Friday 15th September 2023

Woke up early this morning, which has been the norm since being in Hawaii.  The final sunrise looked pretty good and we went for a walk along the beach up towards the main Waikiki beach.  We took that one last stroll along the beach and came back along the streets.  No need for a stop at the ABC store this morning (we went last night) but we had plenty of time to get all cleaned up and fully packed and have a leisurely breakfast.  We had a 1030 pick up scheduled for our airport transfer (not something we would normally do, but it was part of our Costco Travel package).  

We checked out and headed down to the pick up point.  We made sure to get there a bit early because the bus showed up about 10 minutes early.  It was a bit of a strange encounter but we were soon off to the airport.  It didn’t take too long for the journey, especially once we got out of the city itself (though why he didn’t take Nimitz is beside me).  We got dropped off at Terminal 1 where Hawaiian is fully taken over.  We had to walk back a bit to the Mainland check in lobby and I was a bit worried as we didn’t have to do a USDA check which was something you apparently HAD to do.

We checked one suitcase and then headed towards the security checkpoint closest to the mainland lobby.  We got turned away though due to having TSA pre check and told to go to the other side of the terminal.  I guess this was the older part of Terminal 1. But we got into the long looking pre-check line and it moved pretty quickly through the ID check.  The scan only took a few moments and then it was back out the other side of the dignity check and into the terminal.  Heidi had some Priority Passes to use up so we decided to try and get into the lounge as we had a little while.  Thankfully we didn’t have to wait too long to get it and the check in process sure felt like being back in the lounge in the old days with assigned seating.

The Plumeria lounge was fairly small but not awful either.  It was simple and packed full of Priority Pass members (like us) but we got some snacks and some drinks and just chilled out for a little bit.  Lunch was on offer and it was pretty simple stuff with some soup, some Shoyu Chicken, Rice and Yakisoba.  Not bad to be honest and filling enough before a 6 hour flight.  We enjoyed the relative peace and quiet and even had a celebrity sighting of a Hawaiian Grammy winner before his flight somewhere.  We left the lounge a little early as our flight was about a 5-10 minute walk from the lounge and I wanted to do a little browsing of the shops before getting to our gate.  

Our gate was in the new part of the terminal and it was so different to the old section.  High ceilings, lots of seating, power everywhere, there was even a Hula dancer and Band to entertain the crowd.  The area was mainly set up for heavies headed to the West Coast at that point with multiple flights all headed out.  

Hawaiian Airlines – HA22

Honolulu to Seattle Tacoma

1335-2220

Airbus A330-200 (N389HA)

Economy Class – Seat 43A

Boarding: 1244 (Gate A10)

Push Back: 1332

Take Off Roll: 1352 (Runway 8R)

Top of Descent: 2136

Touch Down: 2205 (Runway 34R)

Shut Down: 2210 (Gate S12)

After a little while boarding was called and they let us know that we had to have our bags ready for USDA inspection.  By the time it was our turn it was pretty simple, you just put whatever you were carrying onto the conveyor belt.  It ran through an Xray that they didn’t look like they were bothering to look at. Simple!  Less hassle than TSA to be honest.  They were just looking for certain Agricultural products so considering most people got the notices to say avoid taking that stuff, it was easy.

We held in the jet bridge for a few minutes and the line moved really slowly.  We had started boarding REALLY early but that is because they understand how slowly it takes people to load in an aircraft here in the USA.  Even a heavily loaded widebody fills up.  Speaking of widebody, it is rare to be on a domestic flight in a Widebody aircraft these days but it sure was nice to have 2-4-2 seating.  Heidi and I had a 2 seat section on the left side so that as we took off we got a great view of Honolulu on the climb out.

We buttoned up with very little hassle and it turns out they don’t make the IFE available until you get airborne as the system wouldn’t even let us look around in it until after we had left.  We pushed back a bit early and we headed for the active runway.  Being on the left side I didn’t get a look out over the Hickam ramps, but I did get a look down the rest of the terminals and couldn’t spot the A380s so they must have both left already.

We headed out to the reef runway and didn’t even really have to wait in line all that much as there wasn’t many others in line and by the time we got there, it was turn and off we go, didn’t even really have to hold.  We blasted out over where I had been spotting just days before at the start of our vacation and and climbed out over Honolulu, past Diamond Head and Waikiki and over the section of the island we didn’t explore all that much.  We then turned heading North East toward Seattle and climbed up with nothing to see below but ocean and clouds.

With the IFE up and running and as we climbed out the Flight Attendants began their service with the sale of items first.  No one really bought anything and I was keeping what I was going to buy for later.  Then after that was completed they rolled out the carts for service.  Hawaiian is the only airline that still offers complimentary food in Economy.  Don’t get me wrong, it is not an elaborate option.  For lunch time offering it is essentially a hot pocket and a free glass of Pineapple Passionfruit Rum Punch (which they used to offer as a second service before arrival to Hawaii, but I guess that changed too).  Other non alcoholic beverages are available and I got myself a full can of POG and sat back to watch movies.  

Flight attendants came through regularly throughout the flight offering water and if you asked them for something they would happily bring it to you.  They would also sell you items from the back of the plane as I went to use the bathroom and bought a Blanket kit.  Not because I was cold but because I need to add to my airline blanket collection.  Speaking of the bathrooms, flying a widebody used for international as well as domestic has its benefits… long haul bathrooms.  God it was nice to have that bathrooms available!  Not being cramped in a 737 or A320 super compact bathroom was amazing.  There was room to breathe!  

The flight was pretty uneventful, we flew east in what felt like a lot of daylight until we had a very short sunset about 90 minutes out from Seattle.  About 30 minutes out we started our descent just as we crossed the coastline of the Olympic Peninsula around Ocean Shores (according to the map) and came in over the Olympia area preparing for a Northbound arrival.  

Saturday 9th September 2023

After a busy day of getting up early & getting going to spend time with lots of friends and plane spotting,we left our last spotting location, dropped a friend off where some others were hanging out and we headed to drop off the rental car.

We jumped the shuttle back to the terminal and it was quick until we hit the ring road and then it was bedlam. When we finally got to terminal 3 we did some stuff to adjust our bags and get changed. Then the zig zags of Delta’s terminals in LAX began. It started at terminal 3 where you are meant to check in, but Sky Priority was allll the way down at Terminal 2. So off we go making our way down. 

We checked in and they said “Straight up the escalators to security”. Easy! We head up, get ok’d after a boarding pass check into the Pre Check line and then walk the entire length of the terminal back to Terminal 3 where it dumped us back out to have to be checked again and then go through security. Once through we had to walk back to terminal 2.

We found a spot by our gate and chilled out for the 30 or so minutes until our flight was due to depart. We didn’t really want to do much as we were so tired after a long day in the sun. 

Delta Air Lines – DL371

Los Angeles to Honolulu (LAX-HNL)

1759-2057

Airbus A321Neo (N530DE)

First Class – Seat 2D

Boarding: 1717 (Gate 25A)

Push Back: 1813

Take Off Roll: 1826 (Runway  24L)

Top of Descent: 2041

Touch Down: 2102 (Runway 4R)

Shut Down: 2107 (Gate F1)

Before boarding was called and the gate agent laid down the law when it came to how things would work. She wasn’t going to take any drama. They offered pre boarding to those who needed more time and a few elderly people went down, they then offered military to board early and this is a flight at a major connection point to one of the biggest military bases in the Pacific, half the dang plane boarded in this group and even the gate agents were shocked. 

After all the military were finally done they called First Class and off we went. We got settled in our fancy new seats that had tonnes of storage but a lot of the good functions didn’t work, like no moving map. Wifi worked (to begin with) and so did the Bluetooth headphone connections. There was plenty to choose from on the IFE and you could make a Playlist, so I got stuck into choosing things and got ready. 

No pre-departure beverage other than a bottle of water at our seat but the boarding was so full on they wouldn’t have been able to do anything. Departure time came and went and our pilot let us know it would be a bit while we took on “bags” code for “we are adding more cargo”. When we finally pushed back we had a really quick taxi to the north active runway and was soon heading west bound towards the Pacific. 

As we took off they had warned us it would be a bit bumpy, now it wasn’t awful but it was constant and it didn’t let up for about the first hour meaning no service during that time. That wasn’t an awful thing as we had some water if needed. Once the seat belt sign finally went out, the crew got moving quickly. 

They started by giving us a couple of snacks and taking drink orders. I didn’t get the drink I asked for, but I didn’t care really, I was too tired to worry. Dinner orders were offered and all I could really stomach was the salad option of a chicken Caesar. Thankfully the dressing was on the side, so that was easy. On the side was a fruit salad and a packaged cookie (not as good as the brownie from the day before). 

Dinner was consumed and then I just chilled out and watched a number of movies. The crew mostly kept to themselves but if you wanted something they were happy to get it for you. 

We seemed to chase the sunset for a while before it just won and it was all black out the window. After a couple of passes of the snack basket (apparently gummy bears have to be vegan now?) we began a descent into Honolulu passing over some of the other islands as we lined up for an approach from the south. 

We touched down really hard onto the runway, as though we had blown a tire or something and came to what felt like a full stop. It was a fairly short taxi as we headed to our gate and it wasn’t long before we were let off. 

The one thing you notice quickly about HNL is that it is open air. Right as we came out and turned a corner you could see the planes around us. Mind you it was 9pm local by now and it was a ghost town. We headed down to the baggage claim, met up with our transfer company representative, got a Lei and grabbed our bags. We had a shuttle ride booked to take us to our hotel and I didn’t mind because I was in no shape to drive and it was essentially free with the hotel booking. We were the first stop on our run to the hotel so life was easy at this point. We were dropped at the door and pointed towards reception at the Ilikai Hotel, our home for almost a week! 

Friday 8th September 2023

Woke up stupid early today, not because we are flying though. Had a full day of work ahead (Mando day too so that was O so fun). Spent all day with that feeling you forgot something. 

Eventually we made it through our work day and got ourselves ready to head to the airport. Our flight took an official delay about 5 hours out but it was a given looking at the schedule it was doing today. What idiot at Alaska decided a 20 minute turn was a smart idea. 

We got a ride to the airport and it was pretty smooth sailing not much of a wait anywhere we went for check in or security, it was smooth sailing pretty much. We had managed to get some cheap upgrades to first class so we had priority lines in most places. We took the upgrade because it would be cheap after taking out the checked bag fee. Some extra room and a small meal onboard for about $65 why not. 

Once through security we went for a bit of a walk around through the terminal and headed towards the N Gates. We got over there with plenty of time to chill out and watch the sunset by the windows. 

After a snack and some time spent by the windows, our inbound flight arrived (on time mind you) and our original boarding dissappeared obviously. But we didn’t matter too much. By the time they all got onboard of course there was a further delay while they did some mechanical sign offs. 

Alaska Airlines – AS1102

Seattle Tacoma to Los Angeles (SEA-LAX)

2035-1127

Boeing 737-9 Max (N946AK)

First Class – Seat 3A

Boarding: 2035 (Gate N13)

Push Back: 2111

Take Off Roll: 2121 (Runway 34R)

Top Of Descent: 2312

Touch Down: 2337 (Runway 25R)

Shut Down: 0010 (Gate 64B)

I stood up to stretch after 10 or so minutes of waiting out the mechanical delay and they were pre boarding, so off we headed over towards the gate and as we came up they called First Class. So onboard we went where we promptly stopped at the door for about 5 minutes, not sure why. We were boarding a 737 Max 9 and it would be my first time on this type of aircraft and to get a special livery was a rare treat. We were on the San Francisco Giants livery, not that we could see it in the dark. 

We grabbed our seats quickly and settled into the nice set up available to us, it looked great! Nice big comfy modern seats, a far improvement over the older seats we had back in April to the east coast. I got everything stashed and wanted to get the wifi entertainment going but it wasn’t working. O well. 

After the flight was fully boarded we eventually pushed back and a short safety briefing was done and we were taxiing pretty quickly down to the active. We didn’t even get a line up and wait, we were just told to do it, get er done! 

We took off heading north and a big swing around to the south in the dark as we headed towards California. Orders had been taken for drinks shortly before departure, so once we were past 10000ft service started and we soon received our meal. Thankfully pre order was available last night so we already had our options sorted. I had the Guajilio Chili Chicken Rice Bowl. It was pretty tasty, however the brownie that it was served with was delicious. 

While the onboard streaming entertainment didn’t like my tablet, I decided to just use what I had on the tablet, which was just as easy anyway. Soon enough we were cruising over the central California area around Fresno and heading south towards Bakersfield and top of descent. 

As we passed the grapevine and started to descend the amount of lights out the window really started to pick up and there was lots of stuff to see, however not much in the way of photo opportunity at night. The descent was pretty quick and as we started to clear downtown LA we turned over Dodger Stadium, heading towards the southern runway. 

After a long roll out, we came to a halt at the end of the runway on the middle taxiway. This meant one thing, penalty box. While the pilots said it would only be a minute, it was about 20. Sigh 

We eventually made the gate and after pulling in, we had plenty of people pushing their way forward. I wasn’t in too much of a rush as we had checked bags to pick up. After a brief pit stop and collecting bags it was out to the street where there was a rental shuttle stop right in front and then like some miracle, a National Shuttle appeared and it was empty! 

The driver quickly (and I mean quickly) took us to the lot for vehicle pick up, where we selected our car. 15 minutes later we were safely at our hotel and in our room, ready for bed after a really long day. 

The annual trip down to Dorkfest is about to begin, but this time it is going to be a little different (not that last year wasn’t more different). For the first time, This will not be an out and back trip when flying down. While we fly down tomorrow night (Friday the 8th) we won’t be coming back to Seattle after Dorkfest concludes.

On Saturday we are planning on heading to Hawaii for a good relaxation vacation. I haven’t been to Hawaii in 14 years, Heidi even longer. While this is not my first visit to Oahu, it is Heidis. I have done a few of the things were are going to do, there is still new stuff to me involved.

So we are combining our usual Dorkfest trip with a jaunt over the pacific (sadly not all the way home, but I can dream right) and some usual Avgeek fun involved. At least 1 new aircraft (possibly two if Alaska doesn’t change the aircraft on us like they did last time) some new routes to me (two actually, though one is only new in the reverse direction) and a hotel in Hawaii that is pretty famous, at least for Hawaii 5-0 viewers. I have put aside some time in LA for some spotting but also some in Hawaii as well.

So stay tuned for all the fun as we go on our Avgeek Escape to Paradise!