Hawaii Flights
The market is eagerly awaiting the entry of Allegiant Air as a future provider of Hawaii flights. Some industry experts are feeling that it may change the way other airlines conduct business. They certainly advertise low prices; but looking at feedback on the Internet, many complain that their unbundled prices are misleading. Based on what is seen on the Internet, a number of former Allegiant customers are saying their unbundled pricing practices amount to “bait and switch,” meaning that they offer you one price, but then give you something higher when you actually pay for it. For example, you have to pay extra for seat selections. You also pay extra for booking online. And if you’re not happy about it, you really can’t call anyone to ask questions. You can only send emails.
Many of these practices seem contrary to what are the prevailing industry standards. So depending upon Allegiant’s success, one wonders if the other airlines that offer Hawaii flights will follow Allegiant’s lead in pricing and marketing their service.
One aspect that seems to work very well is Allegiant’s practice of selling packaging components along with their flights. A large part of Allegiant’s revenues come from package sales on their website. One would believe they would do the same for their future flights to Hawaii.
It is believed that Allegiant’s entry into the Hawaii market will ultimately lead to lower prices on flights to Hawaii. If so, this may be a good trend for the travelling public. It may not be a good development for carriers such as Alaska Airlines, who has been of late expanding its routes and services to the state as well as Hawaiian Airlines who is entrenched in the market.
