Well Aloha everyone! It's been such a long time since I've done a trip report! I decided about the middle of last week that I was going to take a trip to Hawaii. I purchased my tickets on wednesday in First and I started to prepare for the flight.

I woke up about 3AM for my flight to ORD. I'm always one for late packing, so I packed up my suitcase and left for the airport at 530AM central time, to check in for my flight. It takes me about 30 min to get to OKC's Will Rogers World Airport from my house. As I approached the airport, I noticed that the garage parking was full. It was rather odd that it was full because of all my flights in and out of there, I never had a problem parking in the garage. Maybe it was because it was the 4th of July, not sure. Behind the garage, there is a large parking lot just north of the garage that was open, so I opted for that instead. They have shuttles that run through very often, so that was a decent choice. I pulled into the lot and got my parking ticket and started circling around trying to find a parking spot. I went all the way to the front and started snaking my way through the lot. About 20 min later, I was getting close to the end of the lot and there was absolutely NOTHING! So I exited the lot and after you leave the airport, you pull up to a toll booth station and pressent your ticket. I told the lady that there were no parking spots available, and she said, "Oh, yeah, we just closed that lot. You will have to park in the Shuttle West Lot." I haven't parked in the shuttle west lot in ages, but one improvement they've made on it was that they made it into covered parking, but they raised the rate by 1 dollar. Oh well...I was just glad to get somewhere to park so I could hurry up and get to the check-in counter. I took the shuttle from the Shuttle West parking and unloaded outside of the United Check in counter.

The check in area at OKC is rather modern, combining stainless steel, rock, and beautiful wood panelling, and light green plackards and signs with flatscreen flight information screens scattered about. You can see the line at the UA check in counter. Nothing too dramatic.



After Checking In, I made my way down to the security area and checked the flight informaton screen to make sure my flight was on time. UA flight 7150 to ORD.

Security was a mess, and I was standing next to a couple who experienced the same problems with parking.

Sunrise on the 4th of July, looking out toward parking

The Next few pics are of the OKC airport, so I thought I'd let them do the talking



The lounge at OKC, not really open at 6AM, unless you are realy into drinking in the morning  





The Will Roger's World Airport Control Tower

Looking toward my gate at the very end



UA7150
OKC-ORD
Departure: 7:11AM
Arrival: 8:35AM

Flight 7150 departed for ORD at 7:11. I was the last one to board as I was late through security because of parking issues. But one the greatest things was I was the ONLY person in first class, (Exec Plus) on this flight! Which meant I got special attention from the flight attendant. She actually sat down with me and we talked for a short while after drinks and my breakfast box had been handed out. She was a Dulles based FA but originally from South Carolina. To quote Singapore_Air, "She was worthy of marriage and would make a good wife." I was "impressed."

The flight to Chicago was uneventful and I have a great video of take off and descent, but the high speed internet at my hote is extremely slow, so I only uploaded the ORD-HNL flights, but look for more videos in the next few days.

Here's a few shots from the OKC-ORD flight:


Pushback

Taxi for Take Off

Climbing out of OKC

Forward Galley on the CRJ-700


The emtpy first class section



Landing in chicago was a little bumpy on the descent, but smooth touchdown and we taxied to United's Regional Jet Terminal, which I believe is Terminal 1A. Correct me if I am wrong.

UA 001
ORD-HNL
Departure: 10:15AM
Arrival: 2:15 PM
Duration: 8h15m

I was looking forward to this flight because it's on my favorite aircraft, the 777. There's nothing quite like this aircraft, especially on longhaul trips. The flight left from Terminal 1B gate 16. When I arrived at the gate, I noticed that the Maui (OGG) flight was also a 777 and departing from gate 17 which was right next to our 777. The lounge area at these two gates is at the very end of the terminal and completely full and crammed with people traveling on both the Honolulu flight and the Maui flight. At the next gate over, a flight to Mexico city was boarding for departure.

My Aircraft to HNL:


It's amazing how big the 777 looks after being on a CRJ!

Looks like at that point only 248 out of the 340 seats were checked in. But we were yet 1 hour from departure.

A look at ORD's United Terminal from the end. Trust me, it's a LOOOONG way down to the end of it, even though it doesn't seem so.

Here's my boarding pass for UA001


The Massive PW engine of the 777


A comparison photo of my 777 on the left to HNL and the OGG 777 on the right. You never fully understand how tall the tips of those wings are until you see it. Honestly, they are taller than some high pitched roofed two-story homes!


The Honolulu Flight waiting lounge at B16

The aircraft gets pumped and prepped



The weather over the continental US

Well, I didn't get lucky and get an international 777, but I'm not complaining. Here we all are getting to our seats. We boarded from door 1A and I was the first one on board. The coach passengers boarded from 2A. My seat was 5J for this flight. First was completely full for the HNL flight.



The traditional glass of champagne before departure...hmmm, champagne and Starbucks....who would have thought?  

Pushback




We passed by ANA 777-300ER and the UA Boeing 747-400 as we taxiied to the runway. ORD tower was great as they gave us a "UA 1, Cleared for Take Off and ALOHA!"

Here is the video of the take off:


And here are some pics from the flight to HNL:





The traditional Trader Vick's Mai Tai









Crop circles anyone?




Leaving the coast of California for Hawaii....some wildfires messing up the view of the coast.





HONOLULU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT!!!


And I'll end here with the approach and landing video.


I have a lot to say about this trip report, but 1. I'm in the business center of my hotel and you are really only supposed to be here for 30 min, i've been here for 3 hours, and their internet is quite slow. So I will add additional pics and videos later on.

Hope you enjoy and I hope the pics tell the story for the mean time!

UAL