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, ....
Jul 4, 2020, 7:23 am
#1006
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: ATL
Programs: DL DM 1.77MM, Marriott LT Plat
Posts: 2,781
Schedule updates for 01JUL20 through 24OCT20
Latest schedule updates here:
Guam Chuuk Pohnpei eff 12SEP20 1 weekly UA175/096 737-700 (Sat-Sun)
Guam Chuuk Pohnpei Kosrae Kwajalein Majuro Honolulu
Service operates on following dates with 737-700: 22-23JUL20, 24-25AUG20
eff 11SEP20 2 weekly UA155/154 737-800 (Mon-Tue, Fri-Sat)
Guam Chuuk Pohnpei Kwajalein Majuro Honolulu eff 09SEP20 1 weekly UA155/154 737-800 (Wed-Thur)
Guam Chuuk Pohnpei Majuro Honolulu eff 13SEP20 1 weekly UA133/132 737-800 (Sun-Mon)
Guam Fukuoka 1 daily 737-700 cancelled (Service to resume on 25OCT20)
Guam Honolulu 1 daily 777-200 (Planned 8th weekly in July/August 2020 cancelled). Revised schedule now extended to 07SEP20
UA200 GUM0900 2015-1HNL 777 D
UA201 HNL1640 2020+1GUM 777 D
Guam Koror
Service operates on following dates with 737-700: 13AUG20, 03SEP20
eff 09SEP20 Service returns to 4 weekly level, 737-700/-800
Guam Koror Manila eff 08SEP20 2 weekly 737-700
Guam Manila eff 08SEP20 1 daily 737-700/-800
Guam Nagoya eff 08SEP20 2 daily 737-700/-800 (Previous plan: eff 03AUG20)
Guam Osaka Kansai eff 08SEP20 7 weekly 737-700/-800 (Instead of 10 weekly)
Guam Pohnpei Chuuk Guam 737-700 to operate following dates: 11-12JUL20, 01-02AUG20, 08-09AUG20
Guam Saipan eff 03AUG20 Service returns to 10 weekly level, 737-700/-800
Guam Tokyo Narita 3 weekly 737-700 (10 weekly 737-700 from 03AUG20, schedule below. 3 daily 737-700/-800 now scheduled from 08SEP20)
UA828 GUM0700 0955NRT 73G 257
UA196 GUM1205 1500NRT 73G D
UA827 NRT1100 1555GUM 73G 257
UA197 NRT1725 2220GUM 73G D
Guam Yap
Service operates on following dates with 737-700: 12JUL20, 02AUG20, 23AUG20
eff 09SEP20 2 weekly 737-700 (Wed / Sun)
Guam Chuuk Pohnpei Kosrae Kwajalein Majuro Honolulu
Service operates on following dates with 737-700: 22-23JUL20, 24-25AUG20
eff 11SEP20 2 weekly UA155/154 737-800 (Mon-Tue, Fri-Sat)
Guam Chuuk Pohnpei Kwajalein Majuro Honolulu eff 09SEP20 1 weekly UA155/154 737-800 (Wed-Thur)
Guam Chuuk Pohnpei Majuro Honolulu eff 13SEP20 1 weekly UA133/132 737-800 (Sun-Mon)
Guam Fukuoka 1 daily 737-700 cancelled (Service to resume on 25OCT20)
Guam Honolulu 1 daily 777-200 (Planned 8th weekly in July/August 2020 cancelled). Revised schedule now extended to 07SEP20
UA200 GUM0900 2015-1HNL 777 D
UA201 HNL1640 2020+1GUM 777 D
Guam Koror
Service operates on following dates with 737-700: 13AUG20, 03SEP20
eff 09SEP20 Service returns to 4 weekly level, 737-700/-800
Guam Koror Manila eff 08SEP20 2 weekly 737-700
Guam Manila eff 08SEP20 1 daily 737-700/-800
Guam Nagoya eff 08SEP20 2 daily 737-700/-800 (Previous plan: eff 03AUG20)
Guam Osaka Kansai eff 08SEP20 7 weekly 737-700/-800 (Instead of 10 weekly)
Guam Pohnpei Chuuk Guam 737-700 to operate following dates: 11-12JUL20, 01-02AUG20, 08-09AUG20
Guam Saipan eff 03AUG20 Service returns to 10 weekly level, 737-700/-800
Guam Tokyo Narita 3 weekly 737-700 (10 weekly 737-700 from 03AUG20, schedule below. 3 daily 737-700/-800 now scheduled from 08SEP20)
UA828 GUM0700 0955NRT 73G 257
UA196 GUM1205 1500NRT 73G D
UA827 NRT1100 1555GUM 73G 257
UA197 NRT1725 2220GUM 73G D
Guam Yap
Service operates on following dates with 737-700: 12JUL20, 02AUG20, 23AUG20
eff 09SEP20 2 weekly 737-700 (Wed / Sun)
Aug 1, 2020, 5:32 am
#1007
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: CLE
Programs: UA MileagePlus Premier Platinum
Posts: 1,352
From United Airlines Guam / Micronesia Island Hopper Sep 2020 operations as of 01AUG20
United Airlines during the weekend of 01AUG20s schedule update adjusted overall operation until 30SEP20 inclusive. For service at Guam, including Micronesia Island Hopper service, latest adjustment for August and September 2020 as follows.
Guam Chuuk Pohnpei Kosrae Kwajalein Majuro Honolulu 737-700 operates on following dates: 24-25AUG20, 18-19SEP20
Guam Honolulu 1 daily 777-200
Guam Koror 737-700 operates on following dates: 13AUG20, 03SEP20, 17SEP20
Guam Manila eff 11SEP20 2 weekly 737-800 (confirmed service resumption as of 01AUG20)
Guam Pohnpei Chuuk Guam 737-700 operates on following dates: 01-02AUG20, 08-09AUG20, 12-13SEP20, 26-27SEP20
Guam Saipan eff 03AUG20 3 weekly 737-700
Guam Tokyo Narita eff 03AUG20 Increase from 7 to 10 weekly, 737-700 operating
Guam Yap 737-700 operates on following dates: 02AUG20, 23AUG20, 20SEP20
Guam Chuuk Pohnpei Kosrae Kwajalein Majuro Honolulu 737-700 operates on following dates: 24-25AUG20, 18-19SEP20
Guam Honolulu 1 daily 777-200
Guam Koror 737-700 operates on following dates: 13AUG20, 03SEP20, 17SEP20
Guam Manila eff 11SEP20 2 weekly 737-800 (confirmed service resumption as of 01AUG20)
Guam Pohnpei Chuuk Guam 737-700 operates on following dates: 01-02AUG20, 08-09AUG20, 12-13SEP20, 26-27SEP20
Guam Saipan eff 03AUG20 3 weekly 737-700
Guam Tokyo Narita eff 03AUG20 Increase from 7 to 10 weekly, 737-700 operating
Guam Yap 737-700 operates on following dates: 02AUG20, 23AUG20, 20SEP20
Sep 6, 2020, 8:36 am
#1008
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: ATL
Programs: DL DM 1.77MM, Marriott LT Plat
Posts: 2,781
Schedule changes as of Sept 4
From United Airlines Sep/Oct 2020 Guam / Micronesia operations as of 04SEP20
United Airlines during the weekend of 04SEP20s schedule update extended Guam / Micronesia interim schedule until 31OCT20. As of 04SEP20, planned operation for the period of 09SEP20 31OCT20 as follows. Additional changes remain highly possible.
Guam Chuuk Pohnpei Kosrae Kwajalein Majuro Honolulu 737-700 operates on following dates: 18-19SEP20, 16-17OCT20
Guam Honolulu 1 daily 777-200
Guam Koror 737-700 operates on following dates: 03SEP20, 17SEP20, 04OCT20, 18OCT20
Guam Manila eff 11SEP20 2 weekly 737-800
Guam Pohnpei Chuuk Guam 737-700 operates on following dates: 12-13SEP20, 26-27SEP20, 10-11OCT20, 24-25OCT20
Guam Saipan 3 weekly 737-700/-800 (-800 operates from 01OCT20)
Guam Tokyo Narita 7 weekly 737-700 (10 weekly from 16OCT20)
Guam Yap 737-700 operates on following dates: 20SEP20, 18OCT20
Guam Chuuk Pohnpei Kosrae Kwajalein Majuro Honolulu 737-700 operates on following dates: 18-19SEP20, 16-17OCT20
Guam Honolulu 1 daily 777-200
Guam Koror 737-700 operates on following dates: 03SEP20, 17SEP20, 04OCT20, 18OCT20
Guam Manila eff 11SEP20 2 weekly 737-800
Guam Pohnpei Chuuk Guam 737-700 operates on following dates: 12-13SEP20, 26-27SEP20, 10-11OCT20, 24-25OCT20
Guam Saipan 3 weekly 737-700/-800 (-800 operates from 01OCT20)
Guam Tokyo Narita 7 weekly 737-700 (10 weekly from 16OCT20)
Guam Yap 737-700 operates on following dates: 20SEP20, 18OCT20
Sep 14, 2020, 12:12 am
#1009
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: OSA, TUS
Programs: ANA, JAL
Posts: 19
A year ago I took the Hopper from KIX-GUM (1night)-MAJ (2nights)-PNI (2nights)-GUM (1night)-KIX. I live in Japan and this was the best routing I found, and I was able to do it using ANA mileage. It took a year of procrastinating, but I wrote a 6,000+ word trip report and made a video of my arrivals and departures. Much of the information I got for this trip was from this very thread, so I hope this can be helpful for a future traveler.
https://www.iloveyu.jp/travel/islandhopper
https://www.iloveyu.jp/travel/islandhopper
Apr 14, 2021, 6:09 am
#1010
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,392
Why am I not able to book PNI-(GUM)-YAP as one routing? PNI-GUM arrives at about 6:30pm, and GUM-YAP departs at about 12:30am that night.
Example: PNI-GUM 04-Jan-22 connecting to GUM-YAP 05-Jan-22
Can't seem to do it from MAJ or KSA either.
Example: PNI-GUM 04-Jan-22 connecting to GUM-YAP 05-Jan-22
Can't seem to do it from MAJ or KSA either.
Apr 14, 2021, 9:12 am
#1011
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: DEN
Programs: UA 1K 0.7MM (trying to get to 1MM!)
Posts: 1,272
Apr 14, 2021, 2:56 pm
#1013
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,357
Click the Google Flights link that mpiotrow provided and you'll be fine. I was able to get it to come up on United.com with multi-city search, but at a much higher fare.
Apr 14, 2021, 2:57 pm
#1014
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: DEN
Programs: UA 1K 0.7MM (trying to get to 1MM!)
Posts: 1,272
Interestingly enough, if I go to the UA site from that Google Flights search, and then click the 'Edit Search' button, don't change anything, and search again, I get the same error you posted above...
Apr 14, 2021, 3:16 pm
#1015
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,392
I get the same thing if I search on the UA app or website. The link I provided for Google Flights seems to work...not sure what it's doing differently than the search you and I are doing.
Interestingly enough, if I go to the UA site from that Google Flights search, and then click the 'Edit Search' button, don't change anything, and search again, I get the same error you posted above...
Interestingly enough, if I go to the UA site from that Google Flights search, and then click the 'Edit Search' button, don't change anything, and search again, I get the same error you posted above...
Thanks all!!!
Apr 17, 2021, 6:08 am
#1016
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: OSA, TUS
Programs: ANA, JAL
Posts: 19
Sorry, but I am quite surprised that anyone is expecting the Hopper to be running normally by Jan 2022. Just look at the most recent press release from the FSM government linked below. They are still trying to work on repatriation and medical flights at the moment and wont open borders for returning citizens till an 80% full vaccination rate is achieved.
https://www.fsmgov.org/fsmun/pubheal47.pdf
https://www.fsmgov.org/fsmun/pubheal47.pdf
May 10, 2021, 1:08 am
#1017
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,392
Sorry, but I am quite surprised that anyone is expecting the Hopper to be running normally by Jan 2022. Just look at the most recent press release from the FSM government linked below. They are still trying to work on repatriation and medical flights at the moment and wont open borders for returning citizens till an 80% full vaccination rate is achieved.
https://www.fsmgov.org/fsmun/pubheal47.pdf
https://www.fsmgov.org/fsmun/pubheal47.pdf
Jul 5, 2021, 3:04 am
#1018
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 845
UA154 Island Hopper HNL-GUM restrictions due to COVID?
Booked on tomorrow's UA154 which is the Island hopper with 5 stops between HNL-GUM. Booked the ticket about a week ago, and looked up my reservation today to check in and I noticed I had been rebooked on the nonstop HNL-GUM flight instead without even being notified.
Called UA, and according to the agent I was put on the nonstop due to COVID I won't be able to transit through the Islands.
After the call, I was still able to change my ticket to UA154, and there has not been any further changes back to the nonstop.
Is the agent correct regarding unable to flying on UA154? Can't find anywhere on the web information regarding such restrictions.
BTW, which side of the aircraft should I sit on for best views?
Called UA, and according to the agent I was put on the nonstop due to COVID I won't be able to transit through the Islands.
After the call, I was still able to change my ticket to UA154, and there has not been any further changes back to the nonstop.
Is the agent correct regarding unable to flying on UA154? Can't find anywhere on the web information regarding such restrictions.
BTW, which side of the aircraft should I sit on for best views?
Jul 7, 2021, 12:18 pm
#1020
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 845
