Travel Day 1: HNL to LAX

Not much to journal so far. But the travel days are many on this trip so may as well write about them!

Departing on March 9th, I fly from HNL (Honolulu) to LAX (Los Angeles) via Hawaiian Airlines. No issues or delays with this flight - always a plus. After my parents' travel voodoo on their trip thus far I was, needless to say, a little antsy. Online check-in was a breeze as usual, altho I still print out the physical boarding pass at the check-in kiosks. Something about having the physical copy feels more...absolute.

Terminal 1 at HNL is (fairly and partially) newly renovated and they definitely get bonus points for the new TSA checkpoint. Large and streamlined, the process is efficient and expedient. Almost too expedient - getting all my belongings on the belt and in the bins feels like a race to the finish. I didn't time it, but it probably took me all of a minute to get thru TSA. Bravo TSA, bravo.

After getting thru TSA, it's time to find some food. I would say Terminal 1 is slightly lacking in food options but if you're not picky, there is a Dunkin' Donuts and Kona Brewing within the newer section of the terminal. I also saw what looked like a snack market called Mauka. But my go-to nowadays is Starbucks which is in the not-renovated part of the terminal. I sort of like the old terminal. Makes me think of traveling as a kid. Nostalgic. With food in hand, I walk back to my gate and find a seat to wait.

Have you ever had the gate agent calling over the PA and it's so crackly you can't hear what they're saying? Fear not! The gate agent for this flight was clear as a bell. I don't know if that's just this individual or they actually have a good PA system now but I was impressed. It's the little things in life.

Boarding was 5 minutes late - gasp! Another fun fact about Terminal 1 which differs from Terminal 2 is that agriculture inspection in done at the gate right before you board the plane. I've only ever gone thru agriculture before check-in so that was new. But I didn't secret any bananas on board so my bags were safe.

What I love about Hawaiian's Airbus 330 plane is a separate 2-row section between business class and economy. It's their "extra comfort" seats so does cost an additional fee but sitting in this section definitely feels more spacious and comfortable.

As I get to my seat 11C (middle, left aisle) my brain has a spasm. Children. So many children. In the four-seat middle section, aka where I'm sitting, two little boys sit in the middle seats with their pad devices and headphones on. They both looked to be under the age of 5. And dad sitting on the other end with a toddler. The upside of this situation is I don't have another large body next to me - the little boy barely takes up half the seat (yay for two arm rests!). The downside...children. I send up a flag to all the airlines gods that the kids will be entertained by their devices the whole flight.

The only downside (children notwithstanding) to the aisle seat in the middle section - you definitely need to keep an eye out for the carts or your feet could be easily bumped since the seat sticks out into the aisle. Not too much of an issue since the carts from business class don't venture past the curtain to us peasants. Regardless, the legroom is fantastic.

The extra cost of "extra comfort" varies depending on the flight and is per leg. Bulkhead and aisle seats are also usually a little more than a middle seat. I've paid around $118 (if I remember correctly) going to Korea, however this flight was $166. Shorter flight costs more, go figure.

Taxiing along the runway was surprisingly bumpy. Is it the plane? Is it the runway? I will never know. But we take to the skies about 15 minutes late and are on our way. There was some uncomfortable turbulence, to say the least, about 10 minutes and then 30 minutes into the flight. Definitely white knuckles on my part. Thankfully the rest of the flight was smooth flying.

The "meal" on the domestic flight is essentially a Hot Pocket. Luxury. The "flavor" was cheesy chicken alfredo something-or-other. Definitely cheesy so anyone with dairy intolerance - beware. On the plus side, it did taste good. To counter the luxury of the "meal", they gave me a whole can of ginger ale all to myself. The snack before landing is a Honolulu Cookie Company chocolate chip cookie - why, yes please!

I cat napped and watched a few episodes of The Gentlemen the TV show - not to be confused with The Gentlemen the movie, both by Guy Ritchie.

Guess what, those two little boys and the toddler? There was another little boy! Three young boys and a toddler...they were the quietest kids I've ever seen on a plane. I didn't even know there were four of them! Thank goodness!

Pretty soon it's down to under two hours left and then we're getting ready to land. Considering we left 15 minutes late, we arrived more then 30 minutes early. Taxiing and disembarking was quick - benefit of being near the door.

My first thought walking thru the terminal is this is so not Hawaii. The atmosphere and the people are so very different and I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's a strange feeling. Making my way thru the terminal to find the hotel shuttle is...not as easy as I thought it would be. I follow signs for "Ground Transport" and ask two airport personnel along the way to make sure I'm going in the right direction before I exit and can't return. It's a long walk from the arrival gate to the exit, but there are go cart shuttles taking people to and fro all over the place if you don't want to walk.

Finally making my way outside, the hotel website states to look for the red pylons for the hotel shuttle...no red pylons. But the sign before you exit says "Hotel Transport" so I figure this is the right place. Walk one way, walk the other, nope. I go back in and ask an agent where the hotel shuttle location is - she says down one floor. Hmm...the website and elevator clearly stated it was on the floor I'm currently on but maybe that changed recently. So I go down and nope. Not it. So back up I go and back outside. Ask a security guy standing outside where the hotel shuttle is and he points down this long dark section of the outdoor walkway. So apparently I just didn't walk down far enough where it looks like the walkway ends. Hmm. Okay then. I also want to point out that at no point outside does it have signs for where the hotel shuttle stop is until you are actually standing at it. I guess you're just supposed to inherently know. I finally find it and wait for the Hyatt Regency shuttle. It arrives after a short wait, I hop on, and off we go. It would be smooth sailing except for the couple at the back of the bus who keep hacking their lungs out - without masks of course. Thank goodness I'm wearing mine but geez people, come on.

The Hyatt Regency is a convenient shuttle drive from the airport. Just one block away. Key in hand, I locate my room and the lovely view it has of the parking garage. I mean, it can't get any better than that.

Regardless of the view, the room is spacious and the bed comfortable.

By this time it's nearing midnight so time to pass out before the next flight tomorrow.

Ciao!