Comments on: Allegiant Will Recast Hawaii Deals

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:59:41 +0000

Allegiant has bought or leased 6 Boeing 757 aircraft for their Hawaiian venture. They can’t use their current fleet of MD-80′s as they don’t have sufficient range. The 757 fleet will be ETOP’s and Allegiant will have much stricter regulations and standards to adhere to when flying any ETOP flight. Still believe Hawaiian is the way to go though.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:43:49 +0000

Nobody has said it yet, but Hawaiian Airlines is without question the best/cheapest way back and forth to the islands. Wide leather seats, hot meals etc. The major carriers do not compare. NOW, if Allegiant can compete on quality as well as price, Hawaiian is in for a challenge, but, as others has suggested, Allegiant is a typical cattle car operation and if they bring that attitude to Hawaii, they won’t be in that market very long.

By: Hawaiian Luau

Hawaiian Luau — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 20:25:57 +0000

I totally agree with Sue above, flying Allegiant over water with their frequent mechanical issues is scary. Thanks for the post!

By: coconuts

coconuts — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:20:50 +0000

The real winner here is most definitely going to be the consumer’s ability to get better land deals in Hawaii. I can’t imagine that the big wholesalers like MLT and Pleasant, who have been in Hawaii for years are going to let the “new kid in town” get better contracts with hotels than they have. It can’t help but have a negative effect on their (MLT and Pleasant) margains though.
I think it is wishful thinking that they will be able to just vacation sales to fill those large aircraft though.
I’ve been following Allegant since their IPO from an investor’s point of view. I wish I’d bought the stock. What gave me caution is that these are the minds who set up ValueJet in the east. Who can forgot their tragic ending. Old planes are cheap for a reason.

By: Sue Whittaker

Sue Whittaker — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:54:40 +0000

The thought of flying Allegiant over water with their frequent mechanical issues is terrifying. There’s no place to divert to in cause of a problem.

By: Allegiant to Hawaii: Good News for Cheap Flight Seekers » Travel Insights 100

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:54:07 +0000

[...] over at BeatofHawaii predicts this will be a game-changer for island [...]

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:13:39 +0000

I tend to agree with both Jeff and Oliver on this one. I too have taken a vacation on a charter airline in the past and the pitch of the seats was so small that even myself who am short of stature, found the three hour flight to Las Vegas quite uncomfortable. I prefer using Hawaiian as I do get points and upgrades. I also don’t feel like cattle on their planes and they serve a complimentary meal in all classes.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:32:05 +0000

Thanks Oliver,

I tend to concur with your points of view. Nonetheless, this will help bring positive change to our marketplace.

Aloha, Jeff

By: Oliver

Oliver — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:30:06 +0000

I posted something similar on Crankyflier earlier today:

Looking at Seatguru, they operate their MD-80 fleet with 17″ wide seats at 30″ seat pitch. This reminds me of a terrible charter flight to Hawaii with Suntrips (I think) operated by one of ATA’s L1011 back in the days. I don’t recall for sure if these were the companies… too many Hawaii trips blending together and this flight was one I definitely wanted to forget as quickly as possible. If this is the Allegiant experience to Hawaii, you won’t find me anywhere near their aircraft. I’ll continue to fly in Economy Plus on United and (maybe) benefit from the lower fares triggered by the added pricing pressure.

I generally prefer to put my own package together, even though it may mean somewhat higher prices (but then, earning miles and points, and getting free breakfast/internet thanks to hotel elite status isn’t something to sneeze at either). I do realize that there are many people who either don’t have the desire to spend a lot of time researching/strategizing travel deals/plans (for me it’s part of the fun of traveling) or they simply don’t travel enough to make it worthwhile considering miles/points/elite benefits.