Originally Posted by sdflyer04

There is a big difference between what HA is doing and what you see with other airlines. Virtually all of the complaints regarding other airlines are that they don't release mileage seats at the lowest level. What HA is doing is much worse. HA is not releasing ANY seats at ANY mileage level. That effectively makes HA much less competitive.

Yes, Flyertalkers are a unique breed. But, any airline should value repeat customers, particularly those who pay some of their top prices because they travel at peak times. Mileage availability is one of the ways airlines keep those repeat customers coming back. By removing availability, HA pushes us to competitors.

Sometimes we find that the competitors have some advantages that we kind of like. When HA stopped making mileage seats available, I started flying Alaska from the west coast to Hawaii. To my surprise, I found some things that I really liked. For example, I love the nonstop flights to all of the islands. I really like the newer Alaska seats. I like to work on my laptop or watch movies on it on the way to Hawaii. With the new Alaska seats, the person in front of me can recline all the way and it doesn't interfere with the use of my laptop. On Hawaiian, if the person in front of me reclines, I simply can't use my laptop the rest of the flight. I learned that Alaska flies to many more locations than just Hawaii where I also fly and I can use mileage to all of those places. For example, Alaska had a mileage seat sale requiring only 5K miles for some flights. I bought several tickets using just the roundtrip miles I earned to and from Hawaii on Alaska Airlines. I also learned that Alaska has a 20 minute baggage guarantee meaning that if your bag is not on the carousel within 20 minutes of landing (including for Hawaii flights), they give you some kind of voucher. I don't know what the voucher is because my bags have always been on the carousel within 20 minutes. That has been a complaint with Hawaiian for many years, particularly on return flights to the mainland that land late at night. It is not uncommon to wait another 45 minutes or more for a bag on HA.

Now this may sound like a commercial for Alaska. I don't mean it that way. I'm not totally sold on Alaska. I prefer HA's larger planes. I really like that they let me combine mileage from family members. I love the Aloha spirit on the planes and from the flight attendants, etc. I would have ignorantly continued to fly HA if they would have let me use mileage for a flight or two, even at the higher mileage level. Instead, their new policy sent me to a competitor and low and behold I found a bunch of things that I really like about their competitor. Now I look closely at both airlines when I am looking to buy tickets to Hawaii. In my book, that is a bad thing for HA and a good thing for Alaska. Because I really like HA and I've flown them for years, I care enough to come and post about them and I will likely send them a letter as well. I believe that there will be others who will just move on to the detriment of Hawaiian.

Originally Posted by Alex909

Yes, it is obvious that customer focus has badly eroded on the last few years. Hawaiian Air flight crews and the route offering are still great, but the rest of the company feels like it is sliding. [snip]

Enter Alaska Air, the greatest airline to serve Hawaii/mainland in the 20 years I have been flying the Pacific. Everything that was stated about Alaska Air above is true, and more. This is serious competition and it is winning the mainland routes enough so it depresses the fares Hawaiian can charge.

Mark Dunkerly has been a great and visionary CEO mostly for stockholders -- seizing the Aloha Air opportunity and expanding the network to Far East. I wish he could also make the operational side of Hawaiian great, a company to be proud of.

Originally Posted by Alex909

Is this seeming devaluation the beginning of the end of the Hawaiian miles program? Hawaiian Air made us believe that they were not following Delta and United when these companies announced the takedown of their frequent flyer programs earlier this year. And yet, here they seem to silently implement the very same thing in other clothes. Shouldn't this worry the bank part of the new master card arrangement?

Originally Posted by sdflyer04

Hawaiian is now actually WORSE than the big three. If I want to spend a ton of miles to get to Hawaii on one of the big three at Thanksgiving or Spring Break or Christmas or Summer, etc., the big three will happily take my miles at their top level and give me a seat. But, with Hawaiian, I am now completely shut out for the popular dates. I can't buy a seat using miles period. Very disappointing! Hawaiian used to be very good at making seats available for using miles. At some point, I have to believe that Hawaiian's new philosophy will impact its business. As you suggest, perhaps Barclays will not be very happy if they can't sell any Hawaiian credits cards because no one can use the promised miles unless you want to go on a Wednesday in October.

Any ideas on a good use for a bunch of Hawaiian miles?

Originally Posted by sdflyer04

Any ideas on a good use for a bunch of Hawaiian miles?

Originally Posted by holocker

I will probably need to figure out what to do with the miles in my account I have accumulated from American Express transfers if I can't use the miles for my next trip.