Originally Posted by
asu-ua772
HA can adjust the rules at any time to offer freebies to anybody it wants anytime it wants. It has chosen not to offer them in the same generous manner a la Alaska, United, etc. Why?
Because they feel they can eventually sell most/if not all 18 F seats (whether for full-fare, miles, or bidding/OLCI). And, earning money or getting miles off its books is a better thing for HA than handing out the seats free.
This is why I would like to ask Hawaiian to consider tasking a product manager role to look into whether selling first class- and E+ seats *at all cost* is truly the best thing for them to do in order to maximize revenues over time. "They feel" may be based on simple corporate inertia rather than on any kind of analysis. (As it so often happens in larger companies.) The problem as I see it is that few Hawaiian employees who would be in a position to decide anything ever travel much on the competition. As such, they have no idea how far ahead Alaska Air is not only in their frequent flyer program, but also in many other smaller and larger aspects of their operation. I travel on three airlines every week (Alaska MVP Gold, Hawaiian Plat 75k, Air China Phoenix Miles Gold) and I could easily give a long list. Even Air China outshines Hawaiian in the treatment of us regulars in many ways. (Ask me for details if interested.)
In an era where airlines are cutting elite benefits such as free upgrades in order to increase revenue, I think HA has simply "cut-to-the-chase" whereas other airlines are gradually diminishing benefit values so not to p**s off their elite customers en masse...with the ultimate goal of monetizing all their premium seats.
Not so. Since I abandoned using Hawaiian on mainland flights and joined their FFP program 4 years ago, Alaska Air has not cut a single elite benefit for me. In fact, they sent us a lengthy email explaining that they were *not* going to cut benefits when others (Delta and United) changed their programs last year. This was during a period of high oil prices. Now, airlines are raking in record profits as oil prices look to stay under $50/bbl. And the HA stock is at record levels.