South Security … hmm … queue was reaching back into the Departures Hall, so for a change we used the standard lines. No problem, just a bit slow. And then down and back and up again to the BA First Lounge … what an annoying arrangement.
The Lounge was fine, with no space issues despite the apparent concerns of some about overcrowding due to too many Gold members of BAEC, and eventually headed for Gate A11. Now that’s a new one on us, but we found it just to the left of the lifts down to the inter-Terminal Transit train. it’s obviously “Students Going Back To Queen’s University” time
Sector 2: BA0836, A320, CE seats 4A/C, 1320 LHR-DUB 1445
On-time departure, followed by the most extreme example of ‘feet on bulkhead’ ...
... and a nice salad for lunch.
... and the weather improved. Eventually we could see Ireland!
We were on stand at 1430, and bags started arriving at Reclaim at 1445 … and then add another 12 minutes before ours emerged. Then the walk to Zone 14 in the car park to find the Hilton shuttle-bus for our overnight stop. It was a VERY long wait - we had just missed the bus, so we waited about 40 minutes [I now have their schedule, so I hopefully won’t make that mistake again].
And so to the Dublin Airport Hilton, which is about 10 minutes away from the airport. A perfectly acceptable room for a night-stop, until we found that the hot water in the bathroom wasn’t running! Fortunately they unlocked the connecting door to the next [empty] room so we could use that bathroom. A very reasonable €63 for the night.
Day 2: DUB-PHL-LAX
Monday 17 Jan. Dammit, another early start! We had booked the 0700 shuttle (€2 each to get back to the airport) and woke at 0530 to make a gentle start to proceedings - it’s going to be a long day! Bag-drop at DUB T2 gave us our boarding passes for the day’s travels, and we were given another piece of paper telling us that “US Pre-Clearance (USPC) can be heavily congested during this peak season” and that we should “present ourselves to USPC a minimum of 2 hours before boarding time which is 50 minutes before departure.”. Well, they were so emphatic that we obeyed … it’s nearly 0800, and the flight is at 1040, so off we go.
Up the escalator to Departures, where USPC is clearly signed all the way with American Flag logos. So, first it’s Security (it has fast-track, on the left), turn right through the shops and then along a corridor to “Almost America”, down an escalator to US Customs, security/agriculture screening, and Immigration. By obeying the instructions issued at bag-drop we were the ONLY people there [apart from the Staff]. The whole process took <30 minutes, most of which was spent walking. It was so quick and painless that we ended up sat at Gate 404 [on metal seating] by 0830 for 1 1/2 uncomfortable and tedious hours with only a coffee shop nearby to relieve the monotony!!
Sector 3: AA723, A332, Business seats 1H/2H, 1040 DUB-PHL 1340
Priority Boarding at 1000 was very effective, and we were impressed by the quantity and quality of the rose petals strewn in our path as we made our way to our very comfortable window seats in AA’s nice 1-2-1 Business configuration. Whilst consuming the usual pre-departure fizzy drink, the FA took the post-departure drinks order, and revealed that AA had failed to load the Sauvignon Blanc. I decided to pass on the Chardonnay and went for red instead!
A decent lunch, with a mezze starter followed by a chicken main … both perfectly edible.
(Our Salt and Pepper mills - never travel without them!)
Otherwise it was a typical TATL … fairly boring, but with good CC and a very comfortable seat. I think I watched a film on the good IFE, but I have no recollection of what it was! The landscape below showed indications of winter somewhere on the North American continent …
… which made the snack meal slightly incongruous!
And here we are in PHL for the first time. A bit of research on FT [in the AA Forum] gave us enough clues to know what we were doing … a long walk from our arrival gate [A-West] to the AAdmirals lounge near the B-Gates, where the access lift/elevator is cunningly hidden round the back of a coffee shop.
Google Earth suggests its about 1 mile from the A-gate where we arrived to the F-gates: mercifully we were departing from B-gates, which was only about 900 yards
Only an hour or so to kill before the next sector.
Sector 4: AA755, A321, First seats 4D/F, 1610 PHL-LAX 1922
Boarding from Gate B-15, priority again worked efficiently by AA. Why is it BA seems to have so much difficulty organising it? A full flight, and consequently much shuffling of large carry-ons all over the place. A rather tired old aircraft too, and although the seats are reasonably comfortable there’s no real sensation of ‘luxury'.
What’s the time? About 1700, so this must be Dinner. Despite the challenging tray-table, the meal was … OK. Some sort of Mediterranean mezze concoction, followed by Garlic Shrimp with Grits … well, this is America!
Just one FA handling the 16 pax in Business (F) but very efficient. And so we droned across the Continent, 6 hours of increasing discomfort as the seat is a bit on the short side and doesn’t support your thighs very well. And, of course, it’s now getting on for 14 hours in the air. It must be nearly bed-time?
And, at last, it’s LAX arrival time … nearly 1 hour early, which resulted in us having to wait on a taxiway for about 15 minutes until a stand became available. And here we are in Terminal 6, where we wait about 30 minutes for the cases to emerge on the belt, and then cross the roadway to the shuttle-bus waiting area for another 15 minutes until the Hilton Shuttle arrives. But eventually we are at Reception, where we got the explanation about the ‘smoking room’ we had selected when checking in on line with Hilton. It’s not actually a smoking room, but it has a sliding door accessing one of their internal courtyard gardens [the Malibu Garden in this case] where smoking is permitted and chairs/tables/ashtrays are provided. Good enough for us, but the 2nd priority is shower and bed …. it’s another early start in the morning. Oh, we were given access to the Executive Lounge as HHons Gold, but as it was now 2030 and that closes at 2100, we decided not to bother!! Cost for the room … $206.
And so …. ZZZZZZZ
Day 3: LAX-HNL
Tuesday 18 Jan. With our next sector due at 0800, we went for the 0545 shuttle to T7. No delays, no problems, and at First bag-drop we encountered the same lovely Agent who had rescued us from the queue last year
With our BPs boldly printed in large capital letters with nice things such as ‘TSA PRECHK’, ‘FIRST’, ‘PRIORITY’ and “AACCESS’ we ascended the escalator to a quick and easy TSA Pre✓ process, and made our way to the AA Lounge complex near Gate 40. There we were issued with our magic key-card to gain access to the Flagship Lounge for our first time. VERY pleasant and comfortable, but not too much time to enjoy it as we have our flight to catch at Gate 47B.Sector 5: AA31, A32B, First seats 2D/F, 0800 LAX-HNL 1213
At 0730 we boarded, and settled down for 6-hour run to HNL. Or not. We pushed back around 0800, and then pulled forward again. Much activity in the cockpit area, with men in hi-viz jackets. The Captain then announces that the left engine won’t start, and “we’re working on it”. Eventually at 0915 we are all offloaded back to the Gate area - one of those typical American circular ones, with several collocated Gates. There we wait while they find another aircraft and a gate to put it on! Such is life ... suck it up and move on! Ahh ... I can see my Hi-Viz yellow backpack in this photo, being guarded by iWife
A fairly quick IRROPS recovery … we re-boarded the replacement aircraft at an adjacent gate at 1030, pushed back at 1135 and were airborne at 1153 [my notes tell me!]. A 4-hour delay isn’t exactly ideal, but at least this was at the beginning of the day, and with no onward connections involved it certainly wasn’t a crisis! I just hoped our bags made it onto the replacement aircraft!
Breakfast was duly served, although it pretended to be lunch by this time. Whichever, it was quite tasty … a cheese strata, with sausage and potatoes, I believe. And a fresh-baked biscuit, of course!
Six hours of Kindle reading and seat-back IFE followed, IIRC. I remember none of it! It was just another 6 hours in a metal tube somewhere over the Pacific. But, eventually, after 3 days’ travel we arrived at HNL, got our 2 cases at 1630 [phew!] and boarded the Roberts shuttle bus to our hotel … inevitably the last ones to be dropped off after a tour of other Waikiki hotels having struggled through awful rush-hour traffic. It's just our luck that the HNL one-way streets make our hotel the last to drop off and the first to pick up
And finally we were back at the Pacific Beach hotel, where we were pleased to see [as requested] that we were back in the same room as last time … 2864, smoking permitted
For pictures of room/view, see my previous HNL TR here >>> http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-citizens.htmlAn urgent run downstairs to the ABC store on the 1st floor to grab some snacks for ‘dinner’ and breakfast and a bottle or two of wine, a relaxing moment on the lanai with a chilled glass of Matua Sauvignon Blanc [still on offer at $12.99], and then shower and bed.
ZZZZZ
Last edited by T8191; Jul 1, 2018 at 2:55 am Reason: details, details! And restoring photos!
Jan 19, 2016, 10:03 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,140
PART 2 … Honolulu again.
Nine nights at the Pacific Beach cost $2175, by the time taxes and ‘resort fee’ had been added. Roughly Ł170 a night. A pleasant enough base for a week or so of wandering around and relaxing, and with the bonus of their Garlic Shrimp stand outside Wed-Sun [$7 for a “mini” portion].
On the first day (Wednesday 6 Jan) we had lunch at Lulu’s, partly to rekindle memories but also to brief them on the mini FT Do the next day. The food was as good as ever - pork egg rolls and fried calamari on this occasion …
A bit of local wandering revealed a grocery store selling Cook’s Extra Dry California champagne at $5.85 if you bought 3 bottles … surprisingly drinkable, so the fridge was now well stocked!
Thursday was the FT Do at Lulu’s. I had originally booked a table for 8, then decided 10 would be safer. We ended up with 13 attending!! Nice to meet some new faces from the forum, and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves?
And then it was just leisurely wandering around shops, parks and beaches for a week. Nothing too exciting, or indeed interesting for most of you! Only bit of ‘interesting’ was when we went to the Ward Village shopping complex [a couple of blocks west of the Ala Moana Mall] where there was a shop I wanted to visit … only to discover that 2 of the 5 blocks are under major redevelopment, including the place I wanted to go
Have a few pictures instead of a tedious narrative.
The local Church provided endless entertainment as we watched the congregataion making chaos out of the parking arrangements.
A nearby Park was very user-friendly
We're up there on the 28th floor.
But we didn't hire a buggy!
A local pigeon fancier ... the birds check the lanai all the time for food scraps!
Did I mention cheap fizz?
Goodnight HNL!
Nine nights at the Pacific Beach cost $2175, by the time taxes and ‘resort fee’ had been added. Roughly Ł170 a night. A pleasant enough base for a week or so of wandering around and relaxing, and with the bonus of their Garlic Shrimp stand outside Wed-Sun [$7 for a “mini” portion].
On the first day (Wednesday 6 Jan) we had lunch at Lulu’s, partly to rekindle memories but also to brief them on the mini FT Do the next day. The food was as good as ever - pork egg rolls and fried calamari on this occasion …
A bit of local wandering revealed a grocery store selling Cook’s Extra Dry California champagne at $5.85 if you bought 3 bottles … surprisingly drinkable, so the fridge was now well stocked!
Thursday was the FT Do at Lulu’s. I had originally booked a table for 8, then decided 10 would be safer. We ended up with 13 attending!! Nice to meet some new faces from the forum, and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves?
And then it was just leisurely wandering around shops, parks and beaches for a week. Nothing too exciting, or indeed interesting for most of you! Only bit of ‘interesting’ was when we went to the Ward Village shopping complex [a couple of blocks west of the Ala Moana Mall] where there was a shop I wanted to visit … only to discover that 2 of the 5 blocks are under major redevelopment, including the place I wanted to go
Have a few pictures instead of a tedious narrative.
The local Church provided endless entertainment as we watched the congregataion making chaos out of the parking arrangements.
A nearby Park was very user-friendly
We're up there on the 28th floor.
But we didn't hire a buggy!
A local pigeon fancier ... the birds check the lanai all the time for food scraps!
Did I mention cheap fizz?
Goodnight HNL!
Last edited by T8191; Jul 1, 2018 at 3:03 am Reason: Restoring pictures.
Jan 19, 2016, 10:04 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,140
PART 3 - The journey home
At this stage I seem to have stopped bothering to make notes for the TR, so I shall have to try working from memory and a few photos. This will be quite a challenge
Thursday 14 Jan. Oh, what an awful early start to proceedings. The reliable Roberts bus transfer is scheduled for 0505 Whatever, no option, it's their planned schedules, so just get on with it. The bus arrived at the appointed time +/- one minute, and picked up pax at a couple more hotels before running us all to the airport, dropping each of us off at the appropriate Departures zone. HNL is an easy airport to navigate, with the oddity of an agricultural screening belt before you get to bag-drop. Cases checked through HNL-LAX-LHR-DUB … I have developed a bit of confidence in AA’s baggage management after our SAV trip last Sep, so we relaxed and, armed with a fresh set of BPs with the liberal over-print of ‘PRIORITY’ etc, we breezed through Security and found the bleak Sakura lounge again. A coffee and a couple of mini-pastries kept us going until it was time to board.
Sector 6: AA270, A32B, First seats 2A/C, 0800 HNL-LAX 1542
Nothing special, really. Just another 5+ hours droning across the Pacific, with a decent breakfast and a few more time-zones to cross. This time we arrived at LAX T4, which seemed very familiar by now! A kerbside cigarette or two braced us for re-entering the world of commercial flying via TSA Pre✓ again. I wonder what it is that qualifies us for this luxury? Class of travel, OWE status, or just being ‘suitable people’? The TSA website doesn’t seem to clarify that aspect! Not complaining … we just headed for the AA Flagship Lounge to waste a couple of hours with a glass or three of wine and another breakfast/lunch/dinner snack. And then it’s the bit we’ve been looking forward to … prime Business seats on the AA 77W
Sector 7: AA138, B77W, Business seats 3J/4J, 1900 LAX-LHR 1330
Oh, this is VERY nice! I mean the highlight of the air travelling bit of this holiday. Rows 1 & 2 are First, behind a curtain when airborne. Then Rows 3 & 4 in a mini-cabin, in a very nice 1-2-1 arrangement … so we each have a window, and aisle access. And what a seat! Never mind BA’s l/h Business/Club World seat; this is IMO even better than my distant memory of BA’s First seat. There’s storage spaces everywhere … under the footrest, in a cupboard by the wide shelf, another one underneath the shelf and yet another sneaky one [for shoes?] under the left side armrest. No wonder some people leave things on aircraft! Absolutely super ^
Curiously [or not] the socket for the lovely Bose headsets is on the inside of that little cupboard, behind the seat controls.
Away we go, then; I’m ready to really enjoy this. Usual PDB and drinks orders taken, meal pre-selected on-line. But … sadly the food offering was something of a disappointment, and certainly didn’t match the hard product on this occasion.
The accompanying ’strawberry and blue cheese salad’ was, to my surprise, quite nice. But the Portobello Mushroom starter was pretty innocuous - I didn’t finish it. As for the “Pepper and Olive Tapenade Crusted Halibut” … you can see where I stopped bothering with it. The fish was dry and largely tasteless, the pot of something resembling piccalilli added nothing to the experience, some red-skin potatoes … and, in true American style, no vegetables!! Do they think they are lethal, or cause obscure diseases? Overall, a fairly disappointing meal.
On the positive side, the seat/bed was both spacious and very comfortable and [unusually] we both slept soundly for about 5 hours until it was time for our breakfast of “Quiche Lorraine with fire roasted turkey sausage and paprika potatoes” - which was nice!
Oh, well, you can’t win them all … but I rate a decent seat more highly than airline food, and AA beat BA hands down on this sector.
Friday 15 Jan At around 1330 we docked at LHR Terminal 3, another new experience for us. With plenty of time in hand, we braved the “Flight Connections” route to Terminal 5. OK, I know from FT and the BA Dashboard that there are many different ways of skinning this particular cat, but I thought it right that we should try the basic process … follow the Purple signs. I guess a longgggg walk after an overnight TATL is a ‘good thing’, but it seemed rather excessive! However, we passed through the assorted processes, including the scenic bus tour of airside LHR, without any difficulty or delay. It’s just a bloody awful arrangement involving long walks - I’m grateful I’m still fully functional; I have no idea what it must be like for those with mobility issues.
Eventually we found ourselves [yet again] in the Shopping Mall that masquerades as the UK’s main airport … at the far end from the BA First Lounge. Oh, well, just keep walking,until eventually we slumped in a comfy couple of seats to wait the call for the next flight. Which Gate was it? Somewhere at the North end of T5A, a low-numbered A-gate, so another nice long walk from the southern end of T5A. I’m getting very tired of LHR by now!!
Sector 8: AA6772 [aka BA826], A320, Business seats 2A/C, 1525 LHR-DUB 1650
A completely unremarkable journey, which hasn’t even lodged in my memory or on my camera, apart from the fact that the CC were absolutely superb and charming! All I know is that we arrived at DUB again, after heading in the ‘wrong direction’ for going home. We emerged from the aircraft, entered the RoI, found our cases had indeed arrived from LAX and went and waited for the shuttle bus … another night at the DUB Airport Hilton
We draped our battered bodies over the desk at Reception, admitted we had already checked in on-line someday/somewhere, and explained the reason for our semi-zombie state. The charming lass on the desk rattled her keyboard, asked if we had specifically wanted Room 104 [we said it was the only one offered on the website], rattled her keyboard again … and upgraded us to a “King Bed on the VIP Floor”. We were pleased to discover that the bed also had a room around it, and that the hot water worked! Having dumped the 2 cases, we wandered downstairs to enjoy our ‘free drink’ vouchers at the Bar.
“Red wine for her, a large Bushmills for me, please”
“Will you want ice in that, sir?”
“No, I’ll be drinking it outside, having a cigarette!”
It’s bloody freezing here … after a week or more of 27şc, it’s now marginally 1şc and not ideal for sitting out for long. King Bed on VIP floor beckons us … ZZZZZZ
Saturday 16 Jan. Nearly over … we want to be home now! So here we are on the 0745 shuttle back to DUB, where we’re dropped at T2. The driver explains how to get to T1 … up one floor, bear to the right and there’s a covered walkway across to T1. Thank you!
Again a painless bag-drop and security process, and off to the daa lounge to kill an hour or so before …
Sector 9: BA845, A320, Business seats 2A/C, 1015 DUB-LHR 1145
Oh, the nice charcuterie plate, aka ‘Extended Breakfast”. When I mentioned that the CC raised his eyebrows - “Ah, you know these things!” And here we are, back at LHR again … no wonder people get tempted to drop a sector!! We arrived some 30 minutes ahead of schedule, had the inevitable long walk to Reclaim, and had a minimal wait for the bags. Off to kerbside for a quick ciggy, and then to the National Express coach desk - can we get an earlier bus? No problem, with our flex tickets, and a few minutes later we’re heading round the M25/M23 to LGW.
With time to spare, we had the chance to have a chat with the lady on First check-in about the prospects of the move to LGW(S) being on time, and the new Lounge arrangements. And then with bags duly dropped, a quick Premium Gatwick Security, some Duty Free drink and ciggies, and off to explore the new Lounge arrangements.
I won’t bore you with that aspect; it’s well covered here >>> http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...questions.html Suffice to say, we found seats on a sofa in the Library, had a couple of drinks and a snack, and waited quietly for an hour or so.
And finally ….
Sector 10: BA2774, A319, Business seats 2A/C, 1600 LGW-JER 1700
A typical X-Channel hop, with a meal I didn’t need or eat. Reclaim revealed 2 well-travelled suitcases, both intact. A taxi home … and collapse. We collected The Cat the following day, and iWife took a break before embarking on 2 days of laundry!
………………
Was it worth it? Of course it was!! We had 9 days of Pacific warmth, with the enjoyment only slightly diminished by 6 days of travelling, with 10 time-zones and a temperature range that was quite challenging on occasion! A very reasonable investment in a long-haul winter break, some new aircraft and destinations, and we survived intact! And flying AA is soooo much better than BA, in so many ways!
Benefits … psychological uplift, 1,110 TPs and BAEC Gold renewal, and the ability to say “We’ve been in Hawaii for the last week or so”. DYKWIA?
At this stage I seem to have stopped bothering to make notes for the TR, so I shall have to try working from memory and a few photos. This will be quite a challenge
Thursday 14 Jan. Oh, what an awful early start to proceedings. The reliable Roberts bus transfer is scheduled for 0505
Whatever, no option, it's their planned schedules, so just get on with it. The bus arrived at the appointed time +/- one minute, and picked up pax at a couple more hotels before running us all to the airport, dropping each of us off at the appropriate Departures zone. HNL is an easy airport to navigate, with the oddity of an agricultural screening belt before you get to bag-drop. Cases checked through HNL-LAX-LHR-DUB … I have developed a bit of confidence in AA’s baggage management after our SAV trip last Sep, so we relaxed and, armed with a fresh set of BPs with the liberal over-print of ‘PRIORITY’ etc, we breezed through Security and found the bleak Sakura lounge again. A coffee and a couple of mini-pastries kept us going until it was time to board.Sector 6: AA270, A32B, First seats 2A/C, 0800 HNL-LAX 1542
Nothing special, really. Just another 5+ hours droning across the Pacific, with a decent breakfast and a few more time-zones to cross. This time we arrived at LAX T4, which seemed very familiar by now! A kerbside cigarette or two braced us for re-entering the world of commercial flying via TSA Pre✓ again. I wonder what it is that qualifies us for this luxury? Class of travel, OWE status, or just being ‘suitable people’? The TSA website doesn’t seem to clarify that aspect! Not complaining … we just headed for the AA Flagship Lounge to waste a couple of hours with a glass or three of wine and another breakfast/lunch/dinner snack. And then it’s the bit we’ve been looking forward to … prime Business seats on the AA 77W
Sector 7: AA138, B77W, Business seats 3J/4J, 1900 LAX-LHR 1330
Oh, this is VERY nice! I mean the highlight of the air travelling bit of this holiday. Rows 1 & 2 are First, behind a curtain when airborne. Then Rows 3 & 4 in a mini-cabin, in a very nice 1-2-1 arrangement … so we each have a window, and aisle access. And what a seat! Never mind BA’s l/h Business/Club World seat; this is IMO even better than my distant memory of BA’s First seat. There’s storage spaces everywhere … under the footrest, in a cupboard by the wide shelf, another one underneath the shelf and yet another sneaky one [for shoes?] under the left side armrest. No wonder some people leave things on aircraft! Absolutely super ^
Curiously [or not] the socket for the lovely Bose headsets is on the inside of that little cupboard, behind the seat controls.
Away we go, then; I’m ready to really enjoy this. Usual PDB and drinks orders taken, meal pre-selected on-line. But … sadly the food offering was something of a disappointment, and certainly didn’t match the hard product on this occasion.
The accompanying ’strawberry and blue cheese salad’ was, to my surprise, quite nice. But the Portobello Mushroom starter was pretty innocuous - I didn’t finish it. As for the “Pepper and Olive Tapenade Crusted Halibut” … you can see where I stopped bothering with it. The fish was dry and largely tasteless, the pot of something resembling piccalilli added nothing to the experience, some red-skin potatoes … and, in true American style, no vegetables!! Do they think they are lethal, or cause obscure diseases? Overall, a fairly disappointing meal.
On the positive side, the seat/bed was both spacious and very comfortable and [unusually] we both slept soundly for about 5 hours until it was time for our breakfast of “Quiche Lorraine with fire roasted turkey sausage and paprika potatoes” - which was nice!
Oh, well, you can’t win them all … but I rate a decent seat more highly than airline food, and AA beat BA hands down on this sector.
Friday 15 Jan At around 1330 we docked at LHR Terminal 3, another new experience for us. With plenty of time in hand, we braved the “Flight Connections” route to Terminal 5. OK, I know from FT and the BA Dashboard that there are many different ways of skinning this particular cat, but I thought it right that we should try the basic process … follow the Purple signs. I guess a longgggg walk after an overnight TATL is a ‘good thing’, but it seemed rather excessive! However, we passed through the assorted processes, including the scenic bus tour of airside LHR, without any difficulty or delay. It’s just a bloody awful arrangement involving long walks - I’m grateful I’m still fully functional; I have no idea what it must be like for those with mobility issues.
Eventually we found ourselves [yet again] in the Shopping Mall that masquerades as the UK’s main airport … at the far end from the BA First Lounge. Oh, well, just keep walking,until eventually we slumped in a comfy couple of seats to wait the call for the next flight. Which Gate was it? Somewhere at the North end of T5A, a low-numbered A-gate, so another nice long walk from the southern end of T5A. I’m getting very tired of LHR by now!!
Sector 8: AA6772 [aka BA826], A320, Business seats 2A/C, 1525 LHR-DUB 1650
A completely unremarkable journey, which hasn’t even lodged in my memory or on my camera, apart from the fact that the CC were absolutely superb and charming! All I know is that we arrived at DUB again, after heading in the ‘wrong direction’ for going home. We emerged from the aircraft, entered the RoI, found our cases had indeed arrived from LAX and went and waited for the shuttle bus … another night at the DUB Airport Hilton
We draped our battered bodies over the desk at Reception, admitted we had already checked in on-line someday/somewhere, and explained the reason for our semi-zombie state. The charming lass on the desk rattled her keyboard, asked if we had specifically wanted Room 104 [we said it was the only one offered on the website], rattled her keyboard again … and upgraded us to a “King Bed on the VIP Floor”. We were pleased to discover that the bed also had a room around it, and that the hot water worked! Having dumped the 2 cases, we wandered downstairs to enjoy our ‘free drink’ vouchers at the Bar.
“Red wine for her, a large Bushmills for me, please”
“Will you want ice in that, sir?”
“No, I’ll be drinking it outside, having a cigarette!”
It’s bloody freezing here … after a week or more of 27şc, it’s now marginally 1şc and not ideal for sitting out for long. King Bed on VIP floor beckons us … ZZZZZZ
Saturday 16 Jan. Nearly over … we want to be home now! So here we are on the 0745 shuttle back to DUB, where we’re dropped at T2. The driver explains how to get to T1 … up one floor, bear to the right and there’s a covered walkway across to T1. Thank you!
Again a painless bag-drop and security process, and off to the daa lounge to kill an hour or so before …
Sector 9: BA845, A320, Business seats 2A/C, 1015 DUB-LHR 1145
Oh, the nice charcuterie plate, aka ‘Extended Breakfast”. When I mentioned that the CC raised his eyebrows - “Ah, you know these things!”
And here we are, back at LHR again … no wonder people get tempted to drop a sector!! We arrived some 30 minutes ahead of schedule, had the inevitable long walk to Reclaim, and had a minimal wait for the bags. Off to kerbside for a quick ciggy, and then to the National Express coach desk - can we get an earlier bus? No problem, with our flex tickets, and a few minutes later we’re heading round the M25/M23 to LGW.With time to spare, we had the chance to have a chat with the lady on First check-in about the prospects of the move to LGW(S) being on time, and the new Lounge arrangements. And then with bags duly dropped, a quick Premium Gatwick Security, some Duty Free drink and ciggies, and off to explore the new Lounge arrangements.
I won’t bore you with that aspect; it’s well covered here >>> http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...questions.html Suffice to say, we found seats on a sofa in the Library, had a couple of drinks and a snack, and waited quietly for an hour or so.
And finally ….
Sector 10: BA2774, A319, Business seats 2A/C, 1600 LGW-JER 1700
A typical X-Channel hop, with a meal I didn’t need or eat. Reclaim revealed 2 well-travelled suitcases, both intact. A taxi home … and collapse. We collected The Cat the following day, and iWife took a break before embarking on 2 days of laundry!
………………
Was it worth it? Of course it was!! We had 9 days of Pacific warmth, with the enjoyment only slightly diminished by 6 days of travelling, with 10 time-zones and a temperature range that was quite challenging on occasion! A very reasonable investment in a long-haul winter break, some new aircraft and destinations, and we survived intact! And flying AA is soooo much better than BA, in so many ways!
Benefits … psychological uplift, 1,110 TPs and BAEC Gold renewal, and the ability to say “We’ve been in Hawaii for the last week or so”. DYKWIA?
Last edited by T8191; Jul 1, 2018 at 3:11 am Reason: details ... and restoring pictures!
Jan 19, 2016, 11:53 am
#9
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: London
Posts: 3,500
Great post, thanks for sharing.
No way I'd have been taking the coach on the outbound - fly LGW-DUB!
You're a patient man for flying the last sector too - anyone would think you're retired
Glad you had a good time Goldie.
No way I'd have been taking the coach on the outbound - fly LGW-DUB!
You're a patient man for flying the last sector too - anyone would think you're retired
Glad you had a good time Goldie.
Jan 19, 2016, 11:56 am
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,140
Thanks, matey!
I will fly LGW-DUB when I can get TPs/Avios with EI
Anyway, the coach was more comfortable than Club Europe!
Anyway, the coach was more comfortable than Club Europe!
Jan 19, 2016, 12:05 pm
#12
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,014
A good read giving an insight to what the "HNL spray on Gold trip" would feel like. And a good example to us all that you kept your spirits up despite some delays/missing bus connections!
The AA B77W seat looks good (but the food looks ghastly). How would you rate it for comfort/privacy compared to BA F?
Thanks for the TR - I hope you're both fully recovered.
The AA B77W seat looks good (but the food looks ghastly). How would you rate it for comfort/privacy compared to BA F?
Thanks for the TR - I hope you're both fully recovered.
Jan 19, 2016, 12:28 pm
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,140
A good read giving an insight to what the "HNL spray on Gold trip" would feel like. And a good example to us all that you kept your spirits up despite some delays/missing bus connections!
The AA B77W seat looks good (but the food looks ghastly). How would you rate it for comfort/privacy compared to BA F?
Thanks for the TR - I hope you're both fully recovered.
The AA B77W seat looks good (but the food looks ghastly). How would you rate it for comfort/privacy compared to BA F?
Thanks for the TR - I hope you're both fully recovered.
As far as IRROPs is concerned, reality rules ... as I think I said in the TR, just suck it up and move on. Getting upset doesn't achieve much!!
how do I rate the 77W in Business? Still streets ahead of BA First, I'm sorry to say. Private, comfortable, masses of storage space, better pillow and blanket, and everything to hand if needed ... the overhead was totally redundant! I struggle to find anything negative to say about it. Even the DUB-PHL on the A332 was approaching BA F, and certainly better than CW
Jan 19, 2016, 12:43 pm
#14
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 692
Excellent trip report. Thanks for sharing. The 77W looks impressive.
How far in advance did you book the Hilton Dublin please - I have an ex-DUB in August and all the airport hotels are around the €120 mark at the moment.
How far in advance did you book the Hilton Dublin please - I have an ex-DUB in August and all the airport hotels are around the €120 mark at the moment.
Jan 19, 2016, 1:14 pm
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,140
The Hilton bookings were done back in August last year. I see my DUB Reservation Confirmations are annotated "SUMMERSALE ROOM ONLY", although we got a free drink and breakfast anyway [perhaps a HHons Gold benefit?] and the unexpected upgrade on the way home.