More Competition for Hawaii Flights

[jmbklj]

There are a couple of new entrants to the Hawaiian airfare market. Will the new competition mean lower airfares for the future? I sure hope so; I'm planning a trip to Hawaii in February or March and haven't booked our flights yet.

Allegiant Air is introducing service from a few cities. It has announced its Hawaii service from 7 mainland cities in the US - Las Vegas 6/29, Fresno CA 6/30, Bellingham WA 11/14, Monterey CA 11/16, Santa Maria CA 11/17, Eugene OR 11/17 and Stockton CA 11/17.

Hawaii Airlines recently started non-stop flights from JFK to Honolulu through a JetBlue code-share.

I haven't flown on either airline but hope their entrance will help to produce competitive airfares on all airlines.


Allegiant - Allegiant Announces New Flight From the Mainland to Honolulu

Hawaiian Airlines takes on East Coast as it seeks to expand - USATODAY.com

[omegaet]

No interest:


New low for Allegiant Air - charging for carryons

[jmbklj]

I agree. I'm not interested in flying either of the two new entrants - Allegiant Air or JetBlue/Hawaii Airlines to Hawaii. I'm simply saying that I'm interested in the new Hawaiian airline competitors that will hopefully make future airfares on the legacy airlines more competitive. More airline competitors in a market are always good for the consumer.

[omegaet]

jmbklj...I totally understand. More competition, especially from low priced carriers (do they actually exist anymore?), would tend to motivate others to match fares. Allegiant would be a "no go" for me regardless of their fare.

[kyshel]

Alaska/Horizon has alot of routes to Hawaii. I half expect DL to acquire them some day.

[thepiranha]

We've always flown Alaska or United from the West Coast to Hawaii and our last flight to Maui, in March, was on Alaska. I was initially very excited about Allegiant flying from Eugene (GO DUCKS!) to Hawaii, but after I looked into the specifics, the flights didn't look so great. Not only do they nickel and dime you to death (I already wrote about that), but an overnight stay is required in both directions if passengers are going on to the outer islands. When you throw in the extra fees and the accommodations for two nights, the original round trip fare of around $400 doesn't look so great.

That being said, it's encouraging that more airlines are getting into the Hawaii market and this will ultimately reduce prices for consumers.