[False Alarm] Hawaiian Airlines No Longer Starwood Partner

[califgal]

I just found out that Starwood will no longer transfer points to Hawaiian Airlines. I was told this by Hawaiin on the phone. I went to spg.com to check and Hawaiian is still listed as a partner. I called spg and they confirmed that is correct. It was as of June or July, and they STILL haven't updated the website!!

 

[luv_maui]

I just found out that Starwood will no longer transfer points to Hawaiian Airlines. I was told this by Hawaiin on the phone. I went to spg.com to check and Hawaiian is still listed as a partner. I called spg and they confirmed that is correct. It was as of June or July, and they STILL haven't updated the website!!

I had miles transferred to Hawaiian on 7/6/08, so maybe I made the cut-off or is Hawaiian incorrect?

 

[DeniseM]

Oh no! We transfer Starpoints to Hawaiian Air every year! I transferred points in July and made my reservation for next summer already!

OK - those of you who go to Hawaii every year - who will you be using now?

Califgal - did you try doing an online transfer?

***A suggestion - I think we should keep a low profile on this (don't call about it) until we find out if we can still do online transfers. I will try and report back.

 

[Scott & Laura]

Hawaiian Airlines SPG

Hello;

I am disappointed to hear the news as I just flew on Hawaiian Airlines.
They were wonderful.

I would suggest getting a written acknowdlegement via email/mail that they will not honor the web site posting.

There may be a time lag between the annulment of the SPG - Hawaiian Airline agreement and the termination of the relationship.

It's possible that employees of Starwood are misinterpreting the relationship severance or are misinformed on what to do.

I would be deeply disappointed to find out that Starwood Corporate is aware of a change in situation and relationship with a partner and yet continues to knowingly mistate on their own web site, the facts of the matter.

---You have a right to depend on the accuracy and legitimacy of statements made by Starwood and disseminated on their web site.


Scott 7 Laura

 

[LisaRex]

I just found out that Starwood will no longer transfer points to Hawaiian Airlines.

No word about this that I could find on FlyerTalk. You might try doing the transfer on line and seeing if it goes.

 

[DeniseM]

I just did a transfer of my SPG points online with no problem.

I recommend that if you have points that you need to transfer that you do it online ASAP.

I also suggest that we avoid calling Starwood or Hawaiian until people have had a chance to transfer their points, because a lot of calls might throw up a red flag!

 

[DavidnRobin]

How many FF points are needed to fly from SF Area to HI?

 

[califgal]

I didn't try to transfer online. I had inquired about holding a Hawaiian reservation until I transferred the points, and that's when the representative told me they were no longer a Starwood partner. I don't know how Starwood(or Hawaiian) could get away with not honoring the transfer when they are still listed as a partner online.

I actuually just booked today with miles from American from SFO to HNL next summer. American doesn't fly direct from they Bay Area any more but we want to use up the miles. I was being cheap and wanted to book the inter-island flight with miles from Hawaiian, and only have enough for 2 of us.

I hope everyone's transfers go through!

 

[califgal]

How many FF points are needed to fly from SF Area to HI?

The Hawaiian super saver milage is now 40,000 round trip. American will increase from 35,000 to I believe 45,000 Oct. 1st.

 

[Ken555]

American will increase from 35,000 to I believe 45,000 Oct. 1st.

Actually, it seems AA will have two different types starting Oct 1st to Hawaii. MileSAAver Off-Peak is the same 35,000 and the MileSAAver Peak is 45,000. And:

Off-peak dates:
Hawaii: Jan. 12 - Mar. 8; Aug. 22 - Dec. 15

 

[DeniseM]

My husbands' Acct. is just 200 pts. short of 20K Starpoints. Can anyone think of a way to earn 200 pts. today, so I can get the 5K Kicker when I transfer the points? My cc just closed, so I won't get any more cc points til Mid-Oct.

Update: *I bought 500 for $17.50 - supposed to post within 24 hours.

More info. - https://starwood.mpmvp.com/buy_faq.asp

Update 2: my points were in my Acct, in about an hour!

Update 3: I received emailed confirmations for both transfers.

 

[Henry M.]

Someone already asked about this on the Starwood FlyerTalk forum stating that they saw on TUG that Hawaiian wouldn't partner with Starwood anymore ...

As for the 200 points, I think the only way to do that today would be to transfer 200 points from your account to your husband's account, if you can spare them. Call SPG. They can transfer between accounts if both are registered to the same mailing address.

 

[Denise L]

This is sad news . I recently switched all of our purchases over to our AMEX to earn SPs to transfer to Hawaiian. I need one more batch of 20K SPs to transfer, and I currently have about 9K. Wah . I don't really want to spend $385 today on SPs that won't post for 24 hours and might not be transferrable anymore .

Do I stop using the AMEX and go back to our UA Mileage Plus VISA?! I guess I can go back to earning them on my Hawaiian VISA.

Hawaii is just getting harder and harder to get to for a family of four. So frustrating!

 

[DeniseM]

Someone already asked about this on the Starwood FlyerTalk forum stating that they saw on TUG that Hawaiian wouldn't partner with Starwood anymore ...

Folks...please don't spoil it for people who still need to transfer points - PLEASE! :annoyed:

 

[DeniseM]

This is sad news . I recently switched all of our purchases over to our AMEX to earn SPs to transfer to Hawaiian. I need one more batch of 20K SPs to transfer, and I currently have about 9K. Wah . I don't really want to spend $385 today on SPs that won't post for 24 hours and might not be transferrable anymore .

Do I stop using the AMEX and go back to our UA Mileage Plus VISA?! I guess I can go back to earning them on my Hawaiian VISA.

Hawaii is just getting harder and harder to get to for a family of four. So frustrating!

Denise - my points posted in one hour, but I wouldn't have bought points, except DH's Acct. was so close.

I had 14K in my Acct. and just transferred them without adding more.

I will probably get rid of my Starwood AMEX, and the $50 a year fee, and charge everything on the HA Visa - since we transfer all our points to HA anyway. I just stuck with AMEX because of the 5K bonus with a transfer of 20K.

I'm NOT happy!

 

[LisaRex]

Folks...please don't spoil it for people who still need to transfer points - PLEASE! :annoyed:

Sorry, that was me. I posted before I saw your plea not to set alarm bells ringing.

I'm actually skeptical. I searched Yahoo and Flyertalk and no mention of this. Very few things happen in the travel industry without someone giving advance warning. For instance, we knew about the Book airlines with SPG Miles program before it was officially announced. We knew that Delta was going to triple tier award structure before it was officially announced. We knew that Continental was leaving their alliance before the offical announcement. I have a hard time believing that Starwood would lose HA without someone knowing in advance.

Sorry if I ruined it for anyone, but I think it would really stink if everyone started transferring points over to their HA accounts only to find out that the agent was mistaken. Because you can't transfer those points back to SPG.

 

[Ken555]

There's always American... and they even have non-stops to OGG!

 

[DeniseM]

Lisa - I was skeptical too, but did you notice that Califgal called HA and SPG and they BOTH confirmed it?

 

[skim118]

not from Bay area

There's always American... and they even have non-stops to OGG!

United has 3 non-stops to Maui from SFO next summer and American has just 1 flt to Hawaii. In addition United has 4 direct flts to HNL, 2 non-stops to Kona & 1 non-stop Lihue from SFO.


We have switched over to United for our Hawaii travel.

We still have a Chase rewards card that gives 5 pts for every $ spent on groceries/gas/drugstore purchases and converts to United miles.

 

[califgal]

We still have a Chase rewards card that gives 5 pts for every $ spent on groceries/gas/drugstore purchases and converts to United miles.

It's very disappointing that American no longer has direct flights to Maui, from the Bay Area, it's been like that for a few years now.

But I have to say switching to that Chase card sounds like a good plan to use with United. I think we'll use up our American milage and switch .I'll have to check to see if that Chase rewards card has a business version giving the 5 points for every$ spent. We use Starwood AMX for all household purchases, and right now a mc w/American miles for business.

 

[Ken555]

United has 3 non-stops to Maui from SFO next summer and American has just 1 flt to Hawaii. In addition United has 4 direct flts to HNL, 2 non-stops to Kona & 1 non-stop Lihue from SFO.


We have switched over to United for our Hawaii travel.

My reference to AA was just an example of another airline SPs can be transferred to and used to get to Hawaii. As you know, UAL is not a good conversion option for SPs.

 

[LisaRex]

We still have a Chase rewards card that gives 5 pts for every $ spent on groceries/gas/drugstore purchases and converts to United miles.

Wow! What card is that? Is it a 1:1 conversion ratio?

After I bought my TS, I switched all my spending from SPG and Delta AMEX to my Chase Platinum United card because United owns 60% of the Hawaiian market. I figured that was my best odds for snagging award flights in the future.

However, my card is $125/year and only gets 2 miles for every dollar spent on gasoline, dining, and groceries. If I could get 5 that would be phenomenal!

 

[LisaRex]

In what may be related news, my husband was sent a postcard yesterday from Starwood and Delta telling him that they were upgrading him to SPG gold for free. It expires Nov 2010. (He already technically was gold because he owns at WKORV, but that's another thread.)

So it seems like Delta and Starwood are partnering up in some capacity. If this is the case, then I'd imagine that they'll be pushing the SkyTeam alliance:

SkyTeam Partners
Aeroflot,
AeroMexico,
Air France,
Alitalia,
China Southern,
Continental,
CSA Czech Airlines,
Delta Air Lines,
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines,
Korean Air, and
Northwest

SkyTeam Associates
AirEuropa,
Copa Airlines, and
Kenya Airways

If this is the case (and who knows if it is), it still doesn't necessarily mean that they'll drop AA, UA, HA, Alaska, etc. from their transfer program. Rather it might mean that Starwood travel packages won't include HA.

OPer, can you be more specific about why you were calling HA? Was it to transfer points from SPG to Hawaiian? Or was it about a travel package? I just find it very odd that 2-3 months after they said they were no longer partners, we can still transfer points to them.

 

[califgal]

OPer, can you be more specific about why you were calling HA? Was it to transfer points from SPG to Hawaiian? Or was it about a travel package? I just find it very odd that 2-3 months after they said they were no longer partners, we can still transfer points to them

Please read the thread it's all in there.

 

[Cathyb]

Denise: We use American Airlines and have been pleased with getting ffmiles pretty easy if we call exactly 329 days out at midnight (hmmm, guess we do jump thru a few hoops doing it)