The World’s Easiest Upgrade, Hawaiian Style

February 2024
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Travel like a champ on the most comfortable flights if you know where to find them

It’s the world’s easiest upgrade, or a WEUP as I sometimes call it.

I mean, how else to describe a situation where all you have to do to get an upgrade is know the type of aircraft you’re flying in?

The WEUP is the clever in-class upgrade. It’s a little-known secret to many travelers that international long-haul-configured cabins are a lot nicer than their domestic cousins.

You just need to know which ones, and voilà, you have an upgrade. That’s because they’re usually priced the same, sometimes even LESS.

It’s like a Birkin handbag going for the same price as its cheap look alike.

I’m feeling so good about this that I’m going to bring out my trusty stamp.

I’m feeling so good about this that I’m going to bring out my trusty stamp.

There are a lot of different ways to upgrade, i.e., improve your flight experience. And this one is such an easy get. In the airline business, Seat 1A doesn’t always equal Seat 1A. Let’s look at examples that show how you can win with this approach.

WEUP and At ‘Em: Free Domestic In-Class Upgrades to Hawaii

United Airlines’ Los Angeles-Honolulu service operates B757s and B777s where fares are close to the same, but the seats are certainly not. First Class seats on the B777s recline to 180 degrees, whereas on the B757, they only recline a few inches. Not only that, in this case, the B777 international aircraft with the lie-flat seat is $66 less. In other words, the airline is paying you $66 for a much better seat.

Bad News: Widebody Airplanes Are Shrinking

Unfortunately, finding a widebody aircraft to Hawaii is harder than ever. It’s because airlines began shifting their aircraft back to fast-growing international routes and away from former domestic routes during Lockdown when there was little demand for international flights.

Back then, there were many more widebody routes to Hawaii than you can find now.

In 2022, American Airlines had five widebody flights while in 2023 they only had two. Now there are three: Dallas to Honolulu and Maui; and Phoenix to Honolulu.

Delta had 11 in 2022, seven in 2023, and now they have eight: Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Salt Lake City, Seattle to Honolulu; and Salt Lake City to Maui.

United had 16 in 2022, 10 in 2023, and they now have 12: Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC, to Honolulu; Chicago and Denver to Kona; and Chicago, Denver, and San Francisco to Maui.

That’s a 40%+ decrease in widebody routes to Hawaii since before Lockdown. For that reason, we’re giving you a comprehensive guide to current widebody flights to the warming isles of Aloha.

Take your wide-angle lens on your widebody flight to Hawaii.

Connections and Upgrades

Mainland Connections: If you live in Memphis, you have to make a connection en route to Kona. This is a critical decision! Why not book United via Denver instead of American via Phoenix? If you do, you’ll get an international Business Class seat instead of a domestic First Class seat — that’s a free in-class upgrade.

About the Seats

There are currently 15 nonstop routes from the U.S. mainland to Honolulu, five to Maui, and two to Kona with widebody aircraft. If you don’t fly in these aircraft, you will get a relatively low-fi seat on all other flights.

Widebody Aircraft Configuration by Airline

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Widebody Opportunities from U.S. Mainland to Hawaii

American Airlines

American is primarily using the 787-800 and the 787-900 to Honolulu and Maui.

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Delta Airlines

Delta uses their A330 and B767 to Honolulu and A330 to Maui.

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United Airlines

United generally uses the B767 on their Newark- and Washington, DC-to-Honolulu routes; B777 on Denver to Kona; Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco to Honolulu; Denver and San Francisco to Maui; and B787 on Chicago-to-Honolulu, Kona, and Maui routes.

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There’s no better time than right now to consider a trip to Hawaii. Most Americans only need to look at their thermometers for incentive. So, dial it up even further in a nice comfy widebody cabin. Getting an upgrade — the world’s easiest upgrade — is simply an intel play, and all that intel is above.

See you up front, in comfort.

[["Airline","Aircraft","Version","Number of Seats","Seat Width"],["\n\n<a href=\"https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/experience/planes/planes.jsp\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">American</a>","B777-200","\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1","37","21.9"],["#rowspan#","B787-800","#rowspan#","20","21"],["#rowspan#","B787-900","#rowspan#","30","#rowspan#"],["\n\n\n\n\n\n<a href=\"https://www.delta.com/us/en/aircraft/overview\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Delta</a>","A330-200","#rowspan#","34","19.7"],["#rowspan#","A330-300","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","B767-300ER (L)","#rowspan#","36","\n20.5"],["#rowspan#","B767-300ER (K)","#rowspan#","26","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","B767-300ER (Z)","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","B767-400ER","#rowspan#","34","20"],["\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<a href=\"https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/inflight/united-airlines-fleet.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">United</a>","B767-300ER","#rowspan#","46","20.6"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","2","30","20.4"],["#rowspan#","B767-400ER","1","39","20.6"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","2","34","20.36-22.18"],["#rowspan#","\nB777-200","1","50","22"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","2","28","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","3","32","19"],["#rowspan#","B777-300","\n\n\n1","60","22"],["#rowspan#","B787-800","#rowspan#","28","\n\n20.5"],["#rowspan#","B787-900","#rowspan#","48","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","B787-1000","#rowspan#","44","#rowspan#"]]
<small>* Aircraft subject to change</small>
[["Travel Between","Flight numbers*","Days of Operation","Aircraft","Return","Days of Operation","Aircraft"],["\nDallas-Honolulu","AA115","\n\n\n\nSun. through Sat.","787-900","AA114","\n\n\n\n\n\nSun. through Sat.","787-900"],["#rowspan#","AA123","#rowspan#","\n\n\n787-800","AA102","#rowspan#","\n\n\n\n787-800"],["Dallas-Maui","AA119","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","AA116","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["\nPhoenix- Honolulu","AA692","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","AA693","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","","#colspan#","#colspan#","AA675","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"]]
<small>* Schedule through February 29. Flight numbers and aircraft subject to change.</small>
[["Travel Between","Flight numbers*","Days of Operation","Aircraft","Return","Days of Operation","Aircraft"],["Atlanta-Honolulu","DL0837","\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSun. through Sat.","\nA330","DL0836","\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSun. through Sat.","\nA330"],["Detroit-Honolulu","DL0797","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","DL0969","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["\n\n\nLos Angeles-Honolulu","DL0480","#rowspan#","\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nB767","DL0368","#rowspan#","\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nB767"],["#rowspan#","DL0465","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","DL0495","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","DL0443","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","DL0658","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["Minneapolis-Honolulu","DL0435","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","DL0309","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["New York - Honolulu","DL0317","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","DL0312","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["Salt Lake City- Honolulu","DL0397","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","DL0347","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["\nSalt Lake City-Maui","DL0316","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","DL0316","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","DL0971","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["Seattle-Honolulu","DL0310","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","DL0522","Sun. through Sat.","B767"]]
<small>* Schedule through February 29. Flight numbers and aircraft subject to change.</small>
[["Travel Between","Flight numbers*","Days of Operation","Aircraft","Return","Days of Operation","Aircraft"],["Chicago-Honolulu","UA219","Sun. through Sat.","\n\n\nB787","UA218","Sun. through Sat.","\n\n\n\nB787"],["Chicago-Kona","UA66","Fri.","#rowspan#","UA67","Fri.","#rowspan#"],["\nChicago-Maui","UA202","Sun., Wed. through Sat.","#rowspan#","UA203","Sun., Wed. through Sat.","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","","#colspan#","#colspan#","UA348","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["Denver-Honolulu","UA384","Sun. through Sat.","\nB777","UA383","\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSun. through Sat.","\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nB777"],["Denver-Kona","UA1758","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","UA1731","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","","#colspan#","#colspan#","UA1758","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["Denver-Maui","UA1736","Sun. through Sat.","B777","UA1430","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","","#colspan#","#colspan#","UA1735","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["Houston-Honolulu","UA253","\n\nSun. through Sat.","\n\n\nB777","UA252","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["\n\n\nLos Angeles-Honolulu","UA1158","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","UA1157","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","UA1170","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","UA1169","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","","#colspan#","#colspan#","UA1231","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","","#colspan#","#colspan#","UA534","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["Newark-Honolulu","UA363","\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSun. through Sat.","B767","UA362","#rowspan#","B767"],["\nSan Francisco-Honolulu","UA1175","#rowspan#","\n\n\n\n\n\n\nB777","UA1141","#rowspan#","\n\n\n\n\n\nB777"],["#rowspan#","UA1509","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","UA1176","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","UA300","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","UA396","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["San Francisco-Maui","UA1630","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","UA1722","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","UA2025","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","UA1726","#rowspan#","#rowspan#"],["Washington, DC-Honolulu","UA3545","Sun., Tues., Thurs. through Sat.","B767","UA344","Sun., Tues., Thurs. through Sat.","B767"]]
<small>* Schedule through February 29. Flight numbers and aircraft subject to change.</small>