Craig

Hi, we spend a lot of time on the Asia board but want to hear from the US board for this trip. We'd like to fly first class to Hawaii (Kauai) for our 20th anniversary next October. While we could use points for either an upgrade or free flights, I've heard availability is not great. The outright fares seem fairly inexpensive - less than $2400 each in some cases, depending on routing. Should we just spend the $$ and use the points earned for a future flight somewhere else?

nytraveler

Without knowing how many points you have with an appropriate airline - and what other choices you have for flights it's impossible to say. But you can check now on flight availability for dates you're interested in with points without actually turning them in.

(In my experience it's often difficult to get seats for anywhere popular just with points; we often have to use extra points to "buy" around blackout dates.)

Craig

nyt - all I want to know is if $2400 is the best price price we are likely to get for first class tix and should we just go for it now. I can do the math on points versus purchase. We are looking at UAL/Continental only at this point and I am not familiar at all with prices on these routes.

Orlando_Vic

Agree with nytraveler. Need to know 1) desired airline, 2) cost in $$$ and 3) cost in miles for upgrade or free ticket. This you can obtain by yourself, probably via their web site.

My gut instinct tells me that at 330/331) days out, you have a chance of snagging 2 seats in F, but it will take effort to get them.

Craig

Okay, desired airline is UAL/Continental and it takes lots of miles and an upgradeable fare to purchase tix for this flight. Again, all I really want to know is if $2400 is a good price if I choose to purchase tix outright. On the trans-Pacific flights which we do year after year, business class can be as much as 5-6 times the price of economy class and for Hawaii it is only 2-1/2 times. So if the $2400 is a good fare, I'll take it and use my miles for a future trans-Pacific flight.

Gardyloo

Don't know your dates, but I'm seeing RT on Alaska Airlines EWR-xSEA-OGG for next October in the $1475-$1490 range. Alaska's schedule forces an overnight in Seattle in both directions, but an airport hotel on Priceline for $50 still makes for a lot less $$ than $2400. You can credit Alaska miles to most Skyteam or Oneworld airlines; unfortunately they dropped CO as a partner when CO joined Star.

Gardyloo

Meant to add, get an Alaska Airlines Visa and you get a $100 companion fare coupon annually - good on FC as well as coach, so for two pax you're looking at $1490 + $100 (+ some taxes on the companion fare) all in - i.e. around $800 - $850 per person. Not too shabby for that long a trip in F, plus AS's FC service is pretty darned good.

Orlando_Vic

$2400/pp for seats in F for a trip of that distance seems like a fairly good deal and there would be a lot less aggravation than going the FF route. If you travel on CO, you could conceivably get a non-stop from EWR to LIH. I'm with you about saving the miles for future trans-pacific premium class seats.

mumpsimus

I also like to fly first class but no longer accumulate miles because I'm retired. So instead of using points for a ticket, I use points for an upgrade. In the process I discovered that while they may reserve a few seats for free tickets, they reserve more for upgrades, so it's a lot easier to schedule for the time you want to go.

ksucat

we just flew first class to Lihue from SD..we were comped without asking by the supervisor which I have heard is not so common these days but we almost bought the upgrade to 1st for an additional $600 pp each way.
You are coming from the east coast..that $2400 is for round trip? If so, I would snag that since most FF miles are taken vs. paid seats in FF and I think that is a great deal.
Hope you are staying at the St. Regis or the Grand Hyatt!
Happy 20th!
aloha

sandi

$2400 First Class from EWR... darn good. Grab it!

lcuy

Thats the flight I usually take. It is a nice non-stop and you arrive at a civilized hour. $2400 a good price for pre-paid first class. Having been in FC several times (paid, points, or Platinum upgrade) though, I don't think I'd every pay for FC again. The service and food isn't all that great. The seats are wider, and have more legroom, but don't lie flat or even have footrests.

Are you elite on CO or other Star Alliance airlines? They used to only sell upgrades for $350+/- on the Hawaii routes, but now they do free ones in order of 1) status, and 2) check in time. If you are Platinum and check in online exactly 24 hours before your flight, you have a pretty decent chance of upgrading. If gold or silver, it's unlikely. My last two flights were right before & after the Star Alliance merger though, so I'm not sure how the influx of other SA customers has changed this.

elkhound

Craig: I think that's a great price. We live in Denver and first class prices on UAL from Denver to Hawaii are at $2,400 per person. I think your price quote from the east coast is outstanding.

china_cat

Last year I watched first class fares for months when planning our trip. We ended up going on United, and that $2400 is what we paid. I did find very similar fares on Alaskan and on American. The AA fares were a special sale, their price was typically closer to $3000. We chose United because the schedule was best (getting into OGG at 3PM was ideal).

I never saw any better fares. I think that's a good price.

Craig

Just checking back today - we are going to attempt the Alaska Air thing - I applied for the CC and if I can actually get the companion fare for $100, the HUGE savings would be worth it. The flight leaves a little earlier than we would like from EWR but we can stay over the night before and still come out way ahead. Return is not so bad either even with the o/n in Seattle.

Craig

Just wanted to thank Gardyloo as we booked our October flights on Alaska Air this week - $1677 all in for two business class tickets EWR-LIH. We will overnight at EWR to catch the early morning flight. There is a 6 hour layover in Seattle but we have lounge access. Yes, getting there on a direct flight on Continental would be the best way but not at $2400pp. On the way back, we overnight in Seattle but arrive home refreshed instead of taking a red-eye direct. Should be a great trip. Thanks again.

Gardyloo

Glad it worked out for you.

james_lee

I booked first class in October for April with USAir using my points. No problem. (They have a new, direct Charlotte to Honolulu flight.)

rkkwan

There are good reasons why CO's EWR-HNL flight is expensive. Not only is it the only NYC-Hawaii non-stop, but it has international business class seats and service. Unlike most other airlines where you get basically a domestic first class seat. Most won't complain about a $2,400 business class fare from NYC to Athens, Greece, which is almost identical in distance.

Craig

Yup, the Alaska Airlines flights have domestic first class seats - the flights are only 5-6 hours each though. And we still get free meals, booze and lounge access...

Bottom line is we couldn't pass up the savings on what is sort of an "extra" trip for us this year. Next week we depart on a 17-day trip to India via Bangkok - our first time in the new international business class on United...