Five of us are flying to Hawaii this summer on Delta Sky Miles. My husband and I upgraded to first class but initially were only able to get a couple of segments each way and so we were waitlisted. I was notified by Delta today that all of my segments came through for first class and my husband is still waiting for first class out of OGG to LAX. We aren't going until July so I am hopeful.

Is there a hidden question in here or is this just a commentary?

What I speculate may be between the lines here, is that if Dawn really is from CT, contemplating a first class trip to OGG right now may be quite a solacing respite from old man winter's8-X icy grip.

Best wishes for your escape to paradise!!!

JohnD, I really am from Ct and I am totally sick of winter, snow, ice, cold, sleet and rain; all of which we will get today. I am also pleased that the wait list came through for our remaining segments because we weren't given much hope when we booked. I know that there are a lot of complaints about Delta's Sky miles program but I couldn't be happier...for now. To those who plan to use their miles, be aware that Delta will raise their mileage requirements for Hawaii from 30K to 35K and FC will go from 60 to 75K effective March 16th.

Dawn,
I tried over and over to use my Skymiles to get tickets to Hawaii (plain old coach for 30,000 miles each) and they always told me I had called a few minutes too early or too late. Since my dates were very flexible, I was able to try just about every day at midnight for awhile! (This is when they said I had to call.) They finally let me get COACH tickets using Skychoice for 60,000 milies each ticket. Should I ask for a first class upgrade? I don't go until June.

I would be tempted to call and plead my case but they will probably tell you that you spent your miles on Sky Choice. We picked a Wednesday departure with a Thursday return, got up at midnight, ended up with someone in the wrong time zone who didn't have the inventory loaded in and actually did change our dates from an earlier date to a later date. I also did the same thing for the return flight. On the other hand, there are five of us so I expected to "work" for the seats. Frankly I don't recall having this much trouble when six of us went in the past. I also used expiring United Miles for our interisland flights. Good luck. I hope you get the upgrade.

If we already have coach tickets on Delta to Hawaii, can we upgrade to first class using ff miles??? Thanks.

crazy4Hawaii, the SkyChoice coach award tickets on Delta are ALWAYS available at anytime on any flight (with the possible exception of blackout dates) provided the flights in question have seats available. There are NO capacity controls on these awards. So Delta did not do you any favors by "letting you" book these tickets. The thing is, the mileage cost is twice as much as the standard, capacity-controlled seats (60K per ticket vs. 30K per ticket; soon to be 35K). From my view, I don't believe SkyChoice coach tickets provide the best value. From the east coast, you can usually get coach tickets for $700 each fairly easily and better fares are available if you catch a sale and book well in advance.

I believe SkyChoice tickets are treated similar to no restriction paid tickets, so you may be able to re-deposit the miles for your tickets without charge and continue looking for the regular saver awards.

Hawaii is THE most popular award destination so tickets go fast. Most people are booking their tickets 330 days in advance at midnight when inventory is first loaded! The key to getting saver awards is to keep trying as the inventory changes every day.

I wouldn't count on any upgrades. First on the Hawaii flights are usually full and airlines are simply not handing out upgrades unless you are a statused member of their frequent flyer program.

As far as upgrades, yes you can use your frequent flyer miles to upgrade from a PAID coach ticket to first class. But, these upgrades require that you pay one of the higher coach fares, not the typical lowest of the low fare. On full fare coach tickets (on Delta) it is 15,000 miles roundtrip to upgrade. On the other, high coach fares it is 30,000 miles roundtrip to upgrade. You can check with Delta on exactly which fare classes qualify, but if your fare class is L, U, or T, I'm fairly sure you are out of luck. In addition, these mileage upgrades are capacity controlled so may not be available on all flights.

MileKIng-
You're right. They did me no favors, nor did they intend to. After two weeks of getting up and calling at midnight 330 days before my flexible travel dates, I just gave up... They would tell me that I had reached an agent in a different time zone where it was not midnight and I would have to call back. By the time I got someone in the right time zone (calling the SAME number, mind you) the tickets would all be gone. They've got a good racket going with SkyMiles, IMO...

I thought the redeposit fee applied regardless of whether it's a Skychoice or Skysaver award. Like DawnCT, I've always been happy with Skymiles redemption, but I don't try to use my miles for Hawaii (mostly because I live on the west coast and can get cheap fares).

Patty,
I think that's the key. - It's just hard to get Hawaii tickets because of the demand. Since I live in Arkansas, it costs twice as much to get to Hawaii as anywhere else in the U.S. (good deal about $700. as opposed to about $350. to go ALMOST anywhere else) so I don't feel QUITE as bad about having to use 60,000 miles instead of 30,000 to get a ticket.

As I read these nightmare stories, I'm astonished that it was so easy for me to obtain first class FF seats Detroit to Honolulu at the end of July on Northwest. I did call one year in advance - to the day - but not at midnight. The flight times are convenient coming and going with only one stop-over (MNPL/St.Paul). The operator was even nice enough to hold our return seats for two weeks so I could just call and confirm at that time. We fly Northwest because it has the most flights in and out of Detroit. This will be our second award trip to Hawaii with them.