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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Any upcoming discount for Honolulu to Kona 14-18 mar?
Aloha,
We are getting married in Maui and I am trying to make sure I stay on top of deals so I can help everyone book the cheapest flights. We are getting married in Sept 12,2020, when do you recommend us booking our tickets for the best deal? Thank you in advance!
Hi Dulce.
To some degree it depends on whether you’re flying from those cities that have competition courtesy of SWA. Those may see September deals sooner. But generally you’ll find the lowest prices starting at about 90 days ahead. Be sure to fly mid-week as that makes a huge difference.
Aloha.
Hi, We don’t travel much, but after reading all your articles I appreciate your helpful insights. In early Sept. 2020 two seniors hope to go from Bay Area home departing from OAK or SFO to Maui for a week, then go interisland to Kauai for 2 weeks then back home. How long should we wait for Deals before making reservations, and will we do better booking all one way fares? We prefer non stop and not using Basic Economy, so should we still wait for SW’s 6 month rule before booking to seee if United or other airlines match or come close to a SW price? Thanks for your great website!
Hi Linda.
Buy 3 segments: To Maui. To Kauai. To bay area. Should be very reasonable. Maybe $330 total per person in regular economy. Buy about 3 months in advance.
Aloha.
I have a question about rental cars. Do you for see the cost going down on the big island before August of 2020?
Hi there. We have only been to Hawaii once to get married and it was many years ago. Will be traveling in July 2020 to take our children and grand children to Maui from either Oakland, Sacramento or Fresno to Maui and our daughter will be flying from Seattle to Maui. Can you please advise as to the best travel days, times, airlines and when to book a flight to get the best deals as possible? Sure appreciate your help.
Hi Billie.
The answers to your questions and more is contained here: Please have a look and then let us know if you have any further questions: https://beatofhawaii.com/the-cheapest-time-to-fly-to-hawaii-is-coming-soon/.
Aloha.
Do you have any idea which city the non-stop flights to Hilo will be from?
Hilo should have more inter-island direct flights to Maui and Kauai also, If not dayly, perhaps a couple of times per week. Just a thought.
Is your “SUMMER 2019…” headline a past post or do you mean SUMMER 2020…”?
Thanks Leilani.
That is fixed.
Aloha.
I see Burbank is on the list as a possible expansion city for SW. That would be sooo amazing to avoid flying in and our of LAX. However, I heard that Burbank’s runways are too short for planes carrying enough fuel for the transpacific flight. Can you confirm before I get my hopes up?
Thanks for the great info! Interestingly you hit on several things some travel friends and I were wondering about to each other researching just 2 days ago! Several of the flights that you have listed as coming soon routes can already be booked now though. We only know that because we searched for tickets to those flights just this weekend. Thanks again for answers to questions we had been wondering about!!
Thanks Heather.
Aloha.
Where SW can shine is the ‘Gotta Get Away’ interisland fares. We spoke with our flight attendants on our recent interisland SW flight (nice folks!) and they said the response to recent interisland flights has been overwhelmingly positive. People are traveling now who hadn’t been since the days of Aloha and Mahalo, because interisland travel for a family of 4 on Hawaiian priced it out of most people’s ranges; they are also seeing clubs, teams, etc. booking flights.
Hi Kiawe.
Real competition has definitely fired up local interest in interisland for the first time in many years.
Aloha.
Have to agree that prices have come down. Can’t say Hawaiian overcharged, the fares were inline with similar length flights on the mainland, Including what SWA charges. But now that we are enjoying “fare war” rates enjoy it while lasts! The good news is you can
get bargains on Hawaiian. SWA trying to use their transpacific airplanes is not Ideal and of course their attempts at cultural appropriation is weak at best. Hawaiian is still a much better deal.
Please let me know when Southwest will start to offer nonstop service from San Diego to Maui. Thank you!
Hi Linda.
That route starts April 14.
Aloha.
Not sure I would want to fly on the airline that boasts about keeping down costs as their number priority……
that type of thinking has really damaged Boeing. The 737 Max was built with shareholder profits prioritized
over safety, maybe it’s time big companies realize safety and quality are more important then a few dollars,
especially in a field as unforgiving as aviation.
My wife and I love Hawaii, but while her favorite place is the Big Island, my favorite is Kauai North Shore. In the past, we have gone from SFO to ITO, stayed a week, then traveled ITO to LIH, eventually returning home LIH to SFO. If it saves time or money, we can substitute KOA for ITO. Is there a best way to make reservations for this type of itinerary other than the obvious, standard way?
Our favorite airline has been Hawaiian, but we intend to try Southwest next time because of the free two checked bags per person (unless there is a fare difference negating those savings). Does this make sense, or am I overlooking something?
Hi Bruce.
Always good to hear from you! ITO should be very reasonable so no need to fly into KOA any longer. Just two one-ways will do it plus the flights inter-island. And Southwest should work out well. They are a different airline than Hawaiian for sure. Let us know how it goes.
Aloha.
Is there any chance Southwest will have direct flights from Hilo to Maui any time soon? Kona has 1 each way– why can’t they do same for Hilo? A 30-40 min. flt turns into a 2-3hr one due to going to HNL & layovers!! Hilo seems to be the BOTTOM of the “pecking” order when it comes to air travel!
I’m a novice when it comes to searching for the best fares and availability on flights and I am wondering if I can get a little help. I know SW does not have direct flights to LAS at present so what would be the most economical and shortest way to fly to LAS using SW. (I am looking for a round trip from HNL to LAS.) I am not sure which city on the west coast I should look at. I could really use your expertise on this. Thank you so much for your immediate reply. Kitty
Hi Kitty.
Go to the SWA website to find the best fares and connections. On just checking, Oakland came up first as the connection point.
Aloha.
Is HNL to LAS direct a for sure thing? Or is it just in talks? Can’t wait if so!! Please let us know. Thanks!!
Hi Sheri.
Only they know for certain, but we will update as soon as we learn more.
Aloha.
hi Beat! thanks for the new info on southwest hawaii. fyi: we have a trip planned to kauai and oahu in may 2020 that i booked early in november. i was able to get a flight from dallas love field thru san jose to lihue, kauai, a connected flight and not two separate flights!! of course, there are no flights in may headed back the other way so i had to book us on AA from honolulu to dfw; an inconvenience, but better than two separate flights.
Aloha,
I recently investigated several flight pairings on Southwest to Hawaii that would result in a connection at SJC, OAK, SMF, or SAN. I concluded that SAN service (when started in April) will not allow any connections to Hawaii via SAN. In other words, if I wanted to travel from AUS to HNL on 4/20/20 via SAN, I have to book two separate tickets. This isn’t an issue with connection time but apparently an operational decision by SAN. Even if you book out of LAX to go to HNL after 4/20/20, none of the routes will connect through SAN- only the other three Southwest Hawaii ports.
I’m dying to know the rationale here – why can’t I book straight through on one ticket if I want to go to HNL via SAN from any domestic city that Southwest flies?
Hi Will.
We know that SWA sees this input, so we’ll have to wait and find out if they wish to comment. We do expect connections to expand greatly over time, but we don’t have details.
Aloha.
Because swa doesn’t consider san a hub .I live in san and it’s cheaper to go to Houston. Not a direct.but Houston to San Diego is a possibility
Hi,
Looking for a return flight Honolulu to Kauai in the first week of august 2020. Currently its $117 return on South West. Do you anticipate any cheaper flights will become available or should I book these? Thanks!!
Hi Alex.
The way things have been going, we would suspect a lower fares in August. Can’t say for sure, and the first week of August tends to be higher priced than starting the second week.
Aloha.
Picked a day in August first week..Every HNL-LIH flight is less than $117 on Hawaiian Airlines.. Most are in the $60-80 range
Interesting. Our family ended up booking Southwest over Hawaiian for our annual trip visiting relatives on the US West Coast. We choose Southwest precisely because HA dropped this Basic Economy thing on everybody, basically attempting to nickel and dime us locals on seat/baggage/change fees, hoping we would be wouldn’t notice. Southwest, might want to consider carefully before taking away a major competitive plus. Just my 2bcents
I agree. We would ONLY fly SWA if it was not on a Max 8 AND if everything remains as is – no checked bag fees, no change fees, etc. It’s bad enough that they have no food and fly smaller planes. That is enough to deal with – although, after our last Hawaiian food debacle – oh my, awful – we will forgo ALL airline food from now on. We will heed your advice and bring our own. We won’t be returning until 2021. Just have to wait and see how things go. Thanks for all your hard work.
Hi Colleen.
Thanks for your comment. We hope to see you guys when you return!
Aloha.
Aloha,
We’re planning a family vacation in July from BWI to OAK to LIH and for the return we’re planning HNL to SAN to BWI. Our plan is to overnight in California for both directions. Currently Alaska Air has excellent prices for similar itineraries. Do you anticipate any additional Southwest frequency for the flights to LIH and from HNL or any additional cities or is the current Southwest schedule anticipated to continue as is into the summer?
Mahalo,
Doug
Hi Doug.
We don’t have any information or reason to believe there will be more changes to frequency or routes on Southwest’s Hawaii schedule beyond what is already indicated to be completed by April.
Aloha.
Hello,
My family is looking to travel to Kauai from Phoenix the very last couple of days of May through the first two weeks of June. Nothing is in stone yet but, I’m a school principal so I can’t leave any earlier. Please advise what fares I should be looking for. We are going to fly Hawaiian Air due to acquired miles. Thank you for all of the great information you provide.
Hi Aaron.
Not a lot of competitive pressures in that market, especially for peak travel season. So it may not come down much from the current over $800 price. Changing airlines would help a lot – up to $300 less.
Aloha.
You should do a post giving people a heads up about how Southwest will cancel your inter island flight at the last minute if they don’t think it will be profitable to fly. I had heard about it but it finally happened to me, It’s very shady. Was supposed to fly back to Maui from Kona last flight and they texted me 3 hrs before departure on my way to the airport that the flight was cancelled and I was supposed to take one the following morning instead. No mention of hotel vouchers or any compensation customer service was zero help, very not my problem attitude. Luckily there was another flight and it only cost me 80$ more to rebook on mokulele but if I was with my family it would have been a lot more of a pain and cost a lot more $$
Hello we hoping to go see family May 24-June6th. Im having a little trouble locating any deals. We are traveling from Denver to Kona, then inter island to Honolulu, then back to Denver. Any thoughts on what to look for or if you think we could find a deal at all?
thanks
Hi Doug.
It looks like you’ll pay just over $689 RT plus interisland. That is available now. Probabl won’t go down due to the days of week you have chosen.
Aloha.
aloha,
thanks for the info. they say that next year SW will begin using the Max aircraft again. I feel unsure about this .There has recently been so much news about the failures. The one witness saying he would rather walk than fly on one of these aircraft.
Thoughts?
Ane
Hi Ane.
Understand your concerns. The recertification of the 737 Max planes still seems so unclear. It seems to be anyone’s guess when that might happen.
Aloha.
There are NON STOPS to San Diego finally!!! Why no news or alert from “Beat of Hawaii”
Hello, I’m planning a family trip from San Jose to Lihue from June 29th to July 7th. Do you know what the fares might be for that time period? Really appreciate the help!
Take care.
Hi Luan.
Based on the current and anticipated competition, we expect even peak of summer fares to be somewhat lower than normal. So Perhaps just under $500 (which is already available by the way, non-stop).
Aloha.
Thanks for the quick reply. When you said the fares are available now, do you mean the calendar is updated on the Southwest website? I only see it going out to mid-April at this time?
Thanks.
Hi Luan.
Yes, meant to say that fare is already available on other airlines, since Southwest isn’t bookable that far ahead.
Aloha.
What is the best strategy for booking east coast to HNL RT all on Southwest (using points) regarding the return flight. Plan an overnight in OAK then back on SWA next day? Or are there red eye OAK departures to east coast (RDU) on other airlines (3 legs SWA, one other)? (That means claiming baggage, recheck bags, reenter security I think.) Thanks in advance.
Hi Larry.
Sorry, but we don’t have an answer on this one. As far as we know you are overnighting on the west coast on your return with all the issues that involves (as you mentioned).
Aloha.
Larry we are just returning today after doing exactly what you described. One set of flights using points, the other set using companion pass, including an inter island flight from Oahu to Maui. We live on the east coast so on the way out we did it all in one long day. On the way back we overnighted in Oakland and flew Oakland to Florida today. Lose two days to travel on the way back but it was a lot easier than the trip out there.
Looking to book flights (for 4) with Southwest out of Dallas to Honolulu or Kahului departing mid/late May 2020. We will book a separate flight from Lihue to Dallas for the return flight the following week. I believe my first opportunity to make these reservations will be October 30th when the next batch of flights become available. My question is do I book the flights that day and then cancel/re-purchase when/if the prices lower when it gets closer to flight time? And what price range am I looking to target for travel in mid to late May? Thank you so much for your time!
Hi Kyle.
Best price target is from about $240 one way. Yes, suggest buy when they are first released.
Aloha.
Hello,
Any idea when direct flights from SAN to HNL or KOA will be announced? Thanks so much!
Hi Heidi Ann.
We don’t have any update.
Aloha.
Hi there,
Do you notice that the newly announced SAN flights don’t consider any connecting options? For instance, HNL->SAN->AUS is possible but has to be booked as separate tickets. Same is true with any airport with a direct from SAN after 7pm. Why is this? Scheduling Software error on SWA part?
Will there be any flights from east coast? Thanks
Hi Judy.
As indicated in the post, no there will not be at any point in the foreseeable future.
Aloha.
Will there be Flights from midwest to Hawaii?
Thank you
Hi Judy.
Nothing on the table with regards to midwest as far as we know.
Aloha.
Thank you for such an informative site! Please advise the best time to book for the lowest SMF-HNL fare. Traveling the last week of June 2020. I prefer SW for the free checked baggage allowance. I know summer is high season but unfortunately my dates aren’t flexible.
Hi James.
Peak of summer so suggest buying as soon as SW releases those dates.
Aloha.
Thanks for the response. I see the schedule has been extended but only through June 6, 2020. When do you anticipate the rest of the summer schedule will be released, and do BOH email subscribers receive notice of this? Mahalo!
Hi Curtis.
Probably towards the end of the month there will be an update. We don’t follow them religiously, so suggest you keep checking that on their website.
Aloha.
Every time I check Southwest Oak-Oahu it is ridiculous pricing. over 600. I have been trying to get a deal since they launched. None to be had. Very frustrating.
HA 359 easy all the time.
We’re looking at a trip to Kauai in May, 2020. Would like to fly out of Sacramento. We are fine with a stop and connecting to an inter island flight. When should I book our flights to get the best price?
I’m sorry I just now saw the note where it says to say please and thank you I am wondering if they’re going to be any flights discounted from Sacramento to Kuaui in February? I want to thank you in advance for answering mahalo
Hi Linda.
Not sure about on SW. Other airlines are already in low $300’s RT for February which is excellent. Might improve by waiting especially for midweek.
Aloha.
Hi! When are more inter-island Southwest flights going to be released for the 2nd half of April? Thanks
Hi Adam.
Currently scheduled for October 30.
Aloha.
Hi! I am looking to fly from Phoenix (or Tucson) to Kauai at the end of May or beginning of June 2020. I thought I had seen where flights would be going to Kauai from Phoenix in 2020, but can’t find that specific information anymore. I don’t mind connecting if we have to…just looking for the best deal.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Kristin.
Doubtful that there will be flights from Arizona to Hawaii on Southwest by then. May will be your best bet. Target price is low $400’s with one stop or about $100 more nonstop. You may need to wait until about 3 months in advance to see those prices.
Aloha.
Hi,
We are planning our annual girl’s trip for the end of April/early May 2020 to Kona. We would be flying out of Sacramento, and we were thinking by then for sure Southwest would be flying there by then. Are we crazy to think that?
Mahalo,
J.
Hi Jadine.
Not sure at all on that. It may still require a connection.
Aloha.
I’m looking to go to Kawai E from Sacramento February 11 do you think they’ll be any from Sacramento soon? Or during that time
Aloha,
Looking to go to Maui in early February. We will be flying out of DFW or Love field here in Dallas. Most interested in which west coast airports are easiest to navigate rather than complicated with gate and/ or airline change. Certainly the interest would be with SW and other competitors and am willing to get separate tickets in order to get best value. Also any insight which airlines to look at first. It has been helpful to look at this site for ideas on travel!
Mahalo
Hi Steve.
Not sure we are qualified on this, although we have certainly transited all of the west coast airports multiple times. San Jose is absolutely huge, although if staying with one carrier, that makes it easier. We find San Diego easy. Maybe other can comment on their recommendations.
While the nonstop from DFW is running about $800, you can do a quick connection 1-stop for about half that price on multiple airlines. Good deal and might work best. Consider buying if that works for you.
Aloha.