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, ....
Dec 17, 2019, 11:14 pm
#886
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Ventura
Programs: Gov't Travel Aficionado, UA Plat
Posts: 288
The phrase you're looking for is "direct flight with en route stops."
That said, while I agree 100% with your analysis through the end of this year, UA's system is currently showing multiple PQFs for the Island Hopper (6, for the full Hopper). So, it appears that with the switch to PQFs in 2020, UA is making this work the way it arguably should always have worked in the first place.
That said, while I agree 100% with your analysis through the end of this year, UA's system is currently showing multiple PQFs for the Island Hopper (6, for the full Hopper). So, it appears that with the switch to PQFs in 2020, UA is making this work the way it arguably should always have worked in the first place.
Dec 23, 2019, 11:06 am
#887
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,231
Heads-up for anyone taking the Island Hopper until further notice, UA has a travel waiver posted. Per the Government of the Marshall Islands:
Marshall Islands (MAJ and KWA) tighten vaccination requirements
The Ministry of Health and Human Services in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) revised its travel advisory because of measles outbreaks in other countries to attempt to avoid introducing the measles to the Islands.
Effective December 20
All inbound international travelers, including RMI citizens* and foreign residents 6 months of age up to 62 years of age must provide an official certificate or document that shows proof of an up-to-date measles vaccination or measles immunity from a healthcare provider, no exceptions unless contraindicated or exempted by a doctor in writing.
For outbound international travelers
Marshall Islands (MAJ and KWA) tighten vaccination requirements
The Ministry of Health and Human Services in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) revised its travel advisory because of measles outbreaks in other countries to attempt to avoid introducing the measles to the Islands.
Effective December 20
All inbound international travelers, including RMI citizens* and foreign residents 6 months of age up to 62 years of age must provide an official certificate or document that shows proof of an up-to-date measles vaccination or measles immunity from a healthcare provider, no exceptions unless contraindicated or exempted by a doctor in writing.
- Failure to comply will result in entry refusal.
- This certificate must be in its original form (no copies). The proof required is an official and sealed up-to-date measles vaccination certificate from a doctor upon entry to RMI ports.
For outbound international travelers
- RMI Citizens living in RMI and Foreign Residents 6 months up to 62 years of age traveling internationally from RMI must provide an official certificate or document that shows proof of an up-to-date measles vaccination or measles immunity from a healthcare provider before exiting the RMI, no exceptions unless contraindicated or exempted by a doctor in writing. Failure to comply will result in exit refusal.
- All non-residents, including Marshallese citizens traveling on one-way tickets out of the RMI, do not need to show proof of measles vaccination or measles immunity.
Dec 23, 2019, 11:40 pm
#888
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.997MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,859
Heads-up for anyone taking the Island Hopper until further notice, UA has a travel waiver posted. Per the Government of the Marshall Islands:
Marshall Islands (MAJ and KWA) tighten vaccination requirements
The Ministry of Health and Human Services in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) revised its travel advisory because of measles outbreaks in other countries to attempt to avoid introducing the measles to the Islands.....
Marshall Islands (MAJ and KWA) tighten vaccination requirements
The Ministry of Health and Human Services in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) revised its travel advisory because of measles outbreaks in other countries to attempt to avoid introducing the measles to the Islands.....
Travel Waiver: MAJ/KWA new measles vaccination certificate requirements
Jan 7, 2020, 1:36 am
#889
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 61
That said, while I agree 100% with your analysis through the end of this year, UA's system is currently showing multiple PQFs for the Island Hopper (6, for the full Hopper). So, it appears that with the switch to PQFs in 2020, UA is making this work the way it arguably should always have worked in the first place.
What's happening here?
Last edited by Finalcall; Jan 7, 2020 at 1:37 am Reason: Add quotation
Jan 7, 2020, 1:40 am
#890
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,419
UA's web reservation system is giving conflicting information on this. I made a dummy booking from GUM to HNL and in the flight search results, the eastbound Monday Island Hopper shows up (when the "Details" tab is expanded) as 2530 base award miles, 6 PQF and 506 PQP. But on the "Review trip itinerary" page, the tallies inexplicably decreased to 1615 base award miles, 1 PQF and 323 PQP. Similar situation on the return westbound Friday Island Hopper - decreased award miles, PQF and PQP amounts.
What's happening here?
What's happening here?
As for the PQF, I don't have an answer for that, except that I believed from the beginning that UA would probably not credit each individual flight segment of the Hopper as a PQF. I was pleasantly surprised when the search results claimed otherwise.
Jan 7, 2020, 2:09 am
#891
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 61
Do the PQP values make sense? They should add up to be 80%+ of the ticket price (everything except taxes). United.com will recompute the ticket cost at checkout, so perhaps it was able to find a better deal.
As for the PQF, I don't have an answer for that, except that I believed from the beginning that UA would probably not credit each individual flight segment of the Hopper as a PQF. I was pleasantly surprised when the search results claimed otherwise.
As for the PQF, I don't have an answer for that, except that I believed from the beginning that UA would probably not credit each individual flight segment of the Hopper as a PQF. I was pleasantly surprised when the search results claimed otherwise.
If the checkout page is the arbiter of the amount of award miles/PQF/PQP awarded, then the Island Hopper may unfortunately count only as 1 PQF. Unless some creative solution is found...
Jan 7, 2020, 2:14 am
#892
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: YVR
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 976
Ah yes, I was searching a multi-city itinerary with GUM to HNL embedded within. The PQP shown in "Review trip itinerary" corresponded almost exactly (to be precise, within single digits) with the total ticket price sans taxes and fees.
If the checkout page is the arbiter of the amount of award miles/PQF/PQP awarded, then the Island Hopper may unfortunately count only as 1 PQF. Unless some creative solution is found...
If the checkout page is the arbiter of the amount of award miles/PQF/PQP awarded, then the Island Hopper may unfortunately count only as 1 PQF. Unless some creative solution is found...
Last edited by kevflyer; Jan 7, 2020 at 2:21 am
Jan 7, 2020, 7:27 am
#893
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,419
Because the flight numbers are the same. The system will only credit the hopper as 1 flight, from GUM - HNL or vice versa. Even upgrades won't clear unless ALL segments on the hopper clear. Solution is to break your segments. Not every agent will do it. I remember someone was able to get an (ex-CO) agent to split the hopper segments individually. Probably very YMMV.
Jan 7, 2020, 7:40 am
#894
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: 18,947
and that a PQF would be a takeoff and a landing, period. In which case the Hopper ought to count for 6 (and this was mentioned in the mega-thread). But whether UA considered that is a whole 'nother question, and whether they correctly implemented it is another one still.
Jan 7, 2020, 9:47 am
#895
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: YVR
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 976
ISTR the marketing materials for the new earning schedule made a big deal about how they were "simplifying" things and that a PQF would be a takeoff and a landing, period. In which case the Hopper ought to count for 6 (and this was mentioned in the mega-thread). But whether UA considered that is a whole 'nother question, and whether they correctly implemented it is another one still.
and that a PQF would be a takeoff and a landing, period. In which case the Hopper ought to count for 6 (and this was mentioned in the mega-thread). But whether UA considered that is a whole 'nother question, and whether they correctly implemented it is another one still.
Jan 7, 2020, 11:44 am
#896
Join Date: May 2006
Location: PMD
Programs: UA*G, NW, AA-G. WR-P, HH-G, IHG-S, ALL. TT-GE.
Posts: 2,911
I flew the whole way east over 3 different days: 12/27 GUM-TKK-PNI, 12/30 PNI-KSA-KWA-MAJ, 1/01 MAJ-HNL-LAX. I paid for a high season LAX-GUM RT so the Hopper cost very little extra.
GUM-PNI had no mobile BP, only 2 PDFs or 1 airport cardstock. PNI-MAJ required airport check-in due to measles certification and departure tax. MAJ-HNL I had mobile BP but cardstock was needed for departure tax.
All flights used NE-E runways (4-9) as can be expected this time of the year. That means no u-turns for 155.
At PNI I was #1 on the CPU list, but the counter agent directed me to the would-be gate agent so I could request not to be upgraded unless there was an F seat. So I had my KSA landing/take-off videos and the view.
More than 24 hours before MAJ-HNL I was upgraded to 1F. (Wasn't it not CPU-eligible?) I got to see the lights of "downtown" DUD as the plane turned left (HNL direct) immediately after take-off.
My flight out of PNI was on Monday and 132 (MAJ-PNI-TKK) came at the same time as scheduled, but both flights together there were only ~60 PNI-boarding pax. Signs said 155 Gate 2 but we boarded through Gate 1 anyway, after 132 finished.
The 2 UA 738s at PNI scene was outdone at MAJ when 2 new KN/CUA (China United Airlines) 738s (B-209F, B-209G) were on their delivery trips (BFI-HNL-MAJ-GUM-???). The 2nd CUA plane departed the tarmac shortly after UAL155 arrived.
I stayed at MIR and was surprised to see the mechanic check in there later in the evening. To my knowledge FAs are at Robert Reimers? I saw 4 pilots going the whole way, and mechanic (GUM-MAJ) in E+. So why are there 4 seats blocked instead of 2?
GUM-PNI had no mobile BP, only 2 PDFs or 1 airport cardstock. PNI-MAJ required airport check-in due to measles certification and departure tax. MAJ-HNL I had mobile BP but cardstock was needed for departure tax.
All flights used NE-E runways (4-9) as can be expected this time of the year. That means no u-turns for 155.
At PNI I was #1 on the CPU list, but the counter agent directed me to the would-be gate agent so I could request not to be upgraded unless there was an F seat. So I had my KSA landing/take-off videos and the view.
More than 24 hours before MAJ-HNL I was upgraded to 1F. (Wasn't it not CPU-eligible?) I got to see the lights of "downtown" DUD as the plane turned left (HNL direct) immediately after take-off.
My flight out of PNI was on Monday and 132 (MAJ-PNI-TKK) came at the same time as scheduled, but both flights together there were only ~60 PNI-boarding pax. Signs said 155 Gate 2 but we boarded through Gate 1 anyway, after 132 finished.
The 2 UA 738s at PNI scene was outdone at MAJ when 2 new KN/CUA (China United Airlines) 738s (B-209F, B-209G) were on their delivery trips (BFI-HNL-MAJ-GUM-???). The 2nd CUA plane departed the tarmac shortly after UAL155 arrived.
I stayed at MIR and was surprised to see the mechanic check in there later in the evening. To my knowledge FAs are at Robert Reimers? I saw 4 pilots going the whole way, and mechanic (GUM-MAJ) in E+. So why are there 4 seats blocked instead of 2?
Jan 7, 2020, 12:36 pm
#897
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,424
1AB recline far enough that pax cannot legally sit in 2AB if they are in crew recline mode.
Jan 7, 2020, 1:06 pm
#898
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
Jan 7, 2020, 1:35 pm
#899
Join Date: May 2006
Location: PMD
Programs: UA*G, NW, AA-G. WR-P, HH-G, IHG-S, ALL. TT-GE.
Posts: 2,911
When I did the iPad date trick to subscribe to all my flights onto flight status, I could see myself on CPU waitlist for GUM-TKK (too far back to clear), PNI-KSA (requested to relinquish CPU) but never MAJ-HNL. At some point on 12/31 I noticed my E+ seat was blue then I realized by viewing "my trip" that I'd been upped. Plenty of empty blue and white seats back there.