US Airways Dividend Miles - Impact on Allegiants announcement PHX -HNL

They just announced PHX to HNL starting 02/2013. I just checked their website and seats are currently going for $199 each way... went to USAIR and seats are at $420 each way. How soon can we expect US to drop their prices on this route?

Allegiant's flight is out of AZA (Mesa), which is rather inconvenient for a lot of the valley - when I lived in Scottsdale, I could be at PHX in 15 minutes, but AZA was a 45 minute hike. Given that I lived in Old Town, the difference becomes even more pronounced as you move further west and north in the valley.

Also, Allegiant is flying 3x/week. There are days where US flies that much in a single day (if not more). Also, Allegiant has quite a few a la carte fees that not even US has.

Long story short, I wouldn't expect a huge impact (if any) on US' fares due to Allegiant starting this route.

+1 - Allegiant is not a market-mover. Doesn't compete for the same demographic (even though US is the old HP !) First time there are some horror stories about people stuck in HNL when Allegiant's sole aircraft goes belly up having to pay walk-up full Y on another carrier, will leave Allegiant where it's always been in the market.

Let's see.

$199 or $203 each way depending on whether you use debit or credit.

Assigned seat: $15 is the cheapest option per flight if you pick a middle seat in the back of the bus.

Checking a bag? $35 for the first bag while US is only $25 for non-elites.
Carrying on a bag other than a purse of briefcase? $25 prepaid, $35 at airport.

So $398 or $406 round trip airfare, plus $30 to get an advanced seat assignment, $70 to check one bag, $50 or $70 to carry on a roll-aboard... About $560.

Once the $199 sale goes away (and indeed there are already a number of dates where that's no longer available, it's pushing $250) then I don't think US has much reason to be concerned.

Oh, and let's not forget 223 seats are crammed into their 757 aircraft. That's horrible, especially for a flight that can sometimes exceed 7 hours depending on the winds aloft.

In response to “John Doe’s” initial thread. I am a US Airways employee. I can pretty much guess that US Airways has no intention of any price matches with Allegiant on their new AZA(PHX)-HNL service. While US Airway’s may slightly drop PHX-HNL fares, it will be a small margin. US Airways does not depend entirely on the local PHX market for PHX-Hawaii bookings. The majority of US Airway’s Hawaii bookings come from connecting feed from the East Coast, Midwest, and Intra-west markets. While Allegiant will have 3x weekly service from AZA-HNL, US Airways has at least 1 daily flight from PHX to each of the main Hawaiian islands. During peak season and days, US Airways has added frequencies to both HNL/OGG. Allegiant is also known for the nickel and diming so the fares may not look so rosy after all the extra fees they impose. With this said, Allegiant to threat to US Airways at this point in time.
As the above thread mentioned above, with Allegiant only providing 3x weekly service, Allegiant passengers may also encounter frustration in the event that a mechanical delay may occur and it may take hours before Allegiant can get a spare aircraft and a new crew replacement. Also if passengers should miss their scheduled Allegiant flights, they probably will not be able to rebook until 2-3 days later since Allegiant will only operate 3x weekly. Allegiant Airlines does not have interline agreements with any other air carriers, so other airlines are not obligated to honor your bookings with Allegiant regardless of circumstances.
I cannot speak for Hawaiian Airlines, but I can only guess that Allegiant is no threat to HA either. While HA only has 1x daily to HNL, most HA passengers are connecting beyond HNL. HA also has a very high customer service rating among passengers. They still provide (free) inflight meals and they use favorable bigger aircraft.

Just my 2 cents---Allegiant will be butting heads with USAirways/Hawaiian. While they may not be competing at the same airports in the PHX area, they are still competing in the same market. Since Allegiant tends to fly into secondary markets, I personally think they be better off servicing TUS-HNL

A lot of people fly Allegiant once...and then they realize how bad it is, and how much it really cost, and they don't fly them again. A long distance flight equals a lot of lost Dividend Miles. Frequent flyers aren't going to fly Allegient for an insignificant difference in price, for that long a distance, in way more uncomfortable seats, and lose out on those miles. And, as others mentioned, many aren't going to go all the way out to that airport in BFE Mesa. The impact will be minimal.

Allegiant's flight is out of AZA (Mesa), which is rather inconvenient for a lot of the valley - when I lived in Scottsdale, I could be at PHX in 15 minutes, but AZA was a 45 minute hike. Given that I lived in Old Town, the difference becomes even more pronounced as you move further west and north in the valley.

I am pretty loyal to US, but as a PHX based flyer, I see this as a game changer. AZA is an extra 30 to 40 minute drive for me, but it is a very convenient airport once you get there with free or cheap parking. The flight times are way better than the US flights. You get there 4 hours earlier on the outbound and don't need to take a red eye home. Plus, the equipment US uses is terrible. The redeye on one of those crappy 757s is no way to end a Hawaiian vacation. Clearly the limited nature of the schedule is a concern, but if US and HA really continue to charge double, this is a great option for PHX flyers.

I take the poster above to be saying that US won't care because most HNL flyers are only connecting in PHX. If true, that likely means this won't dent prices, but for PHX flyers, three nonstop airline options to HI is great.

I have no idea how US will react, if at all, to this but just wanted to share a few things about AZA and Allegiant.

AZA is easy to get to even if it is further than PHX for much of the Phoenix metro area and parking is cheap. That's the good.

You would think that only having Allegiant and Spirit operating out of there things would be quick and easy. Not from my experience. There are no self-serve kiosks for check-in. You have to get in line and see an agent if you are checking bags. The lines don't move very quickly.

Security resources are limited so there's basically one line and that gets pretty long. On a recent trip there checking a bag and getting through security took just over an hour. I don't live very far from AZA and from the time I left home to the time I cleared security I could have driven to PHX, parked at off-site parking, shuttled to the airport, checked a bag and been through security.

I was dropping someone off at the airport and was hanging out at the gate. They had changed the departure gate for this flight and apparently 3 people didn't hear the announcement. Of course they claimed one was not made but I heard it myself as did the other 100 people on the flight. Anyway, they arrived at the gate 8 mins before departure and the flight was closed so they weren't allowed on. Their choice was next flight out or refund and try to get a flight out of PHX. This was Sunday afternoon. Next flight was Thursday. They wanted a refund and their bags so they could go to PHX. Ummm, ok. Bags are on the plane so we'll let the destination airport know to send them bag on tonight's inbound. You'll have them in about 6 hours. Which would be after just about all flights out of PHX were done for the night.

At that point 4 more people showed up because it took them 45 minutes to get through security. Too bad, same options.

When the new terminal is built at AZA it should speed things up but that isn't going to be before 2/13.

AZA has potential but just like people believe WN is a cheap airline, people believe they are saving money flying Allegiant and Spirit and that AZA is a convenient airport. None of that is true.

Thanks for all the input. I too was hoping for a decrease in fare as I too am a PHX based flyer. I'll be in HNL next month on USAIR as well :-)

They are also flying nonstop Santa Maria (not SBA, but SMX) to HNL. Around $300 R/T starting cost. I think on 757's. I agree with the comments above generally. However, any connections between the secondary market served by Allegian can connect via Chandler or (gulp) Santa Maria. Wow, interesting business model. Don't see how it hurts US too much in the short term which is probably what Western and TWA said in 1983 at Sky Harbor. Next thing you know, the upstart has a hub and is running 747's to HNL (if only they still ran a widebody to Hawaii!!)

Another "gotcha" from G4 T+C is their weight allowance has dropped to 40 pounds before a bag is deemed overweight. For those of us traveling with golf clubs, etc, that results in a fee for the second bag exceeding the fare for the flight on some routes.

Couple that with non-daily service in most markets, and I doubt US is getting depressed about losing a few kettles from the el cheapo fare buckets.

Somewhat a bummer they have gone the Spirit route, I always checked their fares in the past, as PIE is closer to my house than TPA, and the nonstop was great. They aren't a horrible airline, but the fees are over the top now

We have used them out of AZA to CID. Piece of cake. Even with the fees, it was far cheaper than flying to DSM and driving two hours and easier than connecting in ORD and then flying on a CRJ. Found it to be an easy experience. Anyone saavy enough to be a FTer is smart enough to be able to figure out the fees beforehand and do a true price comparison.

If I need the US eqm, I will pay more to fly US, but usually there are several of us flying if we go to HI, and the rest don't need BIS miles, so the cost savings to me is x4. It's not like we get status upgrades on US to HI anyway, and even if you get in F on US, it's a crappy product.

Again, though, the tie breaker for me is the times. If these Allegiant flights run on time, the times are exponentially better than US.

While US may not directly match G4's pricing, it certainly has impacts on overall pricing. If one of the other legacy airlines lowers (not necessarily outright matches) the price in response, you can expect US to match as well.

Look at BIL and GRR as examples. Both are G4 routes that are priced significantly cheaper than other airports in the region or other airports of similar size. SBN also used to be the same way until United pulled their fare in May of this year and then US and DL followed suit.