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Hawaii Flight Reports
Other that the initial first days, I have not seen any reports on how it was to fly with Southwest to/from/within Hawaii. Please share your stories, good or bad. Thanks!
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The flight seemed shorter than it was. The extra legroom in the -800 makes all the difference. Just BYO food.
All flights were on time. On the return I had a 45-minute connection at OAK which went like clockwork. Baggage hit the carousel very quickly. |
OAK-OGG R/T was surprisingly good. Well-run, professional, on-time, friendly crews. Baggage claim in OGG was slow but really that’s about the only (minor) issue encountered. |
The fact that there have not been folks posting about BAD flights might be a good thing. People love to post when things are bad. Less so if things are okay.
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On the OAK-OGG flights, has upgraded boarding position been available at the gate on a regular basis?
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I did a day trip to KOA from HNL on day two. Light load. Juice and water service on on the flight and the live tv worked while on the ground in HNL. Definitely glad to have an alternative to Hawaiian.
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I got A7 at the gate both ways for $40 (reimbursed, of course, by the priority card)
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Originally Posted by sfp
(Post 31141606)
I got A7 at the gate both ways for $40 (reimbursed, of course, by the priority card)
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OGG-OAK-DAL yesterday. Same aircraft all the way to DAL. Pushed 3 mins early from OGG, arrived 35 mins early in OAK for a snack before continuing on to DAL. Great friendly crew. Enjoyed spiced rum and pineapple juice as I watched Crazy Rich Asians and Sunday Night Baseball and the flight flew by.
Just saying...I flew Hawaiian over. Terrible pitch, no wifi, movies were $7.99, sandwich was gross. SWA has a REALLY good offering. 32" pitch, wifi, free movies, tv, and texting makes a big difference. |
The free movies are my favorite in-flight innovation. An hour and a half seems like a half-hour.
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Flew KOA-HNL today and overall the flight was pretty good. Check in at KOA is off in the corner behind some construction so it may be a little difficult to find if you don’t know where your going, As others had reported, we had to go through USDA inspection before we entered the gate area at KOA. KOA doesn’t have the typical SWA boarding poles with numbers on them so it’s a little more difficult to find your place in line, but not unbearable. The flight itself was great with a friendly senior OAK based crew and was maybe 2/3 full. The inflight services consisted of water or Cran-Grape juice and pretzels, The only real problem I experienced was how long the bags took arrive at the carousel as we waited almost ~45 mins for the bags to arrive with no announcements. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6d53a22a6.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1141bd60b.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8a064d8a0.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...272ea726e.jpeg |
Did MCI-OAK-HNL and then HNL-OAK-(overnight)-MCI a couple weeks ago.
The flight was...a flight. The internet wouldn't support movies on the way over (we sat front row? maybe that hurt?), and that was a pain for my wife. Be aware that the SWA gates in HNL are a hike, even if you take the shuttle. There's also next to nothing, concession-wise, in the gate area, so if you need a magazine or a snack, you'll need to get them in the main terminal before going down the escalator to the gates. |
So, to sum it up:
WN Interisland -- sounds like a normal short flight (e.g. AUS-DAL). WN Mainland -- sounds like a normal long flight (e.g. PHX-PHL, OAK-PHL, SEA-BWI, etc.) ;) |
Originally Posted by MCO Flyer
(Post 31144548)
As others had reported, we had to go through USDA inspection before we entered the gate area at KOA. |
Originally Posted by tusphotog
(Post 31146861)
Strange you have to go through ag inspection when flying interisland. Does anyone know how HA is when leaving KOA? |
Originally Posted by N104UA
(Post 31147252)
What terminal is WN in at KOA, it has been a long time since I was at KOA but if memory serves me correctly there are two terminals, I believe the gates had a common waiting room so they could not separate inter-island from mainland flights.
Things could have changed or WN is set up differently (was it a through flight to the mainland?), but it seems odd they'd send interisland flights through ag. |
I flew UA from LAX-HNL last year in their new slimline coach seats. They were truly terrible on such a long flight. Even an empty middle seat on the way back didn’t help much. I was pining for a WN coach seat the whole time. BTW, the wifi didn’t work on the UA flight either. Make sure to stock up on podcasts and Netflix downloads before you head to the airport. |
Originally Posted by tusphotog
(Post 31147550)
Things could have changed or WN is set up differently (was it a through flight to the mainland?), but it seems odd they'd send interisland flights through ag. I do wonder how WN is doing on the inter-island flights, as they have walk up $29 fares for tomorrow where HA is $89, will be interesting to see if locals continue to use the hometown airline. However I do know if you need some segments to qualify for status and are in Hawaii, a day or two of runs will get you a lot |
Originally Posted by N104UA
(Post 31147252)
What terminal is WN in at KOA, it has been a long time since I was at KOA but if memory serves me correctly there are two terminals, I believe the gates had a common waiting room so they could not separate inter-island from mainland flights.
Does anyone know how HA is when leaving KOA?
Originally Posted by N104UA
(Post 31147687)
It doesn't appear any KOA-HNL flights are through to the mainland.
I do wonder how WN is doing on the inter-island flights, as they have walk up $29 fares for tomorrow where HA is $89, will be interesting to see if locals continue to use the hometown airline. However I do know if you need some segments to qualify for status and are in Hawaii, a day or two of runs will get you a lot |
Originally Posted by tusphotog
(Post 31146861)
Strange you have to go through ag inspection when flying interisland. |
On OAK-HNL now, TV works for 5 seconds and quits. Internet is fine
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Three of us flew SJC - OGG Thursday, returning Tuesday 6/4. Very pleasant experience, typical SWA. I chatted with the gate agent; he commented that of the 160 or so on the flight less than 50 we starting in SJC, all others were connecting from other locations which helps explain the late morning departure time. I checked the flight the day before and it showed totally sold out; there were several empty seats. One of the flight attendants said it was due to weight restrictions; they can't accommodate a full flight. Snack was a bit larger, on board entertainment was OK (not great), we arrived 15 minutes early (and had to wait on our gate). Overall, a very normal flight.
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Just had another solid experience HNL-SJC. Great flight, great friendly crew. On-time, no issues. WN seems to be doing a great job with Hawaii ops. |
HNL-OAK yesterday was great, but wondered, the 12:45p was the last flight to OAK or SJC yet the GA called out the names of 3 standbys and asked if there were any more standbys? Flight price was $214 yesterday morning but plane looked full. |
Does the WiFi work over the Pacific Ocean?
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Originally Posted by dlaue
(Post 31185544)
Does the WiFi work over the Pacific Ocean?
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Originally Posted by nsx
(Post 31185565)
Yes. I was surprised.
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For those who have flown, were your flights from the mainland to Hawaii full/sold out?
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Originally Posted by bupac
(Post 31199851)
For those who have flown, were your flights from the mainland to Hawaii full/sold out?
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Originally Posted by spongenotbob
(Post 31201333)
98-100% full in my experience. surprisingly the HNL-OAK return flight was still available for $218 an hour before departure. Then 3 standbys were cleared to fill plane |
Originally Posted by dmbolp
(Post 31201726)
same here, both ways the FA announced “this flight will be full”, and C boarders had to go from back to front of plane to find middle seats surprisingly the HNL-OAK return flight was still available for $218 an hour before departure. Then 3 standbys were cleared to fill plane Is there enough data at this point to determine price trends on the same or equivalent city pairs? |
Wife and I did OAK-HNL-OAK for about $165 total ($69 flights each way, and she's my companion)
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Snack Bag
What are the contents of the snack bag? TIA.
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Regular pretzel bag Wheat Thins Spreadable cheese Fruit Chews Tic Tacs (about 3) Wet Nap |
Thanks.
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When will WN start nonstops out of SAN? Summer fares on AS are currently $300 - $500 each way to HNL, OGG, bit less to KOA.
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What’s up with the routes to the Mainland? I would like to fly from St. Louis to Maui. When I do the flight search, I can get to Maui via Oakland. But there are no returning flights. When I search the other islands, I can get from HNL to STL but not get to HNL from STL. I wonder if this is a permanent thing or if it’s just because they’re just getting the routes started. I don’t really want to have to fly from OGG to HNL just to then fly to OAK to STL. I’m not looking to fly until this spring so it’s not super close but I was just hoping someone would have some insight.
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Originally Posted by chele613
(Post 31239587)
What’s up with the routes to the Mainland? I would like to fly from St. Louis to Maui. When I do the flight search, I can get to Maui via Oakland. But there are no returning flights. When I search the other islands, I can get from HNL to STL but not get to HNL from STL. I wonder if this is a permanent thing or if it’s just because they’re just getting the routes started
I just looked in October and you have two options to STL from the cities that have Hawaii service. Both SJC and OAK have ~9a departures. Best you can do is OGG-OAK-MDW. Things change, and since you're looking at flights for the spring, other options might show up once the schedule gets released. Of course, they need the MAX8s back to give them a full compliment of airplanes to run the schedule they publish! |
Originally Posted by chele613
(Post 31239587)
What’s up with the routes to the Mainland? I would like to fly from St. Louis to Maui. When I do the flight search, I can get to Maui via Oakland. But there are no returning flights. When I search the other islands, I can get from HNL to STL but not get to HNL from STL. I wonder if this is a permanent thing or if it’s just because they’re just getting the routes started. I don’t really want to have to fly from OGG to HNL just to then fly to OAK to STL. I’m not looking to fly until this spring so it’s not super close but I was just hoping someone would have some insight.
As an aside, unless you are flush with RR points, you can get to OGG cheaper on other carriers as WN is charging a premium to get to Hawai'i, for example you can buy a STL-OGG (via PHX or SFO) on UA or AA for $341 on Oct 9, but WN is wanting $433 to go via OAK. |
Originally Posted by N104UA
(Post 31242947)
It is because WN is not flying red-eyes back to the mainland and thier ancient computer system won't allow you to book an overnight layover in CA. WN is being very clear that they only want to cater to CA based pax with Hawai'i service.
As an aside, unless you are flush with RR points, you can get to OGG cheaper on other carriers as WN is charging a premium to get to Hawai'i, for example you can buy a STL-OGG (via PHX or SFO) on UA or AA for $341 on Oct 9, but WN is wanting $433 to go via OAK. |
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