37 thoughts on “The Art Of Choosing Seats On Flights To Hawaii”
Pamela V
ROD W
Rebook your tickets for a cheaper price(by phone no up charge) and get a voucher to use within the designated timeframe (usually a year from date of purchase) with your airline.
I do this every year with American earning me a $382.00 flight in 2021
and shopping currently to use my voucher and most likely will visit HI for about the same from Memphis,TN. I get to visit Paradise twice within 12 months.
It’s a Great Idea but you just outed yourself and many others. The airlines read the comments and will be looking for a way to stop this practice. Don’t worry too much, I am certain that no one is going to hold it against you, well…almost!
We fly Austin – Maui for the past 14 years. We book on AA using miles. We fly to Maui in Coach but buy the extended legroom seats. We book our return 1st/Business class and “pay” the extra 20K miles to be on an OGG – DFW 777 or 787 that has lie flat seats. If on 787 you have to decide if you will take rear facing seats. We usually select the forward-facing seats but I’m not sure it really makes a difference.
Window seats on the left side usually get a better view at Honolulu airport, since prevailing trade winds lead air traffic to orient that side towards the land.
When to buy tickets? We typically fly Premium Economy which from Ontario, Calif to HNL is about $800-$1000. When we made our September reservations in April, 1st class was $1167. So, it was close enough to Premium, we bought the 1st class tickets.
Today, that 1st class ticket on the only nonstop from Ontario is $1706 and Premium on Hawaiian (our airline) is $1369.
So, will fares go up or down between now & Sep 9? No one knows for sure. Too bad we can’t sell our seats and get the Premium for $400 less than today’s first class! No matter which way they go, we got a deal. However, 1st class from Ontario gives you a crappy recliner seat with 39″ of pitch. 1st class from LAX today is $1513 on Hawaiian 76″ pitch on sleeper seats. No thanks LAX
Rod you scored a great deal, enjoy it! We typically don’t pay over $550.00 per ticket and have spent as little as $425.00. Of course they weren’t First Class. Happy and Safe Skies.
Thank you, BOH, for another interesting article! Do you know which seats get the least turbulence? How about safest? I’ve Googled these topics and have never found anything completely conclusive.
Not sure about turbulence being less in one part of the plane as opposed to another, but I have always read that the rear of the plane is safest. Makes sense: physics.
I’ll have to ask my aerospace engineer son about the turbulence question. 😄
The best seat on the plane to avoid turbulence is either over the wings or towards the front of the aircraft. The wings of the plane keep it balanced and smooth, whereas the tail of the aircraft can bounce up and down more. (Google search)
exactly what my hubby says and he worked on Top Gun technology for an aerospace company (which I cannot name for security reasons) as a software/electrical engineer
Lanell, the further forward you sit the less you’ll feel the turbulence. I guess you could think of it as a sort of pendulum effect.
A plane enters an area of turbulence nose first obviously and the tail will have the largest movement.
Keep in mind turbulence really isn’t a hazard unless you are not wearing your seatbelt or someone has a heavy unsecured item near you.
Sorry to say but theoretically the tail is the safest place to be in the highly unlikely event of a crash, or so they say. A crash is so rare it’s hard to prove that with meaningful statistics. I guess you could also choose by an emergency exit, it’s a roomier seat too.
We’ve been flying into Kauai for nearly 30 years. Early on, I realized that the flights from continental US nearly always land going east, turning from their westward flight over the ocean in the area northeast of Poipu. Since we are anxious and delighted to see the greenery and beauty of the island from the air, and to view the area where we’ll be staying in the Lihue area, I always get a window seat on the left side. Just a wonderful nice ‘tingle’ for an octogenarian to spend about 5 minutes or so surveying what we love so well before those wheels hit the ground!! My wife always wants an aisle seat, so we select our seats when we make the reservations (at least 8 months in advance) and we can always get our preference.
Another tip: if you book far in advance, check your reservation at least every two weeks. Check to make sure that there hasn’t been a change in seats or flights. The earlier you find out about changes, the more options you hav to get your favorite seats back..
Great information. I might add that even though you pre-reserve seats and pay for upgrades that you regularly check/confirm your reservation. Change of scheduled times or aircraft could get you reassigned to a seat that you do not accept. It has happened numerous times since we purchase tickets months in advance to lock in fares. We pay and pick for specific seats as discussed in the article but find we have been moved without noticed. Yes, even HA does this. Additionally, certain seats are released for assignment at the airport on the day of the flight so you need to persistent to get the seats you are looking for.
SeatGuru and SeatMaestro are also good for determining which seats are over a wing, blocking your view. Also, a map will show you which seats don’t have a window in the right place. The airlines have recently been greedily squeezing more rows in, so many seats are often offset from the windows. Some “window seats” have no window at all.
It’s not correct to imply that “greed” is part of airline space use. They only do what customers will tolerate, and most people would rather pay a little less with efficient seating, rather than guarantee a window lines up with every row.
Efficient Seating? It’s nothing but reducing personal space and comfort to add additional seating which equates to a Money Grab! They add seats, give a small break on ticket prices and a few months later they raise prices higher than they had been. That is Greed. That’s being Inconsiderate and Money Hungry. There’s been Plenty of Complaints and they never change the seats back voluntarily.
ROD W
Rebook your tickets for a cheaper price(by phone no up charge) and get a voucher to use within the designated timeframe (usually a year from date of purchase) with your airline.
I do this every year with American earning me a $382.00 flight in 2021
and shopping currently to use my voucher and most likely will visit HI for about the same from Memphis,TN. I get to visit Paradise twice within 12 months.
It’s a Great Idea but you just outed yourself and many others. The airlines read the comments and will be looking for a way to stop this practice. Don’t worry too much, I am certain that no one is going to hold it against you, well…almost!
We fly Austin – Maui for the past 14 years. We book on AA using miles. We fly to Maui in Coach but buy the extended legroom seats. We book our return 1st/Business class and “pay” the extra 20K miles to be on an OGG – DFW 777 or 787 that has lie flat seats. If on 787 you have to decide if you will take rear facing seats. We usually select the forward-facing seats but I’m not sure it really makes a difference.
Window seats on the left side usually get a better view at Honolulu airport, since prevailing trade winds lead air traffic to orient that side towards the land.
When to buy tickets? We typically fly Premium Economy which from Ontario, Calif to HNL is about $800-$1000. When we made our September reservations in April, 1st class was $1167. So, it was close enough to Premium, we bought the 1st class tickets.
Today, that 1st class ticket on the only nonstop from Ontario is $1706 and Premium on Hawaiian (our airline) is $1369.
So, will fares go up or down between now & Sep 9? No one knows for sure. Too bad we can’t sell our seats and get the Premium for $400 less than today’s first class! No matter which way they go, we got a deal. However, 1st class from Ontario gives you a crappy recliner seat with 39″ of pitch. 1st class from LAX today is $1513 on Hawaiian 76″ pitch on sleeper seats. No thanks LAX
Rod you scored a great deal, enjoy it! We typically don’t pay over $550.00 per ticket and have spent as little as $425.00. Of course they weren’t First Class. Happy and Safe Skies.
Thank you, BOH, for another interesting article! Do you know which seats get the least turbulence? How about safest? I’ve Googled these topics and have never found anything completely conclusive.
Mahalo!
Hi Lanell.
Thanks We aren’t sure actually. Maybe one of the other aviation aficionados will chime in to answer your interesting question.
Aloha.
Not sure about turbulence being less in one part of the plane as opposed to another, but I have always read that the rear of the plane is safest. Makes sense: physics.
I’ll have to ask my aerospace engineer son about the turbulence question. 😄
Cindy,
I don’t recall reading of any significant accident that resulted in any lower deaths for back of the plane passengers.
The best seat on the plane to avoid turbulence is either over the wings or towards the front of the aircraft. The wings of the plane keep it balanced and smooth, whereas the tail of the aircraft can bounce up and down more. (Google search)
exactly what my hubby says and he worked on Top Gun technology for an aerospace company (which I cannot name for security reasons) as a software/electrical engineer
Lanell, the further forward you sit the less you’ll feel the turbulence. I guess you could think of it as a sort of pendulum effect.
A plane enters an area of turbulence nose first obviously and the tail will have the largest movement.
Keep in mind turbulence really isn’t a hazard unless you are not wearing your seatbelt or someone has a heavy unsecured item near you.
Sorry to say but theoretically the tail is the safest place to be in the highly unlikely event of a crash, or so they say. A crash is so rare it’s hard to prove that with meaningful statistics. I guess you could also choose by an emergency exit, it’s a roomier seat too.
We’ve been flying into Kauai for nearly 30 years. Early on, I realized that the flights from continental US nearly always land going east, turning from their westward flight over the ocean in the area northeast of Poipu. Since we are anxious and delighted to see the greenery and beauty of the island from the air, and to view the area where we’ll be staying in the Lihue area, I always get a window seat on the left side. Just a wonderful nice ‘tingle’ for an octogenarian to spend about 5 minutes or so surveying what we love so well before those wheels hit the ground!! My wife always wants an aisle seat, so we select our seats when we make the reservations (at least 8 months in advance) and we can always get our preference.
Another tip: if you book far in advance, check your reservation at least every two weeks. Check to make sure that there hasn’t been a change in seats or flights. The earlier you find out about changes, the more options you hav to get your favorite seats back..
Great information. I might add that even though you pre-reserve seats and pay for upgrades that you regularly check/confirm your reservation. Change of scheduled times or aircraft could get you reassigned to a seat that you do not accept. It has happened numerous times since we purchase tickets months in advance to lock in fares. We pay and pick for specific seats as discussed in the article but find we have been moved without noticed. Yes, even HA does this. Additionally, certain seats are released for assignment at the airport on the day of the flight so you need to persistent to get the seats you are looking for.
SeatGuru and SeatMaestro are also good for determining which seats are over a wing, blocking your view. Also, a map will show you which seats don’t have a window in the right place. The airlines have recently been greedily squeezing more rows in, so many seats are often offset from the windows. Some “window seats” have no window at all.
It’s not correct to imply that “greed” is part of airline space use. They only do what customers will tolerate, and most people would rather pay a little less with efficient seating, rather than guarantee a window lines up with every row.
Efficient Seating? It’s nothing but reducing personal space and comfort to add additional seating which equates to a Money Grab! They add seats, give a small break on ticket prices and a few months later they raise prices higher than they had been. That is Greed. That’s being Inconsiderate and Money Hungry. There’s been Plenty of Complaints and they never change the seats back voluntarily.
With SW it’s that 24 hour thing and for a bit of cost the 36 hour thing. We prefer the exit rows, there’s bit more room.
Aloha