David J. Danto
Principal Consultant,
Collaboration/ AV / Multimedia / Video / UC
Dimension Data
Director of Emerging
Technology
Interactive
Multimedia & Collaborative Communications Alliance
eMail:
David.Danto@DimensionData.com Follow Video &
Technology Industry News: @NJDavidD
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Alo-huh?
It’s been said many times that you can’t go home
again, but no one ever said anything about not being able to go to Hawaii
again. Having just returned from a
wonderful vacation there I can personally attest to the fact that while you can
still go, the journey is not the same. Just hearing the name Hawaii makes one swoon for the
island music, the exotic fruit drinks, the stunning beaches and the even more
stunning sunsets. My family and I had
visited the Hawaiian Islands many times when my kids were young, but I had not
gone back in a while. Now that my kids
are in college, my wife and I thought how terrific it would be to go without
them – so we could really enjoy some peaceful, relaxing time together. We just returned from that trip – and we had
a magical and wonderful vacation. Still,
I was shocked by a number of experiences in getting there and staying there –
experiences that have certainly changed since the last time I went.
Take the flight there for example. I had splurged and got us both first class
seats to HNL. We were downright giddy
about arriving in style. But when we
boarded the 777 I was shocked to experience the United Business Class seats of
20 years ago. (Remember the ones where
you had to lift the spring loaded lever then manually pull up your
foot-rest.) These definitely aren’t the
new Polaris seats, nor the last two generations of all-electric seats of the
777. They’re some of the oldest
Business Class seats in their fleet. I
wouldn’t have minded so much, had they actually worked – but on one out of our
two seats the controls was broken – click the picture below to see a video
showing it. On the other seat, the
tray-table seemed tilted so far downward that I felt my food was about to slide
to the floor.
I later took out my wife’s iPhone and
used the compass’ built-in level to determine it was actually a five degree
slope. I assume these aircraft are
mostly filled with people redeeming frequent-flyer miles, and as such, not felt
to be a priority by the airlines. I of
course are (and have always been) from the camp that there is ZERO difference
spending my hard-earned points/miles vs. hard-earned dollars, but clearly
airlines have always felt differently.
When we complained about the condition of the aircraft, the United flight attendant was quick to give us an apology
card.
This entitled us to go on-line and ask
for some form of compensation for the inconvenience. We were given a choice of 17,500 miles or a
$350 voucher. Honestly, while we
appreciate the acknowledgment, if I paid for a first-class seat, and a working
first-class seat wasn’t provided, I feel I should get a full refund – but then
again, that’s just how I’ve always seen the world. Of bigger concern is that armed with the
knowledge that this seat was broken I doubt that they actually repaired or
replaced it in Hawaii. There was no
delay in the next outbound flight that I saw – they just turned it back around
and out again, hoping the next low-revenue vacationer doesn’t complain.
On our flight home, we flew coach – and
it was only then that I realized the only special thing first class to Hawaii
gets you – food. On the nine plus hour
flight directly from HNL to EWR not a speck of food was served in coach unless
one paid for it. Even domestic coach
flights of a couple of hours have had tiny bags of overly-spicy pretzels or Stroopwafels
added back into the complimentary service.
But absolutely nothing was served for free on the Hawaii to east coast flight
in coach.
It’s really quite the difference from
the days of glamourous air-travel to exotic locations.
I wish I could say it was just the
airlines that have worsened their product in this market, but the hotels are
apparently just as guilty. I have many
fond memories of taking my family to the Hilton Hawaiian Village on
Waikiki. As a Hilton HHonors
Diamond for as long as I can remember we were always treated like cherished
family - given upgrades, breakfast, even a fruit-basket in our room a few
times. Well, that’s all completely
gone. This once beautiful city unto
itself has deteriorated considerably.
When we pulled-up to check in it was a madhouse of activity, with our
taxi costing us an additional five dollars worth of waiting time to just get
close enough to the entrance to get our bags out. (The Valet later explained to us that
additional space they used to have to manage cars was removed, which makes the
entrance a constant bad first experience for those arriving.) The breakfasts for HHonors
Diamond members we used to have here are apparently long gone (despite the note
on the reservation and on the HHonors app confirming
that a continental breakfast is provided.)
Now they give you $10 per person per day of on-property food credit (for
up to two people) despite the fact that their breakfast buffet costs over $30
per person. They claim if you walk far
enough you can find a store that will honor that price, but if you have to walk
out of the building and/or off property for breakfast then what’s the point of
offering it?
My wife and I – without kids for the
first time here in many years – decided to pay the cost of staying in their
exclusive Alii tower.
What a mistake that was. For far
more than double the cost of staying at other parts of the property, they
promise – in writing - that they provide the following benefits:
Let’s examine those. Hot hors d’oeuvres Friday and Saturday are
the equivalent of any Hilton executive lounge – with the exception that you
don’t have to be a HHonors member to access it –
meaning it is attacked by swarms of seemingly starving people. At 6pm on the pool deck all the chairs and
tables are already gone, often with six or seven chairs being held by one
family member with the rest of the party not even on the deck. The line for the food starts at 6pm and by
6:30 snakes around the pool at least once.
The ability to watch their Friday fireworks show from this ‘exclusive’
location is a joke, as the chairs are all gone by 5pm for a show that starts at
7:45pm, and the staff refuses to bring any more out or stop the people from
hoarding and holding large numbers of unoccupied ones. They run out of food, chairs and space well
before the show starts – despite never revealing anywhere that it is on a
first-come, first served basis and one can get closed out of the
opportunity. Really, what other Executive
Lounge in the franchise could get away with saying that their evening cocktail
service is “closed out” and to “try again the next day?”
As for the other benefits, the
“complimentary gift” is a box of tea bags.
The complimentary supply of bottled water is a benefit that one could
replace with $5 at the ABC store.
Everyone on property – even the Alii tower
guests - are issued a plastic yellow towel card that entitles the bearer to one
(1) whole towel for the beach. (Failure
to return the card upon departure results in a $10 fee.) And, despite being a HHonors
Diamond and paying nearly quadruple
what I usually would for a resort stay to get an ocean view room, there were no
upgrades of any kind available (presumably to a larger room or one that fully
faced the ocean.) We could have received
the same experience at any other building on property for a heck of a lot lower
cost. Shame on us for not knowing any
better, but shame on the Hilton organization for systematically deceiving HHonors Diamond members – in every single service promise
made about this property. (In fairness,
when the property’s concierge learned how disappointed we were they refunded
part of one night’s stay and the valet fee, and asked what they could do to
make us happy. Regrettably, they didn’t
have the power to turn back time to when this property wasn’t like this.) In looking back at old family photos I
recalled that the property’s logo used to have a Bird of Paradise in it. The Bird of Paradise has been replaced by the
Hilton corporate logo – which I suppose says it all.
What was once a prized journey into
paradise is now apparently a loss-leader for big corporations trying to shuffle
people through - in as high a volume as possible. The Aloha spirit was completely missing from
United and Hilton on this trip, which honestly is a real shame.
This article was written by David Danto and
contains solely his own, personal opinions.
All image and links provided above as reference under
prevailing fair use statutes.