Loni4865

Hi there,
OK everyone I need your help. My parents have NEVER been on a Vacation together...they always lived away from family and returned home for their "vacation". My father is turning 75 and I'm wanting to take them to Maui in April. What class fare should I purchase in hopes of being able to upgrade them to first class with my miles. I believe I have around 80,000 miles. Thanks for your help.
Any and all info is greatly appreciated, thanks for your time. Loni

Patty

K or higher for mileage upgrade to Hawaii.

annw

Just a thought, but -- where are you flying from? From SFO we can purchase first class on Hawaiian Airlines for about the same cost of coach on the mainland carriers.

Loni4865

We will be departing from Casper, WY or Denver, CO. It just depends on the difference in the fare.

Patty

annw,
Could you tell me where you're seeing first class on HA for about the same price as coach from SFO?

annw

I haven't booked in the last couple of months but have gotten it numerous (8-10 at least) times in the past on the Hawaiian Airlines website in contrast to United fares.

http://www.hawaiianair.com

In addition we've frequently gotten day before flight upgrades offered for $150, which of course is another matter.

annw

I looked for next week and at this time the FC is up to $957 SFO-HNL, up from a high of $650 several months back -- don't know if the increase is seasonal or if losing Aloha Airlines from the mainland affected it. These better prices were post-oil price increase.

ekscrunchy

Could you all explain to me bout the upgrade issue?

For example, the OP gets the appropriate upgradable ticket. then what happens-- her parents get to the airport and get the upgrade based on availability? Or is the upgrade done beforehand? And how, by phoning every day? Looking at website?

Patty

Mileage upgrades can be confirmed at any time as long as upgrade space is available. The concept is similar to free awards in that the availability is limited (although generally upgrades book into a different fare class than free awards).

If upgrade space is not available, you could keep checking or possibly waitlist depending on the carrier. I personally wouldn't buy a higher fare unless I could confirm an upgrade at the time of purchase.

Patty

Thanks, annw. I guess $957 each way or even $650 each way isn't what I'd characterize as about the same as coach on mainland carriers.

I've noticed first class fares to Hawaii have gone up in general though. I think partly due to the loss of ATA and Aloha. We got used to paying $800-$1100 roundtrip to fly LAX-HNL in F and haven't seen anything close to that lately

annw

Exactly, Patty. Since we fly over often for business we track the fares and always compare. Last year we could get RT First Class SFO-HNL for around a thousand bucks, and **at that time** United was running around the same. However, cheapest fare on United at this moment does seem markedly less than FC on Hawaiian, unfortunately! So my suggestion not currently valid.

ekscrunchy

Thanks,Patty!