ahself

I don't post (or fly) a whole lot, but do get a lot of good information from this forum. With a planned trip to Hawaii next May, I searched the forum for all the information I could find to help me make reservations for Skysaver flights. While there are bits and pieces in different posts, I still learned a few things thru the process. So, with my booking behind me, I thought I'd share my experience and lessons learned in the hopes that it might help others.

Details: Traveling to Hawaii from Atlanta next May 23 (Thurs.) and returning on May 31 (Sat.)...over Memorial Day week/weekend. Booking 4 adults on the same flights. Willing to fly into or out of HNL or OGG, but would rather not go into and out of the same airport. No status on Delta.

Results: After several nights/mornings on the phone at midnight and lots more hours online looking at schedules, I was finally able to get economy saver seats on DL ATL-LAX, NW LAX-HNL, and FC saver on DL OGG-ATL (via SLC).

My experience and some lessons learned:
- Yes, getting saver seats to Hawaii, especially out of Atlanta is tough (as assumed). Be sure to do your homework on schedules available, not only for DL but also for CO and NW flights...and check hubs where those airlines fly to/from Hawaii and the hubs where they partner with DL. By using the nwa japan res. site, you can see the availability of partner combo flights by reviewing random dates.
- As is widely known, you can't hold/confirm flights on DL until 331 days out. However, DL reps are able to see the CO and NW schedules greater than 331 days out and can hold flights for you (in some cases). For example, at 332 days out I called Delta and asked them to look at flights and partner flights and was also able to hold seats on a CO ATL-EWR-HNL flight. I later dropped this because the DL/NW combo was better.
- Always ask for a U.S. based agent if you get an agent in India, no matter how helpful they may seem. The clock is ticking and you're racing with others who called at midnight to get those seats. The agents in India are very limited in what they're able to do and booking 331 days out to Hawaii with no return using partner airlines isn't standard.
- DL doesn't necessarily release the skymiles seats to Hawaii right at midnight...apparently a revenue management decision, and it appears random at times (i.e. seats were released for some dates and not others). So, even though you call 331 days out at midnight, you're most likely going to get put on the waitlist for skysaver seats...still worth calling so that you get on the waitlist early (as noted later for my return).
- I was told by the DL rep that most people going to Hawaii are families of 4-6...if one of those families calls and gets on the waitlist early, they may take the only saver seats available for that flight. She also said that, unlike most of us on Flyertalk, most people call early in the morning when they wake up, only to find no seats available (or released) and placed 10-15th on the waitlist.
- When I asked if I would still be at the top of the waitlist even if medallion members called in, I was told "yes" because medallion members have a different pool of skysaver/skymiles seats to pick from. This seems contrary to what some have reported.
- So, after calling at midnight 331 days out, I was put on the waitlist for several ATL-HNL and ATL-OGG flights. BTW, make sure to call 10-15 min. or more before midnight to factor in waiting to get a DL rep. and having to be transferred from an Indian rep. to a U.S. rep. if necessary.
- However, DL does release seats to LAX and SLC (just not from those airports to Hawaii). So, you can get confirmed seats on ATL-LAX or ATL-SLC segments.
- With LAX and SLC available, I was able to get confirmed seats on DL ATL-LAX. I then was able to get confirmed on NW LAX-HNL...had to ask the rep. to check partner flights (which I knew were already available thanks to the japan nwa res. site).
- As discussed before, DL will waive the $50 change fee when your return is greater than 331 days out. You just have to make sure they put a note to that effect in your res.
- The problem with CO and NW flights is that they don't have the flexibility of DL flights with no return...i.e. you can't leave the return open and you have to book a sat. stay to confirm your reservation...but you can hold the reservation for 48 hours.
- So, within 48 hours later, I had to book a return with a Sat. stay on NW, only to have to change that when I was 331 days out from the return date I actually wanted. Even with this intermmediate step and the use of a partner airline, DL waived the $50 change fee.
- After doing some research, I wasn't very optimistic on getting a return flight out of OGG, particularly on a Sat. and I assumed I'd have to go the skychoice or FC route (or return out of HNL).
- At the 331 day mark, I called at midnight while looking online, got through rather quickly and was able to confirm four FC saver OGG-ATL seats...there were actually several FC saver flights available. I also waitlisted for a few other flights for economy seats. When I checked online later that morning (~8:00), there were no FC saver flights available. The next day, two of us cleared the waitlist for economy seats. However, the other two didn't clear the waitlist and we decided we'd rather fly FC on the return (overnight) anyway.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I found out some things that I wasn't aware of before, even after extensive searching on FT, and thought they might help others trying to get to Hawaii using Skymiles.

One other note: There is a difference between speaking to a U.S. based agent, whether domestic or int'l, and speaking to a U.S. based agent at the U.S. support desk...the latter has more visibility and power to make changes. For example, one agent at the support desk was able to see our standing on the waitlist while a regular agent was not. Also, for the return, we're on a flight that appears direct from OGG-ATL, but stops in SLC for an equipment change. Because of this, we can't select seats online and neither could a regular agent...however, they turned to the support desk to get seats assigned (I wanted to make sure we got 7 E&F on the return 767-400 flight).
- In addition, when you call 800-323-2323 and get a U.S. agent, they'll most likely be a regular DL rep. However, when you call that number, get an agent in India and ask to be transferred to an agent in the U.S., you'll most likely be transferred to the U.S. support desk, especially if calling at midnight.

yorock

This is some very helpful info. Thanks for the post.

ecaarch

This is a good thread for two reasons:

1. In the true spirit of FT, it provides real information about what worked for the OP so that others can learn from the OP's experiences.

2. The OP did their homework. They read all that they could on FT, used that information, took the initiative, were flexible, and got something close to what they wanted.

Best wishes to the OP for a great holiday.

FuzzyB17

Wish I would have read this months ago. I'm heading from ATL -> OGG via LAX in Sept for my honeymoon using miles. I'm praying that because my fiance is hot maybe we'll get an upgrade, otherwise it's with the cattle on a long flight.

majorwibi

Great informational post and dont worry about the length. Really good reading to find out about a success story and how to work (but not game) the system a bit to get what you want

You do have one piece of information that could be misleading which is that you had success calling at 331 days because DL decided to release award inventory at that point. 331 days out does not mean that DL will be releasing any / all of its award inventory but that they could release it.

icydog

Good info especially about the midnight thing. Last Dec we used CO to book seats for us for EWR to CUN in first on DL using our Reward miles. DL messed up the flights three times and CO had no way to look at their reservation system to change them. DL changed times and flight numbers and at the end of booking process, two weeks before our flights, DL changed our flights to coach, while still charging Reward miles for first class.

I complained to CO and got a good support Supervisor who canceled all the DL flights EWR to ATL ATL to CUN and got us on a direct flight, first class, EWR to CUN. I was upset with DL, but more bothersome, I felt completely helpless to deal with their system.

onlyforleisure

i used 8 saver tix from EWR in January and the only tip i would add which we did was we used HNL as our one stopover and then got a the flight from HNL-OGG on NW included in the 35,000 miles

ahself

Agree, but I think I covered this in my fourth bullet re: booking flights for my outbound.

"- DL doesn't necessarily release the skymiles seats to Hawaii right at midnight...apparently a revenue management decision, and it appears random at times (i.e. seats were released for some dates and not others). So, even though you call 331 days out at midnight, you're most likely going to get put on the waitlist for skysaver seats...still worth calling so that you get on the waitlist early (as noted later for my return)."

samikitty

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for the advice in your thread. I monitored the ATL-HNL flights for a few weeks leading up to the 331 day window online. While monitoring, it appeared that during the timeframe I was looking at only Tuesday and Wednesday were opening for SkySaver, and I was looking for a Thursday. I called SMS at 12:05 am on day 331 for the outbound of a 7/3 - 7/12/2008 trip. I got a great rep in SLC who could not find any FC SkySaver inventory for 7/3. I would have been completely frustrated and given up had I not read this thread.

Instead of giving up, I continued to monitor online every night at midnight the FC SkySaver availability for ATL-HNL. Lo and behold, on 8/22 at midnight, the 7/3 flights opened up! Called up SMS, and by 12:30 I was holding 3 FC seats confirmed on the outbound and return flights!

Now, if only the direct ATL-HNL flight opens up! Appears they have not opened any of the FC SkySavers on the outbound nor return on the direct flight, but I sure hope they do!

For those of you out there looking for FC SkySaver HNL flights, I can say that from my experience the seats do open up, you just have to monitor the inventory each night as they are released, and jump quickly when they do.

ahself

You're welcome, and I'm glad it worked out for you.

For others in a similar situation, make sure you ask to be put on the waitlist for several flights, as many as they'll let you (I was told there is a max. per confirmation #). Delta is going to clear/confirm people on the waitlist before those that call in after the fact (obviously), like they did for two of us on our return.

KeaauFlyer

Wow, what a comprehensive and useful approach to accomplishing something we all know to be quite difficult. I am impressed. This will be even more helpful now that DL is cutting back its Hawaii service from SFO and CVG. (I believe that the SFO route, at least, is now referred to as "seasonal," which implies at least SOME service.) In any case there will be the same number of potential PAX seeking a significantly reduced number of SkySaver seats.

For someone like me living in Hawaii, it is impossible to go ANYWHERE using miles without dealing with all those issues. So "mahalo nui loa" for the info. The partner airline info is particularly helpful.

I can't help making a somewhat snide comment about DL, though. By reducing the number of seats to Hawaii, they are forcing the SkyMiles members to try partner airlines for award travel. When this happens, the law of unintended consequences kicks in. PAX will discover that SkyTeam partners CO (on almost every A/C) and NW (on some) have a far superior F product and somewhat superior Y product in CO's case. Some customers will start using these A/Ls for their PAID trips, and that could hurt. JMHO.

ADKOP

Does anyone know if the U.S. support desk still exists? I have tried reaching it through U.S. based agents to no avail. They tell me that there is no support desk except for travel agents. I am trying to find out my position on an award waitlist. The flight is one week from today and is F7 as of today. I am confirmed in coach and waitlisted for first. The last time I called the agent told me I could get the info on travelnet, and I tried, but I have no travelnet logon. I can't seem to reach an India agent to transfer to the US (believe it or not!).