Starting on March 3, 2021 United Airlines will introduce a new prize on its Halfway to Hawaii game: a Polaris cooling gel pillow. Not a bad prize for one of my favorite parts of flying to Hawaii on United Airlines.
United Airlines Halfway To Hawaii Game
For as long as I can remember, United Airlines has played a “Halfway to Hawaii” game. Shortly after leveling off on all flights to Hawaii, the captain will come on the PA system and note a number of data points, including:
- takeoff and landing times
- air speed
- wind speed
You then write down what time you believe the flight will cross the halfway line to Hawaii. The person (or usually 3-4 people) who guessed closest to the actual time received a prize like a Hawaiian CD, amenity kit, or Lonely Planet book.
The game was cut during the pandemic, but returned in October.
Starting on March 3rd, the new prize will be a Polaris cooling gel pillow (the kind Untied warned flight attendants to stop customers from stealing).
Do note the game is currently on the honor system, in order to reduce interaction between flight attendants and passengers. A flight attendant memo notes:
To minimize touch points and guarantee consistency across routes, ensure you play the game as an “honor system.” To do this, use the PA to communicate game rules and other information.
The only time you should approach a customer for any game-related interaction is to verify the answers of the first six people to press their call buttons and distribute prizes. Customers wishing to participate must use their own resources for working out the solution, whether on paper or their own personal electronic devices. In previous versions of the game, flight attendants distributed pencils and paper, but under our updated procedures, if asked, please inform customers that you are unable to meet this request.
In the past, you would receive a form to fill out:
CONCLUSION
Like Mai Tais and macadamia nuts, it’s not earth-shattering, but this game helps to put you in the Hawaiian spirit and is a fun way to pass the time. The addition of Polaris cooling gel pillows is a decent prize.
Have you ever won the Halfway to Hawaii game on United Airlines?
I flew SFO-OGG this week and there was no game! I assumed it went away with COVID, I guess our crew just didn’t choose to play… or the forms weren’t loaded, maybe during the transition to the gel pillow they don’t have any prizes.
I won this game on my EWR-HNL flight many years back. I was so excited to win and but my enthusiasm was quickly dampened when I saw my prize. It was was a Don Ho CD. I left it in the seat back pocket. No tiny bubbles for me.
You do realize that Don Ho CD’s are currently trending very high in the collectibles market? You totally messed up, Cumstein. Some cleaning crew got it and probably just scored a huge sale on EBay.
I just won the game on my SFO-OGG flight on Saturday 2/20. I got an amenity kit. Not a Polaris amenity kit but a coach one that had a mask. I think the gel pillow is a nice upgrade!
I flew from LA to Honolulu a few years back on a 737, and there was no game. Any ideas why?
Sometimes prizes are not loaded. Sometimes flight attendants are just lazy.
the FA’s were active
I got the top 3 guesses on 12/25/2011. SFO-HNL, N211UA, my parents and I were in first and I had at it. Won a Hawaii Lonely Planet guidebook!
It could have been a Continental flight crew.
it was about 4 years after the merger
I fly LAX-HNL monthly, and have heard them do this only once in the past three years.
I also flew from LA to HNL just some months ago and this was not performed.
This was my junior high algebra teacher’s favorite game, as she had mentioned this several times. She has won many bottles of champagne from her trips.
I’ve been on at least twelve flights to Hawaii over the past 3 years and they haven’t done the game. Figured they had stopped doing it years ago.
Yeah. I’ve been to HI a few times and don’t remember this game. Ofc, once was via the island hopper. Now that would be tough guess!
Very cool. I remember flying Western Airlines back in the day and they had the halfway game. I believe the prize was a bottle of champagne. They also dished out mai tais from a smoking (dri ice) volcano on a berverage cart! Those were the glory daze of flying.
I don’t remember this on my flight from SFO-HNL in 2017. Not a super long flight to begin with anyway, so they might not have done it.
Umm, United Halfway to Hawaii? How is nobody making the OBVIOUS joke?
Umm, a United game about Halfway to Hawaii? How is nobody making the OBVIOUS joke?
oops posted this comment twice sorry i’m a newbie
I just won on my flight from LAX to LIH. We had to calculate the time to the nearest second so not as easy to just half the predicted time of arrival. They took the top 2 winners. Not many played on my flight. I was off by 4 minutes. My husband said that one person was only off by 6 seconds on his flight! I didn’t know it was going to be that kind of a prize. I thought I’d get a free drink or something. Anyways, the gel pillows are awesome!
I just won on my trip from LAX to KOA. First time playing and win a cool gel pillow.