ATA Flight to Hawaii
 

Hi All! Love this board, very informative, and while I have answered many questions by reading archives, I don't see much about flight experiences, we have only flowen once before and it was a 40-minute flight. We are flying on ATA, and I know it's not the greatest, can anyone share details of their experience with them?

We flew from Phoenix to Maui last March. Not the greatest flight but it arrived on time and we experienced no hassles. A word of warning if you are flying as part of a tour group with out assigned seats. Arrive to check-in early or you will be scrambling to sit with the rest of your party. Where are you flying from?

We flew ATA to Maui from SFO last January. We were not part of a group and for $299 roundtrip we were happy. The leg space is limited (we usually fly AA) but there was decent food and the staff was pleasant. Flight was ontime, bags arrived, etc. I would fly them again in a second--in fact I prefer ATA to Southwest.

Thanks for the responses, we are flying from San Francisco, initially we were told seat assignments were made upon check-in, however we received confirmation with seat assignments made. I would almost rather check in very early and be able to choose seats. Their online seat map is not numbered, so I am no sure where our seats are, I have been trying to guess.

I've flown ATA a few times to HNL and OGG from LAX. It's probably just my luck but my ATA flights have never left on time, either due to waiting for the inbound aircraft to arrive or some last minute maintenance issues. On board service is fine. They didn't allow carry on's with wheels on board the last time I flew, but check with them on this as I believe they've changed their aircraft since then.

Just flew ATA to Kauai and Maui last week. The flight to Kauai from LAX was delayed 20 minutes while we were in the plane b/c the fueling truck was late. The leg room was pretty limited. Also, they announced the about the on board movie....then 10 minutes later told us they forgot the headphones. It was actually comical. The flight staff was pleasant enough and everything else went smoothly. We'd fly them again...only to save some $$$.

Flew them to Maui a few years ago and would use them again. A bit of a cattle car type experience, but the flight attendants were a hoot! No problems that I can remember, but check in was a bit chaotic.

I have flown from PHX to Maui at least 6 times over the last 8 years. Not once did the plane leave late and only once was it late leaving Maui. Not a bad thing, we just walked to the closest beach and watch the whales and the wind surfers.
The planes are crowded but the flight attendants are always fun. Food, blah. You can't hardly beat the fares. All in all not a bad experience.

We flew ATA from Grand Rapids MI through Chicago to Orlando in October. No problems whatsoever. Our flights did not include food (just drink and cookies or peanuts). They left on time and arrived a few minutes early.

We have flown ATA from LAX to Maui a number of times and the flight has never been delayed. Food has gotten progressively worse over the years and you do have to pay for headphones for the movie. However, the fares are great and the flight attendants are pleasant. My only gripe was having to get to the airport early enough to get a seat that isn't in the middle of the plane (they were L1011's I believe). The line at OGG to check bags is very long. Our flights were always the Sat morning 8:30 or 9:00 am flights.

We just flew SFO to Maui and back on the nonstop. Flights were all on time and luggage arrived. The return flight was better - plane was only 6 mos. old. But both trips were fine. There were extra touches like free headset and movie, hot towel, free tropical drink, hot meal, sherbet, mints. Food was typical airline fare but at least it was something. I would fly them again.

A group of 8 of us flew roundtrip from SFO to Maui in September and everyone was very impressed with ATA's service. Definitely more leg room than Ryan Air, the airline used by Suntrips, which is a nightmare. As with many others, we received free headphones for the movie, hot towels, sherbert as a snack, food was regular ol' airline food, so I can't really complain. The service was excellent. I also have friends who live part time on Oahu and fly ATA a few times a month, and say they've tried AA and a few others, but ATA has the best service. Tip: Request row 24 when you fly, as it has an exit door and therefore gives you more legroom!