Lastest news on Southwest schedules and fares. Some routes continue to have great deals for summer. Find out more in today’s post.
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1,796 thoughts on “Southwest Hawaii Stiffens Competition: 11 New Daily Flights Exposed”
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While I was looking forward to SW flying to Hawaii, I was very disappointed that they didn’t think about connecting flights if you do not live on the west coast. Thanks
Hi Robin.
Thanks for your comment. Our take is that they did think about it. They just aren’t ready to offer it and haven’t yet made any statements to so advise customers.
Aloha.
Thank you for all the updates! We are traveling from Sacramento to Maui in July. We are holding out for Southwest for plane tickets. The no baggage fees are a big reason with four of us flying. Can’t wait to hear more updates and hopefully catch a good flight deal!
Hi Ty.
Most welcome. Should work out for you. Stay tuned.
Aloha.
Thanks for all the updates on SW! Keep up the good work!
Thank you Rebecca.
Aloha.
Booked a special spring break trip for the family to O’ahu from Oakland departing next weekend. Are they still doing the lei greeting or was that only for the inaugural flight.
Kids would love that. Keep up the good work.
Hi Rich.
That is just for inaugural flights. Have fun!
Aloha.
Are all the Southwest flight reservations by phone only?
Thanks so much for the latest update and summary of where things stand at this point. Looking forward to the announcement of Sacramento service in the coming weeks! Aloha
Thanks James.
Aloha.
So should we not expect to find flights to Kauai until 5/23?
Any word on flights from OGG to SMF(or vice versa)?
I have flights book to Maui(OGG) just not the way back.
Thank you!
Hi Joshua.
Did we answer your question in today’s post? If not, just let us know.
Aloha.
I’m holding off to book flights from Sacramento to Kauai leaving May 21 and returning May 26 because I’m waiting for Southwest to announce the additional routes. Do you think I should keep waiting or book now?
Hello. I receive your alerts and very much appreciate your timely info on SWA to Hawaii. Can you please tell me if you have any new “gut” feeling about when tickets might be released for Sacramento to Honolulu for travel in late summer? Mahalo!
Hi Heidi.
That’s all contained in today’s post. Let us know if any other questions.
Aloha.
Does anyone know/anticipate whether flights from Sacramento (once they’re announced) will be starting cheap (within the double digit range) as well?
I have a trip planned to fly to Kauai out of San Jose June 18 and return July 18. Do you think it’ll happen? Flights on other airlines are starting to get really expensive and I’m afraid if I wait much longer I will be priced out.
Could you please tell me when Flights between San Diego and Kona, Hawaii will start? Mahalo
Hi Mark.
If are subscribed to our updates, you will know as soon as we do. https://beatofhawaii.com/subscribe.
Aloha.
Southwest hasn’t committed yet to direct flights to Kona from San Diego. We’ll have to wait and see.
I’m EXTREMELY interested in booking 2 adult thoughts to Honolulu. I love in K.C. Will someone help me at this up with these great deals as well as hotel and car rental??
Thanks for all the useful information. We are flying to Kauai on Jun 16 and returning Jun 25. We were hoping to fly out of Sacramento. Right now there is a flight out of Oakland for about $700. In your opinion should we book that flight or do you think Southwest might start flying to Hawaii out of Sac before then. Thanks so much for your help.
Hi Jason.
We don’t know for sure, but our gut call is it might still work out with Southwest. We should know within weeks.
Aloha.
Thanks for all the tips. Do you think SW will be adding additional flights for August, or are flights just gone once they’re sold out (which they are starting to be for dates in August)?
Hi Riley.
We don’t have any expectation of additional services on the announced routes. If they’re sold out that’s it. If they’re priced high, that’s another matter, and prices will keep changing as we saw over the weekend with the return of $99 airfares.
Aloha.
3 of us want to travel to Any of the Hawaii islands sometime in May or early June 2019. We are near STL (saint Louis). Will there be any flights added out of STL anytime soon?
I (we) are new to southwest and would appreciate your advise.
Thanks for your help.
Ida
Hi Ida.
There will not be any connecting service on Southwest from STL anytime soon. We’re sorry about that too. Fares look to be starting at about $550 on multiple airlines.
Aloha.
I called Southwest today and the agent didn’t know if Southwest will have direct flights from San Diego to Honolulu? Why would she not know that answer? Confused 🤷🏼♀️
Thanks for collecting and linking a ton of useful information. Unfortunately it looks like for now, trying to put together a SWA trip to Hawaii from Minneapolis-St Paul is difficult. Hopefully as more west coast cities become gateways to Hawaii, it’ll be possible to book connecting tickets.
Has Southwest said anything about their connecting strategy to serve cities like ours (midwest or further east) that don’t have a ton of direct-to-west-coast flights? Wait till DEN has the MAX7, maybe? I had hoped when SWA announced a daily flight to OAK months ago, that was a sign they wanted through ticketing MSP-OAK-Hawaii. Alas.
Hi Ralf.
Yes we understand the disappointment and frustration. Look for us to write about this in much more detail very soon.
Aloha.
Thank you for providing all of the great information!!
We have our flight booked for May with Southwest to go to Maui. Wit. Now I am a little nervous about flying with SW because I know they do fly the planes that have been grounded. While I have read that those planes will not be in service to Hawaii until the FAA clears them, my question is do you know if the over water certification was approved using that plane type that is now grounded or with another type of plane??? We have been to Hawaii a couple of times and I’ve never felt so anxious over flying as I do now.
Thank you for any information you may have about they certification.
Hi Wendy.
Honestly, you can relax. They are using the 737-800 for flights this spring, not 737 Max 8. When the Max planes come back, they will undoubtedly be fine too. In fact, it is our take that in Southwest’s hands, they would be fine right now. A lot of the issues were related to these new and problematic flight control systems that Southwest is probably more on top of than anyone else.
Aloha.
Thank you so much for your reply to my question!
I forgot to mention due to your great website is how we were able to get a great price the first day SW announced the sale.
Mahalo!
Hi Wendy.
Thanks for letting us know. We’re so glad to hear that worked out for you.
Aloha.
Thank you so much! Today I booked for April for $230 RT to O’ahu.. I even scored a $99 flight!! My first trip to Hawaii and I’m already saving HUGE! Thanks Beat you ROCK
Hi Ashley.
So happy to hear that worked for you, and thanks for letting us know!
Aloha.
Thank you for updating us on all the changes!
We want to fly to our honeymoon in October 25 (Friday), and now the prices are 224$ for the morning flight in Southwest or 164$ with Alaska (but we need checked bags so it’s 194$).
Do you think the prices will go down or we could just get it?
Hi Amit.
We do think that prices will go down. You’ll have to be patient to get a better deal. You see what happened today for example, as much more spring inventory at $99 was released.
Aloha.
Love all the info. When are you thinking Kauai flights will be announced now with the delay? We want to go in June. Would you keep waiting?
Hi Lisa.
We simply do not know. The answer may be related to how soon their Max 8 planes can start flying. It is something we hope to know more about soon.
Aloha.
Thanks for the information I’m trying to surprise my sister for her 60th Birthday so need any and all information/ suggestions on booking from Chicago to Hawaii
Hi Liz.
We would need more information to be able to help. Like city pairs, and time frame for your travel.
Aloha.
Is it your impression that they will not announce San Diego until June or later?
Is Seattle and Portland going to have non stop flights to Kona/Hilo, Lihu’e on Kauai, maui, HNL too in the near future?
Really is hard to plan! How far in advance should I plan for visiting my daughter in Kauai in Aug? Will SWA have senior fares? Appreciate any insight and thank you for your time answering.
Annie
Hi Annie.
We will all have to wait to see what happens on the routes that haven’t been announced including to Kauai. Senior discounts on Southwest only apply to their much more expensive refundable fares, and not the ones that would be on sale.
Aloha.
Hi,
Just booked a room from 1/8 to 1/15 in Kauai. When do you think the best time to book in and out of Chicago might be? Also, noticing a lot of flights not arriving until almost 10 pm. Is that normal? 🤔
Please tell me when the best time would be to book a flight in June from austin tx to Honolulu in June. All indications so far say wait a bit. Which airlines are generally least expensive from Austin to Honolulu?
Thank you do much! Kathy
Hi Kathy.
There are fares in mid $500’s which is a great point to buy. Example is June 12-19 $553 on United. Other dates too.
Aloha.
Could you please tell me if you anticipate sales for even mid-summer? My problem is I only fly on Hawaiian. We’re going from Oakland July 15 – 25 to HNL. Will Hawaiian feel any pressure to lower prices during the summer or should I surrender and pay $600 – $700? Thank you so much for any help or advice you can give.
Hi Kim.
Hard to predict this year unfortunately. On the plus side, it isn’t likely to go higher, so if you want to wait, it might just work out. Let us know what happens.
Aloha.
Just playing with SWA schedule and see flights FROM PHX to Honolulu in Sept. but NO RETURN flights? And the prices are not what I was hoping to see either. It would take more points to fly SWA than Hawaiian. Kinda disappointed.
Our schedule isn’t open yet on SWA so it remains to be seen if we will be flying SWA or Hawaiian on our late 2019 flights. Sure wasn’t expecting to see 29K-33K miles ONE WAY with a stopover from PHX to Honolulu on SWA. Those schedules may not induce me to fly SWA – even with our companion pass. Oh well. Guess the ‘great fares’ were just the initial fares. Looks like business as usual as far as fares. boo hoo.
Hi Colleen!
As you can see, great fares on the first routes returned again today. Honestly nothing to be disappointed about in the big picture. This has barely just started.
Aloha.
Hi there! I just wanted to say thank you for keeping up with all of these changes and sharing them. I really appreciate the service you’re providing. Although a HI vacay isn’t in my near future, I love being in-the-loop, just in case 😉
Aloha!
Hi Christina.
Thanks so much!
Aloha.
Really appreciate Beat of Hawaii-a wealth of information. I attempted to book Oakland to Maui seconds after it was released but the website froze. I then called and was told I would receive a call back in 39 minutes. When the call came “reasonable” fares were sold out. I would appreciate a heads up for Sacramento to Maui reasonable fares. I am booking for eight so anything under $500. round trip would be a blessing. Thank you!
Hi Jeanne.
We’ll do our best! I’m sure you’re already signed up for our emails: https://beatofhawaii.com/subscribe.
Aloha.
Thank you-I forgot the important part-our only vacation dates are June 20-July 6. Tough dates to get reasonable rate 🙂
Thank you for the update, and appreciate the additional info as you get it! I have a daughter who will be working in Hawaii this summer so I’ll be going some time in June (dates are open within the month) but am trying to determine when to “pull the trigger” and book it. Based on this latest info I think I’ll hold off just awhile longer, but if you’ve got any good guesses or advice (please?) I’ll take it. Thanks again.
Hi Janice.
If it would be on an existing Southwest flight, keep in mind most of that inventory is sold out. After the first week of June it is getting into the expensive period. If you could come and return before then, you’ll have much better options.
Aloha.
Thank you! I should have to mentioned that I would looking for a direct San Diego to Honolulu flight; which is why I’ve held off booking it; hoping there might be a deal when those routes are announced. Thanks again.
Hi Janice.
Without a doubt there will be deals when new routes are announced and/or as competition on those routes gets going.
Aloha.
Mahalo
We are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving in Maui. Do you know when direct flights from Phoenix might become available?
Thankyou in advance
Anne-Marie T…
Hi Anne-Marie.
We haven’t had any indication of when those will start. Perhaps later this year, but unsure it is wise to base your vacation plans on that happening.
Aloha.
So when will Southwest be flying to Hawaii, out of Seattle, Wa.
Can someone please inform me as to ticket prices and what is happening with the airlines. I have been hearing rumors about a price war,but I sure don’t seem to see the prices reflecting that. I am looking at flights with Hawaiian in August and they seemed to have gone from $472 before the whole Southwest thing and now they are $917. What happened and are they expected to go down again? Should I wait or should I buy? I need help understanding what is going on. Thank you in advance.
Hi Jolene.
If you’d like to give us city pairs and dates we’ll be happy to look with you. Otherwise, there will be many fare wars ahead, as we indicated. This hasn’t even gotten started yet.
Aloha.
Southwest may not be making the best move by over pricing flights. I’ve seen flights for $599 just for 1 way. I’m sure there will be lots of empty seats heading to Hawaii on Southwest soon.
Exactly WHEN will we know about flights to from Kauai???Please don’t push our Island under the rug!Mahalo.
Hello, I sure was hoping for Sacramento flights to be released, so this was disappointing. Do you think Sacramento will not be released prior to the May 23 schedule announcement? Or do you think this more dependent on resolving the MAX issues and could be sooner/later? Aloha
Hi James.
Our take is it is more related to the Max issues. Also it may be better for Southwest to make another big splash with a separate announcement rather than combine Hawaii with their network schedule updates.
Aloha.
I don’t get it, where’s the deals from southwest from Sacramento to Maui, there are not even flights, am I missing something, I see the email about SW opening for today, but there’s not flights available yet?