HNL-MIA-HNL
Mar 25, 1999, 3:13 am
#1
Original Member
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Honolulu,HI, USA
Programs: UA 1K 3MM
Posts: 839
HNL-MIA-HNL
Well, enough lowlights in this trip to make me write a trip report.
3/17 Leave HNL on a red eye to SFO. Seat 5G on the upper level of a 747-200. Of course, I'm used to the 747-100 so I almost stick my carry on into the bathroom. Ahhh...they moved the closet to the back of the plane. Flight is uneventful and I sleep most of the way.
Connect in SFO to ORD. Yikes!! I forgot that I'm on a 757 and now I'm stuck in 1C with limited legroom. Pilot announces that we are on the maiden commercial voyage for this plane. I'm wondering if this is a good thing...how much do they test these planes? Seems that we must have had virgin flight attendants on the plane as well. They didn't know how to operate anything and barely figured out how to get us prepared for take off and landing. We figured that was all the newness we could handle until our landing. The pilots powered that flight in and used every bit of the ORD runway. Whew!! I was happy to get off and connect in ORD to MIA. Much calmer flight crew and flight.
Now my stay in h*ll. Take the super shuttle to the Miami Hyatt. I'm put on the top floor (rember this for later reference) with a wonderful view of the port of Miami. The third night of my stay, I get to my door and find that it hadn't been locked properly by the housekeeper. I stupidly rush into my room to check if my laptop was still on the desk. I'm locked in my room before I realize that this is NOT a good thing. Luckily, no one is hiding in my room and I call the manager to complain. He promises to talk to the housekeeping manager. The next and last night (thank goodness!) of my stay, I go back to my room and find the door hadn't been locked properly again. This time I go to the house phone in the hall and call the manager to come up with security. This time he promises to let me know what action will be taken with the housekeeper. We'll see. Well, no time to waste so I rush downstairs to a dinner meeting. After dinner, I find that all six elevators have died. I am not climbing stairs up to the 24th floor in high heels! After an hour wait, they finally get a service elevator to work. Grrr....now I'll be stuck upstairs, but I want to go to my room and relax. My advice is don't stay at this hotel!
The next day doesn't start out well as my Super Shuttle never showed up. I hop in a cab and get to the airport in 15 minutes in plenty of time for my flight. Uneventful flights from MIA-ORD-SFO. I figure my adventures are over. I was wrong. On my SFO-HNL flight, I'm on the upper level of a 747 again. We're still on the ground with people still boarding when the power goes out on the entire plane. Hey, I finally got to see those emergency lights on the ground that they always talk about in the safety drill. Then even the emergency lights go off and we are in total darkness. Yikes!! We're in darkness for about 15 minutes before they figure out what's wrong with the generator. Thank goodness the rest of my flight is normal and uneventful. This type of trip is a little too eventful. Mmmmm...it's good to be home.
3/17 Leave HNL on a red eye to SFO. Seat 5G on the upper level of a 747-200. Of course, I'm used to the 747-100 so I almost stick my carry on into the bathroom. Ahhh...they moved the closet to the back of the plane. Flight is uneventful and I sleep most of the way.
Connect in SFO to ORD. Yikes!! I forgot that I'm on a 757 and now I'm stuck in 1C with limited legroom. Pilot announces that we are on the maiden commercial voyage for this plane. I'm wondering if this is a good thing...how much do they test these planes? Seems that we must have had virgin flight attendants on the plane as well. They didn't know how to operate anything and barely figured out how to get us prepared for take off and landing. We figured that was all the newness we could handle until our landing. The pilots powered that flight in and used every bit of the ORD runway. Whew!! I was happy to get off and connect in ORD to MIA. Much calmer flight crew and flight.
Now my stay in h*ll. Take the super shuttle to the Miami Hyatt. I'm put on the top floor (rember this for later reference) with a wonderful view of the port of Miami. The third night of my stay, I get to my door and find that it hadn't been locked properly by the housekeeper. I stupidly rush into my room to check if my laptop was still on the desk. I'm locked in my room before I realize that this is NOT a good thing. Luckily, no one is hiding in my room and I call the manager to complain. He promises to talk to the housekeeping manager. The next and last night (thank goodness!) of my stay, I go back to my room and find the door hadn't been locked properly again. This time I go to the house phone in the hall and call the manager to come up with security. This time he promises to let me know what action will be taken with the housekeeper. We'll see. Well, no time to waste so I rush downstairs to a dinner meeting. After dinner, I find that all six elevators have died. I am not climbing stairs up to the 24th floor in high heels! After an hour wait, they finally get a service elevator to work. Grrr....now I'll be stuck upstairs, but I want to go to my room and relax. My advice is don't stay at this hotel!
The next day doesn't start out well as my Super Shuttle never showed up. I hop in a cab and get to the airport in 15 minutes in plenty of time for my flight. Uneventful flights from MIA-ORD-SFO. I figure my adventures are over. I was wrong. On my SFO-HNL flight, I'm on the upper level of a 747 again. We're still on the ground with people still boarding when the power goes out on the entire plane. Hey, I finally got to see those emergency lights on the ground that they always talk about in the safety drill. Then even the emergency lights go off and we are in total darkness. Yikes!! We're in darkness for about 15 minutes before they figure out what's wrong with the generator. Thank goodness the rest of my flight is normal and uneventful. This type of trip is a little too eventful. Mmmmm...it's good to be home.
Mar 25, 1999, 4:36 am
#3
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Hong Kong soon to be London
Posts: 208
Thanks for the tip on the Miami Hyatt. I am going to MIA next month and am trying to decide where to stay. I'll scratch the Hyatt off the list!
I am curious why you connected through ORD since United has direct SFO-MIA-SFO service on those nice new 3 class 777s.
Hong Kong Flyer
I am curious why you connected through ORD since United has direct SFO-MIA-SFO service on those nice new 3 class 777s.
Hong Kong Flyer
Mar 25, 1999, 12:57 pm
#4
Commander Catcop
Join Date: May 1998
Posts: 10,259
That trip was a nightmare, Tropical Flyer!
It's inexusable for a hotel to sloppily lock a room. WHo knows what could have happened! HYATT should give you a partial refund of your reservation for their carelessness.
I'd like to know what action was taken with that housekeeper.
SuperShuttle has been hit or miss in my experience. ONce they forgot to pick me up (I don't remember what city... I think it was Dallas) and needless to say I will never use them again!
I hope your future travel experiences are less stressful!
CatMan
It's inexusable for a hotel to sloppily lock a room. WHo knows what could have happened! HYATT should give you a partial refund of your reservation for their carelessness.
I'd like to know what action was taken with that housekeeper.
SuperShuttle has been hit or miss in my experience. ONce they forgot to pick me up (I don't remember what city... I think it was Dallas) and needless to say I will never use them again!
I hope your future travel experiences are less stressful!
CatMan
Mar 26, 1999, 4:15 am
#5
Original Member
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Honolulu,HI, USA
Programs: UA 1K 3MM
Posts: 839
Hong Kong Flyer,
The best answer for not taking the direct SFO-MIA-SFO flights was the unavailability of upgrading to first class seats! I'll do the extra stop for the guaranteed upgrades. It's a long way from HNL to MIA.
The best answer for not taking the direct SFO-MIA-SFO flights was the unavailability of upgrading to first class seats! I'll do the extra stop for the guaranteed upgrades. It's a long way from HNL to MIA.
Aug 19, 2022, 11:58 am
#9
Join Date: May 2010
Location: MidCal
Programs: UA MM 1K, UC, Lifetime HH Diamond, Avis President’s Club
Posts: 353
While I was down with [COVID - mod edit] I decided to click on the Last Page of the Trip Report section. I choose your review to read. Fun to think back when the 747-2 was on the SFO - HNL route. Brought back wonderful memories dating back to the Rainbow Livery. Can’t believe today if you are lucky 😂😂 you can sit in a Southwest -37 for that ride. No Thanks!
Last edited by NewbieRunner; Aug 22, 2022 at 4:29 am Reason: mod edit to conform to rules regarding offensive language
Aug 22, 2022, 9:56 am
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: GM on VX, UA, AA, HA, AS, SY; Budget Fastbreak
Posts: 27,615
More freaky to imagine hnl-Mia with 2 connections. I can comprehend 1 connection. I’ll assume now that one can fly Sfo-Mia nonstop with UAL.