Hawaiian Air Adds SFO Frequency + New HGV Sales

In the face of what’s going to be its most difficult year in a long time, Hawaiian Air adds SFO frequency.  Plus, Hilton Grand Vacations announces sales timelines for its two new Hawaii properties.  

Hawaiian Air Adds SFO Frequency

2019 is going to be a tough year, in my opinion, for Hawaii’s oldest locally-based airline.  Southwest Airlines recently began its first Hawaii route and will continue to add more throughout the year.  Plus, ANA is going to start its new A380 service in a few months, flooding the market with seats between Hawaii and Japan.  Yet, Hawaiian isn’t hunkering down.  Instead, they’re continuing to grow.  

Hawaiian Air’s new SFO frequency is its third to the airport.  Currently, Hawaiian serves San Francisco from Honolulu and Kahului.  The Honolulu flight, HA12, departs at 1:05 pm and arrives at 9:10 pm.  The Kahului flight, HA42, on the other hand, departs at 2:25 pm and arrives at 10:15 pm.  Return flights operate as HA11 departing SFO at 9:05 am and arriving at 12 pm, while HA41 departs SFO at 10 am and arrives at 12:45 pm.  

Hawaiian’s third SFO flight is a second HNL frequency, HA54, departing at 9:15 pm and arriving at 5:30 am.  The return, HA53, departs SFO at 7:30 am, arriving at 10:10 am.  It’ll be operated by one of the Airline’s new A321neos, meaning no seatback entertainment or lie-flat first class seats, which is an interesting decision for a red-eye flight ?.  But, hey, whatever ??‍♂️.  

Anyway, the new HNL-SFO frequencies begin on October 16.  Oh, and the Kahului frequencies are getting downgraded from an A330 to an A321neo on September 3.  

Hilton Grand Vacations Sales

We know two more Hilton Grand Vacations properties are coming to Hawaii in the near future.  One is going to be in Waikiki, while the other is going to be on Maui, the company’s first on the island.  

The yet unnamed Waikiki property will see sales begin in late 2020, while sales for Maui Bay Villas start earlier in the year.  Expected to begin construction this year, the 32-story, 191-unit property should open in 2022.  

The Maui Bay Villas, on the other hand, is expected to open in three phases, the first of which will open in Q1 of 2021.  Phase one includes 131 units in four buildings, a pool, beach club, clubhouse, and operations building.  Phase two (149 units) should begin construction in late 2022, wrapping up in 2024, with the 108-unit phase three construction commencing in 2025 and finishing in 2027.   

Hawaiian Air Adds SFO Frequency + New HGV Sales, Final Thoughts

I’m glad Hawaiian is adding another frequency to San Francisco and like even more that it’s a red-eye.  But I’m still scratching my head as to why they threw an A321neo on the route.  Shouldn’t the red-eye flight have lie-flat first class seats, especially if the daytime flight has them?  Come on, Hawaiian… What the hell!  

As far as Hilton Grand Vacations go, I can’t believe their new Waikiki property is going to be their sixth in the area!  The location at the former King’s Village Shops next to the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani is interesting too.  It’s not on the beach but is close to it.  The Maui Bay Villas, on the other hand, has a bizarre location.  Maalaea, in my opinion, isn’t a nice area.  While it is home to the Maui Ocean Center and a small boat harbor, it’s a dusty area near a power plant.  But hey, Ko Olina was built in an undesirable area.  So, it could work.  

Correction, I’m mistaken.  The Maui Bay Villas is going to be in Kihei, not Maalaea.  That’s a much better location near Wailea, though, obviously, it isn’t going to be in a resort area.  And most of the hotels in Kihei aren’t on the beach too, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Maui Bay Villas take shape.