Tag Archives: KOA

Midweek update on the US Airways Twitter Deals Week

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All the hype started around June 21, 2010 when US Airways had just over 21,000 followers on Twitter. Between Tweets and various banners on USAirways.com, everyone realized June 28, 2010 would be the day to start your engines, and computers among other things.

While I expected a higher frequency of deals involving more cities from the US Airways route network, I’m having a heck of time and heaps of fun. Let’s go over the events of the week!

Monday, June 28, 2010

1) The clue being “One Love, One Heart” a few minutes later a Tweet : Phoenix to Montego Bay, Jamaica each way for $20 + tax.

2) The clue being “fireworks”, US Airways offered 4th of July fares to it’s hub, Philadelphia from 25 cities on the East Coast/ Midwest for only $18 each way + tax. This fare allowed for a day trip in either direction (those try to get away from Philly and those wanting to see the city.)

3) Next, a trivia giveaway. First person to answer the question received a $1,500 gift card for US Airways flights. Easy question: “What is US Airways’ longest flight from Philadelphia”. Obviously, Tel Aviv.

4) Clueing us in with a metion of the Nobel prize, US Airways offers $89 one way + tax from Philadelphia to Oslo, Norway.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

1) US Airways was up bright and early today having woken up myself one hour after US Airways tweeted $79 + tax one way fares from Charlotte to Rio de Janeiro. Samba! What an awesome deal.

2) The high roller clue followed by a $49 one way + tax fare in First Class from Dallas to Las Vegas. Interesting thing is- fare books into “A” (think paid First Class) so you even earn class-of-service bonus miles.

3) The next clue was “betting” us- I knew it was regarding a gambling destination. Right I was, $49 one way + tax fare from Phoenix, Arizona to either Las Vegas or Reno, Nevada. Also in First Class!

4) A weaker give away today. Today’s trivia question yielded a 2011 Gold Preferred membership along with a year at the US Airways Club. All you had to do was be the first person to correctly list five of US Airways’ year- round European destinations.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

1)  Seems like US Airways slept in this morning, and as soon as they woke up, they reached for the Tequilla bottle. $49 one way fares (+ tax, of course) from Charlotte, NC to either San Jose del Cabo or Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

2) Next up, Washington focus city gets some action. $19 one way + tax from Washington-Reagan (DCA) to either New Orleans or Charleston, SC.

3) Less events on this day, with a trivia question ending today’s specials. First person to tweet all four destinations in Hawaii that US Airways actually flies to (HNL, OGG, KOA, LIH- yes, but not ITO as many of you have tried to argue) gets two round trip tickets to anywhere in the world US Airways flies to. I’m assuming both are in coach and since they are free- no mileage earnings.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

1) 4th day of the weak nets four deals. First up, $9 + tax each way fares from New York LaGuardia to either Albany, NY; Burlington, VT; Ithaca, NY; Portland, ME or Rochester, NY.

2) First Class deal strikes again. $49 each way + tax from Charlotte to either West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale or Miami. The clue “Orange” confused me a bit since I wasn’t sure if these would be Orange County deals of Florida deals.

3) Trivia time! Once again, at stake- $1,500 US Airways gift card. First person to correctly name the new business class product (Envoy Suite) wins!

4) A deal so juicy, it could make you say “what about them apples?”. $99 one way + tax from Philadelphia to Tel Aviv, Israel. All I can say is Oh Wow!

We now await what Friday, July 2, 2010 brings!

Sure, they could offer more cities and more dates, but these dails are truly awesome! Especially the Tel Aviv one! How deals have I taken advantage of? None, as of yet. One way or another- either the dates don’t work out or I just don’t feel like going there right now. As for the trivia, I’m good- no doubt about it. I’m just not fast enough. Still, I’m having a great time, though my workout have taken a major hit this week. I’ve only gone to the gym once this week and the real work out? Running back to my house from the gym so I could catch a trivia question in time after getting a tweet while bench pressing!

I’ve also gotten to know alot of FlyerTalkers which I’ve been tweeting with constantly. It’s been a good week overall.

Proudly flying (and tweeting) with US!

-Mark

Where’s the ahola spirit, Hawaiian? Time to look at Mokulele for travel? Even stoop down to Go?

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If you remember posts from my blog from over a year ago regarding Hawaiian airlines, you’ll know that I was generally happy with them. Friendly service with smile? Check! Miles earned with US Airways Dividend Miles program? Check! No hassle baggage policies + interlining (passing of bags between carriers)? Check!

I don’t know if it is because Aloha Airlines no longer flies, or there is growing hostility toward Go! airline, but Hawaiian Airlines has taken a turn for the worse. And it has nothing to do with closed counters to which customers are still directed to, poor signage that to forces you to change lines three times or agents that won’t check you in, becuase you’re not flying First Class all the way.

When we were checking in with Hawaiian for the Honolulu to Chicago via Lihue, Phoenix and Philadelphia (HNL-LIH-PHX-PHL-ORD) portion of the trip, we were fully aware of baggage fees. It was explained to us from the beginning- since we were flying interisland on Hawaiian, we were only responsible for the 2nd bag fees.  Immediately after arriving, the “kind” lady barked at me saying I have to pay for each and every bag I am checking. “Doesn’t matter what reservations or US Airways told you, you have to pay for all the bags you check. I simply don’t care that it’s on US Airways stock or their rules. You’re on Hawaiian Airlines and we decided what we do with you!” Here’s the juicy part. A supervisor and a second agent sided with me. They told me I would only have to pay the bag fee for the second bag since I’m flying US Airways back to the mainland. A few minutes later as the supervisor’s shift ended (or maybe he just took a break), the original agent told me I would still have to pay up since she couldn’t get in touch with the supervisor and that the supervisor didn’t go into the record. She also told me the second agent that sided with me was not a supervisor and she couldn’t listen to him. Funny she said so. Isn’t she just a regular agent? So why can she make rules, but the, the second agent can’t? I keep telling her I want to talk to the supervisor in front of her. She says he’s gone, puts her hand in the air covering the area face and direct vision at her and storms of for five minutes.

After about five minutes, she returns in a slightly better mood and says she has a special deal for me. I thought, what, a bribe? She says she’ll only charge for the second bag as the rules state, but she will only tag it to Lihue where I have to leave security during my connection, pick up all bags and re-check with US Airways. Ha! This is after I told her that my Mom lost her only photo ID and that she would need about 30-40 minutes of additional screening time. In the end we had to pay the $55 dollars since there’s no arguing with a lady which probably finished drinking some acid. She was pure spite! Of course, while gathering information about the supervisor, second agent and her, all I got was first name. No last name or initial or badge number. Agent should have been fired on the spot.

Erase the friendly service with a smile and the no hassle baggage policies on the spot. Also erase the automatic miles postings. I had to contact a USAirways.com live chat agent in order to get the miles posted. I am going to write a complaint letter to Hawaiian Airlines, but I’m also going to try and question the charges with the credit card since techinically “I was charged for a service I did not use/request”. We’ll see where that takes me.

There is good news however which is what the second half of this post is dedicated to. While “arguing” with the agent, I noticed a new airline  nearby with a small counter- Mokulele Airlines. I did some research after I returned from my trip and I’m thinking if they do well, they could be the next Aloha Airlines. Mokulele Airlines has their own website. I also emailed them with a few questions and here’s what I can tell you so far without flying with them.

  • First Class- 2 bags free of charge on each flight, Coach Class- first bag free on all fares, second bag $17
  • Fleet of 3 Embraer 170′s and Cessna Grand Caravans 208 B’s
  • Complimentary juice/water in coach, alcohol/soft drinks/juice/water in First Class
  • Working on a in-flight snack program for sale
  • Operate two lounges (one in Honolulu, the other in Kona)- annual membership costs $79.95 + tax
  • Each flight will earn you 500 Alaska Airlines miles
  • No additional charges for passing bags two two interline carriers, Alaska Airlines and Continental Airlines (more to be added in the future)

What’s neat is that with only three EMB-170′s they still offer a generous amount of flights between the different islands. The Cessna’s add to the experience by offering service to smaller destination, and for aviation enthusiasts, a nice “ride”.

I am seriously considering switching to Mokulele Airlines for all my future inter-island travel. I’ll likely miss out on my 500 miles, but I’ll be able to see which “pineapple” tastes better! Cause we’re not comparing apples to oranges here.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Gate A13, no winglets! Aloha from Hawaii!

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Just a quick shout out from Hawaii. We finally made it to HNL by way of PHX and KOA. Crew on US45 from PHX to KOA was one of the nicest I’ve had in years and per their request I’m not going to put any of their pictures up, but they were the nicest you could possibly find! I really hope I can be lucky enough to fly with them again!

I’ve also found the new Hawaiian themed meals to be a much needed upgrade from the previous flights. Kudos to US Airways for this change!

Finally, KOA has no gates, which is what I love! I just love air stairs!

Kinglobjaw says Aloha from Kona, Hawaii!

Kinglobjaw says Aloha from Kona, Hawaii!

 

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Thinking of flying to Hawaii on a Star Alliance carrier? Want to use miles or upgrade? Here’s a thought

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I’ve had the hardest time buying tickets for my upcoming trip. You see, I am going to Hawaii in April and I need to fly into HNL. My plan was to purchase a revenue coach ticket on US Airways and upgrade using my Dividend Miles as it’s just 17,500 miles each way. The good thing about the mileage upgrade is that it clears you into First at the time of ticketing, and more importantly from the city of origin, which in my case would be Chicago- ORD.

US Airways Hawaii flights are all operated by America West B757′s which offer 14 First Class seats. I say not bad, given that the East B757′s have only 8 in First or 12 Envoy if configured with Envoy!

I planned a simple ORD-PHX-HNL-PHX-ORD, but as you know with my trips, the way they are booked resembles nothing how they were planned. PHX-HNL has two flights a day per direction on US and there were absolutely no upgrade seats. None! I’m not flexible at all, so I politely declined the agent’s offer to look around.

Now the good part. US flies nonstop to four cities in Hawaii: HNL, Maui (OGG), Kona (KOA) & Lihue (LIH) are all daily from PHX. US Airways used to offer LAS (Las Vegas)-OGG, but let’s not get into that. It’s just no longer there and what a shame!  Anyway, PHX-HNL/OGG are both double daily. In fact, last year, when I needed three upgrade seats to HNL and back I had to return from Maui, since HNL-PHX had none.

What I did differently this year. I looked at everything. When you’re desperate, you’re desperate. Or may I should call it creative?

The good thing about Hawaii is that the islands are relatively close to each other, and while competition is no longer the same without Aloha Airlines, inter-island fares are still pretty low if booked ahead of time. In addition, Hawaiian Airlines (HA) codeshares with almost every USA based airline and quite a few international ones too. They have baggage and ticketing agreements, and most importantly during these times of a-la carte pricing, they do not charge for the first bag you check. After all, if they did, tourists would not hop around the islands, HA would loose customers and islands would loose potential tourists and the revenue they could scrape off of them. In return, the Hawaiian Islands would be pretty upset with HA.

Another idea to digest is that US Airways (and I’m sure many other carriers) will allow HA segments at no extra charge (aside from a few $ in taxes). I mean, if the ORD-HNL fare basis is, say $505 round trip, in most cases US Airways will let you route it via multiple stops, meaning you don’t have to fly ORD-PHX-HNL, you can fly ORD-PHX-OGG-HNL using US up to OGG and then HA on OGG-HNL. It depends on the fare rules, but sometimes you can do 3 or 4 stops, meaning ORD-PHX-OGG-KOA-HNL and the base fare is still $505. Remember, all you end up paying extra is a few more dollars in airport and other taxes.

On my dates, only PHX-KOA had upgrade availability, so my outbound was ORD-PHX-KOA-HNL. Of course, as with all mileage upgrades, they only upgrade you on your frequent flyer carrier, so in my case US Airways. Still, I don’t mind a short KOA-HNL where, as a preferred, I still earn 500 miles and another 500 miles bonus for being a Chairman’s Preferred. Return wise, HNL-PHX was also not avalable for upgrades. Only OGG-PHX and LIH-PHX were available for that evening. The LIH schedule fit me better so I routed myself HNL-LIH on HA, and then US from LIH-PHX-PHL-ORD. Why not nonstop from PHX-ORD? Not available, but PHX-PHL-ORD was and the fare only went up by a few dollars, again due to taxes.

In conclusion, I booked ORD-PHX-KOA-HNL-LIH-PHX-PHL-ORD while confirming everything in First instantly (except KOA-HNL and HNL-LIH since it’s operated by HA). What is good is that I paid only $31 dollars more in taxes than I would have paid for ORD-PHX-HNL-PHX-ORD and would have to ride in coach. Plus, think of all the miles I will earn! I told you, the way I plan flights is never similar to how I book them.

Makes me think of last year’s ORD-LAS-SEA-LAS-PHX-HNL-OGG-PHX-SEA-PHL-ORD method of getting to Hawaii.

Now for some thoughts about using miles to Hawaii:

  • Just like with the upgrades, think about flying into one of the other islands. You may not be able to have HA on your ticket as an award, but purchasing a seperate coach ticket between the islands shouldn’t cost more than $39+ tax one-way if planned in advanced. Check Hawaiianairlines.com for that! Whatever you do, don’t fly Go!
  • If using miles and wanting to fly United, think about United’s flights from DEN, LAX, and SFO which are high in frequency. ORD-HNL will be hard to get.
  • Soon you will be able to use miles on Continental Airlines as they will join Star Alliance.
  • Not many people know this, but USA based members can use their miles on Air Canada. Air Canada flies daily to HNL, OGG, KOA nonstop from Vancouver, Canada (YVR). They use larger B767/A333 aircraft where coach is easier to book, yet business class more difficult. Air Canada’s B767′s and A333′s now feature fully flat business class seats, so they’re considered “hot”!
  • Two other Star Alliance carriers server Hawaii. Air New Zealand flies a B767 three times per week from Auckland, NZ (AKL), while ANA flies a B767 daily from Tokyo-NRT. If ever in that region or you want to stop in Hawaii and fly onward, you can use them. Both offer coach and business class on those specific flights.

 

Have a nice clicK life, Aloha,

-Mark