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Flights to Hawaii

knobdy
Explorer C

I'm putting together a trip with my kids where I'm taking them to Hawaii. Two will be flying out of MCI and two out of DAL. My daughter did the hunting and sent me flights to leave on the 14th headed to Sacramento and then on to HNL on the 15th. That flight has a plane change in OGG. She then has us coming back from OGG with a plane change in HNL. This appears to be because Southwest has some goofy routing issues.

 

I thought I could improve upon this by just searching fro MCI to HNL or OGG. There aren't any flights after the 13th...?? What is the idea behind this - anyone know? And what's the best way to book these flights as we'll be over there until the 24th and will hit 3 islands (ITO being the one in the middle of the trip) - and I'm also using my points!?

5 REPLIES 5

Re: Flights to Hawaii

dfwskier
Aviator A

Which month?

Re: Flights to Hawaii

knobdy
Explorer C

Sorry, month of April!

Re: Flights to Hawaii

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Without the specific month of travel it's not possible to give you specific details, but just looking at the flights in February I see what could be the cause of your issue. If trying to book MCI-HNL that requires a flight from MCI to OAK that arrives in OAK early enough to get the 3:45pm flight to HNL. The 12:45pm MCI-OAK accomplishes this, but it only runs Monday through Friday. It also appears the system is only allowing non-stop MCI-OAK which seems a bit strange. You can't book MCO-HNL on Saturday or Sunday because no non-stops from MCI get to OAK early enough for you to make the connection. You could book two separate reservations with a "non-legal" connection which basically means you might not have enough time to make the connection and if you missed it Southwest would not be responsible. Or two separate reservations with a super early MCI-OAK flight that connects in DEN, LAS, or PHX.

 

Provide specific dates and we can discuss more. 

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Flights to Hawaii

knobdy
Explorer C

It's the month of April.

 

I sort of understand what you're saying but when you do look up MCI to HNL they're available up to the 13th of April - then they're not anymore.

 

Also, I'm not completely certain why - and I'll have to run this by my daughter as it migh just be a time thing - we're flying through an island to get to the island we want to visit first (Sacramento has a direct flight).

Re: Flights to Hawaii

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Thanks, that allows me to confirm my theory was right. April 13 is the last day for the 1245pm or 1250pm non-stop MCI-OAK. After the 13th there's not a non-stop that arrives in OAK early enough for you to connect to HNL. It seems strange to me that the system won't book an early morning MCI-LAS-OAK that gets you to OAK plenty early. Perhaps someone else can provide info about why that isn't allowed and only non-stops are being allowed. You may have better luck calling in, but I would have specific flight numbers that you would prefer and ask why it's not bookable online. Last option is to book separate reservations for MCI-OAK and OAK-HNL, that does add to in some risk if MCI-OAK is delayed. You can request your bag be checked all the way through from MCI to HNL so that's not an issue with multiple reservations. Booking separately may also be quite a bit more expensive depending on demand for various routes.

 

--TheMiddleSeat