Air Lines To Hawaii
 

2 years ago we flew to Maui on Suntrips. The planes Suntrips had were the most cramped and uncomfortable we have ever been on. 3 hours into the flight, the seats seemed to be 12" wide. We do not want to repeat this horrible experience. This October we're flying Pleasant Hawaiian. They are offering United Air Lines and ATA (American Trans Air). Has anyone flown on these carriers? Are they normal planes or are they the sardine cans Suntrips uses?

Gene, Since "Petaluma" is in your address, I can assume you'll be flying out of SFO? <BR> <BR>We flew ATA to Kauai out of SFO 3 yrs ago and I liked it because at the time they assigned seats much like S'West, 1st come first boarding pass. <BR> I got there about 4:45 a.m. for a 6:05 flight and got a bulkhead seat so I had about 8' of legroom right in the front of the plane where first class normally sits. The seats looked like normal seats but no large, first class seats on that plane. I'm 6'4" and at the time I weighed about 270# and had no probs w/ the seat width (I have dropped about 30# so it was even better last trip.) <BR>But this was 3 yrs ago, so..... <BR> <BR>If it's the regular United Air, then be careful about overbooking to Hawaii. The last time we flew over on United, 2yrs. ago, they o'booked the flight by 125 people and almost started a stampede at the gate! <BR> <BR>I still hear those things about Suntrips and their planes. Think they would clean up their act or travelers would learn. <BR>Mahalo, <BR>Kal

We didn't fly ATA but we saw the line of people waiting to check in at LAX. They had more than an hour wait. A very very unhappy crowd.

I too was caught in the SunTrips trap once -- never again. I've also flown ATA, it is nothing amazing, but adequate. I also experienced a wait though. Many airlines tend to overbook to Hawaii. At least this is what I've observed (I fly back & forth usually a few times a year). At least with United, you know that you would be compensated with miles, hotel, a free flight or something of the sort.

We have flown ATA four times from LAX to Maui. Last year the food was not very good, the seats seemed more cramped and I heard horror stories from passengers about previous flights (although we never experienced delays ourselves with ATA). We decided to go with United this year because they give frequent flier miles and they go non stop home where ATA stops in Honolulu for 1 1/2 hours to service plane and you don't get into LAX til 10:30 pm. That is too late when you have to go to work the next day.

I have flown ATA to Maui and did not have any problems. The plane was on time both ways, which I really cannot say the last two times I flew on United. Aloha airlines now flies non-stop from Oakland to Maui, and I understand it is very good. I am flying to Maui on Aloha in September.

We just returned from Maui a few weeks ago on Aloha Airlines thru the Oakland airport (direct flights) - what a great airline! (As a comparison, I've flown: ATA, United, Northwest and Hawaiian Air to the islands in the past) Great cabin crew, first class headsets for the movie and music AT NO EXTRA CHARGE, a complementary mai tai on the way there, milk and fresh-based cookies before landing (both outbound and return), we ordered special meals both ways and it was very good, the standard meals looked good too - it was a brand new 737-700, - I can't tell you if the seats were wider than standard (I doubt it), but there seemed to be extra leg-room between rows - Overall a great experience with them.