Basic Economy to Hawaii Family of 5
#46
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,684
So, throw out $3500 in non-refundable, non-changeable airline tickets and spend additional money to do a road trip instead?
The tickets have been purchased. OP is going to Hawaii. It's not unreasonable to want to minimize additional fees paid to United, especially when those appear to have been poorly disclosed through OP's booking portal.
An awful lot of these posts seem close to shaming her for purchasing a product that she was offered. She came here looking for help. I sincerely doubt that some of these messages are very helpful.
The tickets have been purchased. OP is going to Hawaii. It's not unreasonable to want to minimize additional fees paid to United, especially when those appear to have been poorly disclosed through OP's booking portal.
An awful lot of these posts seem close to shaming her for purchasing a product that she was offered. She came here looking for help. I sincerely doubt that some of these messages are very helpful.
#47
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: NYC
Posts: 9,122
I wouldn't overthink it as the bag fees are likely a very small % of the total trip cost. My advice - travel light. For Hawaii a largish backpack and doing laundry are sufficient. Get a cheap duffel if needed for souvenirs. Which in any case you can likely buy cheaper and have shipped for free to your home on Amazon.
#48
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 553
You spent $3500 on tickets. If spending a little more is out of your budget then in the future, taking a $250 camping trip to a national park is probably a better idea. United is clear on what is/isn't included and you can cancel tickets at no charge within 24 hours of booking.
And has already been mentioned, the BE limitations are not always presented as in-your-face as they are on United's website. Furthermore, when I was new to travel, I had no idea what aspects of a fare were important - there were so many options it was easier to just focus on price and times. I think the options are even more confusing now to people who don't travel frequently.
In any case, I suggest we focus on helping OP and avoid discussing her spending habits or philosophy, which OP didn't ask for help on (and is off-topic for this forum, in any case).
#49
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: HNL
Programs: UA GS4MM, MR LT Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,447
I'm going to take a leap that the trip is at a minimum a few weeks out - and probably months out. A family of 5 vacation to Hawaii is generally not an impulse purchase.
If that is the case, I'd plan the trip with a checked bag person - bring what you need - save room for souvenirs, and not stress about the cost or the trip.
In the meantime, if the leap I've made is correct, saving $60 person for the round trip fees is often easier than people realize. Cut the Starbucks - eat out less - bring lunch to work - put off going to the movies - set a daily goal of what you can save - etc.
If that is the case, I'd plan the trip with a checked bag person - bring what you need - save room for souvenirs, and not stress about the cost or the trip.
In the meantime, if the leap I've made is correct, saving $60 person for the round trip fees is often easier than people realize. Cut the Starbucks - eat out less - bring lunch to work - put off going to the movies - set a daily goal of what you can save - etc.
#50
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: New York / Hawaii
Programs: UA Global Services, HH Diamond
Posts: 5,178
United allows fee-free upgrades from Y to F, do they allow the same from Basic to economy? The fare difference between basic and non-basic on most Hawaii flights isn't much, and paying up into the next lowest available fare class may be cheaper than dealing with seat and bag fees.
#51
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Denver, CO, USA
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#52
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: UA1K | *A Gold
Posts: 767
United allows fee-free upgrades from Y to F, do they allow the same from Basic to economy? The fare difference between basic and non-basic on most Hawaii flights isn't much, and paying up into the next lowest available fare class may be cheaper than dealing with seat and bag fees.
*supposedly, one of the hidden benefits of GS is that you can up-fare BE tickets.
Why not get a credit card that pays for incidentals and fees - CSR, Amex Plat, Hilton Aspire - Your baggage fees will be easily taken care of and you can still avail other benefits (if those make sense). Additionally, because of your 5 flights, if something goes missing, all cards will offer some form of travel protection to cover those costs.
#53
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,884
As emcampbe stated above, if you haven't purchased your tickets yet, get the Chase UA Mileage Plus Explorer card. And apply when you purchase the tickets. There's a link to an offer that will give you $250 statement credit after your first purchase. The $95 annual fee is waived the first year. If you book your tickets with this card, you and a companion will get one checked bag free. If you spend $2,000 in the first 3 months of having the card, you will also get 25,000 bonus miles.
OP sounds like a relatively infrequent traveller, but if the bag fees are too much, then this would be a solution that would work to reduce costs for this trip, and any others they may take within a year, for little cost. Don't know if anything has changed, but I've always seen BE seat selection, when I've checked (though I'll admit not that often) at $12 - on both very short flights and almost transcons. Just one potential option.
Why not get a credit card that pays for incidentals and fees - CSR, Amex Plat, Hilton Aspire - Your baggage fees will be easily taken care of and you can still avail other benefits (if those make sense). Additionally, because of your 5 flights, if something goes missing, all cards will offer some form of travel protection to cover those costs.
United allows fee-free upgrades from Y to F, do they allow the same from Basic to economy? The fare difference between basic and non-basic on most Hawaii flights isn't much, and paying up into the next lowest available fare class may be cheaper than dealing with seat and bag fees.
#54
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,850
The dates were in the original posting but on my advice the OP removed them
WineCountryUA
UA coModerator
#55
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
United allows fee-free upgrades from Y to F, do they allow the same from Basic to economy? The fare difference between basic and non-basic on most Hawaii flights isn't much, and paying up into the next lowest available fare class may be cheaper than dealing with seat and bag fees.
For all the discussions of BE and whether it is good or bad, this is the often-overlooked issue.
I do think that this comes down to a choice for OP. $60 per 50-pound bag (round-trip) is actually a significant amount of space for Hawaii in the summer (presuming no ski boots, parkas and the like).
#56
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Austin, TX - AUS
Programs: AA Platinum, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott
Posts: 1,625
2 bags at 50 pounds each is a huge amount of space for a Hawaii trip. Hawaii is warm weather destination so you won't need winter gear. Unless you plan to visit the mountains, and even then a light jacket or sweater should be enough. I recommend using compressor bags.
#57
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Programs: UA Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,194
Pack as light as possible (4-5 days worth of clothes) and do laundry one day. It's Hawaii, all you need are shorts and tee shirts, maybe a nice dress shirt or two if going somewhere nice for dinner. Before you leave go buy some travel sized toiletries and if more is needed buy some more when you get there - you don't need to bring it all with you unless there are very specific things you might need. Pack light, pack light, pack light!
Plan on wearing the same travel clothes back as you wore going over. All you need to pack will be a couple pairs of shorts, a couple of tee shirts, a pair of slippers, swimwear, and daily underwear for everyone traveling. The tee shirts can air out overnight and you can rinse the sweat out of them and let them dry overnight if you need. I find a travel-size tube of toothpaste per person is good enough for a week -- for a family, one half-used regular tube should be more than enough -- if you happen to run out, you can stop by Long's or even an ABC Convenience Store.
If space is the issue more than weight, I find I can pack my tee shirts and swimwear and possibly even the shorts in gallon-size Ziploc bags (even better if you can find larger ones). Just sit on them to get the air out while you're zipping them up -- voila, cheap compression bags that you can reuse for other purposes.
There's almost no place you can't go in a pair of (clean) shorts and tee shirt but you can always buy discount aloha shirts if you want to up the ante.
If you pick up more souvenirs than you can fit in the checked luggage, you can pick up cardboard boxes and either mail it back or check it as another item.
#58
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 60
Choose smallish things that will fit into one or two Priority Mail boxes, and ship everything home via the goold ol' United States Postal Service. You can get info on Priority Mail box sizes on usps.com.
#59
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: South Carolina
Programs: UA LT Gold, American Kettle, Hertz #1 Presidents Circle, Marriott LT Platinum
Posts: 927
When we go to Hawaii, we tend to bring the minimal amount of toiletries. On Maui, Oahu and the Big Island, they have K-Marts (maybe not so many anymore) Targets, Walmarts & Longs Drug Stores. While its is Hawaii, we find that the prices for those things are not at a premium, like some food staples (Milk!) can be. Also, for a family of 5 and depending on how long you are staying, you probably can't bring enough Sunscreen to get by. You will be buying more, unless your going to live like hermits in your Hotel. So try and cram all your clothes into 1 or 2 checked bags and pick up most of your disposable stuff when you arrive. Sure, bring a small amount so you can get by for the first day or so until you can find a place for reasonable $$ purchase of that stuff.
Cheers,
Cheers,
#60
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
The toiletries likely need to be checked in any event unless the amounts are small enough to meet 3-1-1 rules for the checkpoint. A lot here has to do with sitting down and running some numbers.