Upgrading with HA miles?

Hello everyone!

This is my first post here, but I have found this site and forum tremendously helpful! Thanks, everyone.

I am planning a trip to the UK from USA, and was delighted to find that Virgin is partnered with Hawaiian Airlines, since I have miles with them. I had planned to pay for an S class PE seat, and then upgrade to UC using my miles. I called Hawaiian and they said I could do that, but they weren't sure how many miles it would cost. They advised me to call Virgin and ask. I did, but VA said I can't use my HA miles that way - I can only use them for a "free" ticket (100,000 miles). Ugh! I don't have that many.

I am hesitant to give up just yet, since I am not even sure if the people I talked to on the phone had the right information (obviously one of them didn't!). Can anyone shed any light on this, or offer suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Corina

When I pulled up HawaiianMiles' regs, it showed a specific email address for partner flight bookings/information. I recommend trying them, since they are the ones you need to talk to: HA Service Center

AFAIK, the only way you can use HA miles for a VS flight is if HA books it for you. That's why you received 2 answers. It's possible the phone people just don't have all the ins and outs of partner booking, as the website states to contact them by email for all partner mileage tickets.

Good luck!

Hi, Corina, and welcome to v-flyer!

There may be one or two members here with experience of arrangements with Hawaiian Airlines, but I suspect they'll be few and far between, so you may have to wait a while. Meantime, I think your best bet is with Hawaiian Airlines - it's a little peculiar for them to invite you to speak to Virgin to find out what they (HA) can do, and it sounds as though they're trying to pass the buck. If they have told you they can arrange upgrades on Virgin, then I'd throw the gauntlet back to them. You can tell them, quite truthfully, that Virgin can't arrange upgrades through another airline's FFP, and see what they come up with.

Good luck!

David

Thanks, you guys! Yes, I have found any info about Hawaiian Airlines miles very scarce online, except for their own website (which is excellent). I'm kind of surprised by that, because I don't really know how else an American can get miles to be used towards a VA flight, except by using American Express points, which would be slow.

I think my next move will be to call HA back (as DavidM suggested) and ask them if we can just go ahead and try booking a flight and see what happens. it will have to be a fake booking, since my plans aren't firm enough yet, but maybe their computer will tell them what is allowed.

vs_itsallgood, thanks for the link! I wrote to them at that address and asked my question, but the auto-reply says it will be 5-7 days or something before they can answer, so I'm not holding my breath!

Meanwhile, does anyone know how to rack up American Express points quickly? Or can you point me to someplace where that's discussed? Thanks again!

Corina

[preiffer]

Virgin themselves can only upgrade flights with their OWN miles I'm afraid.

If HA are able to offer any "upgrades", they'd have to do it on their side. The second they recommend that you call Virgin directly, you're out of luck, as VS will be unable to do anything at all with your HA miles.

Although I've not got any direct experience of HA, if they follow the same procedure as every other partner, you will NOT be able to use their miles to upgrade a revenue ticket to a higher cabin.

AMEX MR recently discontinued the 'double points on everyday spending' promo (grrr)[n] so going nuts with the card at the local grocery/car dealer/Ala Moana is out.

The Amex website is now touting the online Triple [:0] Points BonusPointsMall where the points are increased. Go to the Membership Rewards Earn Points Fast page, log in, and you'll get complete details. You could also look into using your Amex to make payments for expenses you already lay out every month (rent, mortgage, car payment, etc.) as some banks/lenders/offices take plastic for payments. You can even pay your utility bills with it in some states.

BonusPointsMall is good only until 31 December, so take a look soon!

If you have any other Amex questions and want more suggestions, you can post them in the Cards forum further down the main page, as many of us are Amex users/pointswhores, and we'll point you in the right direction - happily!

Thanks so much, you guys! I appreciate the definitive answer about what Virgin will (not!) be able to do with my Hawaiian miles, preiffer. I'll call Hawaiian after Christmas and see what they say, but my hopes are not too high. I could get an award ticket if I racked up more Hawaiian miles, but do you guys know how far in advance I'd need to book? Would the ticket availability be better if I were to purchase a flight and upgrade rather than doing the award? I'd be going from San Francisco (SFO) to LHR.

vs_itsallgood, I don't actually have theAmEx card yet, so no chance of spending anything before Dec 31.

Merry Christmas, all!
Corina

Hi all!

Just an update, in case anyone searches one day and has the same question I did. Hawaiian confirmed for me that they are not able to sell me a ticket on Virgin and then upgrade with Hawaiian Miles. The only way to get a Virgin ticket via Hawaiian is to "buy" it outright using 100,000 Hawaiian Miles (i.e. use miles for an award ticket).

Corina