Local airlines selling tickets as gifts
Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines are offering special promotions for the holidays as competition heats up for travelers.
At Aloha, the carrier is selling round-trip gift tickets valid for use next year. Aloha said the gift tickets -- which are actual airline tickets, not gift certificates -- can be purchased as an e-ticket online at www.AlohaAirlines.com and created in the name of the intended recipient. The recipient can decide when he or she wants to fly, beginning tomorrow and running through Dec. 31, 2007.
The gift tickets are available in three options:
» $120 interisland round-trip coach travel between any two destinations in Hawaii on flights operated by Aloha. Travel is valid on any day and there are no blackout dates.
» $500 trans-Pacific round-trip coach travel between any Aloha destination on the mainland and Hawaii. Travel is valid for most days of the year, with an additional fare increment to be collected from the passenger for travel on prime or peak days.
» $1,600 trans-Pacific round-trip first-class travel between any Aloha destination on the mainland and Hawaii. Travel is valid on any day and there are no blackout dates.
Separately, Aloha is permitting three regular-sized bags to be checked for free on interisland flights through Jan. 10. The three-bags-free offer applies to checked bags only and standard size restrictions apply.
At Hawaiian, the airline is offering gift certificates that can be purchased online, as well as $50 and $100 gift cards that can be bought at Safeway, Foodland and Times stores in Hawaii and at Safeway on the mainland in the nine cities that Hawaii serves -- Los Angeles; San Francisco; Sacramento, Calif.; San Jose, Calif.; San Diego; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; Phoenix; and Las Vegas.
The gift certificates are redeemable for trans-Pacific and interisland flights aboard Hawaiian and can be purchased online at www.HawaiianAirlines.com/GC in amounts ranging from $50 to $5,000. Up to 10 gift certificates can be purchased at once and as many as four gift certificates can be used for each ticket purchase. The certificates do not expire.