jozdemir

Talk about abbrevations...anyway

I'm doing an MR to HNL in May to fulfill a UA status match to 1K.

Got two nights there and I was trying to decide whether I wanted to stay on Oahu or head to one of the other islands.

In looking at the flight prices with HA, their first class is around the $170 mark for direct or $200-$220 for a multi segment trip between islands.

Now VA will give 40SCs on an F fare with HA...so I was thinking if I found for example 5 two segment trips between islands for around the $1000 mark, that could potentially net me 400SCs for $1000.

I know that it won't necessarily work that way because it depends on flight schedules etc but I think it's feasible that I could earn a few 100 SCs island hopping over a day.

I just wanted to know if anyone else had done any island hop MRs crediting to VA and whether a trip from say HNL-ITO via OGG (shows as multi-segment not technical stop) with different flight numbers would in theory credit as 2 x 40SC trips.

I think my logic works, but I might just be getting over excited!

qwertyuiop

In theory that should work. I don't know of anyone who's done it so report back if you do!

`X'

considering it later in the year. But if HA fares drop again.. Ill give it a go for research purposes

jozdemir

Research hey...I wonder if that counts as a tax deduction

jozdemir

Oh well this is what I ended up booking:

HA384
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Oahu - Honolulu, HI (HNL) 11:55 AM
Maui - Kahului, HI (OGG) 12:33 PM
First/Nonstop

HA152
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Maui - Kahului, HI (OGG) 01:17 PM
Big Island - Hilo, HI (ITO) 01:54 PM
First/Nonstop

HA179
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Big Island - Hilo, HI (ITO) 05:07 PM
Maui - Kahului, HI (OGG) 05:44 PM
First/Nonstop

HA545
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Maui - Kahului, HI (OGG) 06:15 PM
Oahu - Honolulu, HI (HNL) 06:49 PM
First/Nonstop

~$500 AUD for the round trip. So I should be expecting 160SCs for that which I'm pretty happy with.

Usually to earn that I'd have to do 2 x return flexi trips from PER-MEL for ~$1600 AUD so hopefully it works out the way I've planned!

jozdemir

So this did work, I just had to chase VA to get credit for 2/4 flights which took me about 6 weeks.

Originally they only credited me for the HNL-OGG legs but not the OGG-ITO; their response was that they were still waiting for confirmation from HA on the latter two flights.

In any case it all worked out fine 160SCs which ticked me over for my platinum renewal

Jorgen

How quickly did they credit your original flights? I've been waiting nearly two weeks for my HA flights to credit, not sure whether to bother chasing them up yet, or not.

Downunder girl

Does this only work for First class on HA? I have already booked our econ flights HNL-LIH return and currently my booking has my HA FF# in the booking, as I booked on the HA website.

I am now thinking perhaps I should switch the FF # to VA since I don't really have use for the HA miles and they expire in 18 months. Is that possible and best way to do this? How many SCs would I gain?

Thanks

P.S I am only silver in Velocity.

jozdemir

Oh no it'll work with economy as well but you just have to double check your fare class, the list is farely extensive for HA though:

https://www.velocityrewards.com.au/c...lass/index.htm

For HNL-LIH though you're only looking at about 10 SCs each way and 150-odd points though! Still better than a poke in the eye I guess

I couldn't add my VA FF online, I had to do it at the airport at a check-in desk; you could try calling them though to see if they can do it?

jozdemir

The original flights came through in 11 days according to my activity statement...I'm pretty sure they do say 4-6 weeks though for some partners.

The second two (even though they were on the same PNR) didn't come through until 2 months after I'd taken the flight.

I'd send through a retro claim, wait 2 more weeks and if you haven't heard anything give them a call. When I did they could see my retro claim and were able to tell me they were waiting for HA to confirm the flights.

Downunder girl

Thank you for the fast reply ^

Just realised we have used our HA miles for one of the legs LIH-HNL so that may cause some issues when we try to change out the HA FF # and replace with VA #. I will try though, its worth it no matter how small the SCs are . Plus I am family pooling so I will get my daughter's SCs and points too.

Downunder girl

Hi Jozdemir

Just another thought re the HA flights and VA SCs, what if I paid to upgrade to F on HA on the day (if available), would I then get the 40 SCs per flight?

If yes that would be 80 SCs, plus I think SYD ADL return is 20, so I would be half way there for silver again . But I guess it depends if they book the upgrade into F,P,A or whatever the F fare buckets are on HA .

jozdemir

Paid F, or J(assuming F/J only books into the below) will definitely earn 40 SCs per flight. I know that because that was my experience, but you can also see that on the VA website.

Hawaiian Airlines: F, P, J, C, A

I guess when you ask HA to see how much the upgrade is you could always ask what fare bucket it's in? I'm not sure what their online booking system is like for changes so I can't comment on that.

But it makes sense though, why not earn 80 SCs for the flight if you can

Downunder girl

Thanks ^

Depends on the cost but if its not nutty, I will try it and of course then we would get F (early board and deplane and 35 minutes up front ). Most likely can only do it one way as the return leg was done on saver HA miles.

Downunder girl

Well I think I am going to have to work a bit harder on this because what I got isnt as good as yours and I kept getting error message saying I needed a 2 hour minimum between flights.....groan!


Air Itinerary & Pricing

Trip 1
Oahu - Honolulu, HI (HNL) to Kauai - Lihue, HI (LIH)
HA 113
Friday, Nov 29, 2013 6:02am– 6:38am
Nonstop

Trip 2
Kauai - Lihue, HI (LIH) to Maui - Kahului, HI (OGG)
HA 508
Friday, Nov 29, 2013 9:43am– 10:28am
Nonstop

Trip 3
Maui - Kahului, HI (OGG) to Kauai - Lihue, HI (LIH)
HA 339
Friday, Nov 29, 2013 1:05pm– 1:50pm
Nonstop

Cost Summary
Original Fare: $578.10
Taxes and Fees: $16.70
Cost Per Traveler: $594.80
# of Travelers X 1
Sub Total: $594.80
Total Air Travel Cost (USD) $594.80

I just went for HNL-LIH first as that is actually what I am flying but I might try doing what you did and see if that makes a difference.
This is not as many SCs as what you got and it cost more! So back to the drawing board I go Also I picked non-stop flights to each location, am I better off picking the 2 stop flights?

Oh did you have any issues in explaining to TSA/customs why you were flying back and forth all in one day? Some people dont understand MRs.