Travel Angels Work Overtime in Hawaii

Mike and I were enjoying the brunch buffet at the Turtle Bay resort--a stark contrast to our conditions 7 hours ago. Our family had arrived at 3 a.m., braving wind, rain and no electricity, after a nearly 12-hour ordeal caused by delayed departures and an all-island blackout of Oahu which shutdown the United terminal at HNL. Our already-late plane, had been diverted to Maui for refueling and further information about when the United terminal at HNL would re-open. About 300 of us, sat captive on the plane, at the Maui airport--unable to even stretch our legs while we waited indefinitely. Two hours later, we were in the air, Oahu-bound.

Our arrival around 12:30 a.m. showed us a very different side of Honolulu. Normally greeted by sunshine, warm trade winds and smiling people, this time we were met by sheets of rain and inhospitable darkness. We walked through dark and spooky corridors to get to the United baggage claim carousel. Lines of people waited in the dark on the median, waiting to hail a cab which were far and few between. Mike had the forethought to find the Alamo car rental counter and stalled the last shuttle for the night. It was 12:58 am. The shuttles stop at 1:00 a.m.

When we arrived at the Alamo rental office, we found a makeshift camping lantern lighting up the counter area. Extension cords snaked into the women's room to juice up the temporary lighting positioned there. Alamo had no cars to rent us. Since all outbound flights were cancelled, departing tourists stayed in their hotels an extra day, or at the very least, kept their cars and didn't return them. Alamo promised us that they would reimburse our cab ride to our hotel and deliver us a car the next day. They also drove the shuttle to Waikiki to drop off their last load of car renters at their hotels, including Sayaka Arai, the young Japanese visitor from Vancouver whom Karina had befriended on the flight.

After an hour long cab ride, we arrived at Turtle Bay aroudn 2:30 a.m. Their lobby was well-lit but the registration counter was dark. The poor night manager stood in the shadows, trying to find our reservation. Thy had us down as a "no show" even though Mike had called from Maui to inform them that we would be late. After about 30 minutes of discussion and manager over-rides, we were assigned rm 263. By 3:01 a.m. we were all sound asleep.

At breakfast the next morning, Mike and I remarked how lucky we actually were. Driving a rental car for an hour along dark roads, against sheets of rain and poor visibility would have been very stressful for Mike and me. We wouldn't even know if we were lost until it was too late! News reports the next morning interviewed families who spent the night on the cold, stone floors at the HNL airport. United said that flight cancellations due to power outages were not their fault and they wouldn't pay for any hotels. Our travel angels were with us the entire way. We are so blessed!