advice re: Hawaii flights

[JB expat]

I am travelling to Hawaii to meet overseas family for US Thanksgiving. We would like to depart Melb on the 22nd (Fri) or 23rd (Sat) of Nov and have a return date on the 4th or 5th of Dec. We would like to fly into Honolulu and out of Maui (I realize this means connecting via Honolulu). We are 2 adults (one gold FF status), one 2.5 year old and one less than 1 year old. I found a combo of JetStar direct to Honolulu and Qantas return (because we need to get from Maui to Honolulu the day of the flight, the timing of the JetStar flight makes JetStar impossible for the return) only to find out after a 45 minute conversation with Qantas about the error message coming up that the JetStar direct flight had reached its capacity as far as infants go. I have on hold for the ridiculous fee of $75 RT QF flights (these are the direct flights between Syd & Honolulu). The timing works if we take the first Hawaiian air flight out of Maui on the 4th of Dec and connect with the Honolulu to Syd flight that morning. However, we are paying a serious fortune for these economy tickets, with the only upside being that the fare category that I was stuck with for the 4th of Dec is an upgradeable category and I have enough points to upgrade all 3 tickets being purchased. Here are my concerns/questions:

- after reading reviews of the Syd-Honolulu QF flights, I'm scared off doing this even with the potential for the upgrade on the return - are we better off flying Hawaiian air? those flight reviews weren't great either...and I'm not sure if they even fly on the days we need although I guess we could fly via Brisbane

- assuming there is availability, will Qantas even upgrade a person who is travelling with an infant - I've had good luck with upgrades in the past so I am being cautiously optimistic about this (the business class section of the return flight being held is empty as per the Qantas rep I spoke to)

- any other ideas - are there options that I am not considering?? note we will have a fair amount of baggage given the 2 little ones with us...at least with my status on the QF flights we'd be safe in terms of no fees for what we probably will be lugging with us

Lastly, if it turns out that the Qantas flights being held are our best option, I need to book them by midnight 29 April 13 in order to get credit for the $75 holding fee ($25 per ticket).

Thanks!

 

[Mattg]

Unfortunately the Hawaii market is one with high demand and relatively low supply, so there is little incentive for any airline on the route to offer great service/hard product or low prices.

All things being equal, Qantas is probably the best choice.

Jetstar may be a possibility for you if you are prepared to fly to HNL the night before the flight and stay in a hotel near the airport. If not, we can rule that out.

I've never personally travelled on Hawaiian airlines so don't know about their product. Return fare from Sydney is currently $1087 for your dates (either day). Plus MEL-SYD, probably around $200-$300.

Qantas J on this route is often full (hard to get an upgrade) and IMO not a great use of points as the hard product is not great on their 767 for a long-haul flight. It's up to you I would not waste them on QF3/4. Anyway, in economy for your dates you're looking at $1387 MEL-HNL. If you can adjust your days slightly it is possible for $1089.

Those are the three direct options, there is an additional option available to travel on Air Pacific (Fiji Airways) however this would be via Nadi and one other island, last time I checked it was Kiribati.

if you have status with QF and have already got flights on hold, I would probably just go with them. At least the 767 on this route has been refurbished recently

 

[shellthom]

having flown with both J* and QF on this route we found J* product much nicer, cleaner and newer. Plus we knew what we were in for RE: entertainment and food wise so no disappointments.
We were reading that QF has upgraded/refurb the aircraft to HNL but I am not sure if they are in service.
looking at the J* prices though you may as well fly QF as J* might end up being more expensive by the time you add the extras on.
Does anyone know if its the crummy plane or the new fresh one doing the flights to HNL?

 

[JB expat]

Thanks for the advice. JetStar is not an option because of flight times and lack of availability when we need the flights. Also, as pointed out, the extras would add so much as we would want to book seats and have to pay for a decent amount of luggage. I just spoke to Qantas and had them move me to the cheaper (non-upgradeable) fare but still keeping the original reference number so that I could use the $75 holding fee towards the booking. I did ask about the planes and they've all been refurbished.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I am travelling to Hawaii to meet overseas family for US Thanksgiving. We would like to depart Melb on the 22nd (Fri) or 23rd (Sat) of Nov and have a return date on the 4th or 5th of Dec. We would like to fly into Honolulu and out of Maui (I realize this means connecting via Honolulu).

We are 2 adults (one gold FF status), one 2.5 year old and one less than 1 year old. I found a combo of JetStar direct to Honolulu and Qantas return (because we need to get from Maui to Honolulu the day of the flight, the timing of the JetStar flight makes JetStar impossible for the return) only to find out after a 45 minute conversation with Qantas about the error message coming up that the JetStar direct flight had reached its capacity as far as infants go.

I have on hold for the ridiculous fee of $75 RT QF flights (these are the direct flights between Syd & Honolulu). The timing works if we take the first Hawaiian air flight out of Maui on the 4th of Dec and connect with the Honolulu to Syd flight that morning. However, we are paying a serious fortune for these economy tickets, with the only upside being that the fare category that I was stuck with for the 4th of Dec is an upgradeable category and I have enough points to upgrade all 3 tickets being purchased.

Here are my concerns/questions:

- after reading reviews of the Syd-Honolulu QF flights, I'm scared off doing this even with the potential for the upgrade on the return - are we better off flying Hawaiian air? those flight reviews weren't great either...and I'm not sure if they even fly on the days we need although I guess we could fly via Brisbane.

We just got back yesterday from a trip to HNL & Maui & flew BNE/SYD/HNL on QF on a JASA & HNL/BNE on HA in whY on a Velecity award ticket.

I would just pay the cheapest economy fare I could even if it's a non-upgradeable fare as trying to get 3 upgrade seats in J is a tall order, then if the points upgrade doesn't come through you've wasted all that extra money on a higher fare for nothing.

We came back on a HA767 & there didn't appear to be any bassinets onboard the aircraft. There were two bulkhead rows 35 which is an exit row so no bassinets there & row 11 which is the first row of economy but again I didn't see any evidence of bassinets in that row. We were delayed ex HNL as the first a/c went u/s so it was replaced by another 767 with a different config as there were a few pax that had seat changes.

- assuming there is availability, will Qantas even upgrade a person who is travelling with an infant - I've had good luck with upgrades in the past so I am being cautiously optimistic about this (the business class section of the return flight being held is empty as per the Qantas rep I spoke to).

I don't think it would make any difference for a points upgrade whether or not you have an infant in your booking. As for how many unsold seats there are in J, how many seats there are available now is absolutely no indication of how full the flight will be in J as they will fill up between now and your departure date. It's only relevant how many J seats are available the day prior when they action the upgrade requests.

- any other ideas - are there options that I am not considering?? note we will have a fair amount of baggage given the 2 little ones with us...at least with my status on the QF flights we'd be safe in terms of no fees for what we probably will be lugging with us.

Can you get your HNL/OGG/HNL flights included on the same ticket as your international flights? You get no checked baggage allowance on the HA inter-island flights if booked separately.

Does the fare differ greatly if you go outbound via SYD on QF3 on Fri 22 Nov vs the non-stop JQ flight MEL/HNL then return on QF4?

If you do travel on QF3/QF4 there is only one bassinet row on the international config 767 which is 23JK so I would try and secure this asap by asking reservations to allocate it now when you confirm which flights you are taking.

Lastly, if it turns out that the Qantas flights being held are our best option, I need to book them by midnight 29 April 13 in order to get credit for the $75 holding fee ($25 per ticket).

Thanks!

My responses to your questions are in blue.

 

[JB expat]

We have dropped to the lowest economy fare and given up the idea of an upgrade - saved us quite a bit of money. I've also talked to Qantas and they say there are bassinets and we have a bulkhead seat booked. Unfortunately they would not book just myself in the bulkhead with my husband and toddler behind us as I'd rather my toddler be able to lift his arm rest to put his head on my husband's lap. Instead, it will be me and toddler and infant in bassinet with husband behind us. Not sure of configuration but the explanation was that this would have left a single seat in the bulkhead row and they won't do that ??? something to do with it being an "infant row"??

 

[get me outta here]

Just wondering about separate PNRs. I have CBR - SYD on QF and SYD HNL on JQ.

Is it possible to ask QF to combine in case I have the same probs w' conn on the way back as it's a bit tight?

"We were delayed ex HNL as the first a/c went u/s so it was replaced by another 767 with a different config"

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Just wondering about separate PNRs. I have CBR - SYD on QF and SYD HNL on JQ.

Is it possible to ask QF to combine in case I have the same probs w' conn on the way back as it's a bit tight?

"We were delayed ex HNL as the first a/c went u/s so it was replaced by another 767 with a different config"

Are you flying JQ back HNL/SYD or QF? I think you'd have more luck asking the ground staff in HNL to tag your bag to CBR if it was a QF to QF connection. A lot of airport people get confused thinking they can only tag your bag to SYD as that's where you clear customs when of course your bag can be tagged to CBR even though you still claim it in SYD to do customs.

As you've got to claim your luggage in customs in SYD on the homeward leg it's not as big a deal as having luggage through checked on the outbound leg as you can recheck your bag at the domestic transfer desk in the international terminal before taking the shuttle bus around to T3. I'm sure they would move you to a later flight if JQ was late.

One thing I noticed on arrival in BNE is that the Toll ground staff who handle HA did a PA saying our baggage would be available at carousel 4 & for pax with domestic connections on QF/VA to turn right out of customs. Only problem with that is that the domestic transfer counters were closed because at that time of night after 2100 there are no more flights.

It struck me as being a classic 'handball' situation as it's the inbound carriers responsibility to accommodate and rebook pax if they are late resulting in pax with onward flights (in the same pnr) missing their connections. I think the issue here is the Toll staff lack experience in disrupt situations as they don't get airline benefits nor penalty rates so they can't hand on to staff.

 

[get me outta here]

Thanks for the advice BB. What concerns me is that they are separate PNRs.

It's JQ ex HNL and what concerns me is that the conn to QF SYD - CBR is quite tight so if there's a JQ delay I may not make the connection.

I don't want to buy a new tkt as there's no cheap flts to CBR.

Do you think they'd just rebook me on a later flt without buying a new tkt?

EDIT: I called QF and if there is a problem w' connections I will need to buy a new ticket. And, there's no interline agreement.

 

[support]

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