Labor Day Weekend in Hawaii

I am on my way to Hawaii today (Friday) for a long weekend in Honolulu.  It will be my first time back to the Islands since March 2011 and my first multi-day stay in Honolulu since 2004.

Each year, for the last several years, I’ve spent many long layovers in Honolulu, but my time has always been rushed. This weekend, my goal is simply to relax—there is much work to be done, but my goal is to defer non-essential items to Tuesday.

As for my airline choice, I chose United Airlines (big surprise). What is surprising is that they were the cheapest option (though still four digits…) when I bought the ticket a couple days ago, with the exception of US Airways. But no upgrades on US Air quickly ruled out that slightly cheaper option. With my higher fare class, my complimentary elite upgrades have cleared on the outbound—from New York LaGuardia to Denver and from Denver to Honolulu. This will be my first time flying to Hawaii from Denver, and I am looking forward to interacting with what will likely be one of DEN’s most senior crews (I trust I will have a better flight than Rocky and did not order any special meals).

The return will be on United’s new Honolulu-Dulles route, a 9.5hr flight operated by an ex-Con 767-400 with recliner-style international business class seats (see Tom’s review of the Newark-Honolulu route for an idea of what I am in store for). I applied a Regional Premier Upgrade (RPU) on the flight and while initially waitlisted, the upgrade has now cleared. The flight leaves late, so I am looking forward to a light dinner and hopefully a decent rest on the long journey to the East Coast.

I am meeting a long-time friend from Los Angeles and he has made hotel arrangements—there will be no Hyatt this weekend! I am staying at the classic Kahala instead. And you know something? I am not writing a review–unless something extraordinarily good or bad occurs. Too many other hotel reviews are in the queue…

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend!