Hawaiian airlines connection question....

[patterson3]

I am going to Maui in November. I have booked my roundtrip flight from Boston to Honolulu and am now in the process of booking a connecting flight from Maui to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines. (I booked it seperately because it was much cheaper and Hawaiian runs flights from Honolulu to Maui every 1/2 hr so we'll be arriving in Maui much earlier than if we flew in from the mainland on Delta). Anyway, I'm wondering how much time I should give myself in between when my Delta flight lands in Honolulu (3:30PM) and when I should book my connecting Hawaiian flight, considering I'll probably have to re-check my luggage through security, etc....

 

Also, if my Delta flight is late getting into Honolulu and I miss my connecting flight will Hawaiian just book me on the next available flight (assuming I purchase insurance or are there any other fees that I have to worry about?)

 

Thank you in advance.

[greatam]

I am going to Maui in November. I have booked my roundtrip flight from Boston to Honolulu and am now in the process of booking a connecting flight from Maui to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines. (I booked it seperately because it was much cheaper and Hawaiian runs flights from Honolulu to Maui every 1/2 hr so we'll be arriving in Maui much earlier than if we flew in from the mainland on Delta). Anyway, I'm wondering how much time I should give myself in between when my Delta flight lands in Honolulu (3:30PM) and when I should book my connecting Hawaiian flight, considering I'll probably have to re-check my luggage through security, etc....

 

Also, if my Delta flight is late getting into Honolulu and I miss my connecting flight will Hawaiian just book me on the next available flight (assuming I purchase insurance or are there any other fees that I have to worry about?)

 

Thank you in advance.

 

You will have to go to the InterIsland terminal on the wiki wiki shuttle. Allow at least 2 hours, preferably 3 for the following reasons-late plane into HNL, luggage missing, transfer to other terminal.

 

One big warning-IF for some reason your luggage does not make it to Honolulu when you do, Delta has NO obligation to get it any further than HNL. So if you luggage goes missing, you will have to go back to HNL to get it UNLESS Delta decides to "play nice" and ship it to Maui. But that is a big IF.

 

If your Delta flight is late and you miss your intra island flight, it will be up to Hawaiian to decide how to handle it. The rules-you miss the flight and did not call BEFORE the flight departed, your ticket is canceled. You CAN be charged a change fee and any upcharge in fare for a walk up ticket. Insurance purchased from the airline ONLY covers the flight specific to that airline. It does NOT cover separately purchased flights. Ditto for travel insurance-two separate tickets-your responsibility to allow enough time to get from one to another. Your Delta flight would have to be delayed more than 6 hours with quite a few travel insurance policies for coverage to be in effect. READ the fine print-some delays are NOT covered,

[chipmaster]

I am going to Maui in November. I have booked my roundtrip flight from Boston to Honolulu and am now in the process of booking a connecting flight from Maui to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines. (I booked it seperately because it was much cheaper and Hawaiian runs flights from Honolulu to Maui every 1/2 hr so we'll be arriving in Maui much earlier than if we flew in from the mainland on Delta). Anyway, I'm wondering how much time I should give myself in between when my Delta flight lands in Honolulu (3:30PM) and when I should book my connecting Hawaiian flight, considering I'll probably have to re-check my luggage through security, etc....

 

Also, if my Delta flight is late getting into Honolulu and I miss my connecting flight will Hawaiian just book me on the next available flight (assuming I purchase insurance or are there any other fees that I have to worry about?)

 

Thank you in advance.

 

A few thoughts:

 

You are correct that the inter-island runs very often, hourley and sometimes more often. This past fall we had the opportunity to make connectoins on two successive earlier connects, even though there was space they did NOT allow us on. Don't bank on the ability to change your reservation / good will if you are late and there is space on successive flights. Plan to cover a "reasonable" delay in your inbound from the states.

 

I agree 3 hours is best.

 

Figure 30-45' for luggage, 30-45 terminal - terminal, 45' for check-in. That leaves you 45+ for delay buffer.

[FlyerTalker]

This past fall we had the opportunity to make connectoins on two successive earlier connects, even though there was space they did NOT allow us on.

Did you have checked baggage? It is often an issue for voluntary changes, for security and/or operational reasons. They may not have wanted to go through the process of switching your luggage to an earlier flight. Or any number of other issues, including charges for standby travel - did you balk at paying a change fee?

 

You didn't mention any airlines involved, so it's tough to give any more specific response as to why this may have happened. You also didn't say whether you were on one through ticket or two separate tickets.

[chipmaster]

Did you have checked baggage? It is often an issue for voluntary changes, for security and/or operational reasons. They may not have wanted to go through the process of switching your luggage to an earlier flight. Or any number of other issues, including charges for standby travel - did you balk at paying a change fee?

 

You didn't mention any airlines involved, so it's tough to give any more specific response as to why this may have happened. You also didn't say whether you were on one through ticket or two separate tickets.

 

Luggage was carry-on, its tropics you can travel light even for a week ;)

 

Airline was hawaiian, have no clue what you mean on two seperate tickets. It was two segments on the same day actually the same airline back to the mainland too, both sides they didn't let us do it.

[MMDown Under]

I am going to Maui in November. I have booked my roundtrip flight from Boston to Honolulu and am now in the process of booking a connecting flight from Maui to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines. (I booked it seperately because it was much cheaper and Hawaiian runs flights from Honolulu to Maui every 1/2 hr so we'll be arriving in Maui much earlier than if we flew in from the mainland on Delta). Anyway, I'm wondering how much time I should give myself in between when my Delta flight lands in Honolulu (3:30PM) and when I should book my connecting Hawaiian flight, considering I'll probably have to re-check my luggage through security, etc....

 

Also, if my Delta flight is late getting into Honolulu and I miss my connecting flight will Hawaiian just book me on the next available flight (assuming I purchase insurance or are there any other fees that I have to worry about?)

 

Thank you in advance.

 

I flew Air Pacific from Australia to Honolulu, via Fiji, then Hawaiian to Hawaii. My connecting flight was non refundable, so I decided to allow extra time, in case my original flight was late.

 

Of course, it wasn't. :) To change to an earlier flight would have cost me more than my original flight. Fortunately, we were able to check our luggage in for our scheduled flight. Then we just caught the local bus to Pearl City Shopping Centre.

[Jinn]

We fly to and from Kauai each Winter, usually on AA through DFW to HNL, switching to HA. We always check our luggage straight through. Most of the time we fly on miles and buy a separate ticket for the HNL to LIH segment. I know AA and HA have a relationship, but even on the times my husband has flown Delta, he has checked his luggage through. See if you can, so you won't have to deal with it in HNL. I like to leave at least 2 hours for the connection. We've arrived early somedays and managed to get on an earlier flight. Same is true for the times our flight has been delayed; HA has put us on a later flight. Always leave extra time on the return flight. Aloha, Jinn

[patterson3]

Thank you all for your replies.

 

One other question- Is it possible to wait till the day of to purchase a ticket? (I'm guessing in the post 9/11 world that wouldn't be possible, or if it is it might be extremely costly)....

[wrp96]

Yes, it is possible to wait until day of to buy a ticket IF there are seats available, but most likely the cost will be much, much higher than if you purchased it in advance.

[greatam]

I am amazed how much extra money is spent by people by not using a travel agent and how much extra time is spent worrying about insignificant issues. Must be a whole lot of people with nothing but time on their hands that pull up rules and have no idea how to work with them.

 

Even if you have 2 separate tickets, point out the 2nd one to the originating carrier and they will check the bags through to the final destination.

 

Only on some airlines will they check the bags through to final destination on TWO SEPARATE tickets. No airline has to and it is only a courtesy if they do.

 

Why would you use a TA??? There are a whole lot of TA's (most I will venture) that don't have very much experience dealing with airlines, airline rules and have NO advice when your trip goes belly up. Read through some of the horror stories on Cruise Critic and other travel websites just to get a feel for how inept most TA's are when dealing with air.

 

TA's now have NO incentive to learn about airlines and airline rules. No commission from the airlines and people have to pay anywhere from free to $50.00pp (maybe even more with some TA's) to have TA's book flights. There used to be a whole bunch of TA's in Phoenix that booked EVERYONE going to Europe on consolidator tickets (because they were the cheapest and they thought they were doing a great service to their clients). After a couple of totally disastrous trips and a couple of lawsuits, I was hired to give a speech to them about just how the airlines and airline tickets worked. It was a REAL eye-opener to most in the audience. MOST had no idea the ramifications of consolidator tickets nor using some of the online agencies they had been using.

[greatam]

Thank you all for your replies.

 

One other question- Is it possible to wait till the day of to purchase a ticket? (I'm guessing in the post 9/11 world that wouldn't be possible, or if it is it might be extremely costly)....

 

As wrp96 posted, yes, you can buy a ticket last minute IF there are seats available. The price is usually VERY high.

 

Don't just look at Hawaiian. There are flights to Maui on Go (Mesa Air Group), Island Air (prop planes), Pacific Wings and until a few days ago, you could have taken the Inter Island Ferry (it has been shutdown as of now but may be able to reopen.)

 

Go and Intra Island/Pacific Wings leave from the Commuter terminal, which is a little further than the Inter Island terminal. Allow extra time for the transfer.

[FlyerTalker]

I am amazed how much extra money is spent by people by not using a travel agent and how much extra time is spent worrying about insignificant issues. Must be a whole lot of people with nothing but time on their hands that pull up rules and have no idea how to work with them.

Given that many, many TAs, especially those who are "cruise agencies", have NO CLUE about air travel nowdays, it's not a bad idea to be personally well-versed in air travel. Or at least for the airline and routing you will be using.

 

We have had many tales here where a TA has given a client incorrect information, bad itineraries, or otherwise been totally wrong. People just assume that their TA knows ALL aspects of travel. Wrong - many TAs in the cruise arena are just order-takers, especially at the "discount agencies" that so many want to use (Gotta get that absolute lowest price, regardless). Now, if the TA happens to know their "stuff" on airlines as well as cruises, then go ahead and use them for your entire trip. But I would investigate the experience and ability of my specific TA first - and not just take an agency certification as evidence.

 

Even if you have 2 separate tickets, point out the 2nd one to the originating carrier and they will check the bags through to the final destination.

Sometimes that will work, but it is NOT a blanket statement of fact. Try that with your JetBlue ticket at an AA counter and let us know your results.

[FlyerTalker]

Sorry for your bad experiences with travel agents but that's not all of us. I have an airline system in my house and have worked for the airlines and travel agency for a little over 30 years and your experience is????

 

You have no idea of what you are talking about..

I await Greatam's response with truly bated breath.....talk about a high hanging curve waiting to be hit out of the park.

[greatam]

Sorry for your bad experiences with travel agents but that's not all of us. I have an airline system in my house and have worked for the airlines and travel agency for a little over 30 years and your experience is????

 

It is NOT a courtesy that they check bags through but part of standard interline agreements. Some airlines do not have these, notably Southwest, with other carriers but most of them do.

 

You have no idea of what you are talking about..

 

I don't deal with TA's.

 

30+ years experience in global logistics, dealing with the airlines worldwide EVERY day of the year (including Xmas the past two years).

 

Please reread the interline agreements. They DO NOT have to check luggage through on TWO SEPARATE tickets. They MAY check it through as a courtesy. But they DO NOT have to.

[greatam]

I await Greatam's response with truly bated breath.....talk about a high hanging curve waiting to be hit out of the park.

 

I'd love to see the "airline system". Can't even get a very good response to the condescending post going this morning. I'm sitting here chuckling.

 

I'll stick with my advice-I don't get a commission or fee from another party (airline, cruise line, tour operator). If I (or even my employees) screw it up with the airlines, it comes right out of MY pocket. And after all these years, I am too conscious of the bottom line to make many mistakes. Thanks!!!