Southwest Airlines has been flying to Hawaii since 2019, but it's sometimes easy to forget that this no-frills airline can be flown all the way to the 50th state, especially since those flight options won't necessarily display when searching on Google Flights.
It's one thing to fly Southwest a couple of hours to Orlando or Las Vegas, but what is it like flying over six hours to an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on an airline without advance seat assignments, hot meals and more?
I'd flown Southwest between Hawaiian Islands before, but what about using the carrier for the full multihour trek to the Hawaiian Islands?
Recently, I decided to put the airline to the test. I packed up my backup power banks, purchased the EarlyBird service to try and get on the plane sooner to have a better pick of seats and strapped in for 10 hours of flying from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) to Kauai's Lihue Airport (LIH).
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In case you're considering doing the same, here's what you should know before flying Southwest Airlines to Hawaii.
Related: The best Southwest Airlines credit cards
Where Southwest flies in Hawaii
Currently, Southwest operates flights to Hawaii from multiple cities in California and from Las Vegas and Phoenix. The carrier flies to four Hawaiian Islands: Maui, Kauai, Oahu and the Big Island. You can connect from other destinations in its network to those flights.
Your Companion Pass works for flights to Hawaii
If you are lucky enough to have a Southwest Airlines Companion Pass, then you have buy-one, get-one tickets to Hawaii. You'll only need to buy one ticket with dollars or points, as your pass makes it possible to book a second ticket for your designated companion for free. (You'll only be responsible for $5.60 in taxes and fees for the companion ticket.)
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Book when there's a sale to save a ton
I booked our flights to Hawaii on Southwest during one of the airline's big sales, and thanks to that timing, the one-way flights from Houston to Kauai (connecting in Las Vegas) cost just 11,161 Southwest Rapid Rewards points plus $5.60 in taxes and fees. Had I decided to pay with cash, my total would've been $172.80.
Those are pretty fantastic rates to get to paradise, but prices aren't always that low, so be sure to shop when you see that a Southwest sale has been announced if you're sticking to a tight budget.
Some seats have more legroom than others
Southwest Airlines doesn't have first class, but some seats have much more legroom than others, which starts to matter a great deal when you're flying for an extended period of time.
Most Southwest seats to Hawaii have a 32-inch pitch, a 17.8-inch width and a 2-inch recline, which holds up well against some competitors. To give some comparison, United operates a Boeing 737-900 on some West Coast-to-Hawaii routes, and on those aircraft, you will find economy seats with 31 inches of pitch and 17.3 inches of width. In those cases, Southwest seats are actually better, so unless you can get yourself into economy plus or first class on another airline, you probably aren't worse off on a Southwest flight.
Know, though, that some Southwest seats are much better than others. For example, if you can snag 16A or 16F, you have essentially infinite legroom, as there's no seat directly in front of you thanks to the emergency exit and extra space around the exit.
If you can't get one of those seats, several in other exit rows also have a bit more legroom than normal. Additionally, row 15 has only two seats on each side of the aisle, making it possible for you and your travel buddy to avoid having a third person in your row.
If flying with kids, note that they can't sit in the emergency exit row until they turn 15, so this tip isn't for young families. However, those with little ones will get on the flight earlier in the boarding process thanks to the airline's family boarding policy.
Seriously consider EarlyBird Check-In
If there's ever a time to pay to give yourself a greater pick of seats on the plane, it is when you're flying some of their longest routes to Hawaii.
Normally, I'm not greatly bothered by Southwest's unique approach to boarding, where you don't know where you will sit until you line up and pick a seat after boarding. However, it would be a bit stressful to have a later boarding position for a flight as long as this one.
To increase our chances of sitting somewhere decent, I ponied up for EarlyBird Check-In. Doing so made it so Southwest automatically checked me in ahead of the standard 24-hour mark, thus assigning me a better boarding position than I could grab on my own since Southwest assigns them in order of check-in.
While the prices now vary by flight, it cost $25 to purchase EarlyBird Check-In for our flight. By paying extra for this perk, I received an A30 boarding position on the Houston-to-Las Vegas segment and a B8 spot on the Las Vegas-to-Lihue segment. My husband, however, did not pay for EarlyBird Check-In, so when he checked in right at the 24-hour mark for the same flights, he was assigned the B27 and B17 positions on those segments, respectively.
The price to snag an even better A1 to A15 upgraded boarding position (which is space-available within 24 hours of your flight if some of those spots remain unsold on Business Select fares or similar) was $70 from Houston to Las Vegas and $50 from Las Vegas to Lihue. Not wanting to chance what things would look like in the B boarding group for the long segment, my husband snagged A10 for $50 from Las Vegas to Kauai, which was money well spent, as it meant he could grab the seat on the plane with the most legroom.
If you have the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card or the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card, know that it comes with four A1 to A15 boarding positions per year, so if you're planning on flying Southwest to Hawaii, one of these cards could be a option to enroll in.
Related: How to snag the best seats on Southwest Airlines
There's no hot food, but there is Hawaiian beer
On flights to Hawaii, Southwest offers a free snack pack, which was totally sufficient. It included a 1.75-ounce pack of Wheat Thins, a small dip for the crackers, a pack of Sunkist fruit chews and the usual Southwest snack mix. Just know that there are no hot meals available on Southwest — even if you are willing to pay. So, if you or your kids will need a more substantial meal than a snack pack, you'll want to buy it at the airport or bring something from home.
But, on the plus side, if you want to get into the Aloha spirit while still in the air, you're in luck, as Southwest flights to Hawaii do sell cans of Kona Brewing Co. beer, including Big Wave, a $7 golden ale that is pretty good. There's also Kula toasted coconut rum available for $7.
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Related: Airline 'snackdown': Who has the best free snacks in the sky?
Daytime flights back from Hawaii
It's very common for airlines to operate evening departures from Hawaii back to the mainland that fly through the night as red-eyes and land first thing in the morning.
However, that's not how Southwest operates. While the airline may change to that sort of schedule at some point, for now, its flights back from Hawaii leave in the morning or by early afternoon, allowing you to land or connect back in California, Arizona or Nevada that same day instead of rolling in on a painful red-eye.
Frankly, I vastly prefer this approach and think overnighting on the West Coast is superior to a red-eye flight back from Hawaii in an economy seat.
Gate-to-gate Wi-Fi to Hawaii
If you want or need to stay connected during your flight to Hawaii, Southwest has a major edge over many competitors with its $8 gate-to-gate Wi-Fi.
In my test, it didn't work perfectly the whole flight to Hawaii, but it worked at least half the time, which was more than I could say for my return trip home on United. During the latter, Wi-Fi wasn't even an option until we were within 15 minutes of landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Related: Southwest Airlines adding faster Wi-Fi, power ports as part of $2 billion in inflight upgrades
Free movies, but BYO (charged) devices
Outside of Wi-Fi, which will cost $8 per device, all other entertainment, such as live TV, movies and TV shows, is free on Southwest flights to Hawaii. This worked really well on my iPhone, but there's a catch that is a real potential drawback to flying Southwest to Hawaii.
Southwest still doesn't have inflight screens or power outlets on most of its aircraft. Unless you get lucky and are one of the first few aircraft to have power outlets, you need to bring your own fully charged devices ready to watch the free entertainment. Given the six-hour flight times to Hawaii, you may want a backup charger for each member of your traveling party, too.
Bottom line
The flights to and from Hawaii are rarely the highlights of the trip. Those flights can be as long as flights from the East Coast to Europe but usually come without the bells and whistles (like meals and entertainment) that you find heading to Europe.
With Southwest, this is especially the case, as you won't have blankets, power outlets, hot meals or even an advance seat assignment before boarding your flight to Hawaii.
I wasn't quite sure how I'd feel about using Southwest to fly over 2,800 miles to Kauai, but while not luxurious, it turned out to be a solid flight experience. Grabbing the exit row with lots of extra legroom thanks to having a good boarding position certainly helped, and having Wi-Fi that worked for at least some of the flight was key to having an enjoyable flight, too.
If the price was right and I could also afford to secure a good boarding position, I would not hesitate to fly Southwest Airlines to Hawaii again.
Related reading:
- How to quickly earn the Southwest Companion Pass
- Battle of the airlines: Why I think Southwest Airlines is the best
- Best hotels and resorts in Hawaii
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
