hanly2

When will we be able to see return flights? I need to do some research and also see what cities are best to fly out of.

NoStressHere

Not sure when that will happen... especially since there is the nasty time zone thing and WN does not do overnight flights... at least so far.

Earliest flight from HNL-OAK leaves at 9:35am and arrives at 5:50.

Then a east coast flight that takes 5 hours of flight time plus 3 hour time zone would arrive in the middle of the night.

Looking at other carriers, they all seem to do this via an overnight flight.

hanly2

How can I price it then? SW offers flights from the east coast so how do I get home? Booking 2 separate flights is going to cost more for no reason.

LondonElite

Perhaps you could elaborate a great deal more...

hanly2

I want to see return flights to the east coast from hawaii. what do I need to elaborate on?

LondonElite

If there aren't any, what do you want? There are plenty of carriers that fly from Hawaii to US mainland...

hanly2

This is a southwest forum right? You saying it makes sense that they can take me there but can't bring me back?

LondonElite

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but are you saying that you are not able to see any flights from Hawaii to US mainland on WN at all?

Chris737

Yes, exactly right. The return is too far, and time zone changes hurt you. Southwest doesn't fly overnight, and also won't let you change planes twice. You'll have to spend a night somewhere, like Oakland or Denver on the return from Hawaii, and book more than 1 separate itinerary.

Tanic

The reason is that's the only way you will get from the islands to the east coast on WN. MDW is the farthest you can get on a published connection.

NoStressHere

Sadly - it appears this is exactly right. They have opted for not to serve the west EAST coast to Hawaii market. Of course, if some want to start on the east coast and position to where they have HI flights, then go for it.

There are a few INTL destinations that you can go one way, but not the other as well.


EDIT - Idiot mode here.

Often1

Pretty much all carriers serving the East Coast with a connection on the West Coast or somewhere midcon, rely on a redeye to make that happen. As WN has chosen not to operate redeye service, the options for return from HI to the East Coast all involve booking two separate segments and paying the going tab.

Depending on the specific location (the "East Coast" is a big place), this may make WN poor value or perhaps it is still cheaper. No way to tell without specific routing and dates.

Tanic

HA has HNLBOS and HNLJFK redeye nonstops that are about 9.5 hours long. Macadamias... no peanuts.

xliioper

You can use multi-city to construct combinations on a single ticket each way. Still two tickets, but you will have protection in case of delays or misconnects. The return will almost certainly require an overnight layover. No way around it due to lack of red-eye departures from Hawaii. Looking at the pricing for multi-city fare combinations, it's not clear this is any more expensive than WN published through fares. I'm getting total fares from as low as $260 each way from DTW to Hawaii. This is less than legacies charge on the route which is typically over $300 each way for main cabin. It's also appears to be less that what WN charges on it's published through fares from MDW to Hawaii. As others have noted, it would helpful to know which East Coast city you are looking from.

Hipplewm

you have to buy 2 tickets for the return

When I used WN and traveled to east coast from obscure places in New Mexico and the southwest, I rarely made it back in one day

Back then i don't think multi city worked for a single PNR but i could be wrong, I just priced out 2 tickets and was done with it