tinkybelle

Can anyone give me a current report on syd-hnl business and economy flights.

I have some friends thinking of flying syd-hnlXlas then back to hnl and home. I remember reading when hawaiian were first coming here that the planes were no more than domestic 767s.
just wondering of the reality was better or worse.

thanks in advance

jtkauai

ha has only their 3 or 4 versions of 763. that's it. no new planes, and no different configurations. very tight 1st, normally horrible coach. there is a thread on this topic already out there. as i said, unless you're going for free, best deal from hnl-syd is on ac, purchased via a consolidator or hnl travel agent.

WinginIt

I've been on both QF and HA on the HNL-SYD flights in coach. On QF from HNL they used an older plane and they did not have individual inflight entertainment. On the way back they had it and it was nice. HA has digeplayers for a fee which is worth it if you're staying awake. Food/service was about the same to me. The warm cookie and milk midflight on HA was nice. HA is nice for visitors to Hawaii since it has that "Hawaii" feel. QF is probably better vice-versa.

I've taken both AC and HA in business. AC was much roomier and food was a bit better for the main service (though HA has interesting Pacific Rim dishes). The pre-arrival snack was much better on AC as HA had some funky tasting sandwiches. AC had DVD players which offerred a better selection than HA's DigEplayer but was a bit of a hassle to get the movies from the inflight staff and not all the movies were available since they are shared with the other passengers. I think though that HA's business is cheaper and I know that the day of departure upgrade from HNL-SYD is only $350; quite a deal compared to a full fare business class ticket.

HA is the only airline that flies non-stop from/to the cities you're looking for. I think it's a good option considering flight times, stops, service, price, etc.

channa

AA codeshares with QF, and UA codeshares with AC, so the whole SYD, HNL, LAS deal can be done with one ticket on one carrier.

If you don't want the HNL stop on the return, best to go with a UA or AA ticket and take go straight LAX/SFO-SYD on the return, especially if you're in business and on QF metal.

jtkauai

this thread brought a question to mind. last time i flew (2 years ago) ac was spraying pesticide in the cabin with closed doors and ac off on arrival in sydney. 5 minutes plus in hell. by contrast, nz was spraying prior to boarding so while you may have been indirectly exposed to pesticide for a much longer time (the whole flight), at least the flight attendants weren't walking down the isles spraying it on you. ps. the flight attendants on ac told me they hate this practice.

ozstamps

HA are in recent weeks doing insane price deals from OZ-HNL RT - for about ~$US300-350 plus taxes.

No idea what class these are booked in, but all TA's here have been selling them.

The FAQ here says here re earning miles:

Hawaiian Airlines:

Partnership with Continental Airlines (earn CO, EQM miles; codeshare agreements; redeem Continentals OP miles for Hawaiian Flights, 10,000 miles required), Northwest Airlines (earn NW, EQM miles; codeshare agreements; redeem Northwest's WP miles for Hawaiian Flights, 10,000 miles+ required), American Airlines (earn AA, non EQM; codeshare agreements; redeem American miles for Hawaiian Flights, 10,000 miles required*); Island Air

Does anyone know whether these cheapie flights earn either CO or NW miles? Or whether they are in a lowball class that earns zippo?

Thanks.

formeraa

The best thing is to "pretend" to book on HA's website. Before you enter any credit card info, it gives you the fare class info and rules (which include mileage earning info).

The answer to your question is: Probably not but definitely check to make sure.

ozstamps

OK .. good tip. ^

Did that for a dummy November booking and got this:

' - Flights booked in H and K class of service DO NOT qualify for other airline frequent flyer miles.'

And the cheapies are in "H" class.

It does NOT say however that miles in THEIR plan are no possible to earn. (Maybe that is true, they just do not outline that!)

I asked the phone staff here and they say these cheapie flights DO earn miles in their plan. And seemed very sure about that.

SYD-HNL-SYD is just over 20,000 real miles. 20,000 miles in the HA plan is good for a round trip anywhere in the USA on Alaska Air - who service Boston, NYC, Washington and Florida ... and most of Alaska fo course:

http://www.alaskaair.com/www2/destin...p_FullSize.asp

Pretty neat deal for a few $100 cheapie RT ticket from oz.

cblaisd

Afaik, they do indeed earn HA miles. All my trips in H/K class have.

Hmmm.... I'm not sure where the 20K comes from? HNL-SYD on HA is 5060 miles, so 2x = 10,120 miles (or am I misunderstanding?)

http://www.hawaiianair.com/hawaiianm...n/earn_hal.asp

And, fwiw, you can upgrade these flights (HA's overwater FC service is very nice, although the seats are nothing to write home about)

In advance, it's $750 each way

Or, assuming upgrade inventory is available, 15K HA miles each way in advance.

Standby upgrades (offers for which are often given when you e-check in online 24 hours in advance) are $350/$399 depending on date.

http://tinyurl.com/a54xe

jtkaui and slippahs are the experts on HA so they can perhaps chime in if I've gotten something incorrect here.

ozstamps

Thanks cblaisd ... you are so right on the 20,000 miles. ^

Typed SYD-HNL-SYD into milemaker and got this:

Travel Route:
Sydney Kingsford Smith Arpt, Sydney, AU (SYD) to
Honolulu Intl, Honolulu, HI (HNL) to
Sydney Kingsford Smith Arpt, Sydney, AU (SYD)
One Way Distances:
Distance 10140 miles 16320 km
Elite bonus 0 miles 0 km
Class of service bonus 0 miles 0 km
Special promotion bonus 0 miles 0 km
TOTAL 10140 miles 16320 km
Round Trip Distances:
Distance 20280 miles 32640 km
Elite bonus 0 miles 0 km
Class of service bonus 0 miles 0 km
Special promotion bonus 0 miles 0 km
TOTAL 20280 miles 32640 km

I am so used to huge mile accruals from here my brain was not in gear, but you are right Milemaker doubled it, as I should have typed just SYD-HNL!

So you are correct of course, just over 10,000 for a RT. And with THAT is there anything useful to redeem for -- other than intra Hawaii flights?!

ozstamps

OK ... I'll answer my own question and see that 10,000 is indeed an internal coach saver round trip:

http://www.hawaiianair.com/hawaiianm...em/use_fly.asp

That chart also shows that upgrades SYD-HNL are now 25,000 one way, so maybe they went up from 15,000 in fairly recent times? All plans seem to devalue at some point. It is 35,000 each way to USA West coast so the OZ deal is pretty good I guess in comparison, for near twice as much flying hours.

The only way to get to 20,000 on one flight seems to try and get a fast comp to Platinum and get the 100% bonus, but I imagine that would be a VERY long shot? I am Platinum with United and with NW, so maybe it is worth a shot and ask them?

cblaisd

My bad. I think I misspoke about upgrades being 15K

Iirc, last year HA suspended their comp programs after September; whether that was only for a time or permanently I don't know. There is something in the FAQ that slippahs put together in the Hawaii Forum about comps on HA, again iirc.

The only thing 10K HA miles are good for, as you point out, are 1 saver interisland RT, two one-way saver interisland RTs, or 1 1-way non-saver interisland trip.

However, one of the very nice things about the HA program is that those who hold the HA Visa card can have (up to 10x/year) mileage transferred to them from other members (who don't have to have the HA Visa) at no charge. Your 10K miles therefore might be worth something to someone who had something equivalent (or close) to trade.

ozstamps

Ha! Well that is my FT tip of this week for sure cblaisd.

So if someone out there living in HI had 10,000 Visa card miles they would otherwise use for ONE round trip internally, they might be good enough to transfer them to me. Out of sheer goodness of spirit for that generosity, I'd give them TWO free roundtrip using my UA miles, and magically, my all but useless 10,000 account balance suddenly gets me a free trip anywhere on Alaska Air.

Gotta love Flyertalk. ^

cblaisd

Well, yes. But keep in mind that you have to have the HA Visa in order to have miles transferred to you. You can, however, transfer to anyone who has an HA Visa.

See http://www.hawaiianair.com/hawaiianm...nd.asp#pooling

ozstamps

Urrrgggh. My bad. Sorry I misread it to work in reverse direction.

Well, we all know what they say about:

"if it sounds too good to be true, it probably .......