Lanai in June -*I know, not the smartest move...*

I had the brilliant idea http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e..._DIR#>/huh.gif of going to Lanai during the 2nd week of June. After looking at the loads into and out of HNL (39+ in the back on DL to HNL, 20+ on the return + 9 in F), I went ahead and booked a great deal on Lanai. We will jump over to Lanai from HNL (more on that in a minute).

Did I read the forums first about the 'black hole' that is known as flying out of HNL?? Will my husband trust my expert nonrev skills in the future?? Did I mention that we're flying with 2 small children?? I'm officially scared.

Here are the options:

Not too worried about ATL-HNL on 6/7. Feel fairly confident we'll either get on the direct or the SLC connection. Flight(s) get us in at 2:15 ish and then appears to be a long wait until a 6:20 p.m. flight to LNY. Any suggestions are welcome.

The part I didn't plan so well for is the return and did not understand the challenges with flying out of HNL in the summer (I know I should know better):

HNL direct to ATL- 20+ in the back on Sunday 6/14. We have 'decent, not great but OK' S-2 capability with a 2000 hire date.
All other HNL back to the mainland will be considered.

Other alternative: Take the ferry to Maui and take the OGG flight back. 25+ on this flight with 2 listed.

Opinions? Besides hiding in shame and staying here http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/wink.gif

Am I overestimating the challenges as there are now more UA options?

Thanks!

1) begin to pray to the nonrev gods
2) make sure your Plan B includes enough days to complete your mission successfully
3) make sure you have hotel lined up for Plan B
4) make sure you have enough $ to pay for food (ouch it's pricey!)
5) good thing you have S2's because almost everyone else going in/out of Hawaii is using them
6) pray to the nonrev gods again (maybe a sacrifice will help--no, not the children!! just a bug or maybe a flower!)

If you're planning to travel all on Delta, obviously your odds are better than a zed on UA. I personally would not even consider using a zed with 2 kids.
How old are your kids? Can you abandon them?? Just kidding....Delta won't put them up front if they're under 8 (after June 23 it drops to 6 yrs, which I DO NOT understand at all)

Good luck and seriously, I hope it works well--keep flexible and repeat 1 and 6

Mrs767er:

Thanks for the reply.

1) I will do so
2) Same
3) Got it, have a couple of hotels in HNL and OGG in mind
4) Got that covered
5) Almost all buddies so far on the lists
6) Same

I only counted the seats in the back as I'm painfully aware of the age rule up front. Haven't had to ride in the back for such a long haul but never hauled kids but will be worth it if we get there and back. The kids are 2. My savings at the Four Seasons (pay for 4 nights, get 2 free) may be washed away by the cost to get back but I'll let you know how it works!

Good advice on the UA Zed fares. We have priviledges on UA through FIL with a 1960's hire date so need to look into that as well as a backup. Haven't used them in a long while so need to look into it.

I'm watching the lists now to see if folks are left behind and how the lists grow closer to the dates.

Anyone else with any recent experience?

Lets see, you want to non-rev to/from Hawaii, in June with a husband and two kids; Lisa have you lost your mind? http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/wink.gif
Ok just kidding, but you know, you do have a steep hill to climb.
As M767 said, the first thing to do is start praying that the non-rev gods are smiling and to hope thay have a terrific sense of humor.
The only things I would add is to

7- plan on splitting up ( your travel group 2 & 2, not you and hubby) http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...#>/biggrin.gif
8- flexible home destination ( think "LOST", your goal is to get off the island)

Good luck Lisa, and let us know what happens, I always worry. http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/wink.gif BTW, did you make it to Croatia? See, I told you I worry. http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...#>/biggrin.gif

Ok, you guys are really scaring me. So naive I guess when I thought this was a good idea...! Only saving grace is one of my best friends here travels all the time with her daughter as her parents live on the big island and she makes the trip several Xs a year, so I have her to 'help guide me back'. Granted that's 2 instead of 4 people...

I'm Ok with splitting up http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/wink.gif , this needs to go well so my DH will travel with kiddos again.

Am I crazy to think 2 listed on the OGG return to LA with 20+ is good? Does it change that much? I'm beginning to think to avoid HNL on the return as much as possible. I'm fine with landing anywhere on the mainland too. Also, why does the back page show so many more seats than the front on the HNL flights? Are they weight restricted?

Croatia was beyond fabulous. I have a great itinerary if anyone ever wants it. The hardest part was the non rev/ZED ticketing folks could not figure out the tickets on Croatia Air (tried for almost 2 hours). Very nerve-wracking. The int'l desk on concourse E did them in 5 minutes. We would have had to re do our arrival cities at the last minute if they couldn't get them issued and go to Heaththrow instead of CDG and had to make a decision. We returned via Dubrovnik through Madrid on Iberia and caught the DL flight out instead of Split/Amsterdam and it worked well.

Seatomypants--I MUST know more!!
I will start a request/info thread and beg for help. We're thinking Croatia mid june 2010--8 adults--only 2 nonrev.

PS--regarding suggested sacrifice--is there any chance husband will want to put you at the top of the list?

On DLnet the seat count means absolutely nothing until you find the "hard count" on the page of activated listings the day of flight and who's actually there. Many a time it says only 2 seats but some NRSA's haven't even arrived at the departure airport much less at the gate, so they count could be off by alot. That being said, there are sadly all those people who just show up. Case last week--hubby trying to NR early out of JFK--I was on the final hard count of the net listings with minute to departure--said 2 seats--he was # 2. Somehow, someone actually did an empty seat inventory and VOILA!! 2 more NRs got on. I don't get it some days.

My Croatia itinerary is ATL-CDG, CDG-SPU. Stayed in Trigor, then took the ferry from Split to Hvar. We loved Hvar. Stayed at the Hvar Adriana Hotel and Spa, which is right on the harbour. We drove to the other ferry dock and went to Korcula, which took all day and 3 ferries. I would probably not go back there (home of Marco Polo, interesting but huge pain to get there). Then went to Dubrovnik and stayed at the Hotel Bellvue which was fantastic. Either hotel is not cheap but totally worth it. There are several other places I would also add on and we plan to go again in September which says a lot as we don't generally repeat. We were to drive to Mostar, Bosnia and then continue on to Split and fly to Zagreb, then Amsterdam but went out of Dubronik instead for the more sure bet MAD flight.

On HNL, two options: I have a ton of FF miles (over 400K) and I made a res and have 2 days to pull the trigger. It will cost me 280K miles and $300. Not too bad for not having to sweat my vacation. That said, I just talked to my friend who has the mother that lives in Hawaii and she says she's never been stuck- 1996 ASA hire date so now S3C and DH with a 1999 DL hire date, and her mother has only had to wait once ?? She's done weekends and in the summer so she 'thinks' I would be fine when I told her the loads. What to do, what to do...

Totally get that seat counts change and have been the lucky recipient as well as steamed non rev-er when someone doesn't bother to list until the last minute. That's a lot of seats to play with though (2 listed and 20+ in the back).

I'd go for the nonrev and use the miles another time--If you're willing to have a little back-up and split (based on #'s in 2 more days) you could be fine. You apparently aren't the damsel in distress type and know your way around some tkt counters.
Thanks for the Croatia info--I get great deals on luxurylink.com and the Adriana (+sister resorts) have been up for auction frequently. We're thinking 2 cities with a villa stay somewhere for 4-5 nights--where to choose most ideal spot for side travel/excursions?? Just starting to do the research. We considered flying in/out VCE and so on.
PS--I have sometimes been lucky to have the FF dept shift the res to another 24-48 hrs (maybe not for Hawaii??) but it's worked before for ICN and NRT--gave me a little breathing room to confirm. Just a thought

I have no info for Delta, so I can't help you there.

You might improve your chances by flying mid-week, instead of Sundays. My wife is a United FA and we try to go to the islands a couple times a year. As a general rule of thumb, I don't even bother checking loads for Fridays outbound (from SFO and LAX) and back on Sundays as they are nearly always full. Flying Tuesdays, Weds, or Thurs are much, much better options.

FYI, we almost went to Croatia 2 weeks ago. We ended up in Malaysia and Singapore.

Y'all think that's crazy? When I was with NW last summer, my girlfriend and I flew to HNL from SEA in late June. My seniority was literally a month, and I had lower priority with a companion. Got one of the last flights of the night from MSP-SEA, stayed overnight in SEA, then tried to catch the early of the two NW SEA-HNL flights.

By the time we woke up, there were about 20 people listed on the flight, and only 7 seats left. Figured we'd have to hope for OGG, which had 15 spots and no standbys, then buy a ticket to HNL. After seeing the flight board, waiting for the plane to be pushed back, the gate agent asked if my girlfriend and I still wanted to go if only one of us could get on. I told her to board my girlfriend, since I could figure out plan Bs better than she could. She was taken down while they checked to see if seats were available. Then they had me and another nonrev (retired pilot's daughter, I think it was) get on. We were the last two. Just as I step on the jetbridge, a family comes running up. Turns out it was just 2 kids getting on. They still had me run up to see if we could find anything. There was my girlfriend at the plane's door, waiting for a seat assignment. Gate agent or FA or someone yelled out our seats, and they closed the door as I sat down. Girlfriend and I got the last two seats. I didn't even have a chance to call my family to say that we made it on.

Spongebue- That's great. So glad it worked out for you! I never say never until the plane is in the air! I once was the only non rev (with a list 70 deep) to get out of LAS and wouldn't you know that we were going to go back to the gate b/c someone was throwing up in the bathroom as we were taxi ing! I thought for sure I was done for sure! I hope you liked Malaysia and Singapore. I love Malaysia (Langkawi and KL) and it's on my list to go back.

Thanks Drewmeister- Thanks for the ideas. I actually might cave and not sweat it and spring for the miles. I haven't used them in years and accrue a lot at work. All of can go in first on the direct flights and I would still have miles left so maybe it's time to use them.

Mrs767er- I've used luxurylink before. Lately including Croatia, I've been emailing the hotels and making my own deals. I try and be reasonable but pick a price which is their low season price. So far, great deals. If I were you, I would focus on the Adriana. There are several in the same chain that are all in Hvar . One is old and needs a reno (the Palace), one is a huge hotel and is more convention style (very, very nice but lots of meeting rooms and not intimate), and the other is not as convenient. If you name them, I can tell you a bit about them as we saw all of them. The convention one is on a nice walk and is right by the beach club that was just featured in Conde Nast Traveler (I think the March addition). They are all close by but the Adriana is the newest, swankiest. It had only been open less than six months when we were there. A villa sounds great. Dubrovnik is crazy with cruise tourists (30,000 per day in the peak days) and I thought 2 days was plenty. It would be a good base though for excursions. There are some islands right off of Dubrovnik and you can rent a boat and go there (Miljec and another that starts with an L?) There are so many great towns, everything is very scenic. From VCE, check Italia, the distances look close but apparently it is a very long boat or flight (I don't think it was direct either, I think it went through Zagreb). I kept checking seatcounter.com and found a website that listed all the European flights to Croatia and then looked at loads. I remember FRA and ZRH were strong possiblities along with Heathrow. I think CDG was the shortest flight to SPU.

AS flights from both HNL-SEA and OGG-SEA on 6/14 look great at this point, keep them in mind, who knows if you'll need them.

dc333- Thanks so much for checking, that was very sweet of you.

Thanks to everyone for their responses. Still on the fence about cashing in- I'm fine with risking it but hubby doesn't have the same tolerence that I do and the 2 two year olds may not either!