Originally Posted by
sullim4
It's been this way forever. You can get good deals to the islands if you're willing to red eye back or take a late flight from the mainland rather than any of the daytime options.
Spring break is one reason but the other one is the companion fare. I would wager a nice big bowl of polenta that Hawaii is one of the most popular ways to redeem that offer. If paying cash, Hawaii daytime flights are one of the few that I book as early as possible because as time goes on... AS capacity gets eaten up by companion fares and their tickets are markedly more expensive than competitors like DL (or previously HA).
It has not been that way for returns to SAN as the redeyes are new. You used to be able to do same day turns to all the islands from SAN using AS metal alone. The afternoon/evening departures from SAN are also new.