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1,796 thoughts on “Southwest Hawaii Stiffens Competition: 11 New Daily Flights Exposed”
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Home » Blog » Hawaii Travel News » Southwest Hawaii Stiffens Competition: 11 New Daily Flights Exposed
I moved to Oahu 18 months ago. In that time I have made 6 round trip flights to the mainland. I will do everything in my power to schedule my flights with Allegiant, because it hurts me to my core to give Hawaiian Airlines my business. When I have had to fly with them due to flight schedules, I have had a problem every time. Not only are the prices insane, there customer service is horrible. Allegiant has been easy and dependable, and on most flights quite a bit cheaper. I would love to see SWA come to Hawaii, specifically flights in and out of Las Vegas. Until that happens, I will stay loyal to Allegiant whenever possible.
Wow! Thats crazy! I flew Allegiant twice, and I would never do it again! I,personally, think Hawaiian Airlines has amongst the best customer service Ive ever received! And although their prices are not the exact cheapest, generally they are very competitive!
I will avoid any airline that tries to escalate the airfare for things like LUGGAGE! I love Southwest for that reason and their REASONABLE fares most of the time. I don’t understand how all these lousy airlines that offer nothing stay in business. Frontier used to be good and then decided to go the Spirit route and charge for anything and everything.
Another consideration for Southwest will be the need to operate red-eye flights from Hawaii in order to provide sufficient connections in Oakland or Los Angeles. Current, Southwest does not fly any red-eye flights. The have recently added departures prior to 6am and arrivals after midnight, but they don’t have any true red-eyes.
I have a couple hundred thousand points that I have been putting away in anticipation for Hawaii. It seems that everytime I check my points to see where the family can fly to, it’s getting closer and closer.
Is there point inflation? Is there a fixed conversion rate between dollars and points? It seems to me that points are becoming worth less and less.
At this rate, I’ll only be able to fly my family from LAX to SJC and back.
Couple hundred thousand, is that all. I gave away nearly a million last year. I am going to use 200,000 point from southwest and take my wife to Hawaii for our anniversary on a United flight direct from Houston. Points don’t have to be spent on Southwest flights. You can redeem for flights on United, Alaskan, American, Delta…
Tumbleweed, what’s your point ? That I only have a couple hundred thousand? Or that you gave away close to a million?
Hey Valleybilt, Tumbleweed’s apparent overcompensation for lacking anatomy aside, YES, Southwest has devalued their points, twice in the past year. They most recently changed from a fixed points/$ ratio to one that floats based on demand. They used to be worth about $0.016/point, now it’s $0.014, best-case scenario (low-demand flight).
As a former employee of Aloha Airlines for more than 20 years… I cannot wait for SWA to make a move to our inter island market as well as the west coast connection. HAL is a good company but, they need competition, the locals and tourist need another choice. My former employees and all my friends would love an opportunity to apply at SWA….because there is only one show in town (HAL) and thats just not good for the people of Hawaii, we need you and welcome you SOUTH WEST AIRLINES…Please hurry!! Please let me know if you are in deed going to hire some awesome Hawaii people… there is a lot of great former 737 experienced people here that are not getting opportunities. The people of Hawaii and former Aloha people welcome you !!!!!!!!!! Keep us posted, Aloha!!
Bob
I concur with Bobby D. I too am a former flight attendant from Aloha Airlines. Actually worked with Bobby. There are many wonderful, hardworking people from Aloha that would love to work for South West Airlines. I will definitely apply when SWA comes to Hawaii!
Hmmmmm, im intrigued for everyones luv of SWA! HAL does amazing with their inter island service! And I dont see the need or point to take away from them! I only moved to Hawaii 4 years ago, and I am a former Alaska Airlines FA, although I think AS does great, I would always choose HAL over AS, and SW…. is ultimately never (or last case scenario) an airline I would choose
We would have booked SWA to Kona had they already been up and running. Did book them to PHX where we will catch the Hawaiian Airlines flight to Kona.
We have flown American and got stranded at 11 p.m. with blue collar flu in LA and they put us in a hotel a half hour from the airport in a very ‘questionable’ area. Think SCARY! Basically, screwed up our vaca, car rental, condo, etc. Cannot recall, but seems that there was no compensation either.
THEN, the next trip, we flew United and they left us stranded in Chicago, running from gate to gate trying to find a flight home. No comp there either, just a night at the airport.
Major Carriers? Don’t you mean Major headaches. Have flown SWA a dozen times and always on time, courteous, free checked bags – basically non problematic flights. And anyone has the right to fly – even babies and backpackers. Yes, a crying baby on an all night flight home from HI is not pleasant – been there – done that (not our baby, even). But, what can a person do? We all need to be just a little kinder and tolerant.
Sure, if SWA ever flies to HI and we can muster the fare – we will give them a try. In the meantime, decided to go with Hawaiian. Get a little ‘pre’ Aloha going.
But why insult those who fly SWA instead of a Major Airline? I would never equate the ‘Major Airlines’ with Class. The things they have done to our family were far from ‘classy.’ I use my AAdvantages miles for magazines. :0) Same with United. Would only fly with them if I was given a free ticket. Hope your experiences with them have been better. Maybe they just screw up our flights, ha ha!
I’m right there with you . . . Except for the “anyone (everyone?) has a right to fly” comment! Actually, I believe flying is a privilege and for people to subject everyone else to a crying baby, albeit a 30 minute flight or a 10 hour flight half-way around the world, is simply wrong. If your baby is flying and crying, you best have a way of quieting them out of respect to everyone else . . . Well that, and the 300-400 pound folks who can’t come close to sitting in a single seat!
Wow Fred – Stay classy!
Wow!!Can’t wait till you have kids and go on vacation. Wait make sure they are nursing, have possible ear infections, no place to let of ALL the energy they have, can’t sleep because the altitude changes are bothering them, oh and they throw up on you. Our lives as parents don’t stop because we have kids they continue on and we do the best we can. Trust me when I tell you that parents don’t like it either but it is a part of life and YOU can bring earplugs!!
I also will never fly AA or UA unless its free!! LOL. Delta…. Its hit or miss, id pick them over the other two. SW and JetBlu are both pretty good, however with them I wish they had a little more class! When I look at flying, Im old school! I picture it to be a glamourous thing! Which is generally why I dont choose SWA. I love HAL, and I love AS! Im excited that Virgin America is starting to come to Hawaii next month because they are pretty decent as well!
Big deal. I would never get on one of their overcrowded, frustratingly non-aerodynamically slow, cramped 737s that have too few bathrooms and its blue collar Greyhound crowd aboard. Though it sure will be nice to get the backpackers and families with babies off of the classier, major carrier’s flights!
I wouldn’t normally reply, but your comment is so out of line. “Major Air Carriers” who don’t get you there on time, who have no Customer Service, and charge for everything. SWA is no more cramped than other airplanes, and their Rapid Rewards Program is the BEST in the industry. And they don’t charge for bags. People with backpacks and babies are part of the American flying public.
Ron’s email is not only out of line…but wrong. As someone who has flown every “major” carrier in the USA as well as many intercontinental airlines, Southwest is the best. I can’t wait to give my Hawaii flights to them as well.
Are we sure that southwest is going to offer a flight destination to Hawaii soon>
Hi Dallon,
That is the latest information.
Aloha.
We are planning a family Hawaiian vacation in 2016. We are committed Southwest fliers, and I see great advantages – we get Rapid Reward miles which would go toward A-List, Companion & A-List Preferred. I doubt that they will honor Companion pass holders for Hawaii routes, but I’d fly them anyway. How do I keep in touch to find out Southwest’s plans? We are more than 330 days out from our trip and I guess that I could purchase Refundable tickets on Hawaiian Airlines and hope that Southwest enters the market. Any advice?
Hi Sandra,
We’ll be updating as soon as there is more information on Southwest. If you’d like to subscribe to our updates, you can do so here: https://beatofhawaii.com/subscribe-by-email/.
Aloha.
Southwest evolves extremely slowly. The AirTran integration took almost 4 full years for crying out loud! So if you’re counting your departure in days, I wouldn’t bank on SWA. Who even knows what city they’ll fly out of. I personally doubt that it will be a CA airport, as those fares are already so low. Think further inland on their new planes they’re getting in 2017…
Allegiant has significantly lower rates but they are unknown to the masses. They also have a very bad review and they have countless customer complaints of being nickel and dimed and bad customer service. They haven’t really affected the air fare prices to Hawaii.
On the other hand, Southwest is know also be a no frills airlines, but have a good track record and good customer service. When booked in advanced on SWA website, SWA has lower prices compared to the big airlines No check in bag fee is a plus. .considering it can cost a family of 4 $100 for 4 bags one way. Lots of people are eagerly anticipating SWA entry to Hawaiian market, especially those who have lots of Rapid Rewards miles to burn.
It isn’t Southwest fares that would make Hawaii a success, it is the no fee factor. Southwest has great advance purchase fares but a high percentage of passengers make changes and even without a change fee the fare difference is the bread and butter. Southwest would not flop in Hawaii, people love them for the little guy aspect. Keep it that way.