Trip 2 Flight 12 Day 7 LAX-HNL 18.20

Day 7 LAX-HNL 18.20

Class: First

Boeing 757

Tier Points: 210

AA connections in LAX have been fantastic and again they this one is smooth as silk. Departure gate is next to the arrival flight, I have about an hour to go to the Admirals club and help myself to a bottle of Evian and some hot buffet in the flagship lounge which again is about as densely populated as the moon. Evian and Airbus in American Airlines, the French are doing well here!

I board the flight and for the first time all trip there are 3 spare seats in First. A chap sits next to me with an AA lanyard on and we get chatting. He’s ground crew in Arkansas and is going to Honolulu for a date for 24 hours only, and I thought I was hardcore!

I am unable to get settled on the flight despite feeling quite run down, I turn down the offer of food and stick to water and shuffle through 3 discs of definitely maybe ‘remastered’. Nice to see the white label demo version of Columbia on there.

The flight drags on and on and I catch up on writing this blog, which I’ve been very lazy with.

Eventually we land, it’s dark. Straight through HNL to baggage claim where I find my girlfriend who was on the flight before me. We managed to logistically connect my flights from SJU and hers from LHR to end up in HNL within an hour and a half of each other, with her flights on avios points to boot!

Quick shuttle to dollar car rental to pick up an convertible mustang and then we are on our way to the Marriott Waikiki for a week.

At this stage I’m ready for bed but I must say the very subtle difference in spacing of the flights on this trip has left me in much better shape than round 1. I think turning around same day in Honolulu last time to go to the Caribbean was a massive error.

Trip 2 Flight 11 Day 7 MIA-LAX 14.10

Day 7 MIA-LAX 14.10

Class: First

Boeing 757

Tier Points: 210

The connection is quite tight but I have time to take 30 mins in the Admirals club. The Miami Admirals club is poor, just cookies and water. The coffee is undrinkable.

Again another on time flight, they serve fillet steak which was just about edible and I treat myself to an ice cream sundae.  The chap next to me absolutely stinks of garlic, I have to point the fan in between us to try and blow away the smell.

I settle down to sleep and nap all the way through to the descent into LAX. Feeling pretty good at this stage.

Trip 2 flight 10 Day 7 SJU-MIA 10.00

Day 7 SJU-MIA 10.00

Class: Business

Boeing 757

Tier Points: 40

I have a fantastic breakfast at the doubletree and get another great taxi back to SJU. I’d pencil in a return to Puerto Rico as it’s much more civilised than I imagined it would be.

I get ticketed and through security within 10 minutes. There’s a nice Admirals club here too although I have very little time as I left the hotel 30 minutes later than planned.

Flight is again on time, I decline any breakfast and fire up some Courteeners on my iphone.

The 2 hour flight is over before I even get settled.

Trip 2 Flight 9 Day 6 MIA-SJU 19.15

Day 6 MIA-SJU 19.15

Class: Business

Boeing 737

Tier Points: 40

I have a few hours in MIA and have experienced the terrible Admirals club around gate D. Apparently there is a ‘premium lounge’ near gate E so I trek on over. I take the sky train and it’s about a 20 minute transit from D8 to the premium lounge.

It’s designed for BA flights and the food is pretty decent, salad, some meat and cheese lots of fruit, premium spirits etc.

As I arrive Ronaldo scores a penalty to make it 4-1 on the Champions League final.

After my experience of landing late in STT last time and feeling incredibly unsafe I phoned up my hotel in San Juan to ask about the Taxi situation at the airport and if it was safe to just get a cab at the stand, they told me it was fine.

It’s my first AA 737 experience. The first cabin seats are identical to the 757.

The flight leaves on time, dinner is not edible, some sort of chicken and cheese. I literally don’t know how they got chicken tasting so bad and they drizzled some disgusting sauce all over the salad, almost spewed at just the smell.

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned about plane food its keep it simple. You can mess up a bare salad and fruit, and if your going to serve a main meal just keep it to simple plain foods, every attempt at gravy, sauce, cheese or dressing renders the dish inedible.

The chap next to me in a resident of Puerto Rico and clarifies to me the situation that he is a US citizen but Puerto Rico is not a state of the USA, they don’t get to vote in US presidential elections and return their own government. He explains there’s a movement in the country to become an official state of the USA.

As we come in to land is SJU its much bigger and much more developed than I expected. It looks like quite an interesting place.

We land, it’s a proper airport, unlike STT, and I get a taxi. Some locals push in straight to the front of the taxi line and this seems to be normal. The taxi guys give me a piece of paper with the fair to my hotel already agreed and $18 and 10 minutes later I arrive at the Doubletree.

Again a local lady pushes to the front of the queue at check in, and again it seems to be fine with the staff!

I get checked in, the hotel is really nice, and its time for bed.   

Trip 2 Flight 8 Day 6 LAX-MIA 08:50

Day 6 LAX-MIA 08:50

Class: First

Boeing 757

Tier Points: 210

Connecting though LAX with AA is a doddle, the gates have always been right next to each other when I land.

I head to the Admirals club (just above the gates) and have a shower.

I’ve got a couple of hours to kill so I have yogurt and berries followed by eggs and sausage for breakfast and check in on some emails and work.

Again the Flagship lounge is deserted.

Before too long the next flight is boarding and is on time.

Waffles are served for breakfast which I have, it’s going to be a food day, and they are decent enough.

I blast through disc 2 and 3 of Definitely Maybe ‘Remastered’ which consists mainly of unusual live/acoustic songs and B sides. Listening to some of Noel’s finest keeps me in good spirits. Still feeling fine when we land, that turnaround in HNL really messed me up more than I realised on trip 1.

Trip 2: Flight 7 Day 5 HNL-LAX May 23rd

Class: First

Tier Points: 210

The bus to the airport was very straightforward, and $2.50 vs a $14 shuttle.

I go to the Admirals Club at HNL, it’s a pretty poor offering shared with JAL. There’s chicken soup and that’s about it. Chicken soup and a Budweiser then.

I remembered to sun cream my head so no sunburn this time, and I get ready to deploy the travel pillow as the next section of flights is seriously going to mess with my body clock.

I do feel a million times better for getting a good night’s sleep in a hotel, I distinctly remember this point on the first trip where I turned around same day and it was horrible.

Boarding is swift and the flight leaves on time. A pizza is served as an evening snack which is absolutely disgusting.

Lights out and I get to sleep. Its pretty uncomfortable in the 757 recliners and I manage to hook my leg over the arm rest which probably looked ridiculous but was the only position that I could get comfy in.

I had a broken sleep all the way through to LAX. Between the 6 hour flight and clock going forward it was now 0500.

Trip 2: Day 4-5 Waikiki Hilton

Day 4-5 Waikiki

I leave the airport and have plenty of time so I decide rather than book a $14 shuttle I’m going to test public transport.

Google tells me that the number 19 and 20 bus routes will stop right outside of the terminal and take me all the way to Waikiki.

Arrivals at HNL is on the ground floor and to get to the bus stop you have to go upstairs to departures and exit there. There is a bus shelter outside with ‘City Bus’ written on it.

I ask a local and she confirms I’m in the right place and advises me that the fare is $2.50 and no change is given, quick trip to starbucks to buy a water and get some change.

I’ve only got carry on luggage which the driver is fine with but some other tourists with larger bags are turned away.

I’ve got 45 stops until I get to the Hilton so I settle down on the back seat, as we drive through Honolulu the bus gets absolutely packed.

After about 45 minutes I get dropped right outside the Hilton and have gained a pretty good grasp of the scale of Honolulu, it’s a much bigger city that I thought.

I check into the Hilton and get a nice room looking onto the beach and Diamond Head.

I have a quick refresh then head to the beach until sundown.

I grab a turkey Panini for dinner and eat on the beach, I’ve booked into the Marriott for the main part of my stay out here so I walk up to check it out. There’s a really nice atmosphere on the beach at night, I find a bunch of older locals drinking and singing Hawaiian songs.

I’m exhausted so head for bed.

The next day I get up, pack and clear the room. My flight is not until the evening so I give my bags to the hotel to store and head for brunch at Denny’s USA style. If a single meal could make you diabetic then this must be it…

I then head to the beach and spend the day relaxing and swimming.

I booked a courtesy room at the Hilton which allowed me 20 minutes to have a shower and then I get back on the number 20 bus to head for HNL. A very enjoyable day, the more time I spend here the more I like it.

I would say I’m not a massive fan of the Hilton village here, the room was great and the service was excellent but it’s just too big and messy, it’s a ‘resort’ with (I think) 5 he 20-30 floor towers and swimming pools and shops in between.

It feels like they built a bit, then added another bit, then another… and ended up with a concrete mess. Hopefully the Marriott will be a little nicer (a chap on the flight out last time recommended the Marriott to me)