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Delta and Hawaiian Airlines: a Dysfunctional Relationship

Chris Carley by Chris Carley
November 1, 2021
in Airlines
14
A Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330 parks at gate D1 at Honolulu International Airport (HNL)

Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330 in Honolulu

Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.

Just a heads-up in case your Delta itinerary involves certain Hawaiian airlines flights: you’ll likely be (at least) slightly disappointed. Don’t expect Medallion benefits or free checked bags (even if you hold a Delta Amex).

Flying to/from Our Hawaii Vacation

My wife, daughter, and I just returned from Kona, Hawaii, where we met my dad and stepmother. (They flew in from Fargo.) We enjoyed a wonderful week of food, drink, snorkeling, pooling, and, most of all, family time.

Naturally, we opted to fly Delta.

There are non-stop flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to Kona (KOA). But the Delta itinerary that worked best for our schedule and budget was a trip involving a pair of inter-island flights on Hawaiian Airlines.

We flew LAX to Honolulu (HNL) on Delta metal (a 757-300). Our next flight was HNL to KOA. Hawaiian Airlines operated that hop. But because we purchased the trip from Delta, our short HNL to KOA hop was given a Delta flight number on our itinerary.

A Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717 (tail number N487HA) at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole (KOA) near Kona, Hawaii.
A Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717 (tail number N487HA) at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole (KOA) near Kona, Hawaii.

Our return trip home flew KOA to HNL (on Hawaiian) and then to LAX on the same Delta 757-300 aircraft that brought us to the islands a week earlier.

Sit on It

If you’re picky about where you sit, you must call Delta and ask for your Hawaiian Airlines PNR. Why? You can’t pick your seats on Delta.com or the Fly Delta app.

Of course you can’t. That’d be easy and convenient.

Once you get your Hawaiian PNR, plug it into their website (or app), and select your seat.

Delta Medallions aren’t entitled to priority seating or complimentary upgrades on their Hawaiian Airlines flights.

In other words, no free first class upgrades or exit row seats. You’re slumming it “regular” coach.

This isn’t exactly a tragedy. Most inter-island flights are very short. (HNL-KOA is, like, 45 minutes gate to gate. LIH to KOA is an hour-ish.

But beware of that seating situation if you must have specific seats (i.e., with family or friends. Or if you want a window to enjoy the beautiful Hawaiian scenery!)

No Free Checked Bags for Medallions or Delta Amex Cardholders

René mentioned this earlier last year: Delta Medallion status members don’t receive free checked bags when a leg begins with Hawaiian Airlines.

In other words, my wife and I each received two free checked bags from LAX-HNL-KOA. Our outbound started with a Delta flight and we checked in with Delta.

But it’s a whole different story on the return.

The day before our trip home, I called the Medallion phone line so that I knew what to expect in KOA.

The rep said that Hawaiian should see our Delta status. So Mrs. C and I were entitled to free checked bags because we were Medallions traveling on a Delta-marketed ticket.

“Keep the receipts if (Hawaiian) does charge you for bags,” she said, “Delta will reimburse you.”

Betcha can’t guess what happened the following morning when we checked in.

The Hawaiian Airlines check-in desk at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole (KOA)
The Hawaiian Airlines check-in desk at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole (KOA).

We traveled with four pieces of checked luggage (three suitcases and one booster seat).

And we were charged for every single one of them.

You’re shocked, I know.

Our entire SkyMiles numbers were printed on our boarding passes. We showed the Hawaiian Airlines rep our electronic Medallion status credentials on the Fly Delta app. He, in turn, showed us his computer screen. Our Medallion statuses were nowhere to be found on our KOA to HNL information.

“Sometimes, Delta does send us people’s Medallion status,” he said. “But other times…” he said with a shrug.

I asked him if this was a result of Delta’s IT. He said that was the most likely culprit.

So we shelled out $140 in checked baggage fees.

We split the charges across tickets: I put two bags on my PNR and my wife assumed the other two. I paid with my The Platinum Card® from American Express because it earns 5X Membership Rewards points on purchases made directly with airlines. (That benefit is capped at $500,000 in airline spending each year.)

Hawaiian is not a SkyTeam airline. But Delta considers them a partner airline of sorts. And Hawaiian lists Delta as one of “several airlines (placing) their marketing code on Hawaiian-operated flights.”

I knew ahead of time that I’d likely be charged for checked bags. That wasn’t a surprise.

What annoys me is that Delta sells tickets for flights on which no Medallion status benefits are valid.

Stay tuned to see if I actually receive my $140 back from Delta. (I’m not holding my breath.)

Sorry, Delta Amex Cardholders

Here’s where some (additional) confusion may come into play.

“But I have a Delta American Express card!” you might say. “I’m supposed to get my first checked bag for free!” Well, you’d think.

And therein lies the rub. On this “rates and fees” page, Amex states:

“The first checked bag fee waiver will only be applied on flight segments which originate on a Delta or Delta Connection® carrier when you check-in with Delta for both a Delta marketed and Delta operated flight. Codeshare flights are not eligible.” (Perhaps I’ll address-stop benefit in a separate post.)

So you’re SOL there.

What Are Your Options?

Well, you can take non-stop Delta flights to/from your final Hawaiian destination (if possible). That solves everything.

Another option: suck it up and pay the baggage fees. Make sure to use a travel credit card that earns bonus points on general travel purchases.

Thirdly, fly Southwest to or within Hawaii. The airline of love gives each passenger two checked bags for free. If you fly SWA inter-island but, say, Delta to/from the contiguous 48, you likely have to claim your bags, recheck them, and clear security again.

Or you can pack very lightly and bring just a carry-on.

Final Approach

Know what you’re getting into when booking a Delta ticket to/from Hawaii if any flights are operated by Hawaiian Airlines. Preferred seating, upgrades, and free checked bags perks you may expect (most likely) won’t be honored.

It would be nice if Delta and Hawaiian could play nicely with each other and bring some spirit of Ohana to their (weird) partnership.

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, please visit this link.

Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Tags: The Platinum Card® from American Express
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Delta Mileage Run: New York (JFK) to Las Vegas (LAS) — 9,862 MQM at 2.8 CPM!

Chris Carley

Chris Carley

Chris Carley is the owner, editor, and lead writer of Eye of the Flyer (formerly known as Rene's Points).

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Delta Mileage Run: New York (JFK) to Las Vegas (LAS) -- 9,862 MQM at 2.8 CPM!

Comments 14

  1. Paul says:
    4 years ago

    We flew KOA-HNL-LIH booked with 7500 Skymiles each this past summer. I wasn’t that surprised to be charged $25 per check bag as it wasn’t part of an itinerary including a DL flight. Considering the flight was $150 cash price each, it was still a decent deal, but annoying to pay for bags.

    Reply
  2. Jerry B. Udell says:
    4 years ago

    Excellent info. We are a family of 6 flying Interisland at Christmas. This will save us $ and some grief for sure
    Thanks
    Jerry

    Reply
  3. JJ says:
    4 years ago

    Unfortunately, this has been the case for literally decades. It’s the same with UA/AA codeshares with Hawaiian. They are not part of an alliance, so they don’t recognize it.

    Reply
    • René says:
      4 years ago

      @JJ – Well back in the late 2000’s Delta and Hawaiian did play much nicer with each other including the ability to earn and burn on each others metal.

      Reply
  4. Erin C says:
    4 years ago

    We’re in that situation right now. At least I know about it this time. I got the Hawaiian Airlines MasterCard. It covers one bag at least. We fly over here enough that it’s worth it.

    Reply
  5. Gerald E Duncan says:
    3 years ago

    If you can afford to go to Hawaii, just pay and move on. Oh, and do your homework.

    Reply
  6. Laura says:
    3 years ago

    Did you receive timely MQMs for the inter island Hawaiian airline flight? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Chris Carley says:
      3 years ago

      I want to say it was within a day or two?

      Reply
  7. DY says:
    2 years ago

    I just found out you can check-in at Delta or Hawaiian desk. So if I check in at Delta for my Koa to Hnl leg, the free baggage definitely applies.

    Reply
    • René says:
      2 years ago

      @DY – On some islands you don’t have an option other than Hawaiian desk.

      Reply
  8. Daniel says:
    2 years ago

    I just flew from Austin to Hawaii with Hawaiian Airlines and they told me they only give you miles points only when you fly with in Hawaii. Is that true?

    Reply
    • René says:
      2 years ago

      @Daniel – Are you talking about earning Delta points when flying Hawaiian? Here are the rules: https://hawaiianair.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/230/~/other-airline-frequent-flyer-programs

      Reply
  9. Jim Bradley says:
    2 years ago

    It gets even more interesting when you book a ticket on Delta with an inter-island Hawaiian Airlines leg and the Hawaiian leg (on the return to mainland) has mechanical trouble and you miss your Delta flight due to Hawaiian’s mechanical issue. After going to Delta, we were told it’s not their problem, and they would rebook us in economy (originally booked in first class) and we’d have to talk to Hawaiian to get a hotel for the night and that we should ask Hawaiian to book our return tickets since the mechanical issue was “their problem”. 36 hour travel delay and of course our luggage was transported to our home city by Hawaiian Airlines instead of being held for us, so we had no clothes in our HNL overnight stay.

    Reply
  10. SpecRacer97 says:
    2 years ago

    Wish I would have read this BEFORE buying tickets. We flew Delta from Atlanta to KOA, then Hawaiian from KOA to HNL, then Delta again from HNL to ATL. We thought it was all part of Delta and used our Delta Amex. The person at the Hawaiian Airlines counter said we would be reimbursed for baggage fees, but when we contacted Delta they told us no. We could have actually carried a few bags onboard, but figured it was nice to have them checked since we were being reimbursed anyway. It was a costly mistake travelling with a party of 5 and incurring $150 in extra fees.

    Reply

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