More obscure costs. Economy seat assignments, with or without more legroom, can cost a bundle on Hawaii flights.
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40 thoughts on “Seat Selection Up To $304 | Gotcha! On Hawaii Flights”
More obscure costs. Economy seat assignments, with or without more legroom, can cost a bundle on Hawaii flights.
We generally fly Hawaiian extra comfort on the A-330 from Los Angeles to Kahului. We have flow the HAL first class and regular Main Cabin Economy. At only 5’11” I have a fairly rough time with the 31 inches of pitch in economy. I get by, but usually cough up the extra ca$h for those 36 inches of Extra Comfort.
Flying from Long Beach, which I love on the A 321 is not my favorite. I would love to see Hawaiian try a few of the A-330 flights from Long Beach (such as flight #71) and see if their bookings increase. I read to many posts one social media of people who say they will no longer fly Hawaiian out of LAX due to the horrible mess with the Bradley Terminal west gates.
Can you elaborate on the mess you were speaking of out of the West gates? I have a flight out of there next month. Thank you.
….the HA gates are in the Bradley Terminal ( international) now. Takes about 15 -20 mins to get to the gate. Longer walk but more amenities…I much preferred the old terminal 2. Bottom line, show up early enough to take advantage of the shops and restaurants and appreciate the walk before sitting on an airplane for over 5 hours!
Ahhh… thanks. I thought maybe there were “issues” going on at the west gates… other than the walk.
Thanks!
From the entrance it is a long walk with several turns and curves. They are marked but iff you miss one it is Not Good. An average adult will make the walk in about 12 – 15 minutes but small children or people with some mobility issues will take longer. Upon return to LAX the walk to baggage claim is a maze of ups and downs and more turns.
We have always flown Hawaiian until this year. With Hawaiian now charging for extra leg room, economy, premium economy, picking seat charges, etc…it’s more cost effective to just go with SW or American. Same hassle and hoops to jump through, might be a longer flight due to layovers, but it’s cheaper. I look at it as they have now priced themselves out, because of the way they implemented it. Hawaiian has always been more expensive than other airlines, had they just increased prices and kept their same structure (economy or first class) I think it would have been perceived differently. But now it looks like nickel and diming and no one want to feel like they are being taken advantage of or forced into a corner.
SD, I fully agree with you.!
We will be heading to Oahu in just a few weeks for our 20th and most likely last visit to Hawaii. The prices are outrageous as well as crowds and since we live in MN we will be heading to the Caribbean from now on. I still love Hawaii but I was comparing what I will be spending for one week in Oahu compared to a full all inclusive for 10 days in the Atlantic. Plus the flight is way shorter and 1 or 2 time zone difference.
Wealthy people don’t care about any of this. Travel is getting more expensive, and will discourage mass tourism. Extra charges and rationing of access have become normal. If people can’t afford to pay, stay home or do local tourism. As an Asian Pacific Islander, there are some places in the USA that I would never travel to given the political and social climate.
If you want more, you pay more, not a new concept. And if you book earlier generally better prices unless the flight is not full, supply and demand, no surprise there either. SWA is basically in a similar structure as the ULCCs, but those are even farther off from actual price unless you show up with only your wallet, print your own boarding pass and, zero bags and don’t ask for water. Seat selection, extra. All carriers do it to varying degrees, nothing new. Book early, pay for what you want. A home development that says from the $500s….zero sell for that and if you wait it gets more expensive in a new development, and your Choices of a lot decreases. The discount prices go to the early, regular prices as plane fills up.
To your point, on SWA I just saw HNL to OGG “Business Select” for $124……a coach seat with priority boarding, yet they call it “Business”. That’s crazy, you’re paying extra just to avoid their cattle call boarding. You don’t get to select your seat, you just are moved up the survival boarding chain and the people that paid less fight over the scraps. Much better to pay for what you want and know in advance.
Hi guys. I did notice this new change when booking my flight recently. They also charged me 45+ thousand miles. It was 35,000 for a long time round trip. Looks like prices are going to keep going up for everything. At least I was able to extend my trip and get a non-stop back for no charge. Cost me $300 a few years back when I missed my flight by 10 minutes due to as n accident on Hwy 56. Hope you both are well and mahalo as usual. Looking forward to arriving on Tuesday.Aloha
My flight to LIH out of LAX was originally 35,000 miles. Went down to 26,000 and then down to 17,000. Back up to 26,000 and then again back up to 35,000. This happened over the period of about 3 or 4 months.
Just like any perishable commodity, you have to watch pricing as it will probably bounce all over the map.
Since I ran out of words I shall continue. Again, a reasonable person, will not go for the ‘$99 dollar fare resulting in what could be a 6-7 hour flight ending up being a two day effort since it would require one to munch on their kneecaps for extremely long hours in basic economy in a middle seat with multiple connections, This whole $99 airfare subject is simply a marketing ploy and a farce that almost no one will ever use. It’s a marketing shell game that only the dumbest of consumers will ever fall for. It’s really not even worth the time to publish such rubbish. The reality is I just spent 10 times that amount for an economy ticket. Just short of a thousand dollars for my ticket in economy mid-week! Good luck with your $99 dollar deal
Obviously, you guys are airline centric. I have to imagine either one or both of you used to work for the airlines in some capacity. I’m surprised it took you so long to address this. As a property owner in Kauai I come to the island at least three times a year. Currently, American serves this island nonstop from PHX and they have a monopoly on this market. I’m surprised you guys have taken this long to broach this subject. The whole economy seat pricing subject is a ‘shell game’. You often state super low prices to go to Hawaii. The reality is to garner such fares one would have to fly bizarre flight times, secure ‘basic economy’ seating which would require a person to forfeit their seat assignments and endure multiple connections.
“As a property owner in Kauai I come to the island at least three times a year.”
As someone who used to live in the islands 365/6 days a year but now does so zero….will leave it for the 365ers to discuss.
In my world there is no such thing as “price gouging” among airlines (your opinion may differ). The airlines are businesses that try to maximize revenue, like any other private enterprise, while I try to either minimize or optimize my spending with them. It is a natural push-pull on my travel dollars.
I am a “willing buyer” making a purchase choice from multiple different airlines (“willing sellers”) selling different products (seats) at different prices (fares + options + taxes).
I am free to agree to purchase from one airline amongst their many seat/fare offerings, or I am free to shop at other different airlines, or I am free to refuse all of their offerings and choose to travel by other means or not travel at all.
Nicely put.
Agree. I think the more options an airline offers the more fair they are being. Want to save money? Go for the cheapest offering, want a nice seat? Pay a little more or a lot more (First Class) depending on what you choose? Seems totally fair to me person opting for a middle seat in coach should pay less then those in the better seats….only issue I have is with SWA’s survival of the fittest boarding procedure. Much more appreciative of knowing in advance what I’m getting for what I paid.