LY777 From France, joined Nov 2005, 2448 posts, RR: 2 Posted (8 months 2 weeks 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 2844 times:
Hi, my sister will be on honeymoon next year, and I am helping her to find tickets. She says I am an expert in airlines LOL. So, I don't want to make a mistake
So, she will fly:
CDG-SFO: UA or AF?
SFO-HNL: HA or UA?
HNL-NYC: HA or UA?
NYC-CDG: AF or UA?
The fares are about the same, and she only wants nonstop flights. They will fly in Y.
I haven't flown AF so I won't comment on the TATL flight, but I would choose HA over UA any day of the week and again. HA are IMHO are very good airline. While the IFE is pay-per-use that didn't bother me on the 6 hour flight from HNL-LAS. They offer complimentary catering (UA don't) and I had a pasta meal which was among the best food I've ever had on a plane. The crew are friendly and laid back (think island vibe) and HA have some really great tropical juices as part of the beverage service - certainly better than your generic concentrated 'orange juice'! The legroom is about the same on both. Overall I really can't fault anything about HA on the basis of my one flight with them.
PI4EVER From United States of America, joined May 2009, 599 posts, RR: 2 Reply 3, posted (8 months 2 weeks 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 2844 times:
LY777 -
I assume your sister and groom want to stop over in SFO going and NYC on the return? Are you sure the fares are about the same? Have you priced the entire itinerary on the UA website....ual.com...using the multi-city function? I suspect the fare may be cheaper if they fly UA all the way, even with the fare calculation being broken at the stopover cities. You must have specific dates of flying to get the accurate price.
Use the same function....multi-city....also price on the DL website.....delta.com.....for AF/DL service to/from SFO, HNL and NYC. Please note however.....HNL-NYC will not be nonstop but due to the DL/AF SkyTeam partnership you may get a good fare flying strictly on them for the entire journey.
Talk them into a specific frequent flyer airline/alliance program so they can accrue miles into one program for all this flying.
They are flying Y. While HA service is good, if price and scheduling is better, opt for the UA or AF/DL options. AF is certainly superior to UA and I feel DL is better than UA for the HI legs but you'll get various opinions on all. Price trumps service even for relatively long segment flying to/from HI so the $$ saved could be spent buying you a nice gift to Thank You for all this planning work. Good Luck with all this. Keep the bride happy!
Thomas
P.S. Think nice hotels....in convenient locations....for SFO, HNL and NYC with an appropriate budget to match. These are not cheap places to honeymoon so again money saved on airfare will offset those hotel rates.
STT757 From United States of America, joined Mar 2000, 16267 posts, RR: 52 Reply 5, posted (8 months 2 weeks 2 days 23 hours ago) and read 2827 times:
My Wife and I just got back from Hawaii, on the way out we stopped for a night at SFO and stayed at the SFO Westin. We picked this hotel because it was close to the airport and had 24 hr complimentary shuttle bus. Nice hotel I highly recommend.
We took the UA HNL-EWR nonstop back, I highly recommend the nonstop at least one way. We had one of the newly reconfigured UA 764's that had AVOD throughout. Made the time "fly".
PI4EVER From United States of America, joined May 2009, 599 posts, RR: 2 Reply 7, posted (8 months 2 weeks 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 2779 times:
If the couple are staying in SFO for a couple days, I do not recommend staying near the airport. Too far getting in to the city and sights. If however they are only spending one night, I recommend the Embassy Suites SFO Airport Waterfront, on Anza Blvd. in Burlingame. Nice suite style hotel on the Bay, offering full breakfast buffet and evening cocktail reception included in room rate. Free shuttle to/from airport terminals and access to the BART train service from the airport. BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit and is a train service alot like the Regional Train services in Paris. Roundtrip from the airport to downtown SFO...Union Square...is a bit pricey at $16USD per person but is great for a one day visit.
For staying in downtown, there are literally hundreds of choices and price ranges. Very popular locations include Union Square and of course the Fisherman's Wharf area. Busy, bustling and lots to do in these areas, with great public transportation including the famous Cable Cars and city bus/subway/and train services.
I personally have stayed at the Hilton Union Square and the Marriott Courtyard Fisherman's Wharf, along with the above mentioned Embassy Suites at SFO.
For Hawaii, possibly not the "condo" they may be considering, but take a look at Hilton Grand Vacations at Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki. You can review the property and check prices on "www.hilton.com". Also on the same website look over the Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach Walk. Not a condo, but again an upscale resort in the heart of Waikiki Beach.
My favorite is however the Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio. A high-rise hotel facing the ocean that offers a bit more reasonable rate - just one block off the beach - but the oceanfront rooms have an unobstructed view of the beach and ocean and is in the heart of Waikiki for all the action. This is however a resort hotel type property more along the lines of the Embassy - not a condo - but worth a consideration for the location, views.....and likely better rates.
Hope this helps,
Thomas
Thanks, Thomas.
I once stayed at the Aston Waikiki Beach Tower, it was an amazing condo, but it was a good deal: now, the rates are very high!
For San Francisco, they want to stay 3 nights over there, and prefer to stay at the heart of the city
jporterfi From United States of America, joined Feb 2012, 358 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (8 months 2 weeks 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 2731 times:
Quoting LY777 (Reply 6): What does PS mean in "UA PS 757"?
PS stands for premium service, which is special service offered on UA 752s from JFK-SFO/LAX and back. You can read about it at this link: http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...avel/inflight/premiumservices.aspx but keep in mind that sometime this year they started converting to a 2-class cabin (and may have added regular economy seats to those planes (I'm not sure). I also have not flown on any United P.S. flights. Sorry I can't help more, but I'm sure STT757 will be able to answer your question more thoroughly.
Roseflyer From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 8754 posts, RR: 52 Reply 12, posted (8 months 2 weeks 6 hours ago) and read 2643 times:
This is really subjective. I think Hawaiian has the best product between the US mainland and Hawaii. The A330s have IFE and the 767s have mainscreen movies or you can rent a portable movie player. They also have complimentary meals. Seat pitch is about industry standard.
As for international, there’s a strong contingent on A.net that says always avoid US airlines. I personally think that Air France has a very unpleasant configuration on their 777s. It’s 10 abreast with 31’’ pitch, so the seats are smaller than you would find on UA. On JFK-CDG, I’d definitely go for the A380.
UA offers about the same pitch, but more width and it’s hard to beat 2-3-2 seating on their 767s. UA also has PTVs on the 767s. UA operates 757s into CDG against AF’s brand new A380s.
So I’d say
UA CDG-SFO
HA SFO-HNL
HA HNL-JFK
AF JFK-CDG
If you have never designed an airplane part before, let the real designers do the work!
LDIkaros From United States of America, joined Apr 2007, 175 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (8 months 1 week 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 2575 times:
Quoting Roseflyer (Reply 12): As for international, there’s a strong contingent on A.net that says always avoid US airlines. I personally think that Air France has a very unpleasant configuration on their 777s. It’s 10 abreast with 31’’ pitch, so the seats are smaller than you would find on UA. On JFK-CDG, I’d definitely go for the A380
I just flew AF 80 from CDG-SFO in Y class on a B777-200ER. Yes, AF squeezes 10 seats into a row. Surprisingly, though, I did not find the seats to be narrow at all and leg room was very generous, certainly more than what I remember from UA in regular Y class.
If prices are about the same and the choice is between UA and AF I would strongly suggest AF. UA is a mess right now and my last TATL in UA (admittedly a few years ago) was quite bad. AF has better hardware + service + friendlier crew. UA might get you from Paris to SFO but that's it! Don't expect more!
As for getting to/from Hawaii, I would also suggest HA. They are one of the best US carriers. You get the island vibe the moment you board the plane and the crew is usually very friendly and service-oriented. If the fare on HA is about the same as on other carriers then HA is definitely the way to go.
RyanairGuru From Australia, joined Oct 2006, 2533 posts, RR: 2 Reply 14, posted (8 months 1 week 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 2567 times:
Quoting LDIkaros (Reply 13): Yes, AF squeezes 10 seats into a row. Surprisingly, though, I did not find the seats to be narrow at all
10 abreast is very much a personal preference. I've flown EK many times (never AF though) and never found the seats to be too narrow. This might sound weird, but when I fly SQ or BA I notice that the seats on their 777s are wider than EK, but when I fly EK I don't seem to notice that they're narrower than SQ or BA. I can't explain that logic, but that's just how it is for me.
For the record I'm 5'9 and 150lbs - so smaller than a lot of people
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