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, ....
Jan 14, 2018, 2:27 pm
#556
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,926
I'm booked as GUM-HNL on UA155 as a direct flight. When I checked in last night on the app, I was only given the option to email boarding passes. The generated PDF had the boarding passes broken out.
When I checked my bag at the ticket counter today and asked for printed BPs, I only got one for the GUM-HNL segment but the TA said I could go to the kiosk if I wanted them segment-by-segment and then walked me over and insisted on doing it for me
although it's thermal paper.
Then at the UC I observed them reprinting BPs for someone else due to seat change and saw they had card stock, so I asked if they could reprint mine and they said sure, but then it only generated the same single BP
Anyway this is fine by me, but bottom line if you care about having separate card stock BPs, make sure you split the segments.
If there are any other FTers on board today, feel free to look for me -- will have the yellow FT tag on my backpack
When I checked my bag at the ticket counter today and asked for printed BPs, I only got one for the GUM-HNL segment but the TA said I could go to the kiosk if I wanted them segment-by-segment and then walked me over and insisted on doing it for me
although it's thermal paper.Then at the UC I observed them reprinting BPs for someone else due to seat change and saw they had card stock, so I asked if they could reprint mine and they said sure, but then it only generated the same single BP
Anyway this is fine by me, but bottom line if you care about having separate card stock BPs, make sure you split the segments.
If there are any other FTers on board today, feel free to look for me -- will have the yellow FT tag on my backpack
Jan 16, 2018, 11:00 pm
#557
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,926
Post-trip report:
I'm pretty tired today, but I had a great time and fully enjoyed the experience! ^
I was able to get passport stamps in TKK, PNI, and KSA. It helped that being in 2F I was always one of if not the first one to deplane, and I am an extremely fast walker so even if I wasn't first off I was nearly always the first one to the terminal door, depending how long I stopped to take a picture of the welcome sign etc. Generally they were slightly confused but happy to oblige when I explained that I was a transit passenger but just wanted a stamp in my passport. Once you deplane though, whether you get your passport stamped or not, you then have to wait in the gate area, which was fine, it was a good opportunity to stretch my legs and make a pit stop each time (though, a caution, TKK had no power to the lights in the men's room and the sink barely trickled out any water, and PNI had power and water but no soap, so might want to bring some hand sanitizer/wipes)
I forget exactly why, but at either PNI or KSA I took too long to get around to this and there was already a long line out the door. Nevertheless when I explained what I wanted to a security guard standing around, he escorted me past the line to an immigration officer that wasn't doing anything (either resident vs. non-resident line, or hadn't opened yet) and got me the stamp, which was extremely nice of him!
At MAJ, though I employed the first-off-and-walk-fast strategy, I was the 2nd person to reach a security guard who made a point of stopping us and asking "transit passenger?" pax #1 was indeed staying there. I asked about a passport stamp and the guard seemed uncertain, called over the UA gate employee, who also dithered, and then said "I think they are too busy with incoming passengers" -- well, sure, by /now/ all the other pax had caught up and a line was forming maybe if I'd just acted confident etc. I could have gotten to immigration 1st/2nd like the other stops, but I didn't feel like taking the chance of an involuntary overnight stay by irritating airport security and just blowing past him originally!
I did hang around in the back of the gate area, because the doorway led to the departures side of the same immigration booth, and I figured if the line dissipated or maybe another employee came around, I might still be able to get a stamp. However even though I hung out until they were boarding Group 4 and there were only ~6 people left in the waiting area, the chance never arose, so no stamp for me
KSA had an active WiFi hotspot but my phone couldn't get an IP. I hadn't expected any connectivity anyway, so I didn't really care, but would have been neat to check-in to Facebook in real time
I had 5 different seatmates (same person KWA-MAJ-HNL), every one of whom at least had their eyes closed (and in one case was snoring softly) even before we took off. I guess if you are from the area and/or used to it then you can become pretty jaded to the views
The F breakfast from GUM-TKK was a mushroom omelet with a sausage link on the side and accompanied by a portion of fried rice and a cup of sliced fruit. Dinner was a slightly dry chicken breast with sugar peas and sliced potato and onions and some unidentifiable but vaguely sweet sauce on the side. The former was fairly decent, and the latter though a bit bland was IMO quite reasonable for the circumstances anyway who flies the Hopper for the food?
The crew was awesome, with prompt and attentive service throughout the entire day ^
Initially I didn't bother investigating the IFE since I knew from reading the thread that it reset itself at each stop, so it took me a while to notice on someone else's screen that channel 11 is a flight map rotating between high/low zoom etc. However it intermittently said "local map unavailable" and defaulted to a map of the US, and while the altitude readout seemed correct, it consistently said our speed was an unlikely 0 MPH
Slight delays at each stop led to us being maybe 45-60 minutes late into HNL. Bags took ~25 minutes from posted arrival time to begin rolling in.
I'm pretty tired today, but I had a great time and fully enjoyed the experience! ^
I was able to get passport stamps in TKK, PNI, and KSA. It helped that being in 2F I was always one of if not the first one to deplane, and I am an extremely fast walker so even if I wasn't first off I was nearly always the first one to the terminal door, depending how long I stopped to take a picture of the welcome sign etc. Generally they were slightly confused but happy to oblige when I explained that I was a transit passenger but just wanted a stamp in my passport. Once you deplane though, whether you get your passport stamped or not, you then have to wait in the gate area, which was fine, it was a good opportunity to stretch my legs and make a pit stop each time (though, a caution, TKK had no power to the lights in the men's room and the sink barely trickled out any water, and PNI had power and water but no soap, so might want to bring some hand sanitizer/wipes)
I forget exactly why, but at either PNI or KSA I took too long to get around to this and there was already a long line out the door. Nevertheless when I explained what I wanted to a security guard standing around, he escorted me past the line to an immigration officer that wasn't doing anything (either resident vs. non-resident line, or hadn't opened yet) and got me the stamp, which was extremely nice of him!
At MAJ, though I employed the first-off-and-walk-fast strategy, I was the 2nd person to reach a security guard who made a point of stopping us and asking "transit passenger?" pax #1 was indeed staying there. I asked about a passport stamp and the guard seemed uncertain, called over the UA gate employee, who also dithered, and then said "I think they are too busy with incoming passengers" -- well, sure, by /now/ all the other pax had caught up and a line was forming
maybe if I'd just acted confident etc. I could have gotten to immigration 1st/2nd like the other stops, but I didn't feel like taking the chance of an involuntary overnight stay by irritating airport security and just blowing past him originally!I did hang around in the back of the gate area, because the doorway led to the departures side of the same immigration booth, and I figured if the line dissipated or maybe another employee came around, I might still be able to get a stamp. However even though I hung out until they were boarding Group 4 and there were only ~6 people left in the waiting area, the chance never arose, so no stamp for me
KSA had an active WiFi hotspot but my phone couldn't get an IP. I hadn't expected any connectivity anyway, so I didn't really care, but would have been neat to check-in to Facebook in real time
I had 5 different seatmates (same person KWA-MAJ-HNL), every one of whom at least had their eyes closed (and in one case was snoring softly) even before we took off. I guess if you are from the area and/or used to it then you can become pretty jaded to the views
The F breakfast from GUM-TKK was a mushroom omelet with a sausage link on the side and accompanied by a portion of fried rice and a cup of sliced fruit. Dinner was a slightly dry chicken breast with sugar peas and sliced potato and onions and some unidentifiable but vaguely sweet sauce on the side. The former was fairly decent, and the latter though a bit bland was IMO quite reasonable for the circumstances
anyway who flies the Hopper for the food? The crew was awesome, with prompt and attentive service throughout the entire day ^
Initially I didn't bother investigating the IFE since I knew from reading the thread that it reset itself at each stop, so it took me a while to notice on someone else's screen that channel 11 is a flight map rotating between high/low zoom etc. However it intermittently said "local map unavailable" and defaulted to a map of the US, and while the altitude readout seemed correct, it consistently said our speed was an unlikely 0 MPH
Slight delays at each stop led to us being maybe 45-60 minutes late into HNL. Bags took ~25 minutes from posted arrival time to begin rolling in.
Jan 17, 2018, 12:29 pm
#558
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: CLE
Programs: UA GS+LT UC, AA EXP+LT PLT, Fairmont LT PLT, Marriott PLT, Hilton DIA, Hyatt Glob, Avis CHM
Posts: 4,671
Nice TR.
I wrote about the MAJ stamp special door here::
I wrote about the MAJ stamp special door here::
In the Island Hopper TR on my blog I wrote how I did it in detail:
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-tra...s-time-to-hop/
We got stamps from every stop except except KWA. No need to go through security, just tell them you're collecting stamps and they know the drill.
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-tra...s-time-to-hop/
We got stamps from every stop except except KWA. No need to go through security, just tell them you're collecting stamps and they know the drill.
Jan 17, 2018, 12:59 pm
#559
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,926
Thanks! From your report:
"we were led through the door as seen in the picture above next to the NTA WiFi sign, into this room:"
That is exactly where I hung out, next to that door (which was open) looking at the back of the immigration officer as depicted in your next picture, "And we waited to get our first stamp of the day" but there was never an opportunity (and I never saw any other employees other than the security guard and the gate agent who had already effectively denied my request). The guards in that booth were continuously occupied processing inbound pax so I did not want to be a nuisance by knocking.
I had the sense at the places where I did get stamps, that it could easily vary by the willingness of whom you speak to, which could well be influenced by how busy they are, time of day (your linked TR is westbound, we were eastbound and hence arriving later in the evening, etc).
"we were led through the door as seen in the picture above next to the NTA WiFi sign, into this room:"
That is exactly where I hung out, next to that door (which was open) looking at the back of the immigration officer as depicted in your next picture, "And we waited to get our first stamp of the day" but there was never an opportunity (and I never saw any other employees other than the security guard and the gate agent who had already effectively denied my request). The guards in that booth were continuously occupied processing inbound pax so I did not want to be a nuisance by knocking.
I had the sense at the places where I did get stamps, that it could easily vary by the willingness of whom you speak to, which could well be influenced by how busy they are, time of day (your linked TR is westbound, we were eastbound and hence arriving later in the evening, etc).
Jan 17, 2018, 1:19 pm
#560
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: CLE
Programs: UA GS+LT UC, AA EXP+LT PLT, Fairmont LT PLT, Marriott PLT, Hilton DIA, Hyatt Glob, Avis CHM
Posts: 4,671
I think we knocked on the glass and the customs agents gave the stamp shortly after that. The're used to our type
MAJ is definitely the trickiest of all the stops though.
MAJ is definitely the trickiest of all the stops though.
Jan 17, 2018, 1:32 pm
#561
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,926
at MAJ if security diverts me into the departure gate area again, I'd immediately head to the back of the room and knock on the glass before the line has a chance to form on the other side.
Jan 17, 2018, 3:38 pm
#562
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: CLE
Programs: UA GS+LT UC, AA EXP+LT PLT, Fairmont LT PLT, Marriott PLT, Hilton DIA, Hyatt Glob, Avis CHM
Posts: 4,671
Yup, but do it westbound next time and end the trip with a stopover in ROR ^
Feb 1, 2018, 6:28 am
#563
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,603
Does anybody have tips for splitting the segments? I’ve called twice and tried Twitter and have received a number of reasons that seem odd. Flying the hopper tomorrow and would love to split into the six segs if possible.
Feb 1, 2018, 12:17 pm
#564
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,410
I think "I was really hoping for different seat assignments on the different segments" is probably the best approach.
Feb 1, 2018, 2:15 pm
#565
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Between AUS, EWR, and YTO In a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike.. but I wanna go home with the armadillo
Programs: CO, NW, & UA forum moderator emeritus
Posts: 35,415
Feb 2, 2018, 7:35 am
#566
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Los Angeles California
Posts: 1,395
Sorry I am not good at Google flights query. Can someone please post a sample flight query for forcing the UA154 in my itinerary. I would love to have Guam (or MNL) as final destination and my origin is LAX. We are 3 of us and the island hopper is on our bucket list to be done sometime in later half of the year :-) I searched but couldn't find one working link ...
Feb 2, 2018, 12:23 pm
#568
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,400
I'd go one step further and do a multi-city search with MAJ or TKK or something as one of the locations. As long as you're careful with the dates, you should be able to find the Hopper easily. As for how well it'll price.. you might look for flight 132, vs. flight 154.
Feb 2, 2018, 12:49 pm
#569
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,410
This only works if the routing and fare rules allow a transfer at an interior point. The fares which only allow HNL-GUM need to be searched that way since you're taking advantage of the loophole that the direct flight counts as a single segment.
Feb 2, 2018, 1:02 pm
#570
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,400
Really? That's surprising. I'd expect it to reprice it based on the full itinerary once it figures out that it's a direct flight. I take it back then, as most of the discount fares disallow transfers at any of the intermediate islands.