Secondly, you'll have to pay a fare difference for changing a flight. Most American carriers charge between $75 and $150 for the privilege of changing a flight while still charging you a fare difference. The airline allows you to change flights all the way up until 10 minutes before departure for free. But, if the flight you're changing to is more expensive, then you'll have to cover the difference.
If the new flight is cheaper, then you'll receive either a refund to your credit card (if you're inside that 24-hour window), or you'll receive the difference as Southwest credit good for future flights. Simply put -- you'll never lose any money changing or canceling flights on Southwest. First, you'll only receive a refund to your credit card if you cancel your flight within 24 hours of booking. If you cancel your flight outside of this window, then you'll receive the full value of your flight in Southwest credit to be used for future flights. The credit expires in one year, but it's as good as cash so long as you fly frequently and Southwest operates in your city. Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive compensation.
This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site . This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. In addition, as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Somewhat surprisingly earlier than predicted, Southwest launched interisland Hawaii routes. These flights are a great way for mainlanders to island hop on a vacation as well as for locals to fly between the islands for work or pleasure.
Southwest is competing directly with Hawaiian Airlines for this business. It does not yet have the flight frequency of Hawaiian but the schedule works for leisure travelers with less time sensitivity. Seats and days are limited, so those looking to travel on the cheap may want to book their ticket as soon as possible. Check out all the Southwest deals you can find from your closest airport, and see all of the travel restrictions and blackout dates on the Southwest website now.
Federal law allows you to change or cancel any flight operating in the United States for free within 24 hours of booking so long as you book at least a week ahead of your departure. Many airlines like to advertise this 24-hour window as a consumer-friendly airline policy when it's really federal law, but Southwest goes above and beyond with flexibility. The Dallas-based airline previously said it would offer the nonstop service, but hadn't disclosed which West Coast airports would provide that service. On Thursday, it announced Sacramento , Oakland Metropolitan Airport , San Diego International Airport , and Mineta San Jose International Airport would be the initial getaway cities.
You have to earn 125,000 Rapid Rewards points in a single year to get a Companion Pass. Many people earn it by good old fashioned "butt-in-seat" flying. But it's possible to do with a combination of several credit card bonuses as the miles and points world does. My word of warning – this method is not exactly for the beginner even though there are blogs that make it sound like a piece of cake.
If you are ready to do some research and legwork, now certainly seems to be the time though. I'm personally pretty excited that three Northern California airports, including my home airport of Oakland, made the cut. But I know travelers in Southern California are anxious for service to start there too!
Unfortunately for San Diego flyers, nonstop flights are not on the table as of yet. San Diego and other Southern California travelers can get to Hawaii on Southwest by connecting in the Northern California airports. In Sarasota, Southwest's first flights won't begin until February – but the carrier is already expanding its schedule there.
Southwest will add nonstop service to Atlanta starting March 11, giving it a total of seven year-round or seasonal routes from the city on Florida's Gulf Coast. The fourth will be a high-profile new route to Hawaii that will come from Southwest's expanding operation in Long Beach, California . From there, Southwest will launch daily nonstop service to the Kahului Airport on the island of Maui. The airline is rolling out the service with introductory fares as low as $99 one way. The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. Many of the credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation.
Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive financial compensation. However, the credit card information that we publish has been written by experts who know these products inside out, and what we recommend is what we would use ourselves. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers that are on the market. Southwest coined Transfarency ® to describe its purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, and low fares actually staying low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free® to everyone . Southwest does not charge change fees, though fare differences might apply.
Southwest has a robust network of point-to-point service with a strong presence across top leisure and business markets. In peak travel seasons during 2019, Southwest operated more than 4,000 weekday departures among a network of 101 destinations in the United States and 10 additional countries. In 2020, the carrier added service to Hilo, Hawaii; Cozumel, Mexico; Miami; Palm Springs, Calif.; Steamboat Springs; and Montrose , Colo. On May 23; Bozeman, Mont. on May 27; and Jackson, Miss. on June 6.
The Company also has announced an intention to initiate new service to Eugene, Ore., and Bellingham, Wash., later this year. Southwest® Customer Service Agents now are available starting 90 minutes prior to departure to confirm Customers' State-of-Hawaii-approved profile. Completing this verification at a gate before departure allows a faster arrival on-island. The State of Hawaii reserves the right to re-screen or validate the screening of any passenger. Visit Southwest.com/coronavirus/Hawaii to learn more about the requirements, procedures, and pre-departure testing options that uniquely complement the value of Southwest.
The only competition Southwest will have on the route is from Hawaiian Airlines. The unofficial Hawaiian flag carrier similarly offers daily service between the two cities on its new Airbus A321neo aircraft. You can also use this flexibility to change your inter-island flights.
If you like the island that you're on, then you can simply cancel your Southwest inter-island flight to stay. Or you can jet to another island sooner by changing your flight. Just remember that you'll have to pay any fare difference and that flights generally get more expensive as departure draws near. So you might find yourself shelling out a few extra bucks, but at least you won't be paying any pesky fees on top of the fare difference. Hawaiian Air and Mokulele have been running small planes with rigid seats between islands, but Southwest only operates Boeing 747's for their entire fleet.
That means Southwest flights between islands will feature large planes with cushioned seats that fully recline. So, not only will Southwest offer more seats between island destinations, but the flights will also be more comfortable. Additionally, the popular low-cost carrier doesn't charge for checked bags like Hawaiian Air and Mokulele.
Still, the carrier moved ahead with a limited announcement so it could alert airports, competitors and other players in the industry about its plans to fly to airports in Honolulu, Maui, Kauai and Keahole. At the moment the first Hawaii flights were announced last March, there were some fare steals out of the gate — as low as $49/$79/$99 each way, depending on the day of the week. As you might imagine, those promotional fares were long gone just a few hours in and nothing quite that cheap has returned. We hope and expect that Southwest will start redeye service eventually, opening up more options for midwest and East Coast travelers.
But for now, your only real option is to book Hawaii itineraries piecemeal as separate trips. For example, an East Coast based traveler could book two separate roundtrips – one that positions you into a California gateway city and then another one from that city to and from Hawaii. Remember to always leave room for delays or cancellations if you choose to go this route. The airline says that the Las Vegas and Phoenix routes were long-requested by customers. Southwest serves both of those cities with 200 and 180 flights a day, respectively, to about 60 destinations each.
Until now, the airline – which started flying to Hawaii from the US mainland in March 2019 – did not have any non-stop connections from Los Angeles, Las Vegas or Phoenix. With this schedule update, it will be operating 25 flights from the four cities every day. The first of these new routes are set to launch on 6 June, with more being added through the summer travel season.
On the West Coast, Southwest's new Maui route from Long Beach comes on top of the 13 destinations it already serves from the Los Angeles-area airport. It also will be Southwest's second Hawaii route from Long Beach, joining previously announced Honolulu service that's also set to begin March 11. With that, Long Beach will become Southwest's fifth mainland city with service to Hawaii, joining its fellow California airports of Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and San Jose.
Southwest coinedTransfarency® to describe its purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, and low fares actually staying low. In 2020, the carrier added service to Hilo, Hawaii; Cozumel, Mexico; Miami; Palm Springs, Calif.; Steamboat Springs; and Montrose (Telluride/Crested Butte), Colo. The Company also has announced an intention to initiate new service to Bellingham, Wash., later this year. Southwest coinedTransfarency®to describe its purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, and low fares actually staying low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free®to everyone . Southwest Airlines has been flying to Hawaii since March 2019.
After lots of initial anticipation about how many routes the airline would operate, it has settled on a small, but mighty, set of daily flights to Hawaii from multiple cities in California. Southwest also operates some interisland flights to help you island hop during your vacation. The low fares were supposed to be available through Tuesday on a special website Southwest created for its Hawaii routes -- southwest.com/Hawaii.
Southwest also plans to offer flights from two other California cities, Sacramento and San Diego. Southwest Airlines flies to Dallas Love Field and ensures a smooth travel experience. When you book with Southwest, the process will be simple from selecting your flight to checkout. But planning a great trip and having a memorable time takes more than finding cheap airfare. Learn more about the Southwest® Experience and book your upcoming flight.
Southwest will begin flying between Sarasota, Florida and Nashville starting February 14, 2021. The twice-daily service will see either a morning or afternoon flight, depending on the day, and an evening flight departing from Nashville. Return flights from Sarasota will be operated in the morning and, depending on the day, in the afternoon or evening. You won't find any first-class seats on a Southwest Airlines flight.
Unlike every other major American Airline, each of Southwest's seats are the same, and the airline employs an open seating policy. Buying one of Southwest's more expensive fares will not get you better treatment nor a better seat. When you pay for a higher level of fare through Southwest, you'll get added flexibility. You'll have the option of canceling or changing your flight while receiving a cash refund all the way up until departure.
This means that you can book a flight with Southwest while continuing to monitor airfare all the way up until departure. If you find a better price on another airline, then you can cancel your Southwest flights for airfare credit and book the new flights to save money. Just make sure you can use that flight credit within 12 months or it will expire. The answer will change the price of your flights dramatically. Most major American carriers charge $25 per checked bag or more.
So, If you plan on checking two bags, then you're going to save $25 per bag, per flight. That adds up to $100 in savings round-trip per passenger over any other airline flying to Hawaii. The airline has plans to fly to Hawaii from four California cities -- San Diego, Oakland, Sacramento, and San Jose. And Southwest will fly to Lihue on Kauai, Honolulu on Oahu, Kahului on Maui and Kona on Hawaii, and the company has plans to run inter-island flights between those Hawaiian airports, as well. The Dallas-based airline has announced approval for cross-Pacific flights to Hawaii. The airline already has flight schedules in place as well as an on-the-ground workforce ready to go.
Southwest desks have already been installed at Honolulu, Lihue, Kahului and Kona Airports, and the airline has started to sell tickets, with dates in this month of March 2019. And the low-cost carrier has announced plans for inter-island flights, as well, which should dramatically shakeup inter-island airfare. Airlines must go through a regulatory process before beginning flights to Hawaii because there are no airports for emergency landings between the west coast and the islands.
The cross-Pacific planes must go through more rigorous inspections, and the flight crews must receive extra training. The airline has told us it will announce route pairings, sales and Rapid Rewards redemption rates only after it receives federal approval to begin Hawaii flights. Southwest Airlines expects to begin flights within weeks of putting them up for sale, which is abnormal in the airline business since new routes are traditionally announced months in advance to drum up publicity. Check out my recommendations for the 5 best credit cards for family travel for more details on credit card options that will help you get to Hawaii on Southwest. In the fall of 2017, Southwest Airlines first announced its plans to fly to Hawaii.
I've been tracking all the developments, updates, and occasional bumps in the road with Southwest's Hawaii flights in this post for over two years. There have been some curveballs, but I'm happy that the airline persevered and continues to expand to the Aloha State. I know a lot of you – like me – have been hoarding Rapid Rewards points with palm trees and mai tais on the brain. Luckily, you can take the country's scrappiest and quirkiest little airline to a few more places in paradise, from quite few more originating mainland airports in late 2019 and early 2020. In addition to bumping up the timeline for some routes, Southwest also said Thursday it's starting daily to fly on March 7 between Oakland and Lihue, Oakland and Kona, San Jose and Lihue, and San Jose and Kona. More new service, Sacramento to Kahului, will also start March 7.
With the benefit of hindsight, Southwest Airlines picked a lousy time to start flying to Hawaii. Those services got the full brunt of both the MAX grounding and the travel downturn. But Southwest always said they were going to Hawaii for the long-haul.
