Jun 30, 2016, 1:45 pm
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
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
They just did a video in the Micronesia island hopper flight which is pretty interesting
https://youtu.be/TPueM5OF1Wc
https://youtu.be/TPueM5OF1Wc
UA's Micronesia Island Hopper - consolidated questions, advice, ....
Sep 14, 2017, 12:19 am
#511
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,406
In order to get this to price as a through fare w/o stopovers, none of your connections can be longer than 24 hours.
Anyway, taking the international date line into consideration, you need to figure out which dates your flights would be. I was able to get IAD-HNL (10/8), HNL-GUM (10/9), GUM-MNL (10/10), MNL-IAD (10/17) to price using the Hopper at $1512.80. (Unfortunately, IAD-MNL is one of the fares that has a $500 surcharge for flights on the Hopper). You can play around with other destinations as well. It may also pay to start from the west coast (position to SFO or LAX on an award seat or a separate ticket).
Last edited by jsloan; Sep 14, 2017 at 1:46 am Reason: Correct supposition
Sep 14, 2017, 1:16 am
#512
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,415
i.e. if the routing rules are -HNL-GUM- you cannot search -TKK and TKK-. As jsloan notes you need to search -HNL, HNL-GUM, GUM-
There are some expensive but fun D fares published SFO/ROR that allow the full Hopper routing and unlimited free stopovers. You can actually manage two Hawaiian islands, all the Hopper stops, GUM, ROR, and an Asia stop (like TYO or OSA). About $4k all in, but for a GPU-eligible business fare on a trip that you could spend a couple months on, seems legit ^
It's a lot of work, and I only recommend attempting this if you know both exactly what you're doing and how to handle agents. The last thing I want to do is cause UA to prevent us from taking the hopper because my suggestions here send too many people to ask about splitting, so tread carefully. I probably won't even write in about the lost MAJ-HNL upgrade because I don't want to upset the applecart.
Yep - most of the places did not seem like they would take credit cards. I didn't bother asking, just whipped out some cash (USD).
Last edited by findark; Sep 14, 2017 at 1:28 am
Sep 14, 2017, 1:44 am
#513
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,406
Unless the fare is to Pacific islands (maybe MNL counts?) the routing rules allow HNL-GUM but not the explicit hopper. You cannot have a search break at a hopper stop unless the routing rules allow a connection there (it will not post-fix it as it can't remove the connection).
You can route via the hopper only because it's published as a direct flight (one flight number). You can't have an en route stopover unless the fare rules allow a routing via that city, and most don't, including the MNL rules.
I'll go back and edit my post for posterity.The IAD-MNL fare table looks extremely interesting right now. They're definitely offering some discounts -- there's a K base fare of $86 published right now ($586 if you use the Hopper, though
). Of course, there will be a fuel surcharge, but that's still a pretty low base fare..
Sep 14, 2017, 6:24 am
#514
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, Starwood Gold
Posts: 951
You're right, of course. I wasn't thinking.
You can route via the hopper only because it's published as a direct flight (one flight number). You can't have an en route stopover unless the fare rules allow a routing via that city, and most don't, including the MNL rules. I'll go back and edit my post for posterity.
The IAD-MNL fare table looks extremely interesting right now. They're definitely offering some discounts -- there's a K base fare of $86 published right now ($586 if you use the Hopper, though ). Of course, there will be a fuel surcharge, but that's still a pretty low base fare..
You can route via the hopper only because it's published as a direct flight (one flight number). You can't have an en route stopover unless the fare rules allow a routing via that city, and most don't, including the MNL rules.
I'll go back and edit my post for posterity.The IAD-MNL fare table looks extremely interesting right now. They're definitely offering some discounts -- there's a K base fare of $86 published right now ($586 if you use the Hopper, though
). Of course, there will be a fuel surcharge, but that's still a pretty low base fare..Not moving off Guam and spending a few days there wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
Still can't find this route anywhere near $500/$600.
Sep 14, 2017, 6:25 am
#515
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: PIT-SCE-AOO-PHL-NYC-WAS
Programs: free agent
Posts: 1,036
Calling an agent will help? It's been 4 or 5 years since I am United 1K and heard about MP devaluation / agents are "powerless" to override computers.
Sep 14, 2017, 9:00 am
#516
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,406
As for a $500-$600 flight; I'm not sure if that was a round-trip or one-way price, but either way I'd guess that it was from the west coast. That's why I suggested starting some searches there.
Yeah, wholly agreed! despite <24 hour connection, .bomb will price IAD-HNL and HNL-GUM separately. I guess that's what UA want to achieve by forcing people to pay higher prices even it's a pure one-way award ticket (should be 35,000 for Y).
Calling an agent will help? It's been 4 or 5 years since I am United 1K and heard about MP devaluation / agents are "powerless" to override computers.
Calling an agent will help? It's been 4 or 5 years since I am United 1K and heard about MP devaluation / agents are "powerless" to override computers.
However, you should be able to fly the Hopper on a round-trip award ticket without paying extra miles, provided you're willing to have a final destination in the Pacific. For example, I just priced AUS/KSA, KSA/ROR, ROR/AUS via the Hopper for 70K RT in Y. The KSA/ROR segment qualifies for the Excursionist Perk, so it costs 0 miles.
Sep 14, 2017, 12:58 pm
#517
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,415
Well, perhaps, but then you're paying an IAD-GUM fare instead of an IAD-MNL fare. UA's fares to GUM are extremely high -- if you think EWR is fortress hub... The reason that people tend to continue on to MNL or HKG or wherever is that it lowers the price dramatically.
As for a $500-$600 flight; I'm not sure if that was a round-trip or one-way price, but either way I'd guess that it was from the west coast. That's why I suggested starting some searches there.
As for a $500-$600 flight; I'm not sure if that was a round-trip or one-way price, but either way I'd guess that it was from the west coast. That's why I suggested starting some searches there.
The $5xx price was on a half-round-trip basis, but it looks harder to do now with that surcharge showing up everywhere. ICN-SFO via the Hopper can still be done in W (and GPUed) for ~$700.
However, you should be able to fly the Hopper on a round-trip award ticket without paying extra miles, provided you're willing to have a final destination in the Pacific. For example, I just priced AUS/KSA, KSA/ROR, ROR/AUS via the Hopper for 70K RT in Y. The KSA/ROR segment qualifies for the Excursionist Perk, so it costs 0 miles.
Sep 14, 2017, 1:56 pm
#518
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: NY, NY
Posts: 695
Fwiw, when I did ROR-GUM-HNL on the hopper, I got upgraded on one of the legs to J. The difference between sitting in J and 7A in Y was a slightly-wider seat, but otherwise comfort was almost identical with lots of leg room in 7A, so don't kill yourself in trying to get XN
Oct 8, 2017, 6:11 pm
#520
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: TOA
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott LTPP/Platinum Premier, Hyatt Lame-ist, UA !K
Posts: 20,061
Actual info on the 4th weekly on Sundays: see aoumd's post.
Thanks as always to JOSECONLSCREW28 as well as aoumd!
David
Oct 8, 2017, 9:49 pm
#521
Moderator: Budget Travel forum & Credit Card Programs, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: YYJ/YVR and back on Van Isle ....... for now
Programs: UA lifetime MM / *A Gold
Posts: 14,429
Actual info on the 4th weekly on Sundays: see aoumd's post.
Nov 25, 2017, 5:25 pm
#522
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: ORD
Programs: United Plat 2MM, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,727
Lots of good information here, thanks!
Like others, it's on my bucket list, and I will be taking the trip westbound in F. Well, Z. There seems to be some disagreement with the Wiki on the better side to sit on. Given that there's only one port seat in F, I'd kind of like to better understand whether I should move or not.
Buying the ticket was harder than I would have guessed. For about a month, United wouldn't sell me a ticket at all - there was availability on all the segments, but not on the whole trip. It opened up a week or so back. American Express was able to book it for about $1600 less than united.com. I see that they no longer have a low price guarantee. Hmmm...
Like others, it's on my bucket list, and I will be taking the trip westbound in F. Well, Z. There seems to be some disagreement with the Wiki on the better side to sit on. Given that there's only one port seat in F, I'd kind of like to better understand whether I should move or not.
Buying the ticket was harder than I would have guessed. For about a month, United wouldn't sell me a ticket at all - there was availability on all the segments, but not on the whole trip. It opened up a week or so back. American Express was able to book it for about $1600 less than united.com. I see that they no longer have a low price guarantee. Hmmm...
Nov 26, 2017, 6:37 pm
#523
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,415
Lots of good information here, thanks!
Like others, it's on my bucket list, and I will be taking the trip westbound in F. Well, Z. There seems to be some disagreement with the Wiki on the better side to sit on. Given that there's only one port seat in F, I'd kind of like to better understand whether I should move or not.
Like others, it's on my bucket list, and I will be taking the trip westbound in F. Well, Z. There seems to be some disagreement with the Wiki on the better side to sit on. Given that there's only one port seat in F, I'd kind of like to better understand whether I should move or not.
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.
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.
Buying the ticket was harder than I would have guessed. For about a month, United wouldn't sell me a ticket at all - there was availability on all the segments, but not on the whole trip. It opened up a week or so back. American Express was able to book it for about $1600 less than united.com. I see that they no longer have a low price guarantee. Hmmm...
Nov 28, 2017, 1:08 pm
#524
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: ORD
Programs: United Plat 2MM, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,727
Well, they made a hash of the reservation. I asked them to split the segments, or, failing that, to assign me different seats on different segments.
They now have me leaving KSA a day before I arrive there.
They now have me leaving KSA a day before I arrive there.
Nov 28, 2017, 5:41 pm
#525
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: ORD
Programs: United Plat 2MM, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,727
Update: things are sort of fixed.
The reason I got a cheaper fare than on united.com is because this priced as DCA-HNL-DCA, with the "return" from HNL being HNL-MAJ-KWA-KSA-PNI-TKK-GUM-NRT-ORD-DCA, United.com would only book this putting the fare break in Guam. The original fare is no longer available.
And findark is absolutely right -- United has no real interest in selling front cabin seats the whole way.
- They wouldn't split UA154 into separate segments.
- They tried to assign me different seats HNL-MAJ-KWA and KWA-KSA-PNI-TKK-GUM. The system wouldn't let them do that.
- They got a supervisor, who put me on UA132 KSA-PNI-TKK-GUM the day before HNL-MAJ-KWA-KSA. This took an hour.
- I called back and now I am back on UA154 the whole way, in 3A up to Kosrae and in 3F on to Guam. This took ten minutes.
The reason I got a cheaper fare than on united.com is because this priced as DCA-HNL-DCA, with the "return" from HNL being HNL-MAJ-KWA-KSA-PNI-TKK-GUM-NRT-ORD-DCA, United.com would only book this putting the fare break in Guam. The original fare is no longer available.
And findark is absolutely right -- United has no real interest in selling front cabin seats the whole way.
Last edited by Miles Ahead; Nov 28, 2017 at 7:19 pm