Does Allegiant Hawaii Make Sense?

Allegiant Air has announced their Hawaii air service for winter 2013/2014, which runs mid-August through February 11. When we met with Allegiant Air executives recently, they told us to expect changes in both their winter and summer Hawaii flight schedules. You’ll be surprised to see which Hawaii flights are cut and which are still on.

Does low cost, limited service and lack of comfort work in Hawaii travel?

The big question which remains to be answered is whether Hawaii is a good fit for Allegiant. Their budget Hawaii deal model may not be what most people flying to Hawaii have in mind. In addition, the uber successful Allegiant model of packaging airfare with accommodations and activities runs against the Hawaii trend of visitors purchasing these components independently.

Allegiant needs to be able to demonstrate significantly better value in order to compete with the other Hawaii airlines. All but the most inexperienced traveler (which by the way does not accurately describe Hawaii visitors) will know that sticker price may not equate to final price. When compared with Hawaii bellwethers Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines, the following pared down, ala carte offerings from Allegiant Air may or may not fly in the long term.

• No complementary snacks or beverages
• Seats that do not recline
• Paid carry-on (overhead) luggage
• Credit card surcharge
• Seat assignment fee
• No frequent flier program
• Limited customer service as depicted in this week’s viral (900,000+ view) YouTube video

Winter pricing comparison

I did a quick check of costs for flying to Hawaii this winter between Bellingham and Maui as well as between Vancouver BC and Maui. Bellingham flights largely serve western Canada visitors looking for less expensive flights than are available from Vancouver. What I found in the all-important January snowbird season is as follows:

• Allegiant $169 to $479 each way including tax
• Alaska $209 to $394 each way including tax
• Westjet $282 to $620 each way including tax (from convenient Vancouver)

Las Vegas in January puts Allegiant head to head with Hawaiian Air. Here’s how the prices stack up between Las Vegas and Honolulu:

• Allegiant $149 to $344 each way including tax
• Hawaiian $275 to $440 each way including tax

Allegiant Hawaii flights cut this winter

Service to Hawaii from the following cities ends mid-August and will not be resuming according to the Allegiant winter schedule:

• Eugene
• Fresno
• Santa Maria
• Phoenix
• Stockton

Allegiant hawaii flights staying on

Service to Hawaii from the following cities will continue to operate through the winter schedule:

• Bellingham (to Honolulu and Maui)
• Boise
• Las Vegas
• Spokane

Summer 2014

It isn’t clear exactly what Allegiant Hawaii summer plans will be. We still expect some of the original routes to be permanently cut and some new routes to be attempted.

Allegiant has not found it feasible to operate year round service to Hawaii from most of the locations originally envisioned. Therefore, they are moving to a winter schedule of Hawaii snowbird flights from the northwest and summer flights from other locations.

What’s your take on Allegiant Hawaii?

View all recent Hawaii Travel Deals.

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