Last year, when Karen and I were in Hawaii, I decided I wanted to bring Nana along on our next trip. Around that time, Joan (Karen’s sister-in-law) mentioned that her lifelong dream was to visit Hawaii as well. We also wanted our friend Darlene to join us. So back in January, we booked the flights and officially began planning our Hawaiian Adventure.
Because our flight was scheduled for 12:25pm on Monday, everyone except Karen stayed at the Sandman Signature Toronto Airport Hotel the night before. Karen remained in Kitchener waiting for her brother Paul to arrive—he’ll be looking after Kai while we’re away.
At 6:40am, we received a lovely surprise text from Air Canada: our flight to Vancouver was delayed until 2:15pm. For the inconvenience, they rewarded us with a $15 food voucher. (Try not to spend it all in one place!) Since we were still at the hotel, we decided to just wait there and take the 10:00am shuttle.
Once we arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport, we used the Air Canada Priority check-in area to grab boarding passes and drop off our luggage. This is one of the perks of having an American Express Aeroplan Reserve credit card, and it made the process easy. Security was not too bad either, and by 10:45am, we were relaxing in the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, enjoying food, drinks, and downtime.
A little after 1:00pm, we headed out. Karen, Nana, and Joan went straight to the gate, while Darlene and I made a pit stop at the Air Canada Café to stock up on snacks for our 5½-hour flight to Vancouver.
We arrived at the gate with about ten minutes to spare. Because we had requested assistance for Joan, our entire group was granted pre-boarding, which gave us extra time to get settled. At around 2:45pm, we finally took off.
I am not sure why, but the flight felt unusually long. I passed the time watching Jersey Shore Family Vacation and, of course, working on our snack supply. Every so often I checked our connection time, watching our originally generous three-hour layover shrink. Our arrival was scheduled for 4:55pm, and our Maui flight was set to depart at 5:30pm.
As we prepare to land, the flight attendant asked everyone to remain seated so the eight Maui-bound passengers (including us) could exit first. The moment the seatbelt sign turned off, the five of us bolted toward the front of the plane.
A wheelchair was waiting for Joan, which helped us get up the jetway quickly. Joan, Nana, and I hopped onto a golf cart while Karen and Darlene ran behind. Unfortunately, in Vancouver you must go through security again—and then U.S. customs—which is where everything fell apart.
Some of us were flagged for manual pat-downs. Some forgot water bottles in their bags. Others had juice bottles. All of this triggered manual inspections. Karen and Joan made it through first, while Nana, Darlene, and I got held up. Even though we told security we had a tight connection, there was no urgency whatsoever. (In contrast, the U.S. customs officials were much nicer.)
An Air Canada staff member got Karen and Joan onto a golf cart and radioed ahead to the gate, letting them know we were coming. They were within sight of the gate when the radio crackled with the news: the gate had been closed. A few minutes later, the rest of us arrived—and to say I was mad would be an understatement.
While I took a moment to cool off, Karen worked with an amazing Air Canada agent to figure out our options. The next flight from Vancouver to Maui wouldn’t depart until 5:30pm the next day. We had two choices:
Option 1: Fly to Las Vegas that night, stay in a hotel, and catch a morning flight to Maui, arriving around noon.
Option 2: Fly to Seattle, stay overnight, and arrive in Maui around 1:00pm
We chose Option 1—three of us had never been to Las Vegas, so why not turn lemons into neon-lit lemonade?
We had some time before our flight, which we spent getting food and drinks. Since Air Canada was covering accommodations, we had to choose from a list of hotels. We picked the Hampton Inn Tropicana—those beds are heavenly. I also contacted Budget in Maui to explain the situation. Unsurprisingly, rebooking the car means we are now paying more.
Because this was an Air Canada Jazz flight, the plane was small with a 2-2 seating configuration. At 6:50pm, we lifted off for our 2½-hour flight to Vegas. During the flight, we brainstormed what we could squeeze into our short time there
We landed in fabulous Las Vegas at 9:15pm. After a long walk through the terminal and a tram ride, we reached the baggage area—and miraculously, all our luggage had made it.
We ordered an Uber to take us to the hotel, and Karen negotiated a price for a nighttime tour of the Las Vegas Strip. We wanted Joan, Darlene, and Nana to see the lights in all their glory. I jokingly said on the plane how cool it would be to get a picture at the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign—and sure enough, Osvaldo (our awesome driver) took us straight there. Throughout the ride he pointed out various casinos and gave fun facts about the Strip.
He dropped us at the hotel, and by 12:30am we were in bed. We need to be up early tomorrow—our 7:59am flight to Maui awaits.
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