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UA's Micronesia Island Hopper - consolidated questions, advice, ....

Old Jun 30, 2016, 1:45 pm
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Last edit by: thejaredhuang
Best seat advice
See update in post 500
See update in post 690


Best seat on the Island Hopper .. {closed to new posts}

An Island Hopper [Micronesia] Definitive Guide on Where to Sit [UA B737] {this thread}

FAQs derived from findark's post (post #500)
What is the Island Hopper?

The Island Hopper is a United route between Honolulu and Guam, stopping at the islands of Majuro, Kwajaelin, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Chuuk in between. The Island Hopper operates in both directions, and skips Pohnpei on certain days. You are allowed to get off the plane and "transit" at each stop except for Kwajaelin, which is a US Army base.

This route is similar to Alaska Airlines' "milk run" routes in rural Alaska. All of these routes serve as lifelines for the residents living in areas served by the routes, as the sole connection providing supplies and transportation to/from the rest of the world.

What is the Island Hopper schedule (as of 1/14/19)?
UA154 (the full Hopper) departs HNL Mon/Fri and flies HNL-MAJ-KWA-KSA-PNI-TKK-GUM.
The shorter UA154 flies from HNL on Wed and does HNL-MAJ-KWA-PNI-TKK-GUM (skips KSA).
UA132 departs Sun and flies HNL-MAJ-KSA-PNI-TKK-GUM (skips KWA).

UA193 (GUM-ROR-MNL)departs GUM on the evenings of Tue/Fri and flies GUM-ROR-MNL.

The Hopper arrives around 1800+1, so in order to do the entire flight without a stopover you would need to depart HNL on UA154 on Monday morning.


Should I experience the Hopper?

If you like hopping through short segments, with beautiful island views, as well as a constant parade of amazing cloudscape between islands, the Island Hopper may be for you!

Which direction (west or east) is better?

The prevailing wisdom here seems to be in favor of taking UA154 (HNL-GUM). findark did 155 from GUM to HNL, and I think there were some overlooked benefits. The eastbound Hopper has the advantage of doing all the fun stuff in the morning and afternoon when you're fresh and eager to enjoy. 14 hours onboard a 737 is a long time*, and doing it eastbound you can give in to the exhaustion and conk out for the final MAJ-HNL segment. Even the HNL arrival was actually not too bad - it's only 10:50pm Guam time, so if you head on to a hotel you're pretty much in line for a night's sleep.

The most notable downside of taking the Hopper eastbound is that you visit MAJ in darkness. We ran about 25m late the whole way, and it was full dark by the time we touched down in MAJ. Whichever way you go, don't do it on a Wednesday! Kosrae was my favorite island, and it would be a shame to miss it.

*And, I learned, while the flight mechanic hops off in MAJ and the pilots get to work in shifts, the cabin crew are on duty for the whole 14 hours. They were understandably a bit burnt out by the middle of MAJ-HNL, but were simply outstanding nonetheless - greeting kids and handing out wings as they boarded in MAJ.


What's with the plane configuration?

The Hopper is currently flown by a GUM subfleet 737-800 (currently Version 4 on the United website - Row 1 is set back several inches which yields fewer E+ seats). The seatmap is loaded as the "Asia local" 737 map, which looks roughly like a 737-700. Like with other "generic" maps, it will update to the full seatmap about 4 days before departure, when the additional rows will appear.

1AB are blocked for the augmented flight crew, who change places with the pilots in the cockpit at MAJ. 2AB are also blocked because the crew rest seats at 1AB will recline until almost touching row 2, and it is usually used for crew storage.

Where should I sit?

The key here is understanding approach and wind patterns, along with each airport's runway configuration. The following stops and runways are on the north side of their respective islands:

TKK (4/22), PNI (9/27), KSA (5/23)

The following stops have runways on the south side of their atolls:

KWA (6/24), MAJ (7/25)

The prevailing winds at this latitude blow from the east, so a typical landing goes from west to east (into the wind). Therefore, in order to have best views on final approach and initial takeoff, you want to be on the starboard (right, F) side for TKK, PNI, and KSA, and on the port (left, A) side for KWA and MAJ. If you are flying westbound, or you land backwards at any stop on the eastbound flight, then the flight may need to position into the approach, usually by overflying the island at higher altitude out to sea. In this case, both sides of the aircraft will get views, although the closer views belong to the "correct" side. In my case, we landed "backwards" on 22 at TKK, and used the regular 9, 5, 6, and 7 at the other stops.

You should absolutely have a window seat - why else are you here?! The best seats are therefore any window in the Business cabin (note that 1A and 2A are blocked), 7AF and 8AF in Economy Plus (10AF has a misaligned window but is okay, the missing window will kill you in 11 and then the wing really starts intruding), and anything nice and far behind the wing in Economy. In this vein, I declined an upgrade on GUM-TKK since only 2E was left, and we flew in 4A/7F, 2F/4A, 2F/3F, 3A/4A, 3A/4A, 2F/7F.


What can I do at the stops?

The best thing to do is get off the plane! You can take tarmac photos and get amazing close-ups of the plane. You will then be shepherded into the gate area, where there are restrooms (some lacking soap and/or towels) and often locals selling souvenirs and snacks. On our trip, the most substantial souvenirs were available at MAJ. If the flight is running late they will make an announcement requesting transfer pax to stay on the plane; however, as obviously savvy travelers who were along for the whole ride and could get on/off quickly with no bags to stow, we got absolutely no pushback from the purser whenever we went outside anyway.

If you do disembark, you are required to take all carry-on baggage with you. They conduct a security sweep onboard the aircraft and will remove unclaimed bags. As is mentioned many times in this thread, KWA is the exception - as it's a US Army base you cannot get off unless ticketed to there. On our flight, we were requested not to take photographs but were allowed to look out the window. I didn't see anything terribly interesting.

You can also use WiFi in the terminal/transit area when you disembark and at some stops you can get your passport stamped. MAJ, PNI, and KSA have confirmed free WiFi. Passport stamps have been confirmed at PNI, KSA, TKK without "exiting" just ask security about getting a stamp at these 3 airports and they should be able to accommodate you.

Should I check my bags?

Yes. As annoying as it was to wait ~10 minutes for our bags in HNL, it was a lot less annoying than having to haul them around each stop, and find bin space again once on board.


What is the food situation?

Going east is a slightly different meal schedule than west. GUM-TKK and KSA-KWA are coded Snack, and MAJ-HNL is Dinner. The first and last meals are reasonably substantial in J (think like a Breakfast and Dinner code) and somewhat small in Y (somewhat less than a meal in int'l Y - was six pieces of fruit and a muffin in the morning, followed by a turkey sandwich for dinner). The middle snack was just a pass of the snack basket up front; neither of us sat in Y that segment but I would guess they just offered almonds. Additionally, every segment they were offering J pax some packaged almonds.

My general verdict is if going the distance in Y, pack some snacks or buy them at the stops along the way. If you're in J then there's enough food for 14 hours of sitting.


And how about IFE?

Look outside! That's actually about all the IFE there is. The GUM fleet has no WiFi and only DirecTV. Note that DirecTV does not work outside of CONUS, so really it just has the 8-10 looping movies of DirecTV (slightly different movie set for an Asian audience). The movie loop resets at each stop, so unless you want to watch the first 1h30 of a movie six times, there's not much use to the IFE. It is at least free in Y. I brought a book and read it for the middle 20 minutes of each segment and until I fell sleep on MAJ-HNL.


Can I get an upgrade on the Hopper?

Empirically, yes! We were offered upgrades of 11/12 eligible segments; I declined a GUM-TKK upgrade to keep my window, and my companion's MAJ-HNL upgrade was eaten by UA IT (agent in MAJ apologized profusely but understandably wasn't going to remove the already-handed-out upgrades to the next 2 pax on the list).

In order to have any shot, however, you need to be able to split the direct flight into six segments. This generally cannot be done on a mileage ticket or a paid through fare, and would need to be done via multi-city ticketing if visiting an island. In my case, I spent a very long time getting an extremely wonderful pmCO agent who was able to hack my ticket together with 9 connections on the way home. As this is also the only way to choose different views for the different approach directions, I recommend asking for this rather than for upgrades. It causes quite the headache for UA systems, but in the end I felt like it was a huge benefit to fly pretty much all of it in J. Absolutely something I credit to the value of being 1K: I was able to ring the 1K desk many times to get agents to deal with the various hiccups that came along with a PNR that had eight tickets and at one point 36 segments attached to it.

The first five Hopper segments (going east) are CPU eligible; MAJ/HNL requires a GPU. We had GPUs on our reservation and did a mixture of advance clearing and clearing at the gates in the islands (where amazingly enough they had the new J BPs waiting!).


Where to stay and what to do in GUM and HNL?

I think this depends on lot on which way you're going. Flying east, we arrived in GUM around 11pm (maximizing time in Tokyo, but not crazy enough for the 2am arrival), and spent the night at the Days Inn Tamuning. It was at the very bottom of my quality standards, but quite affordable and with 9h45 of total ground time all in the dark I did not want to pay double for a beachfront property I would never enjoy.

In HNL, I took up the excellent recommendation in this thread of the Best Western Plaza Honolulu. It was the cheapest of the few airport hotels in HNL. Having cleared customs by 3:45 (we arrived late), it was off to bed quickly. The arrival is only ~11pm Guam time, so I highly recommend going straight to a bed on arrival in HNL. Afterwards, we took advantage of the 24h connect rule to spend the whole day in HNL before continuing on home to SFO. We were pretty exhausted after another redeye home, but the beach time in Hawaii was well worth it, especially after being taunted by all the beautiful mid-Pacific islands.

Big Metal Bird Episode 8: Island Hopper - 2018
Originally Posted by COEWR2587
They just did a video in the Micronesia island hopper flight which is pretty interesting
https://youtu.be/TPueM5OF1Wc
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UA's Micronesia Island Hopper - consolidated questions, advice, ....

Old Aug 4, 2017, 1:00 am
  #451  
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Originally Posted by quarryking
Am looking at a GUM -NRT flight and lots of option from NRT on to India..
IMHO - the trip is no longer worth the trouble when you have to fly even longer to your destination.
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Old Aug 4, 2017, 1:27 am
  #452  
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Originally Posted by garykung
Watch out UA's schedule.

Not every UA's flight ex-GUM is daily. For example, both GUM-MNL/HKG are not operated daily (as these should be the flights getting you closest to India).
Originally Posted by quarryking
Yeah, it's turning out to be quite a task trying to piece together an itinerary out of GUM, considering not all flights are daily.. Am looking at a GUM -NRT flight and lots of option from NRT on to India..
GUM-MNL is actually approximately 13 times weekly on UA (1-2x daily nonstop plus 2x weekly via ROR or TKK). Philippine Airlines (PR) also flies the route daily, and Cebu Pacific (5J) flies it 2-3x weekly. But MNL isn't a great airport for connections, and I don't see any Indian destinations ex-MNL at all. Also, I don't know your nationality, but the Philippines would require a transit visa -- and, according to TIMATIC, an airline escort (!) -- for Indian nationals changing terminals, which you would have to do if you were transiting from UA to ANA, Cathay Pacific, Singapore, Philippine Airlines, or Cebu Pacific.

The bigger problem trying to get to India from Guam is the flight times. Most UA flights ex-GUM are evening departures, timed for connections from HNL. So, you end up with a forced overnight at MNL, HKG, or wherever.

To answer the original question, though -- yes, I would allocate a fairly large buffer in GUM, especially if you're connecting onward on a separate ticket. It's not that the likelihood of a mechanical issue is any higher than any other flight -- it's that if there's a cancellation, the next scheduled flight from that airport might not be for another couple of days.

Hope this helps.
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Old Aug 4, 2017, 4:55 am
  #453  
 
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Originally Posted by jsloan
GUM-MNL is actually approximately 13 times weekly on UA (1-2x daily nonstop plus 2x weekly via ROR or TKK). Philippine Airlines (PR) also flies the route daily, and Cebu Pacific (5J) flies it 2-3x weekly. But MNL isn't a great airport for connections, and I don't see any Indian destinations ex-MNL at all. Also, I don't know your nationality, but the Philippines would require a transit visa -- and, according to TIMATIC, an airline escort (!) -- for Indian nationals changing terminals, which you would have to do if you were transiting from UA to ANA, Cathay Pacific, Singapore, Philippine Airlines, or Cebu Pacific.

The bigger problem trying to get to India from Guam is the flight times. Most UA flights ex-GUM are evening departures, timed for connections from HNL. So, you end up with a forced overnight at MNL, HKG, or wherever.

To answer the original question, though -- yes, I would allocate a fairly large buffer in GUM, especially if you're connecting onward on a separate ticket. It's not that the likelihood of a mechanical issue is any higher than any other flight -- it's that if there's a cancellation, the next scheduled flight from that airport might not be for another couple of days.

Hope this helps.
was thinking of MNL as well, but the airline escort bit was a put off..!! as of now looking at GUM - NRT & then NRT - DEL. Have kept a 40 HR halt in GUM post the Island Hopper.. that should handle any delays should they arise..beyond that, one should be ready to break the bank a bit i guess with these kind of itineraries.
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Old Aug 4, 2017, 12:10 pm
  #454  
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Originally Posted by jsloan
it's that if there's a cancellation, the next scheduled flight from that airport might not be for another couple of days.
In fairness, I don't think they would ever cold-cancel the Hopper mid-trip. They'll fly something in from GUM or HNL to continue the flight (rescue frame, mechanic, etc) and I would expect to be getting out the next day.
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Old Aug 6, 2017, 3:26 pm
  #455  
 
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Originally Posted by goldelite8
Looking to finally do the Island Hopper and am hoping someone can shed light on the prospects of getting onto the flight via a SDC. The fare is considerably more to book the Island Hopper directly and the flight I'm looking at (in a few weeks) looks really empty. Separately, if my (very low) fare class is not available on the day of departure to be eligible for a SDC, is it possible to standby for the Island Hopper? Continuing onwards to PVG from GUM afterwards on the nonstop...
My sole experience on the Island Hopper leads me to believe that a SDC might be difficult. The seat maps looked quite empty, but every leg we were on was pretty much completely full. It was almost entirely locals and I don't think they choose their seats ahead of time.
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Old Aug 17, 2017, 7:59 am
  #456  
 
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Finally flew the island hopper eastbound last week, with two kids in tow! We spent a few days in Hong Kong visiting friends then took the long way home.

UA116 HKG-GUM 10:45PM-5:45AM(+1)
UA176 GUM-TKK 7:51PM-9:40PM
UA155 TKK-HNL 10:45AM-2:50AM
UA534 HNL-LAX 8:45PM-4:57AM(+1)

We had been on the go so much that I hadn't paid any attention to the news and was completely oblivious to what was brewing with NK/Guam while we were there. Just as well, I guess.

I asked at check-in in HKG, but they would not check our bags through to LAX. I was prepared either way, so no big deal. We had to pick them up in GUM, TKK and HNL (and I knew we'd see them for customs in HNL regardless).

Upon arrival in GUM, only two of the four GE kiosks worked (I overheard some crew members saying GUM gets HNL's old machines). Guam has its own customs form (handed out in flight) different from the usual US blue one, so the kiosk doesn't ask the usual customs questions. The immigration officer kept our GE slips, then once we had our bags everyone funnels into the same customs lines (except crew). They were well staffed and although they did seem to be taking their time asking people questions, we didn't wait more than a few minutes.

We spent our night in Chuuk at the Blue Lagoon Resort, which someone upthread recommended and I add my recommendation as well. The setting and views are beautiful and you get to see a bit of the island driving back and forth. I'd love to go back and do some wreck diving there someday.

As of June 2017 Chuuk doubled their departure tax from $20 to $40 per person for non-residents. Glad I had enough cash on me to still have some to spend on food and souvenirs on the other islands!

After boarding in TKK, the pilot said that there was a "slow flying aircraft at 10,000 feet between TKK and PNI" and we needed to wait while ATC worked on a reroute. I puzzled over this a bit since our cruising altitudes were always over 30k; seems like it shouldn't be too hard to avoid. I wondered if it might be something military related and once I got home and saw the news I think that was a good possibility.

At PNI I asked a UA employee where to get our passports stamped and she took them and walked over and got the stamps for us. The employees and crew all along the way were very nice and friendly. One of the flight attendants recognized us from the HKG-GUM leg that she had worked as well and was very attentive to my kids, even though she spent most of her time in the FC cabin (we were in row 7). When we were boarding for the final leg she asked if the kids wanted to visit the cockpit and the pilots cheerfully offered their seats to them for a photo op.

Again after boarding in PNI we had to wait for a bit due to aircraft in the area. When we landed in KSA they asked that onward passengers remain on board since we were running behind after the two delays.

While on the ground a FA told me I had to store my camera for takeoff. It's a Canon Rebel T6i with a 28-135mm lens, so obviously bigger than a point and shoot, but compact for a DSLR. I showed her that I had the neckstrap on but she said it would still be a hazard in an emergency. I complied and instead used my iPhone to video the takeoff, only to discover that I apparently didn't hit the record button. So if you're using a DSLR I guess keep it in its bag until the FAs are seated for takeoff.

On descent into KWA they announced anyone caught taking pictures of the island or base would have their cameras confiscated. I chose to not test their vigilance - not worth the risk of losing 7 weeks of travel photos.

In MAJ they initially asked us to stay on board to make up time, then TSA required everyone in seats A-C in economy to exit plane with luggage. I tried to get our passports stamped but the immigration officer said he couldn't if we weren't actually entering MAJ.

The right side of the plane had a view of the island in TKK, PNI and KSA. In KWA the left side faced the island and MAJ was dark when we landed.

I wasn't able to get internet, free or paid, on any of the islands. I'd select a network and it would drop before I could get through the registration page.

My hopes of SDCing to a 737 for the HNL-LAX leg were dashed because the last flight to SFO the previous night was on a 15-hour crew delay and they were putting those passengers onto every available seat to the west coast. A very nice agent checked our bags that morning, even though the kiosk said we couldn't more than 12 hours before our flight. She explained the situation and said we could standby but chances were pretty much nil. She even had me come behind the counter to see her screen showing the loads for all the flights that day and suggested we just go enjoy a day in HNL. I checked the app throughout the day and watched the standby list roll over for each subsequent LAX flight. Our flight (at 8:45pm) had a standby list of 42 with the seatmap showing two unassigned seats the last I checked. So a lot of people had a really bad day in HNL! There actually was XN inventory for a 737 flight the following day we could have SDCed to, but I was too tired to care anymore and was just grateful we had confirmed seats.

Overall, a great experience and I would definitely do it again. Thank you all for sharing your experiences in this thread; it really helped to know what to expect.
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Last edited by princeville; Aug 17, 2017 at 8:09 am
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Old Aug 18, 2017, 3:00 pm
  #457  
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What did you guys end up doing with the ground time in HNL? We're doing this in a few weeks and still on the fence about that (same HNL-LAX too, although may SDC to the HNL-SFO 737 if upgrade looks better).
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Old Aug 18, 2017, 3:44 pm
  #458  
 
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Originally Posted by garykung
IMHO - the trip is no longer worth the trouble when you have to fly even longer to your destination.
Respectfully... there may be those that disagree with you, depending on their circumstances

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28684045-post22.html
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Old Aug 19, 2017, 10:39 am
  #459  
 
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Originally Posted by findark
What did you guys end up doing with the ground time in HNL? We're doing this in a few weeks and still on the fence about that (same HNL-LAX too, although may SDC to the HNL-SFO 737 if upgrade looks better).
Found a hotel room and slept. :/ It was really a waste of a day in my favorite state.

I was so confident that we'd be taking an earlier flight that I didn't reserve anything and it took us a very long time to find a hotel that had a room available and would let us check in right away.

We didn't sleep on the MAJ-HNL leg. I don't know what time zone your body will be adjusted to, but we got a pretty solid night's sleep the night before in Chuuk, which has a 4 hour difference from HI, so when we landed at ~3am, it was 11pm to our bodies and we were just getting tired then.

If I could do it over again, and planned to take UA534 home, I'd reserve something close to the airport (the UA agent recommended the Best Western Plaza - she said it's a five minute drive and they have a 24 hour shuttle; but they didn't have any rooms available). If your incoming flight is on time and you don't have checked bags, you could theoretically be asleep by 3:30-4am, get several hours of rest and a shower, and still have plenty of time to enjoy the beach or sightsee or whatever interests you.

We landed a bit late (maybe 30 min?), then by the time we waited for bags, walked to the UA counters and spoke with the agent about our options, it was already after 5am. Then I spent over an hour calling hotels, then waited 25 minutes for the closest Uber and it was after 7am when we finally got into a room. Don't do it our way!!

I thought I would take the kids to the USS Arizona in the afternoon (seemed fitting after checking out the War in the Pacific sites in Guam) but found you need to reserve in advance. It wasn't necessary last time I went there but it has been a while. So once we were awake, we showered and repacked, ate our first meal of the day and then it was time to head back to the airport. And then we were awake the whole way home - another reason to get some rest as early as possible and be up for the day while it's still morning!

Sorry for the very long reply, but I hope it's helpful.
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Old Aug 19, 2017, 12:16 pm
  #460  
 
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Originally Posted by princeville
If I could do it over again, and planned to take UA534 home, I'd reserve something close to the airport (the UA agent recommended the Best Western Plaza - she said it's a five minute drive and they have a 24 hour shuttle; but they didn't have any rooms available). If your incoming flight is on time and you don't have checked bags, you could theoretically be asleep by 3:30-4am, get several hours of rest and a shower, and still have plenty of time to enjoy the beach or sightsee or whatever interests you.
I will echo this recommendation. Nothing fancy but does the trick and is crazy close.
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Old Aug 21, 2017, 5:53 am
  #461  
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Originally Posted by xzh445
Respectfully... there may be those that disagree with you, depending on their circumstances

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28684045-post22.html
OP in the case need a separate ticket connecting to India, the final destination.

The statement itself does not direct to the Island Hopper route.
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Old Aug 21, 2017, 3:41 pm
  #462  
 
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Originally Posted by manneca
IIRC, the airport hotel is a bit of a dump.
You must not have been there in a while :-). I found the L5 hotel (the one across from the airport) to have the highest standard I've ever seen in that part of the world. It was clean, had an elevator, working AC, working Internet (free) and the hotel caf/restaurant was good. My room had a balcony overlooking the airport and I spent hours there each day, just enjoying the breeze and the view.
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Old Aug 21, 2017, 3:59 pm
  #463  
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Originally Posted by princeville
If I could do it over again, and planned to take UA534 home, I'd reserve something close to the airport (the UA agent recommended the Best Western Plaza - she said it's a five minute drive and they have a 24 hour shuttle; but they didn't have any rooms available). If your incoming flight is on time and you don't have checked bags, you could theoretically be asleep by 3:30-4am, get several hours of rest and a shower, and still have plenty of time to enjoy the beach or sightsee or whatever interests you.

Sorry for the very long reply, but I hope it's helpful.
Originally Posted by SFO 1K
I will echo this recommendation. Nothing fancy but does the trick and is crazy close.
Thanks! Took you guys up on the recommendation - the killer is that Hertz HNL says they don't open until 0430, so getting a bed practically on top of the airport and then grabbing a car to go out adventuring in the afternoon seems like the way to go.

One other question - if doing the Hopper with a rolling carry-on, would you check it to HNL? Seems like the trade-off is having to worry about it at every stop versus waiting for baggage claim at HNL which reports seem to indicate is quite slow.
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Old Aug 21, 2017, 8:16 pm
  #464  
 
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Originally Posted by findark
What did you guys end up doing with the ground time in HNL? We're doing this in a few weeks and still on the fence about that (same HNL-LAX too, although may SDC to the HNL-SFO 737 if upgrade looks better).
How much time on the ground do you have?
The AZ memorial is well worth it. But I found the Pacific Marina Inn Airport to be close (just off the airport). It is clean, comfortable, and extremely dated, but nice. It has it's own airport shuttle, bar, and restaurant. It's like walking back in time.
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Old Aug 21, 2017, 9:09 pm
  #465  
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Originally Posted by Dublin_rfk
How much time on the ground do you have?
The AZ memorial is well worth it. But I found the Pacific Marina Inn Airport to be close (just off the airport). It is clean, comfortable, and extremely dated, but nice. It has it's own airport shuttle, bar, and restaurant. It's like walking back in time.
Ground time is 17h55; possibly 20h30 with SDC.
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