Southwest plans for Hawaii

[hjtug]

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/10/which-southwest-routes-hawaii/

Forgive me if Southwest's plans for flights to Hawaii have already been discussed.

 

[dougp26364]

They have...... and they can’t start flying to Hawaii soon enough. I’d like an option other than AA, which has no leg room and frequent flight changes or UAL, which changes my flights and routes a dozen times before we go and always re-routes us through Chicago, which wants to route us through Altlanta when we live in KS.

Since SWA’s finally came to town they’ve quickly become our favorite and we fly them whenever we can. We recently burnt some FF miles on AA and honestly, it almost wasn’t worth it.

 

[breezez]

I have companion pass and will be using it for Hawaii for sure!

 

[dougp26364]

http://beatofhawaii.com/southwest-hawaii-airline-update/

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Cannot wait. I am done with the greedy antics of big 3 American carriers. I now try to fly SWA, or Alaska whenever possible (+ with companion passes). OAK as a hub is a huge plus because SFO is a logistical hairball to get in and out.

I also hope this has an effect on Hawaii air prices. No reason that Hawaii is $750 RT from CA during summer when NYC from CA is only in the $300 RT range.

 

[Tamaradarann]

They have...... and they can’t start flying to Hawaii soon enough. I’d like an option other than AA, which has no leg room and frequent flight changes or UAL, which changes my flights and routes a dozen times before we go and always re-routes us through Chicago, which wants to route us through Altlanta when we live in KS.

Since SWA’s finally came to town they’ve quickly become our favorite and we fly them whenever we can. We recently burnt some FF miles on AA and honestly, it almost wasn’t worth it.

Have you tried to use Hawaiian Airlines through Las Vegas? We get a direct flight from JFK to Honolulu which works out great for us. I am sure you can get a direct flight from where you are to Las Vegas. Then take Hawaiian the rest of the way. Even if Southwest did start to fly to Hawaii they would probably not go direct from where you are or where I am so that a plane change would be necessary.

 

[dougp26364]

Hawaiian doesn’t fly out of Wichita KS, where we live. To fly them I’d have to fly SWA’s to Vegas, collect our luggage, check back in, go thru security just to catch one of their flights. Waaaayyyy to much trouble for me.

We always have to change planes, sometimes twice. I good flying SWA’s to either Vegas or Phoenix and changing planes

 

[pedro47]

When will they officially start flying to Hawaii and what airport cities from the east coast will they be using?

 

[DaveNV]

When will they officially start flying to Hawaii and what airport cities from the east coast will they be using?

The article says they haven’t made final decisions yet, and the cities named are west coast cities. I doubt they’ll fly direct from the east coast. You’d have to make a connecting flight. But since it’s Southwest, there should be plenty of options.

Dave

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

I won't be flying Southwest. If I'm going to Hawaii, it has to be at least business class. I won't fly sardine class for 6 hours.

Southwest is nothing but sardine class.

(I fly Southwest for 1-3 hours long flights. nothing longer. . .)

 

[rickandcindy23]

We fly first class to Hawaii, and so we won't be using SW, unless they break their own rules and offer some nice seats in the front.

 

[Luanne]

We fly first class to Hawaii, and so we won't be using SW, unless they break their own rules and offer some nice seats in the front.

That would require them getting new planes. Don't see that happening in the near future.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Southwest sardine class has more legroom than UAL Economy. United Economy is torture, however we have found that Alaska and Southwest economy are fine for a 5 hour flight. UAL and the other big 3 are not, so an upgrade is required if we fly those carriers - another fee and another reason to avoid the big 3.

 

[rickandcindy23]

That would require them getting new planes. Don't see that happening in the near future.

Yes, but they did acquire a lot of planes from AirTran during that takeover, and AirTran always had first class. We used to fly AT to/from Orlando in first class from Denver. It was so nice. That was many years ago. We have been flying SW on the mainland almost exclusively; however our flight to Boston this April is first on AA. We will see how that goes. Rick has already gotten one email with a time change, but it was minor.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Time changes on the big 3 are actually a blessing because it enables you to avoid those nasty $200 change fees; you can use it as a reason to change or cancel without the fee. SWA and Alaska don't have such fees so you can change all you want (up to 10 min before flight SWA; up to 60 days prior AK).

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

We just got back from Hawaii flying Hawaiian and I felt that SW had much more leg room than Hawaiian. We had opted to pay extra
for more leg room then Hawaiian switched planes the last week and their new planes did not offer extra legroom. They did refund our money but I prefer SW for roominess.

 

[breezez]

I won't be flying Southwest. If I'm going to Hawaii, it has to be at least business class. I won't fly sardine class for 6 hours.

Southwest is nothing but sardine class.

(I fly Southwest for 1-3 hours long flights. nothing longer. . .)

I fly them all the time, All the newer planes have plenty of room. I am a tall and large guy and I have plenty of leg room. These new planes make Delta comfort class feel like sardine class.

 

[NTP66]

There's a trade-off with Southwest when it comes to seats. You may wind up with 1-2" of more leg room, but you are most certainly going to have narrower seats (unless you're flying Boeing metal on another airline). American replaced the 757-200 with the A321 years ago, and most of them offer either the same pitch or within 1" of that of Southwest's 737 fleet. With the A321s, you're getting 18" wide seats, which is absolutely my preference over the extra inch of legroom.

I will never fly Southwest, but do hope them coming to Hawaii means cheaper flights for me on American metal.

 

[lizap]

There's a trade-off with Southwest when it comes to seats. You may wind up with 1-2" of more leg room, but you are most certainly going to have narrower seats (unless you're flying Boeing metal on another airline). American replaced the 757-200 with the A321 years ago, and most of them offer either the same pitch or within 1" of that of Southwest's 737 fleet. With the A321s, you're getting 18" wide seats, which is absolutely my preference over the extra inch of legroom.

I will never fly Southwest, but do hope them coming to Hawaii means cheaper flights for me on American metal.

I have flown 2+ mil. miles on AA. Most of the time I fly either F or extra legroom economy. Several years ago, we switched most of our business to SW because of its superior customer service. The coach seats/legroom on SW are superior to those on AA extra legroom and not far behind AA F. AA's domestic F product has really deteriorated...

 

[artringwald]

Now Sun Country Airlines will be flying to Hawaii too:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...nd-myrtle-beach-south-carolina-300574029.html

 

[dougp26364]

Now Sun Country Airlines will be flying to Hawaii too:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...nd-myrtle-beach-south-carolina-300574029.html

Since Sun Country has said they were going to model themselves more or less after Allegiant, Spirit and/or Frontier, I think I’ll pass. We stopped flying Allegiant and Frontier because, once you added all their extra charges in, they weren’t all that cheap plus their service stunk.

 

[artringwald]

Since Sun Country has said they were going to model themselves more or less after Allegiant, Spirit and/or Frontier, I think I’ll pass. We stopped flying Allegiant and Frontier because, once you added all their extra charges in, they weren’t all that cheap plus their service stunk.

We'll be flying Sun Country on the last segment of our February trip to Hawaii. It's first class, so I'll post how that goes. We've flown Sun Country in the past and they were fine. It's sad that they're lowering their standards. I've heard some terrible stories about Frontier and Spirit.

 

[Tamaradarann]

Hawaiian doesn’t fly out of Wichita KS, where we live. To fly them I’d have to fly SWA’s to Vegas, collect our luggage, check back in, go thru security just to catch one of their flights. Waaaayyyy to much trouble for me.

We always have to change planes, sometimes twice. I good flying SWA’s to either Vegas or Phoenix and changing planes

I didn't think that Hawiian would fly out of Wichita, KS that's why I suggested flying Southwest to Las Vegas and then taking Hawaiian the rest of the way. I wasn't aware that you would need to collect your bags. Since you need to change planes with any airline I didn't think that changing from Southwest to Hawaiian would be more complicated

 

[Luanne]

I didn't think that Hawiian would fly out of Wichita, KS that's why I suggested flying Southwest to Las Vegas and then taking Hawaiian the rest of the way. I wasn't aware that you would need to collect your bags. Since you need to change planes with any airline I didn't think that changing from Southwest to Hawaiian would be more complicated

What makes it more complicated is, if you change airlines, you need to exit the secure area, pick up your luggage, re-check your luggage, and go back through security. If you fly with one airline (like United or American) you still need to change planes, but you don't need to go through the rest of that.

 

[dioxide45]

Yes, but they did acquire a lot of planes from AirTran during that takeover, and AirTran always had first class. We used to fly AT to/from Orlando in first class from Denver. It was so nice. That was many years ago. We have been flying SW on the mainland almost exclusively; however our flight to Boston this April is first on AA. We will see how that goes. Rick has already gotten one email with a time change, but it was minor.

Southwest sold off the 727 aircraft that they acquired from the AirTran transaction and converted the 737 to be just like all their other 737 aircraft. It is possible that they could put some business class seats in the Hawaiian routes, but I doubt it since they want to be able to move their aircraft anywhere they need to. I would expect to just see their standard seats on these routes.

I miss AirTran. Using the 4 credits from their loyalty program to upgrade an economy seat to business inside of 24 hours was the greatest thing about AirTran. I was rather upset when they were acquired by Southwest.