Southwest or Hawaiian: a dilemma

[kickash]

We are 90% sure what we are going to do, but I am curious as to what the rest of you would do, mainly Hawaii veterans who travel there often.

We are a family of 4 traveling from San Jose to Oahu in mid July (week day) for 12 days. Return flight is also a weekday. Right now I have flights on hold with Hawaiian, $2100 total. The flights are the days and times I want, plus flight to Oahu is nonstop.

This is the cheapest I have seen Hawaiian for our days and times in months, hence the hold.

I was trying to hold out for Southwest to enter the market but as of this post, they still have not announced ticket sales let alone flight schedules for summer.

I follow all of the news and websites, but I particularly like Beat of Hawaii. They feel RT flights from San Jose in the middle of summer could dip into the $300s but that is a big guess.

What would you do? Buy the Hawaiian tickets or roll the dice and wait for Southwest? We don't necessarily want/need to fly SW to Hawaii, but it was more of a "let's see if the SW effect lowers prices for other airlines" situation.

 

[AZMermaid]

We were in the exact same boat but from San Diego. I bought tonight and turned off my flight tracker notifications. We’d much rather fly Hawaiian and if they go lower... well, darn! But I’m happy with the price I got. Now just not to look later.... eek!

 

[pepperandchips]

Hawaiian has amazing service. If prices drop obviously you don’t get the savings but you might be able to upgrade and Hawaiian first class is AMAZING. I’d book with Hawaiian if you’re comfortable with the price - that looks like a great deal to me.

 

[kdonnel]

Articles I have read don't believe that Southwest will have enough volume of flights to significantly impact pricing in the long term. There will be pricing opportunities the first few months but once the excitement is over, prices are expected to return to normal.

 

[corgi_monster]

I'm in Hawaii waiting for SW to open up their booking so I can get the heck out of here. Personally, I'd wait to book - I've heard rumors that SW flights from Hawaii will be between $300-$400 r/t. For my family, the savings (including bag fees) could potentially be $1,000+.

The local newspaper makes it seem like SW flights will go on sale within the next week or two.

 

[nkereina]

I would go with Hawaiian, mostly because the amenities will be better. We fly Southwest often but for shorter jaunts, like a 2 hour nonstop flight to Orlando. When I do longer haul flights, I'm willing to pay a little more for amenities and comfort, etc.

 

[richmo]

I'd say if you're okay with the Hawaiian fares, go with it.

 

[Jperiod]

You have to pay for baggage on Hawaiian too. I'm a deal hunter, so I'd wait. We were in hawaii last summer and didn't buy until closer. There were definitely more sales the closer dates got for Monday - Thursday flights on hawaiian.

 

[CateinPhoenix]

We are traveling to Oahu May 31-June 11 and I am waiting until March 15th as our cutoff date and then booking other airlines. I am an Alister and we have points on SW otherwise I would go Hawaiian all the way!

 

[kickash]

I would go with Hawaiian, mostly because the amenities will be better. We fly Southwest often but for shorter jaunts, like a 2 hour nonstop flight to Orlando. When I do longer haul flights, I'm willing to pay a little more for amenities and comfort, etc.

We actually don't mind the SW planes and we won't pay for any upgrades. We flew SW from the East Coast to Seattle last summer for our Alaskan cruise (Seattle, Vancouver, Alaska) and used those flights as our test run for Hawaii. On the way home we flew from Seattle to Baltimore, which is actually a tiny bit longer than San Jose to Oahu and the family did just great. I am looking for cheap, not amenities haha!!

 

[oldwash]

Southwest just got their approval from the Feds. My guess is tickets will go on sale next week. Look for a BIG drop in fares from everyone. No bag fees from Southwest, so if you are packing heavy, figure that in.

 

[Lewisc]

Word is to expect an announcement next week. Maybe very limited flights mid March with early to mid April the start of more then token service.

Pilots have to be trained. The pilots who flew the test flights might be good to go

 

[For love of disney]

I feel your dilemma. I feel $500 is still going to be average price for Hawaiian no? So could you wait a few more weeks?

 

[kickash]

I feel your dilemma. I feel $500 is still going to be average price for Hawaiian no? So could you wait a few more weeks?

Hawaiian just dropped AGAIN. I put new flights on hold for $1980!! This might be my winner (even with no wifi waaaahhh!)

 

[For love of disney]

Hawaiian just dropped AGAIN. I put new flights on hold for $1980!! This might be my winner (even with no wifi waaaahhh!)

Awesome!!

 

[jillt2ph]

Hawaiian just dropped AGAIN. I put new flights on hold for $1980!! This might be my winner (even with no wifi waaaahhh!)

Ugh, I just booked Hawaiian LGB-HNL for May 12 on Thursday when I saw the prices dropped. I booked Comfort Class since it was only a tad more than what I had planned to pay for coach seats thanks to the sale. Now I am afraid to go look!!

 

[nkereina]

We actually don't mind the SW planes and we won't pay for any upgrades. We flew SW from the East Coast to Seattle last summer for our Alaskan cruise (Seattle, Vancouver, Alaska) and used those flights as our test run for Hawaii. On the way home we flew from Seattle to Baltimore, which is actually a tiny bit longer than San Jose to Oahu and the family did just great. I am looking for cheap, not amenities haha!!

Different strokes for different folks. As someone who flies from the east coast, I'm spending over 8 hours in a plane to get to Hawaii. I'm willing to pay more for a flight that has a 2-4-2 seat configuration so I can get up and move around without disturbing strangers, a plane that has movies on the seatback TV as opposed to my own device which will surely die, and a flight that gives us free meals and alcohol.

There's nothing wrong with Southwest - as I mentioned, we fly them often for shorter routes. And I would definitely consider Southwest to Hawaii if the price difference is significant. I'm just saying that there's something to be said for the comfort and amenities of some of the legacy carriers, especially for those of us who take double the time to get there.

 

[jillt2ph]

Different strokes for different folks. As someone who flies from the east coast, I'm spending over 8 hours in a plane to get to Hawaii. I'm willing to pay more for a flight that has a 2-4-2 seat configuration so I can get up and move around without disturbing strangers, a plane that has movies on the seatback TV as opposed to my own device which will surely die, and a flight that gives us free meals and alcohol.

There's nothing wrong with Southwest - as I mentioned, we fly them often for shorter routes. And I would definitely consider Southwest to Hawaii if the price difference is significant. I'm just saying that there's something to be said for the comfort and amenities of some of the legacy carriers, especially for those of us who take double the time to get there.

I definitely agree about the 2-4-2 set up being preferable. That is one of the reasons I went ahead and booked on Hawaiian for May rather than waiting for Southwest. And why I chose Hawaiian my past 2 trips over American. The flight from LGB is on a 3-3 plane, so being able to get comfort class will help with that.

 

[CateinPhoenix]

For us West Coasters, this is amazing!!!! Just booked our flights using only 10,000 points each way!

Flights from Oakland are going for $49 and $79 each way....crazy there was no big announcements! These are going to go quick. We just happen to check every day....

 

[Drewferin]

Family of 5 (Double companion passes) and we only used 102k points for June. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are alot cheaper if your dates are flexible.