The next morning we needed to go to the airport early due to Dale’s TSA pre-check was not coming up on his boarding pass. It was so easy to hop on the AirTrain to terminal four for Delta. We were so thankful we had booked Delta One for this flight as there is a separate line at the airport for those with this ticket. We walked right to the counter, bypassing all the other lines. We explained to the agent what was going on with Dale’s ticket and with a quick phone call he had everything fixed and Dale was checked in and we could proceed to the very short TSA line that was just next to where we checked in. And since not everyone was being sent this way, I’m assuming it was because of our ticket! We were then off to the Delta SkyClub which we had access to with this ticket.
There was no need for us to worry about eating before we went to the airport. The SkyClub had a full breakfast available along with fruits, pastries, cereal and mimosa’s to start your trip along with Starbucks coffee (both iced and hot). We both had a nice breakfast and a drink before it was time to head to our gate.
When it was time to board, we were zone one, only those needing special assistance were boarded before our group. It felt kind of awkward walking around everyone who is lined up waiting to board and going right to the front of the line, but that was what we did. We got on board to these amazing seats! Each seat comes with a small pouch with eye mask, ear plugs, toothbrush, hand lotion, lip balm and a pen (that you’ll need to fill out the Hawaiian form before arrival). The larger bag on the seat contains a very comfy pillow and a blanket. There were also slippers at each seat and noise cancelling headphones that enabled you to view the large selection of movies, tv show, various other things or listen to music. There are places to plug in your devices to charge if needed.
As soon as we got seated and checked out the goodies, they were coming around to see if you would like juice, sparkling wine or a mimosa. These were then served in real glass!!
We took off on time and were soon on our way to Hawaii!!! Oh my gosh, we were really going to Hawaii TODAY!!! It was just so exciting, all this planning for the past year was finally coming true. Shortly after taking off and getting settled in the air, they were starting the dining service. It was only 10:30 am but they were serving lunch (good thing since we had breakfast pretty early).
They offer you a beverage first, and bring warm mixed nuts (oh and they put cloth napkins down on your tray like a placemat). Then lunch was served. We had several options and Dale and I both chose different ones so we could share and try them both. We had the Braised Beef Short Rib and the Buffalo Mozzarella Ravioli. They were served with tuna tataki, mixed greens and sourdough roll. After lunch the dessert options were blueberry lemon cheesecake or fruit and cheese plate.
After the meal service, it was ‘nap’ time. They turned all the lights down and had everyone close the window shades. It really made it a comfortable environment to rest. I enjoyed a movie or two, some old Friends episodes and listened to my book from the library that I had been listening too. As long as we were over land we had access to wifi. Our seats laid down completely flat so it was very comfortable to sleep in. I can honestly say there was never a time during this flight did I think ‘are we almost there’ as it was such a comfortable seat and the ability to nap on and off just made the time go by. I think it's so neat to 'watch' where we are in our flight.
About an hour or so before we were to get ready to land they started the next meal (lighter meal) service along with drinks. This was a delicious grilled chicken salad (or vegetarian grain bowl) with fresh fruit and flan for dessert. Everything we had was really good.
Before long we were landing in Honolulu. This airport is quite different than any we are used to as there is so much open air spaces. It was not 'hot' but it was a little humid after being in such a climate controlled environment for the past ten hours. A little confusing at first and it seemed we walked forever to get to baggage claim (down stairs, up stairs and down stairs again). By the time we got there our bags were just coming down the carousel.
I had arranged to have Lei Greetings meet us in the airport to officially start this vacation right! They welcomed us to Hawaii with this cute sign and mine was a beautiful Orchid Lei and Dale's was a Kukui Nut Lei. I would highly recommend them as they tracked our flight for any delays or changes of arrival time (we notified them when Delta made a slight change to our flight ahead of time), but if you are late taking off, they are tracking your flight. We landed in Honolulu and when I connected my phone again I had a text from them with the name of who was meeting us and where.
We rented a car though Costco with Alamo (if you are a Costco member, always check the travel site, almost always the car rental prices are cheaper, include all the fees and taxes and a second driver for free. And because I use the Alamo app with everything pre-loaded and a card on file we did not need to get in any lines at all, we walked right to the garage and picked which four-door Jeep we wanted (we opted for the only NOT white one at that time, lol). They were all hybrid vehicles.
In no time we were out of the garage and on our way to Aulani, with a quick trip to Target to pick up our groceries and reef safe sunscreen. We do this often when we travel. I place our Target order and 'push it' before we board the plane. If we hadn't had alcohol in our order we could have just driven up and gotten out delivery brought out. We had been warned to bring reusable grocery bags as Hawaii is NO bags! We had thrown a couple into the suitcase, but I still needed to pick up two more. I loved that the Target shopping bag from Hawaii has Aloha on it and tropical flowers! Traveling on a Saturday made our commute from the airport to Aulani very easy. In no time we were pulling up to our new 'home' (no we did not buy more DVC) but I love when we pull in and they say Welcome Home!
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