sipples

I'm planning a trip to Hawaii this October -- to Lihue, Kauai (LIH), specifically -- and fortunately there are seats available. A couple questions, though:

1. The AAgent said that connecting via Honolulu would be 45,000 miles (extra 10,000 for the Hawaiian Airlines part), but the OneWorld award chart seems to suggest it's still 35,000 miles total since Hawaiian is listed as a OneWorld carrier. Am I just confused? The return itinerary would be slightly better connecting through Honolulu.

2. I think the highest priority for a class upgrade would be the 757 LIH-LAX red eye return. From a 35,000 mile ticket, is that 15,000 miles extra? Do those 15,000 miles also cover LAX-ORD (the rest of the return trip), or is that per-segment? Is 757 front cabin any good (bearing in mind I have 10A already)? Am I better off with HNL-ORD (on 767, I think)?

3. Can you use 500-mile electronic upgrades on flights to/from Hawaii? Do Platinums see these clear in mid-October on this route, or am I better off spending the miles?

4. Any random suggestions for LIH on where to stay, what to do, how to get around, etc? I've never been to Hawaii.

5. How do you pronounce Lihue anyway?

6. I would assume there are no lounge privileges, but does that change with upgrades?

Thanks!

Plato90s

1) The agent is right. Hawaiian Airlines is an AA partner for the purposes of the All-Airlines award, but it is not a member of the oneWorld alliance. Therefore it can't be used as part of an oneWorld-award ticket.

2) You can't upgrade a mileage-award ticket with another mileage-upgrade award. You have to choose to fly all the way in coach or spend the miles for a FC award. If you do choose a FC award, it covers all segments in the itinierary.

3) Yes, you can upgrade itinieraries to Hawaii using e-upgrades, assuming it's AA marketed and operated.

6) AA has no lounge in any of the airports in Hawaii, so it's a moot point. Back in the mainland, even a FC award won't get you into lounges, so that's also a moot point.

andrzej

Just to clarify few things:

3)Yes you can use e-upgrades, but it could ONLY be done on a paid ticket, not an award ticket.

6)I may be wrong, but doesn't a first class award get you into lounges on a non-stop transcon routing? (I know this won't help the OP, but I think I'm right on this)

sipples

So is there a 35,000 all airlines award to Hawaii? (There's no stopover involved here. Would just be connecting in Honolulu on the return.)

Thanks.

slippahs

4. There is a lot of information posted about Kaua`i and specifically Lihue over on the Hawai`i Board: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=435

We invite you to post your questions regarding Hawai`i there if a search doesn't turn up the necessary information.

5. Lihue: lee-hoo'-ay

aloha

Plato90s

The 35k mile award you are referring to is the All-Airlines award, and you are allowed to use both AA and HA if you want. No extra charge.

When the agent told you about 10k extra, the agent was either

1) wrong

2) thought you wanted to stopover in Honolulu, so the agent did an open jaw for you (ORD-HNL/LIH-ORD) plus a one-way HNL-LIH award.

If you really don't want to stopover in HNL and just want to connect, tell the agent to put you on the AA/HA connecting flight, and remind the agent that the new All-Airlines award allows you to use multiple carriers at the same cost.

There is indeed another type of award called oneWorld awards, but it'd be almost impossible to redeem an ORD-LIH ticket using the oneWorld award rules. I'd just put that out of your mind.

Yes, but in this case the OP is coming in from ORD so tha transcon exception is moot.

andrzej

Well, your statement wasn't clear on that issue, so I just wanted to post the transcon/FC award info for any other FTer that may read this thread.