Hawaii members look for SW in 2018

Look for SW to start service to HI in 2018. They have cleared 2 hurdles and have some more to clear. All hurdles should be finished in 2017 and flights start in 2018 could this change absolutely. The saga continues.

 

Great news! Looking forward to it. Hawaii and Southwest, love it.

 

Yeah!!! I've been waiting for this!

 

Still waiting. We haven't heard anything about SW between Hawaii and the continental US. Should be a welcome site, we really need some fare wars to keep prices down. Right now they are outrageous, over $700 and into $800 for some flights that used to cost us under $400 a few years ago.

 

wish they would do assigned seating!!

 

Yeah, you're right, hope they have assigned seating for the Honolulu to mainland flights. I can't see trying to get a seat 24 hours before or else everyone will have to purchase EB to get decent seats.

 

Do any of you other locals think southwest will succeed given the lukewarm reception virgin got? I'm looking forward to some competition but I'm not hopeful for a sustained presence

 

Does anyone fly Allegiant out of Honolulu? Or do they nickel and dime you?

 

yes to both questions. People do fly allegiant out of Honolulu and they do nickel and dime you for everything. The problem is that there are limited flights (for instance they only fly to vegas 2 times a week - Wednesdays and Saturdays) so not very flexible. That means if you want to stay more than 4 days you will have to stay 7 days.

Allegiant also is unreliable, they had flight cancellations or flight delays that left people without a way to get someplace or home or a longer wait so many people will not fly Allegiant. At least Hawaiian and the other airlines are more reliable so you don't have to worry about getting to your destination and back on time.

Hopefully southwest will have more flights available every day and their big draw could be the free bags. Virgin has limited flights that make it hard to fly. For instance if I fly to vegas in January I can fly out from Honolulu but I have a limited return date, no returns after Jan 9 to the end of the month(?).

I think (hope) southwest is more flexible with available flights to and from Honolulu. We are hoping that Southwest's entry into the Hawaii market will also cause some fare wars so prices will drop. Right now Hawaiian has the best prices (except for nickel and dime Allegiant) and even then those prices range from the high $500's to $800 or higher depending on demand.

We also hope that somehow southwest can enter the interisland market to give us another alternative to Hawaiian air. Right now Hawaiian has the monopoly so they can charge whatever rates they want. For someone to fly to Maui including bag fees I can expect to pay at least $200 or more, I hope that southwest will go with the no bag fee and drop the prices down to a more reasonable $120 to $150 for an interisland round trip.

 

I hate to fly. But I have no choice. I live on an island. I wish I could live long enough to say to a host in Vegas: "Beam me up, Scotty...."

 

I'm with ya, Electroguy563. I have often said I'd rather be beamed across. Unfortunately other than a canoe I'm kind of stuck...

 

Where did you see this info?

 

Found it on Beats of Hawaii

 

From a reliable source maybe you night want to go to Flyer Talk and check SW on the forum.

 

Thank You for the info