$49 to Hawaii? Southwest Airlines has cheap fares on new routes, if you hurry
Say “Aloha!” to cheap flights to Hawaii.
Southwest Airlines, which just last week received FAA approval to begin flying to Hawaii, on Monday began posting some really low fares — some as little as $49 each way — to the rainbow state.
The fares began appearing on the airline’s special Hawaii travel website without fanfare. And air travelers — not bothering to wait for Southwest to officially launch its Hawaii campaign — quickly began gobbling up the deals.
By 10:30 a.m., most of the Wanna Get Away fares from Oakland to Honolulu between March 17 (the first day of Southwest service) and April 1 were sold out. A $99 one-way fare on April 2 was available, though.
It’s not yet clear whether other airlines will drop their fares in response. Typically, when the Dallas-based Southwest enters a market, it results in an overall reduction in fares.
For now, Southwest’s plans include serving Hawaii from several California airports, beginning with Oakland on March 17 and followed by Sacramento, San Diego and San Jose.
But for North Texans, the cost of getting to California to take one of these cheap Southwest fares may negate the financial savings.
After all, it’s still relatively cheap to fly Fort Worth-based American Airlines, nonstop from DFW to Honolulu. As of Monday morning, American Airlines fares between DFW to Honolulu for March 18 or afterward were available for as little as $788 round trip.
Southwest will serve not only Honolulu but also Kauai, Kona and Maui.
This story was originally published March 4, 2019 at 11:04 AM.
