Originally Posted by
diver858
Really? Have you tried to book award travel to Hawaii over the past couple of years? From personal experience, the only option for most AA / BA saver awards are on AS metal, as AA seems to have little difficulty filling seats with customers paying CRAZY premiums - same goes for HA (I have limited experience with DL, UA), summer fares from LAX have creeped over $1k RT. Even HA inter-island awards are getting tougher, more expensive, due in part to the recent demise of YV.
From my non-statistical observations, average fares to Hawaii have more than doubled from 2007-08 recession lows. Based on Gary Kelly's 15% minimum margin requirement, Hawaii appears to be a no brainer, there must be some other reason why he is reluctant to do so.
Who knows? Maybe after so many years he's about to make good on his promise, but the rumors have pretty much died. Not being sarcastic here. It's possible even though I still doubt it. One of his main problems is the CP. Hawaii is not a business destination and the CP usage is no doubt much higher on these leisure routes. But he also knows he's going to lose a ton of people if he devalues or gets rid of the CP.