Hawaiian Airlines Manila Nonstop

[riverwolf]

p.s.
Unless the rules have changed your passport needs to be valid six months pass your arrival date.
Good journey's.
R.W.

riverwolf

[rbakker]

macuu222, just bring a printout showing the booking code and the dates of your return flight.
It should look a bit official so best to use the confirmation email you (hopefully) got from the airline.
Sure, it's just a piece of paper, but they can check the booking code (eg YGG6H4) if they want.

If you did just have a one-way then the best thing to do would be to buy a full-price one-way back that can be cancelled without penalties.
Show them the proof of that one-way back, then cancel it and buy a cheaper one.

[missydog1]

The return flight matters bigtime.

I'll tell you what happened to us because like us you are using a different airline to get to your final destination.

We almost got denied boarding by ANZ departing the Cook Islands for Tahiti, because my husband had forgotten to bring the right form of confirmation for our onward flight from Tahiti back to HNL on Hawaiian.

He had brought a printout of the itinerary or something. I can't remember exactly, because it was 5 years ago, but he was supposed to bring the receipt and the confirmation codes. (I made all the reservations and he was the one who printed everything.)

To give you an idea how sticky it got, we were at the airport more than two hours early, and we still barely made the flight. Problem was the flight departed about 1 a.m. and they had to get confirmation from Customs (IIRC) in French Polynesia that they would make an exception on the paperwork and allow us in, and it was late to be getting hold of someone who had the authority.

They told us it was unlikely we would get on, disaster for us because ANZ only did the flight twice a week, and Hawaiian only flew once a week, so we would have missed our flight back to the U.S by two days. So I begged them ... the ANZ people were not that interested in solving the problem, so I had to ask and ask. Finally, only a few minutes before departure, they gave us the OK.

Now if we had been flying on Hawaiian, they would have had our return reservation in the computer, but being a different airline, of course they couldn't see it in their system. If only I had had a smart phone or a laptop, I could have brought it up, but I didn't have the former yet and we we were traveling light, no laptop.

Point of story, yes, you need a return ticket!
Basically they don't want people coming into the country who are not entitled to stay there without visas and don't have a ticket out.

Some countries are probably looser than others, but New Zealand is not loose as far as I know. The Cooks are under New Zealand and they are really strict about the onward passage rule.

The problem with buying a fully refundable ticket would be cash flow. It could cost a couple thousand for two tickets.

it's hard to be spontaneous these days with all the rules. Best to pick yourself a date of return that works. At worst, you could pay a change fee plus fare difference to extend.

Just remember that to change a reservation, you can't do it online, and that was what we tried to do with Hawaiian, fly home a week later, but even though we could get online and there was availability, we could not get a live agent on the line from a foreign country.

So, as I said before, unless you are in a major city airport where your airline has a ticket counter that is open all the time, it may not be a piece of cake to make reservations after you leave home.

Also you run the risk when flying close to the date that the fare tier on Hawaiian that you got on your outbound will have sold out, and your return fare will cost a lot more.

Yes, that is true about the passport. Countries will not let you in if it is within six months of expiration. They don't want to be stuck with us! [:p]

[macuu222]

Were in Manila. Hawaiian flight was excellent. Smooth sailing all the way. And their business class service was so worth it.

[rbakker]

macuu222, you've probably already thought of this but just in case (and for others): don't forget the ETA (electronic visa) for Australia.
You can get it online, costs about $20.

[macuu222]

Wouldn't leave home without it!

[missydog1]

*waves* how exciting! [] Do keep us posted if you can.

[punafish]

Maccuu, thanks for the feedback. It might sound counterintuitive, but I actually value negative feedback more than the positive, as customer critiques are what ultimately fuel improvement. That said, it's also gratifying to hear that Hawaiian Airline's product upgrade is being noticed by customers. (Granted, when you're dealing with humans, variation in quality naturally follows.) The food and wine in business class is the real deal. They brought in Chef Chai to upgrade their menu and also Master Sommelier Chuck Furuya to match the wine to the cuisine. (The wines--including their flagship red "Pikake"--were blended/purchased exclusively for Hawaiian Air, which means this particular wine can only be enjoyed on HA flights and at Chuck's restaurant in Honolulu, "Vino".)

Proud to be a small part of HA"s product upgrade. As I do with all the negative feedback I run across, I'll be sure to pass on your kind words to the folks at HA.

Oh yeah, my recent flight to Haneda was wonderful, in spite of the fact that we landed two hours after a major typhoon hit Tokyo.