V-Flyer

After a few days in Las Vegas it was time to head off to Hawaii. The flight from LAS departs at 09:00 and it is difficult to book these flights outside of the US / Asia. You can't book on line with a UK credit card, although they can be booked through VS. The only slight problem was that the VS booking reference is not the actual HA one - nightmare if you want to check in on line!

Anyway a quick call to HA whilst in the US meant we had the correct booking reference. We therefore checked in on line and the "extra charges" start appearing:

$25 each per bag to HNL

$25 for extra leg room seats - we took this option up and went for the exit row seat.

We were also able to check-in for our connecting flight to Maui - this was in First so no bag charges on that bit of the trip.

Having woken early, we got a taxi from our hotel and it was a short trip to LAS airport - we didn't realise that HA fly from Terminal 2 and not the main terminal.....oops! Not a happy taxi driver. Check in was relatively painless and we got all of our boarding cards and baggage receipts etc and headed off to security. With it being Terminal 2 and HA7 is the only flight out, it meant that security was deserted!

Boarding was elite class and First initially, and those with priority check-in, which included those who purchased "extra leg room seats". This route is an Airbus A330 - new plane and 2-4-2 - we had a set of 2. Nice and bright planes - much nicer than when we fly on AA to HNL last year. Departure was on time and off up over LA and then a left turn towards Hawaii.

Entertainment is a couple of free video channels or on demand for $15. There was a good choice of films on demand with TV (Hawaii-Five-O of course!) and games. Everyone gets a free blanket and pillow, and the seats are comfy.

As with other American carriers, alcohol is not free on domestic routes but was available to purchase. However there were regular runs of soft drinks......and there was a free meal - spinach fittata and a muffin (very tasty). There was also an option of premium meals for $10 if desired.

The flight seemed to fly by and all of a sudden we could see Hawaii out of the window. We arrived early, taxied past the US Air Force base and then had to wait for the JAL flight on our gate to move. Once at a gate we had to get the shuttle bus to the Hawaiian Inter-Island terminal - this is their main terminal and were all transits occur.

All in all a really great flight - the crew were great and 5.5 hour flight flew by. The free meal was appreciated! Even though this almost as long as an East Coast US flight were I would normally travel in Premium, I really didn't mind travelling in Hawaiian Coach - would recommend them over other US carriers for domestic routes where Hawaiian fly.

Thanks for posting, sounds like a good trip!

$25 for extra leg room on a 5.5 flight is very reasonable!

HNL is on my list, will be a few years but I like the idea of a LAS/SFO stop to break up the massive trip!

Luke

HA also do HNL from SFO and LAX - you need to opt for a route with the A330 as the older B767 don't have personal back-seat TVs (which I forgot to mention are touch-screen monitors). On the B767 you can hire personal digital players instead.

Really appreciate this TR - am Doing HA1/2 LAX-HNL-LAX in a couple of weeks - as well as Maui in the middle, what a coincidence!

Last time I flew to HNL, was with UA - which was ok to be fare, but am quite looking forward to the HA experience...

That thing about booking with UK CC is a bone of contention for me, as for many reasons, I ended up booking via VH for those flights - and what a nightmare it's been - more to follow on that one!

Anyway, glad you've given me some insight into what I might expect LAX-HNL - thank you for posting

Thank you for the TR, Hawaii is on my list of places to visit.