Update on Hawaiian & Alaska Airlines' merging benefits

I just did the status match. I'm MVP Gold and now Pulani Platinum.

This merger is very bad news for Southwest. Look for them to retreat from inter-island flying in Hawaii. I understand they are losing a $1 billion a year there. Also it is bad news for Delta in Seattle. They are already down sizing their base there. Look for that to accelerate now that Hawaiian will be their wide bodies to fly between SeaTac and Asia.

TolmiePeak said:

This merger is very bad news for Southwest. Look for them to retreat from inter-island flying in Hawaii. I understand they are losing a $1 billion a year there. Also it is bad news for Delta in Seattle. They are already down sizing their base there. Look for that to accelerate now that Hawaiian will be their wide bodies to fly between SeaTac and Asia.

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I think SW will be just fine. They were doing okay before they ever added Hawaii as a destination. They are adding new routes to other destinations.

TolmiePeak said:

This merger is very bad news for Southwest. Look for them to retreat from inter-island flying in Hawaii. I understand they are losing a $1 billion a year there. Also it is bad news for Delta in Seattle. They are already down sizing their base there. Look for that to accelerate now that Hawaiian will be their wide bodies to fly between SeaTac and Asia.

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We flew a SW interisland flight this year that had about 20 people on it (LIH-OGG). Even if they are just moving planes from one island to anotherit seems crazy to do it with only a handful of people on board.

I wonder now if it will work best to book a multi-stop trip on Alaska. PDX-KOA-HNL-PDX. Last trip we flew SW between KOA and HNL as it was cheaper because of free bags. Maybe tooAlaska doesn't fly into Hilobut with merger we may be able to fly into Hilo and out of KOA on same ticket. Guess we will see.

Luanne said:

I think SW will be just fine. They were doing okay before they ever added Hawaii as a destination. They are adding new routes to other destinations.

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Of course they will stay in business. I would just expect them to retreat from inter island flying in Hawaii. It is a money pit. Especially now they are able to use those planes to fly redeye flights back to the mainland.

klpca said:

We flew a SW interisland flight this year that had about 20 people on it (LIH-OGG). Even if they are just moving planes from one island to anotherit seems crazy to do it with only a handful of people on board.

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I think the only reason they are doing it now is because their computer systems couldn't handle redeye flights. They are fixing that and will start redeye flights soon.

Has anyone tried booking a trip to any of the Hawaiian islands through Alaska Air? The flights now say "Operated by Hawaiian Air" and I have been unable to complete the purchase on their website because "seats cannot be confirmed". It seems like a computer glitch to methe customer service folks aren't calling it thatbut even they are unable to force it to complete manually. I really want to book on Alaska because the price is lowerplus I get free bags for everyone in my partyand I have a companion ticket. Wondering if I should wait it out and see if the system gets fixedrisking the prices will go upor book the stupid flight at the higher price and get on with my life.

A few days ago I booked a return flight via the Alaska website that includes a leg flown on Hawaiian Air. If it mattersit was booked using pointsbut I do recall not being able to select the HA seats until after I had completed booking the flight.

I booked a Hawiian flight on the Alaska website using Alaska miles. It was only 10k miles for the Hawaiin flight ot Maui vs 17.5 for the ALaska flight. Once the flight is confirmed you will get an Alaska confirmation code along with a Hawaiian confirmation code with a link to choose seats. Put the confirmation code in and it will bring you to a page on Hawaiian's webiste where you can choose seats. You will also need the Hawaiian confirmation code to check in but the Alaska confirmation code ot make any changes. It is a bit confusing.

I booked Hawaiian inter-island flight on my Alaska account using Alaska credit cardI am MVP Gold (sapphire). I wonder whether I have to pay for check-in luggage?

Carlsbadguy said:

I booked a Hawiian flight on the Alaska website using Alaska miles. It was only 10k miles for the Hawaiin flight ot Maui vs 17.5 for the ALaska flight. Once the flight is confirmed you will get an Alaska confirmation code along with a Hawaiian confirmation code with a link to choose seats. Put the confirmation code in and it will bring you to a page on Hawaiian's webiste where you can choose seats. You will also need the Hawaiian confirmation code to check in but the Alaska confirmation code ot make any changes. It is a bit confusing.

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That's a good deal. I just booked one way from Long Beach to Kona through HNL on HA and it was 30k HA miles. I went ahead and paid additional $99 for the extra comfort seats. I'm not sure of the breakdown between LGB and HNL vs the inter island hopmaybe that is the differenceHA flies direct SAN to OGG?

I booked Hawaiian Air using my Jet Blue miles. Wanted to do that before they could no longer be used. 20,000 miles each way (40.000 round trip) San JoseCA to Maui.

SmithOp said:

That's a good deal. I just booked one way from Long Beach to Kona through HNL on HA and it was 30k HA miles. I went ahead and paid additional $99 for the extra comfort seats. I'm not sure of the breakdown between LGB and HNL vs the inter island hopmaybe that is the differenceHA flies direct SAN to OGG?

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Yes HA flies non stop to OGG. I think they have a KOA flight also.