Aloha posts changes Aloha Airlines will introduce a new interisland fare structure next Monday that makes it more expensive for travelers who want to buy now and fly right away, but lowers rates for those who book and pay in advance.
in fees, routes
The airline’s fly anytime price will go
from $68 to $73 each wayBy Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com"The day of walking up to a ticket counter and dashing for the next flight is over," said an Aloha spokesman, Stu Glauberman.
Airlines benefit when passengers book in advance "and now it is also to the customer's advantage to book ahead," Glauberman said today.
Most interisland travelers now pay $68 for a coupon good for a one-way flight, he said. The new structure has a $63 fare for travelers who book at least seven days in advance. The next level is $67 for booking three days ahead.
In both cases, Aloha said, the tickets must be paid for within 48 hours after placing the booking, the money is nonrefundable and there is a $15 fee for any change in reservations.
Those who want to fly any time without booking in advance will have to pay $73, or $5 per segment more than most of them have been paying.
Hawaiian Airlines introduced a similar system in July, with a different range, including a lowest advance-booking fare of $60.50 for weekdays and $63.50 at weekends and a highest walkup fare of $73 weekdays and $75 a weekends.
All the above fares are subject to additional taxes and fees, usually about $6 per ticket.
Aloha said its fare structure has been too complicated, with a dozen different levels above the most-used $68 coupon. "Most people don't buy" at those higher levels, Glauberman said.
Meanwhile, Aloha put into effect a reduced schedule today, the first change since Aloha and Hawaiian were given antitrust exemption so they could talk to each other about interisland capacity.
Aloha cut the number of its interisland flights for most days of the week. For example, it had been flying 20 flights a day each way on the Honolulu-Kahului route. Now it has 13 a day Monday through Thursday and on Saturday, 18 on Friday and 14 on Sunday.
On the Honolulu-Lihue run, Aloha had 16 flights each way every day. Now it is down to 11 Monday through Thursday and on Saturday, 16 on Friday and 13 on Sunday.
One of the changes involved cutting off the earliest flights in the day, a move that has met with some complaints, Glauberman said.
For example, the first flight from Honolulu to Kahului, Maui, used to leave at 5:24 a.m. and now goes at 6:05 a.m. The first Kahului-Honolulu flight was at 6:24 a.m. and now leaves Maui at 7:05 a.m.
Hawaiian said it made no schedule changes for December because it had cut service earlier and demand is high this month. Cuts can be expected next year in the off-peak months, said Keoni Wagner, a spokesman for Hawaiian.