Hold on to your hat as competition gets heated. Southwest vs. Hawaiian Airlines.
68 thoughts on “After $49 Airfares What’s Next | Southwest vs. Hawaiian Airlines”
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Home » Blog » Hawaii Travel News » After $49 Airfares What’s Next | Southwest vs. Hawaiian Airlines
Hi! My family of 4 is going from San Diego to Maui July 7th. I already booked our return flight on Hawaiian using miles only. I am looking for a flight going. I noticed I can get Nonstop on SWA for $189 each. That is over a $100 less than I can do on Hawaiian right now. My inclination is to jump on it but I wanted to make sure I am reading this right….you are saying there will be times coming up when the price on Southwest will drop lower? Maybe I should hold off??? Also, as far as comfort goes, do you think one airline is way better than the other? My husband is a bigger guy and so I don’t want to make him too uncomfortable. I don’t travel too often so I can’t remember one standing out over the other. Thanks!
Hi Laura.
Not expecting price to much lower if at all for peak summer travel. It is already highly discounted compared with other years.
Aloha.
Aloha and Mahalo for your updates on the Southwest Airlines service to Hawaii. However, I am noticing the words: maybe, not sure, the company doesn’t disclose that, later, no connections, holiday travel is expensive, etc. At this point I think a lot of people are expecting a lot more than Southwest is offering. Everyone expects a $49 fare from California and are frustrated when Southwest offers basically the same fares as all airlines. I think it would make a lot of sense for BOH to compare all the airlines that serve Hawaii with black and white information. Could you please make a chart that includes FAA statistics like: average ticket price, on-time performance, cancelled flight rate, misconnect rate, leg room, seat pitch, number of seats and class of service on each airline, type of aircraft used, flight times, baggage delivery time, lost bag rate, customer complaint rate. It would also be helpful to compare food service, advanced seat assignments, in cabin entertainment options, what services each airline charges extra for, and what does each airline do when they cancel a flight or misconnect their customers. Thank you.
Donna says,
We are looking at flying to Honolulu in December for Christmas either from San Diego or Phoenix. Any idea when Hawaiian will lower their fares from either market during that time frame or would we be better to wait to travel in January. Thanks
Hi Donna.
Christmas will always be the most expensive time, period. So definitely suggest January. Fare sales for January might start from late summer on.
Aloha.
Hi, I’m flying to Kauai July 30-Aug 5, do you think SW will be flying to there by that time? Trying to decide if I should wait to purchase tickets a couple weeks until the announcement. Thanks!
Hi Emily.
You did not say where you are flying from. Looks like Illinois. We do not expect one ticket service on Southwest from Chicago at this point in time. From the west coast we do anticipate they will fly to Kauai this summer.
Aloha.
I looked for fares between OAK and HNL mid May and best SW could offer was just under $1200. HA with full service was over $400 less!
Mahalo for keeping up with all the various options. I have purchased a one way fare from Austin, TX to Honolulu in late July and want to go back early August. How likely do you think it is, that they will introduce red eye flights in the near future? I could just go back on a different airline, but if you think it is imminent I will wait for SW.
Thanks again.
Hi Stig.
It would seem logical for them to get this going right away. On the other hand, they have resisted red eye for years. There were technical issues, which we believe have been resolved. Yet, still no red eyes. So it is anyone’s guess.
Aloha.
I’m looking to go to Kona in late June. From Tampa. What would be my best bet and cheapest way to go round trip.
Hi, I love reading your column.
I’ll be purchasing airfare for 2 from CLT to KOA. Dates:
April 7th to April 21st. Is Southwest going to affect
flights from the East coast?
Thanks
Hi Tracy.
Doubtful that they will impact the pricing you need. Long story, but they don’t have their (east coast) route network ready integration with Hawaii flights quite yet. That should happen soon, but probably not for your trip n ext month.
BTW prices are terrible for your dates and could improve a bit by waiting. Only problem is your Sunday travel dates. Even moving to Tuesdays (which probably isn’t feasible) would lower fares by $200 or more RT.
Aloha.
Hawaii wasn’t on my travel radar for 2019 until my mom called me after hearing about Southwest’s intro fares on the news. Needless to say, we missed out. After reading your updates, I’m cautiously optimistic that we may be able to take advantage during the next round of intro fares. Do you anticipate Southwest will release intro fares for their additional routes/islands in the early morning like they did on Monday? Any strategic suggestions for scooping up one of the specially priced fares during the next round? Thanks for your help!
Hi Jaidyn.
Honestly we don’t know what the next round of fares will be or the timing on their release. Only the airline knows that. Originally they had planned to release the fares at a different time, so obviously this can be very fluid.
Aloha.
We won’t be going to Maui until next February. Will all the newness and good deals be over before we can book? I would book tomorrow for February if possible but southwest doesn’t go out that far.