Delta and Hawaiian Airlines: a Dysfunctional Relationship

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.

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.

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.