One of the best things about living in Hawaii is the ability to take off from one island to another in a matter of hours. This has, unfortunately, become a misconception since our nation's security has changed and the airlines have cut back costs. I got a chance to fly both Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines this weekend and hopefully, this trip report will give me an opportunity to detail the differences I experienced on both carriers. Also included in this trip report is an overnight stay at the Westin Kāanapali Resort Villas.
August 13th, 2004 - Aloha Airlines 248 - Honolulu to Kahului - Open Seating (aka Coach)
We checked in online the night before using the new online check-in system implemented on Aloha Airline's website. Check-in was a breeze, printed our boarding passes and we were all set for the flight the next day.
Left for Honolulu International Airport at around noon for our 1:30 p.m. flight, although we should have left earlier as ITN was showing our flight full and my name was printed incorrectly on my PNR. I called AQ enroute to the airport to note the incorrect name change and worried that I'd still have problems getting past TSA. Arrived at HNL, saw signs posted for a full inter-island terminal parking lot, but chanced it any ways, thinking that there was parking, and there was. Headed down to the security check-point and got thru without any hassle, even with my name printed incorrectly.
As an avid collector of boarding passes, I've always been a stickler on keeping my boarding pass stubs, so I figured that I could print my online boarding passes and get new ones on the hard stock at the gate. This wasn't the case. Arrived at the gate (50) to find a long line fronting the Aloha Airlines service desks. Went up to the service desk, gave some bogus excuse that I needed the hard stock boarding pass for record keeping and was given a receipt and told that gate agents were not allowed to reprint boarding passes for passengers. Okay, I knew the GA was lying or misinformed, but I gave up, took the pax receipt and inquired about stand-by. No dice. Stand-by on Aloha costs $25 depending on fare. I was booked in K class (one of the lowest on AQ's fare structure), but was told that higher class fares are not imposed a penalty. I asked one of my AQ buddies about this today and he said that both AQ and HA (yes, Hawaiian too, scroll down) had implemented policies where no same-day stand-by was allowed. Thus, if your ticket is unrestricted, you don't have to pay a penalty.
Boarded the plane on-time (amazingly) at 1 p.m. Got in the "General Boarding" line at about 12:45 p.m. as I listened to a teenager talk to his friend on the phone telling him that he'd "never fly Aloha again". I do wish I still had my Aloha Executive Plus card. As most of you know, Aloha did away with Executive Plus (we were on a corporate account, which included AQ Exec. +) and implemented their new Alii program with three tiers. Pre-boarding revealed that there was one Alii member on the flight. What tier he was, I did not know... Boarded the flight and saw the new cabin with all coach seating (Southwest style). They did manage to pack a few rows to Coach seats into the front of the cabin where 8 F seats once stood. It's unfortunate that they did this, especially with Hawaiian still offering F seating, but it's probably a smart move economically for AQ, since many of the people in F any way, were either AQ Alii members (pre-three tier elite days) or mileage redeemers.
We took a seat somewhere in the middle of the plane (I wasn't paying much attention to our seat number) and was quite surprised that the flight to Kahului was even. It's a testament to the rebounding inter-island market with most flights pushing 90%+ loads. Flight pushed back at exactly 1:30 (again, nice touch with being on-time) and we taxied off to the Reef runway and took off about 15 minutes later (heavy ground traffic).
Flight to Kahului was short, as expected, lasting about only 15 minutes. Regular drinks were offered (your choice of POG, co*ke, Diet co*ke or Water -- one of the differences between Aloha and Hawaiian is that co*ke/Diet co*ke are not served on HA's flights) and the usual routine of in-flight commentary as we passed over Molokai, Lānai and made our final approach into Kahului passing over Kāanapali (you may be asking why we didn't fly into Kapalua -- I get motion sickness easily). As we started our approach into Kahului, however, we experienced a LOT of turbulence. The FA tried to mask it by giving a full narration of Maui as we landed, but it was probably the worst landing I've had in years. The pilots did get the plane down in one piece, however, fighting wind sheer (yes, on Maui...) and bringing it down one wheel at a time. Other pax sitting around me applauded the landing and I was happy that we were on the ground.
Arrived at the gate, went straight to the rental car shuttle pick-up and headed to Alamo...
