Southwest: Tickets to Hawaii go on sale in 2018

Interesting.

I got in on the Companion Pass via Marriott Hotel + Air before the loophole closed in March.

Now, I have a 7-night stay at any Marriott in the world (so Cat 8 and 9 included) and my wife flies free this year and next year.

My problem is that from the DC area, that's a total of about 10 hours in the air (5 to LA, 5 to Hawaii) and Southwest has no first class so that sucks.

I was going to save my 7-night stay originally till 2019 and fly to Tokyo or Australia 1st class but this has me thinking....

 

This is actually huge news for someone like me who lives very close to a Southwest hub and has a lot of SWA points to use.

Ah there always has to be one hater in the crowd. I'll gladly pack my own "in flight meal" (especially since most of them suck anyways) in lieu of paying baggage fees. Now if you are usually a first class flier I could see where SWA would be unappealing for you. There is no way frugal me is going to spring for the very costly first class so I'm going coach either way.

 

Indeed, Mit.

Casinos, meals, cars ... airlines -- everyone (hopefully) finds what works best for him or her.

 

Routes routes routes. My central/eastern friends always wonder why we go to Hawaii and not the Carib. When I ask why they flip that, they nod, knowingly.

 

Not a hater... as a frugal as they come - and you dont need to be first class to get a meal on a flight to Hawaii. There are carriers that provide free food on domestic Hawaii flights from certain origins due to the length of the flight. My personal feeling is that SWA will not be doing non stop Hawaii flights from hubs like Chicago. I see it being a connecting option where the flight goes from LAX or San Diego etc to Honolulu. As for pricing - Southwest is usually in line with other carriers price wise (minus the random cheap fares for off peak flight times that you can snag if you are quick) so I dont see Hawaii flights being cheaper just because it is Southwest. Their pricing to the Caribbean has not proven to be much cheaper from what I have seen. I would expect $600-$900 fares from the midwest to Hawaii.

My main point was it would be nice if they offered some "premium" snack/ warm food options like United does for a modest cost if i dont want to deal with airport fast food or bringing my own considering the long haul nature of the route.

No harm meant!

 

Does anyone offer direct from Chicago to HI? If they do, it's rare. The overall excitement is because this means more competition. I don't expect SWA to be cheaper but I expect that there will be more sales and potentially lower rates overall because of competition. And as for food, I think that it would be nice too if Southwest could offer warm snacks or sell food. But considering United doesn't offer anything unless you pay, Southwest's free 100 cal snack, peanuts and pretzels is an upgrade. But since there will probably a layover between Chicago and HI, getting a decent meal in before the final segment should be a big deal.

 

Hawaiian air offers meals on their daytime flights. No meals on their redeye flights. Unfortunately there isn't a direct flight from O'Hare. They do fly from JFK to HNL and that's the closest airport that Hawaiian flies to other than LAS.

Of course you can fly to SFO or LAX and then fly to HNL from there.

 

If you're on the Left Coast, Alaska has seven embarcation points to Kona, nine to Kahului, seven to Honolulu and five to Lihue. And a good number of these are daily and often multiple times.

 

United

 

US is the only one from Ord that I am aware of. It's a nonstop and leaves at 0900.

 

UA

 

Vegasman after thinking about the 737 and the widebodies it's like comparing a VW to a Caddy. Yes the wide body planes are the way to go ride wise.

 

Hold your horses on SW flights to Hawaii.

Latest news is that the SW mechanics are filing a cease and desist order on flights to and from Hawaii.

https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2017/10/25/southwest-mechanics-threaten-to-throw-wrench-in.html

Something about extended certification and maintenance to fly to Hawaii. Something about mechanic to aircraft ratio.

 

Well, so the SW mechanics are choosing to be insensitive to my needs and many other's needs.

 

No, not really, it is probably a contract thing. I think that they (SWA) would subcontract ground services in Hawaii and the mechanics would rather have unionized workers handling the work. They handle all of SWA maintenance services in the contiguous 48 states and want the same for Hawaii since it is in the contract that they handle work in the US and Hawaii is part of the USA.

 

Well, they'll just have to pay the mechanics more money then.

 

I'm sure you have better golf in Hawaii.

 

I've played some outstanding courses in Mexico -- along the Pacific, Sea of Cortez and the Carib -- and my peers (and the raters) talk up what is available across the islands and nations.

Hawaiian golf is stellar at the top, even if it isn't deep.

 

Since SW is coming in as a new carrier to HI with a loyal following. If the fares become competitive one might see fares as low as $150 or possibly as low as $100 from the West Coast. Of course a number of things could effect my guess.