$49 fares to Hawaii…do I hear ALOHA?

March 4, 2019March 6, 2019 Jason

It’s happening. Southwest Airlines finally launched its flights to Hawaii. Those in the West Coast should now be seeing crazy rates in the months of March, April and May. This will vary on availability.

EDITED: As of 9:40am PT, the $49 fares are hard to find. It was obvious that they would be the first ones to be snatched.

$49 one-way to Hawaii

Yes, folks! You could be having your Hawaiian plate lunch soon. For under $100 roundtrip, there are inaugural flights out of Oakland or San Jose to Maui or Honolulu (this is subject to change – based on availability).

Screen Shot 2019-03-04 at 7.29.26 AM — Image courtesy of Southwest

Image courtesy of Southwest

$88 one way fares from many West Coast cities

Los Angeles (LAX)
San Diego (SAN)
Sacramento
Burbank
Ontario
Long Beach
Seattle (SEA)
Portland (PDX)
Las Vegas
Phoenix
Denver

Fly for as low as 3,900 points

If you have Southwest points, or points with Chase Ultimate Rewards, you could use as low as 3,900 points.

From the other West Coast airports, you could fly for as low as 4,289 points one way or 8,500 points round trip! That is insane. You could be flying for nearly free with points earned with Chase Sapphire Preferred or Southwest Airlines Credit card. See below how you could begin traveling nearly free.

What about other airports

I didn’t see any flights to Kauai or Kona (Big Island) yet. As far as other US Mainland cities, I suggest just checking your local airport where Southwest currently flies and see if the rates are inviting enough for you. Or, you might find a way to reposition yourself by flying to Oakland, and then take one of the $49 flights out of Oakland.

How to check these fares using Southwest Website

Go to Southwest Airlines Website
Click on the Yellow LOW FARE CALENDAR
Enter your airport, and the Hawaiian airport of your choice
Enter the month you wish to travel
Add the # of passengers
Click Search

My initial assessment

These deals could be seen between March and May. The airfares do go up as expected in the summer, and we could be seeing these deals drop again around September into November. So plan accordingly. Mahalo

NOTE: If you see other airports with an insane deal, let me know.

How can I begin earning points to travel for nearly free?

I wrote different entries on How We Travel for Nearly Free, and most recently, I updated my favorite travel credit cards. I’ve also written this recently:

How we traveled using nearly 2 million points in 2018

However, if I were just starting out, there was always one card that stood out, perfect for a lot of those who are getting into the game.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred (click here) is a perfect starter card. With its 50,000 bonus points, those points alone have gotten us two tickets to Hawaii, just as an example. The sign up bonus alone can be worth as much as $1,000 or more in travel.

– 50,000 Ultimate Rewards sign up bonus after $4,000 in spend in the first three months
– Points are transferable to:

Hotel Partners
- Hyatt
- Marriott
- IHG
- Ritz-Carlon
Airline travel partners
- JetBlue
- United Airlines
- British Airways
- Southwest Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- Flying Blue
- Virgin Atlantic
- Aer Lingus
- Iberia

– Points are worth 1.25 cents each when redeemed through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal
– Primary rental car collision damage waiver
– Earn 2X points on all travel and dining
– $95 annual fee (waived first year)

If I were just starting out in earning miles and points, I suggest starting out with this card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred. We have two upcoming trips in 2019 and we’re very excited.

To apply for my favorite Top Travel credit cards that I use most, click here

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Lastly, here Reader Success Tales that I featured on my site.

Daddy Travels Miles & Points