Get ready for a different ride. What we found on our first trip from the mainland with the Texas carrier. Southwest Airlines Hawaii review.
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56 thoughts on “Classless Southwest Hawaii Review SJC to LIH: Quirky, Unique”
Get ready for a different ride. What we found on our first trip from the mainland with the Texas carrier. Southwest Airlines Hawaii review.
I fly southwest for all my domestic travel but Not to Hawaii yet.. We will be utilizing Southwest in May next year so thank you for the concise report! I’ll bring our own meal and snacks because I do not count on any frills from Southwest Airlines! They are however very nice, and easy to go with!
Glad to hear that you had a great experience.
In the past the worst experience after several tries. Will not do it again.
Had bad experiences traveling as a family. We got separated because of the lack of pre-assigned seats. They won’t even try to accommodate by giving better boarding numbers so that you can sit by your kids. Never again.
Southwest lets families with smaller children board between the A and B groups, which in my experience is generally enough to get seats together though they may be in the back half of the airplane. If that’s not good enough, pay for Early Bird.
I have been flying Southwest for over 30 years and I have never had a problem on any flight. I have flown coast to coast many times and from Maui to San Diego recently. A usually funny and great flight crew, free baggage, no change fees, easy booking, great schedule and fantastic peanuts has made it a no brainer for all these years. Toilet paper races too, but that’s another story!
Maybe useful to try flying from Hawaii to the mainland to see how that’s being handled. January this year we took our family jet (Southwest Airlines) from HNL back to Texas. At the gate there were not the line-up stanchions and the gate agent made an announcement about 15 minutes before boarding that the flight was completely full and there is open seating; whereupon there was a scrum of travellers who rushed toward him, probably about a quarter of the passengers for that flight who had absolutely no idea how it works. It’s a culture. More recent flights from there were less harried now that boarding post markers are up.
As to meals, gate agents encourage you to bring something onto the plane as what’s served is not intended to be a meal.
The southwest boarding process can be frustrating to passengers used to traditional boarding processes but by offering better seating on a first come, first served basis they entice travelers to arrive on time and be at the gate at the time of boarding preventing delays.
We flew southwest recently to honolulu and had a great experience. The flight was late and there were a lot of crying kids on board, lol, but other than that no complaints !! Great way to fly and not paying for baggage is a plus!!
I find your reviews to be honest and very useful. I will be going to Kauai in April 23 and will be doing some looking into southwest.
Hi Joyce.
Thanks for the feedback!
Aloha.
hello wish Southwest airlines continue to be Affordable for low income people to be able to visit Hawaii! it’s not all about the filthy rich in cash!!
What a awesomely objective review. I wish I could find more like this on the net.
– I personally like the announcements as sometimes common sense isn’t common. Like people watching iPads without headphones.
– I don’t worry about the food & beverage that much, airlines usually push the costs to customers wether we want it or not & the savings on the Ickes I can buy my own snacks before flight.
– Pro tip. Southwest allows no change fees up until 20 minutes before flight departure. I always check the ticket prices every week before flight and the day of . There have been times where I’ve saved over 70% of ticket cost this way.
Hi Juan.
Thanks. We appreciate the feedback. Happy travels.
Aloha.
I’d like to add a caution to your Pro tip regarding changes and pricing (which I use frequently).
– If you purchased the EarlyBird Check-In® option this could modify your position in the 36 hour check-in queue. A SWA agent explained some of the categories that factor into your placement includes purchase date and fare type.
Great caution Martha, thanks for that addition.
One should pay attention to the numbers, too see if the savings is worth it , or maybe stop looking for better fare once that 36 hour mark hits . I don’t purchase early bird check-in as being A-list I can always board after B and for some reason and this is just my personal opinion , the Hawaii flights have an abnormally high number of pre-boarders 😐
We visit the islands often and alternate flying out of SJC or OAK . We usually prefer flying Alaska out of SJC (boo for no longer offering nonstop out of OAK), but we will fly Southwest if the price is significantly cheaper or if we have the miles to cover tickets for the three of us. I prefer having seat assignments, especially since we have a 5 year old (family boarding on Southwest is crowded and stressful). And the food/beverages/tech are better on Alaska. However, Southwest tends to have friendlier flight crews and employees. The lady checking our bags recently at KOA was so friendly, and the flight captain invited our daughter into the cockpit.