DATE: Friday April 8, 2022
DEPARTURE TIME: 8:20 AM (HST)
ACTUAL DEPARTURE TIME: 8:37 AM (HST)
ARRIVAL TIME: 9:01 AM (HST)
ACTUAL ARRIVAL TIME: 9:00 AM (HST)
FLIGHT TIME: 23min
SID: PALAY3
ARRIVAL: CAMPS3
FL: 13,000ft
AIRLINE: Hawaiian Airlines
AIRCRAFT: Boeing 717-200
AIRCRAFT ID: N487HA
FLIGHT NUMBER: HA176
SEAT: 1A
FLIGHT PLAN: PALAY3 LNY CAMPS3
Departure Video (Osmo Pocket 2): https://youtu.be/Qj6YmfbXGI0?t=1
Departure Video (GoPro Hero 9): https://youtu.be/AhSpzlSjWd8
Arrival Video (Osmo Pocket 2): https://youtu.be/JhGzR8oG7dI?t=1
Arrival Video (GoPro Hero 9): https://youtu.be/GogJe65fmVI?t=1
This Trip Report is Part 2 of 3 and it follows the inter-island day trip roundtrip I took from Honolulu to Maui on April 8, 2022 onboard the Hawaiian Airline’s Boeing 717-200 aircraft.
The trip began on the morning Friday April 8, 2022 at the Waikiki Beach Marriott hotel. If you have had the opportunity to stay in Waikiki Beach, specifically at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Hotel you know that parking is extremely scarce. Most tourists arrive at the hotel via a rental car and most hotels in Waikiki have very limited parking lots. I have stayed at the Waikiki Beach Marriott several times and have come close to not having a parking space available to me more than a few times. So instead of driving to the airport I elected to keep my rental car safe in its secured parking spot at the hotel and take an Uber to the airport for the day trip to Maui.
The Uber arrived at 6:40AM and the ride was pretty quick. I got to Terminal 1 at Daniel K Inouye International Airport (PHNL) at about 7:00AM. There was virtually no line at TSA and I got through very quickly! The TSA entry to the terminal was located on the opposite side of the terminal from the gate so I made the 5 minute walked through the terminal to find the gate, Gate A19. The terminal was pretty empty at that hour so the walk was pleasant and did not require a lot of navigating through people or crowds.
The terminal does not have a very modern feel to it, but honestly that is part of its charm.
I arrived at the gate to find that the plane had not arrived quite yet. The boarding area for my flight was arguably the most crowded part of the airport I had seen but admittedly there was still plenty of seating directly adjacent to the boarding area.
After a 30 minute wait at the gate the plane arrived. Passengers quickly deplaned after it arrived and boarding began almost immediately. This was my 5th inter-island flight with Hawaiian and they have all had the same rapid pace for planing and deplaning. Honestly the rapid boarding process is one of my favorite aspects of catching the inter-island flights with Hawaiian as I am not a huge waiting in the boarding area. I was in the first boarding group for the flight so that made boarding even faster.
Once on board I settled into my seat, 1A. Seat 1A does not provide under-seat storage so I placed my belongings in the overhead bin. It should be noted that both bins in the first class cabin about seats A and B are dedicated to emergency equipment so if you have to store your things be sure to snag a space in the bins on the opposite side of the aisle. Luckily there was plenty of space in the bins across the aisle and I was able to easily store my belongings.
Seats in the first row of first class share a single holder for the safety card/ magazines. There are not entertainment screens in the first class but the seats are incredibly comfortable! They are large brown seats and they are soft.
Upon settling in I was a little disappointed to find out that my window was dirty and scratched. The state of the window meant that photo and video opportunities would limited at best.
The boarding process went by pretty quickly and we pushed backed maybe 15 minutes after I settled into my seat. Before taxiing the first class flight attendant came by and took my in-flight drink order. I was surprised they were serving anything for the short 24 minute flight but I happily ordered a Mai Tai. After our orders were taken and the preflight safety message was delivered we made the relatively quick taxi to runway 8L and departed after a few inbound heavies made their way in and off the runway. The views from the window was pleasant but as I previously mentioned the scratches on the window definitely hindered the view.
We hit our cruising altitude in what seemed like a blink of an eye and the drink service kicked off in an instant! I was happy to see that in addition to my drink I was also provided a mini Biscoff cookie. The drinks were served in Hawaiian labeled plastic cups (I kept the cup and napkin as a souvenir as I am an avid collector of these types of inflight service items).
I filmed the majority of the flight with my GoPro Hero 9 and my Osmo Pocket 2 so I did not have a lot of opportunities to take photos out the window. I did grab one on the way in of the coast line leading to the Lahaina.
The landing was a tad windy for my liking but it wasn’t too bad. We made the short taxi from the runway to the gate and were permitted to leave the plane almost as immediately as we permitted to board it on the way in. Hawaiian operates a lot of inter-island flights throughout the day so I think their urgency in getting you off the plane is to ensure that they are able to meet there swift turnaround times. My favorite part about being in row 1 is that it means I am usually the first off the plane.
After getting off the plane I was pleased to see that the Terminal was about as empty as the one I left behind at Honolulu. I think the early morning arrival had a lot to do with how empty the Terminal was. The signage in the Terminal is pretty direct and does a great job directing you to where you need to go; in my case I was looking for the Rental Car facility. It seemed like I was actually the only person looking for the Rental Car facility because no one else went my way and no one else boarded the newly installed trolley to the facility. The trolley ride to the rental car facility was incredibly brief but very pleasant. The trolley was a pleasant surprise because the last time I was in Maui it was a shuttle bus and it was PACKED! This time around I was on the shuttle and in my rental car within about 10 minutes.
After picking up the rental car I grabbed some much needed breakfast. I elected to go to the nearby town of Paia and check out a place I scoped out the night before, Island Fresh Cafe. If you find yourself in Maui I highly recommend this place. The food was great and affordable and the service was outstanding. The weather in Maui was not the best but I made good use of my short time there. I spent the bulk of the day on the beach and had a nice stroll down Front St in Lahaina before grabbing a spectacular lunch at Starr Noodle. The day went by incredibly fast! Before I knew it it was time to head back to the airport to catch my flight back to O’ahu.
[img[https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52011957219_42a735a011_h.jpg[/img]
Overall the flight from Honolulu to Maui was very enjoyable. It was nice to make it through TSA in Honolulu as fast as we did and it was nice to not have to wait in the boarding area for a lengthy deplaning and boarding process. The crew on the flight were some of the friendliest I have ever had on any flight and the service they provided in such a short amount of time was truly exceptional. If you have not flown with Hawaiian before I strongly recommend you book a flight with them.
SECOND FLIGHT: Maui (OGG) - Honolulu (HNL)
DATE: Friday April 8, 2022
DEPARTURE TIME: 7:40 PM (HST)
ACTUAL DEPARTURE TIME: 8:24 PM (HST)
ARRIVAL TIME: 8:19 PM (HST)
ACTUAL ARRIVAL TIME: 8:46 APM (HST)
FLIGHT TIME: 22min
SID: MAUI5
ARRIVAL: JULLE5
FL: 14,000ft
AIRLINE: Hawaiian Airlines
AIRCRAFT: Boeing 717-200
AIRCRAFT ID: N476HA
FLIGHT NUMBER: HA176
SEAT: 2A
FLIGHT PLAN: MAUI5 OGG LNY JULLE5
Departure Video (Osmo Pocket 2): https://youtu.be/qxU8vCJSvYQ?t=1
Departure Video (GoPro Hero 9): https://youtu.be/q_xW5gNpe3g?t=1
Arrival Video (Osmo Pocket 2): https://youtu.be/fjlMT07ablg?t=1
Arrival Video (GoPro Hero 9): https://youtu.be/P2WW7tKznD4?t=1
In order to catch my flight back to Honolulu I first had to return my rental car and take the short trolley ride back to the Terminal at Kahului Airport. This time around I was not the only person on the trolley and I was far from the only person at the airport. It turns out that 7PM-9PM is an incredibly busy time at Kahului as there are a number of flights that return to the mainland late at night. I think the large volume of late night departures (and even later arrival on the mainland) is designed to allow tourists to get one last full day in Maui before heading back to reality. When I arrived at the Terminal I was meet by a pretty substantial line for TSA that only grew longer behind me. In total it still only took about 30 minutes to get through TSA so all-in-all it wasn’t too bad.
I made it through security with about an hour and a half to spare before my departure. I stopped by Sammy’s Beach Bar and Grill for a couple drinks before the flight. The Bar and Grill was packed! There was only two spare seats in the entire place! I was fortunate to grab one and was even more fortunate to get prompt service. After grabbing a couple drinks I headed to the boarding area for my flight. Upon arriving at the gate I was rather surprised at how crowded the gate was. The board said they were boarding my flight, Hawaiian 535 but they announced they were actually boarding Hawaiian 515. They were both Honolulu bound flights so a lot of other people were also confused. I looked up the plane on Flight Radar 24 and saw that the plane was actually still in transit from Honolulu so I settled down a bit and waited for the plane to arrive. Nearly everyone on the Honolulu bound flight seemed to have a huge box of Krispy Kream donuts as their personal item.
After the first plane pushed back my plane pulled in. I boarded shortly thereafter and found my seats, Seat 2A. Sitting in Seat 2A meant that I was able to place my backpack under the seat in front of me instead of trying to find space in the overhead bin. There was space in the bin but I always prefer the immediate access to my bag anyways. I ordered a Maui Blonde Ale for my inflight drink and also grabbed another mini Biscoff cookies during the very short flight. Upon arrival in Honolulu the flight attendants asked all passengers not connected to the mainland to stay seated so people could make their connections. I waited it out and ended up still getting off the plane before most of the other passengers thanks largely to my proximity to the boarding door.
Overall the flight back to Honolulu was nice. The seat was very comfortable and there was plenty of space for me to feel comfortable. There wasn’t a lot to see since the sun had already set but I did see a few lights on O’ahu before we landed. The crew on the flight was once again some of the friendliest I have ever had on any flight and the service they provided in such a short amount of time was truly exceptional. If you have not flown with Hawaiian before I strongly recommend you book a flight with them. Catching the Uber back to the hotel was relatively straight forward. It was fairly cheap and only took about 15 minutes from start to finish.
