Is this a game changer? Hopefully some reasonably priced flights to the islands. Wife and I have been wanting to go and this maybjust entice us. Flights begin in 2018. https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/Southwest-Stories/We-re-Going-to-Hawaii-Baby/ba-p/61199
If money was keeping you from visiting Hawaii, then I am not sure how much of a difference a slightly cheaper ticket will make. You will still spend the same amount, which is a lot, while you are there.
True, but... If you get lucky and get a cheap flight can spend that extra cash on... Not much, hahah Hawaii is expensive.
Hawaii is Monaco or Dubai people. I love getting a good deal on flights. It makes me want to splurge more wherever I'm going to. I saw recently a RT flight from Dallas to Hong Kong with a stop in Tokyo for $545.
I've been to Hawaii 11 times, but not recently. For tourists, I found it wasn't really that expensive compared to other vacation cities on the mainland.
I'm guessing he meant 'isn't' instead of 'is'. Hawaii isn't very expensive as it is from the Bay Area, but would certainly welcome even cheaper Southwest rates.
I don't think it will make a big difference. Saving a $100 on airfare isn't going to make or break most travelers (to exotic locations) unless they are traveling in larger parties of four or more.
Nice. Just pulled in the companion pass and was thinking it’d be nice if southwest flew there. Never been but will go for sure when this starts.
For me, it costs more to fly to Hawaii than London/Europe. Southwest flying to Hawaii is a very good thing.
Same experience for my 1 trip there. I was expecting everything to be more expensive than it actually was. If you were looking to spend a little less on lunch, for example, it was pretty easy to find some food truck selling various rice/meat bowls for $5-7.
The key is will WN offer enough flights to significantly impact USA to Hawaii fares overall, forcing other carriers to match. This would create a nightmare for the legacy carriers who lose boatloads of money flying there because a huge chunk of people use FF mileage instead of actually paying. I believe this is why fares are so high in the first place.
Half the time southwest isn't even the cheapest ticket in town. They have been so damn smart with their business model. They conditioned their base as a "low cost" airline since the 80's so people naturally think they are cheaper already when it reality they are NOT that anymore at all. Then they make you search their fares on their website and their website only so you can't compare others rates. Advertise "bags fly free" when their average standard rate is usually $50 - $100 dollars MORE than AA or UA. All while offering an inferior product. SWA going to the islands is not a game breaker. This market is so saturated that they will be right on par with everyone else. AA, DL, UA, AS, HA, VA...etc
That really isn't true... on average, SW also has more flight options and the regional airports are possibly easier to navigate/get to than the better airports. Yes, its no longer exponentially cheaper... but the getaway fares (non-refundable) typically will always be less than the standard UA rates. People aren't conditioned to fly SW... but you factor in some of the lifetime-perks of free companions and no baggage fees... loyalty ends up having bigger rewards. The biggest downside of SW is that you don't get priority on another flight if something happens to your plane en-route. People who miss the first class aspects are going to end up flying first class on the more expensive airlines anyways.
Hawaii is in the middle of the pacific ocean. It is a long ass flight. Continental/United used to have good deals on it.
plus not many flights connect in hawaii...if any.. europe has plenty of hubs for many of the major airlines.
