Kumulani

I agree the mileage program sucks overall, but Platinums also get 2 upgrades for mainland flights, and 6 upgrades for international flights if you fly 75K in a year, and more for every additional 10K flown, on top of the interisland upgrades. The process of redeeming the certificates can be annoying compared to other airlines, but I don't actually think HA is actually that behind in terms of upgrades. Yes, you get a lot less upgrades at the top tier than the competition, but the top tier is also much easier to achieve, plus you can earn extra upgrades as you fly more. Flying 40K miles is enough to get Platinum, I can't think of a competitor that would give you any upgrades at all for flying that amount.

I actually don't find saver availability that bad, compared to the competition. With AA, the other frequent flyer program I'm in, I can find good saver awards on their partners flying west, but saver awards to the mainland are nearly impossible now. I have much better luck with HA.

My biggest complaints with HA are the fact that elites can't pick Extra Comfort seats for free, the quantity and quality of the lounges, the outsourced phone customer service, and the selection/cost of the IFE. On the positive side, I like their young fleet, great service on board (most of the time), the new lie flat seats, and their route network.

I agree there needs to be more competition, though the situation is more dire interisland than to the mainland. For the mainland there's plenty of competition, even for Vegas, if you're willing to stop on the west coast. Though I am surprised HNL-LAS nonstop has so little competition, given how popular a destination Vegas is from Hawaii.