There are a number of famous experiences when it comes to flying. One is the legendary United island hopper and another is taking a shower in Emirates first class.
It just so happens that I have the opportunity to do one or the other in the near future. However, I am not sure which one to choose. Let’s have a look at them.
United’s Island Hopper
The island hopper was originally a Continental Airlines route, linking remote Pacific islands together. It’s a single plane through service, starting in Honolulu. First stops are Majuro Atoll and Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, followed by Kosrae, Pohnpei and Chuuk in Micronesia, before finishing up in Guam.
Emirates First Class
Another experience I’ve been wanting to do is Emirates First Class. You can fly on their Airbus A380 between Sydney and Christchurch, getting their lavish premium experience for a relatively reasonable price.
Weighing Up The Options
United’s island hopper is a longer trip. It’s 5 hours and 44 minutes LA to Hawaii, then 15 hours island hopping, with the final segment to Manila taking another four hours. It’s also all in economy class and I would need to get to Los Angeles and home from Manila, which adds to the cost.
Overall Thoughts
Well, there are pros and cons for both experiences, so I’m curious as to what you think. Most people who do the island hopper seem to tick it off and say they’ve done it. It seems like a bit of a marathon.
On the other hand, everyone who has showered in an Emirates A380 seems to be able to drop that into conversation quite a lot. Yet it’s quite a transient thing and really, is it worth the cost? It’s not like you’re seeing anything new – after all, we’ve all showered before.
I’d be interested in your thoughts, so please let me know your choice and why. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Shahram Sharifi via Wikimedia Commons.
Island hopper map by Redgeographics via Wikimedia Commons.
United Boeing 737 by Dylan T on Flickr via Wikimedia Commons.
I’d go United, only because you’re more likely to have another chance to fly Emirates in the future on some route or other. Take the irreplaceable opportunity.
Well, it has been operating since 1968, so I daresay it isn’t going anywhere. The EK A380s might be out of service before we see the end of the island hopper. It’s one of those things where it’ll be a little bit damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
I love Emirates first class but the value of the shower is at the end of a long 12+ hour flight to be able to shower, change clothes and get off the plane feeling like a human being. The shower itself is fine but not worth $1000. And I am not even sure you would get the “real” first class experience on such a short flight (no amenity kits possibly and not several different amazing meals). The best way I’ve found to get EK first is flying back from Asia where the prices are half what a long haul from the US to Asia is (like $4000 or so one way rather than $9000 and up). And you get to enjoy really really long flights in all that luxury and, normally, their incredible lounge etc in Dubai. Maybe this would work better?
That’s good advice, so thank you for that. Yes, the fact it was going to be three hours and 20 minutes was putting me off. It is very much a taster at that duration and it does miss all the luxury in Dubai and so on. Food for thought there, thanks very much!
Island Hopper would me my choice. I can get a fancy meal lots of places. It’s your time and money of course but I would find the Hopper much more exotic.
Yes, for exotic, I don’t really think the island hopper can be easily beat. Good to hear another opinion – we’ll see what happens!
Emirates for sure…took the Island Hopper 5 years ago. Book it for another time…
Thanks for that, I appreciate your input there.
What’s so good about the Island Hopper route? Sounds like just a bunch of takeoffs and landings…
Well, I suppose you get to see a number of far flung places that you wouldn’t usually see. But yes, I was thinking it is very much a bunch of takeoffs and landings.