May 15 2008
What United/Hawaiian’s New Codeshare Agreement Means To You
United Mileage Plus members can earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on Hawaiian Airlines inter-island flights, starting later this summer.
Is it a good value? For mileage remption, this doesn’t compare to now defunct Aloha Airline’s 5,000 mile inter-island award. You’ll need a minimum of 10,000 miles to redeem the same award on Hawaiian Airlines. With the cash cost for the same ticket starting at $108, it’s only a fair value in terms of mileage usage. Also, if you want to earn United miles on your Hawaiian flight, with United’s newly announced actual miles calculation, you may receive as few as 100 miles per segment.
Beat of Hawaii’s Tip: Island Air still offers a 5,000 mile inter-island award ticket to United Mileage Plus members. With their expanded service starting in June, this is by far the best deal.
Prognostication: I wouldn’t look for this deal to be too solid or long-lasting. It could potentially be over even before it starts.
Why? There are too many issues in the industry right now for any such alliances to be considered long-term. Once the “Bigs” get hitched, however, we’ll see who does what with Hawaii. A joint US Airways/United could well become an inter-island player themselves. Go! (Mesa Airlines) is still teetering. Lastly, don’t forget that Southwest is hoarding cash at the moment and seems poised to pounce somewhere, perhaps here.
More news. The changes in the travel industry have barely begun. Stay tuned to Beat of Hawaii and our insider newsletter for more news that will directly impact the Hawaii market.
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