Last night (about 7 PM) I finally got the notification that my COVID test results were ready. I downloaded them and uploaded it to the Safe Travels Hawaii program, but it says manual review is required.
I started to drive to Austin at 4 AM. Along the way I got a text message that my seat had changed. They changed equipment between Austin and DFW. When I looked I noticed that the systemwide upgrade from LAX to Hawaii went through. Despite trying to get a new boarding pass via the app and website I was unable to get one with the business class seats. I called and they supposedly reissued the ticket, but still no luck.
I parked at the Parking Spot (Pre-Pay) was only $6.37/day for covered parking. I reached the airport in plenty of time to deal with my normal TSA related issues and get the correct boarding pass.
The first flight from Austin had an equipment change and a short delay before taking off, but was mostly on time. The seats had a nifty thing to hold a phone or tablet and power for all 3 seats in the row (unlike United that can’t count and only has 2).
When I arrived in Dallas I needed to change terminals. Luckily both gates were near the sky train. When I arrived at my gate they were already boarding group 6 of 9 (I was in group 2). I didn’t have any issues finding overhead space. All the seats had power and screens.
Here’s when things went bad. The flight was delayed slightly because of some error message. We did leave the gate and it seemed possible to make the connecting flight in Los Angeles, but it would be tight. After departing the gate and taxiing the plane returned to the gate with the same issue. By the time the wheels were up the flight left more than 2 hours after it was scheduled. The result of this was arriving 1 hour after my flight to Kaua`i left.
I called American Airlines and the only realistic option was to fly the next day on the same flight. With the COVID restrictions I was worried about arriving on Oahu before Kaua`i and not having my test be valid.
At the customer service center they booked us at an airport hotel (Sheraton) and gave me a $12 food voucher. They told me it would be impossible to get my checked bags, but when I went to the luggage service it was quite simple.
I took the hotel shuttle to the hotel and was upgraded to a nicer room. Obviously the view of the airport wasn’t as good as the view of the beach in Hawaii.
After dropping my bags I ordered food from the hotel restaurant. They took the $12 food voucher, but obviously it didn’t cover all the food.
I called it a very early night because of a headache from being dehydrated during the day.
