Originally Posted by
mooper
As for being risk averse - do you feel that UA presents you with less risk of change (i.e., greater certainty)?
Yes, because they own 60% of the Hawaiian market acc. to FlyerTalkers and therefore should have more award seats available. Their flights aren't as convenient for me as Delta's but when I need to fly 4 people, price has to supercede convenience.
Last year when I was booking my flights from CVG->OGG (not HNL), the only seats available on Delta at 331 days out were SkyChoice coach seats at 70k Miles. I reluctantly booked 3 seats and paid for one out of pocket to the tune of $1100. That's when I started to do research on other airlines and discovered that there were tons of Saver seats available on United, even at less than 331 days out. I asked other United Flyertalkers if it was normal to see lots of Saver seats to Hawaii and they said yes. If you plan early you should be able to do it. They also have the added bonus of having E+ seats which will give coach passengers an extra 5 inches of legroom for an extra fee. For coach dwellers like me, 5 inches of legroom is a big deal.
I'm hoping that the Saver seats with United aren't going to dry up like they seemed to do with Delta. In years past, I've been able to book 6 RT Saver seats on Delta to Hawaii by booking at 331 days out. This past time I couldn't find Saver coach seats ever, to either OGG or HNL. (It was for July 12-19, '08). With Choice being double the price of Saver, I've got to go where I feel I have the best chance of getting Saver seats. And that's with United.