HawaiianMiles Now More Expensive; New First Bag Fee
Hawaiian has changed their award structure, and it isn’t in our favor. If you have Hawaiian Miles or Amex miles you were planning to convert to Hawaiian, here are the award requirements for travel starting September 1, 2008:
HawaiianMiles One Way Awards
Interisland Coach
Supersaver 7,500 (was 5,000)
Saver 10,000 (was 7,500)
Anytime 15,000 (was 10,000)
Inter-island First
Saver 15,000 (was 10,000)
Anytime 20,000 (was 15,000)
Transpacific Coach
Supersaver 20,000 (was 17,500)
Saver 30,000 (was 25,000)
Anytime 40,000 (was 35,000)
Transpacific First
Saver 40,000 (was 30,000)
Anytime 80,000 (was 60,000)
Other Changes
Trans-Pacific first checked bag fee: $15. Effective October 1 on tickets purchased after August 1. There will still be no first bag fee inter-island.
I’m waiting to see how things shake out at Hawaiian at the end of this year. Right now they’re busy with summer travel, but I’m less than confident about Hawaiian’s ability to sustain their current flight schedule with increased airfares, and reduced travel demand to Hawaii.
I know we aren’t planning on using Hawaiian much ourselves in the future. Given the fact that we’ve been premium (Platinum) with them for years, that doesn’t bode well. FYI, we’ve switched to a mix of carriers, based on price and convenience, whereas we previously only flew Hawaiian.
