Houston to Honolulu? (time, based, start)

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

I wonder how much it would cost to send your clothing ahead of time via UPS or FedEx so you will have it when you get to your hotel?

I have yet to have this experience, by sheer luck I guess, but you win.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by jfre81

There's a decent chance Southwest never flies to Hawaii, not from LAX and certainly not from Hobby.

If we're talking about whether SWA has the fleet to reliably and safely get people to Hawaii, in all weather conditions etc. here on an internet forum, you know for sure it's being questioned in the FAA, and they can say no. If they do, bet that from Houston you will transfer (likely to LAX) and change planes, which is business as usual with Southwest. It'll still bring passengers to Hobby who would otherwise be flying out of IAH, for what it's worth.

Southwest has operated for nearly 50 years without any of its passengers* or crew dying on an airplane. Their reputation is literally dead in the water if they ever went down in the Pacific. This is easily the most high-risk move they've ever taken.



*Except for some guy who charged the cockpit and got beaten to death by a bunch of passengers

There is no way any of their planes would be ETOPS certified to fly from Houston to Hawaii. Another problem is that there is literally nowhere to stop between California and Hawaii if there is an emergency. If your flying from New York to London (for example) and you run into problems you can stop in Halifax, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, or Scotland.

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

I meant LAX to HNL might be similar in distance to a transcontinental flight. So a 737 from LAX to HNL is quite reasonable, but it's not doable nonstop from Houston, without doing something like SAS did on the Stavanger flight.

Thats where economics come in. Hawaii is a low yield, leisure market but with lots of volume especially from Japan. Houston-Stavanger is a high yield but very low volume market. They are polar opposites from an economic perspective. No one would ever pay the amount it would cost to fly in an all business class configuration for the airline to break even. The break even cost on the Houston-Stavanger leg was about $5800. For Houston-Honolulu, it would be about $4300. An all economy configuration is better for Hawaii because people are more price conscious. From Houston to Stavanger, nobody cared because they had to do the trip and the company was paying.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Cowboys fan in Houston

There is no way any of their planes would be ETOPS certified to fly from Houston to Hawaii. Another problem is that there is literally nowhere to stop between California and Hawaii if there is an emergency.

There was an old Playstation baseball video game with fake in-game commercials between some innings, and one was for an airline boasting that "now finally offering non-stop flights from LA to Honolulu!"

[haudi]

They are trying to ETOPS certify the new 737-700 MAX. The 737-7 MAX has a 3,850 nautical mile range vs the current 737-8 that has a range of 3060 nautical miles.

Originally Posted by Cowboys fan in Houston

There is no way any of their planes would be ETOPS certified to fly from Houston to Hawaii.

[Ian_Lee]

Why will someone choose United (or Delta or AA) when he flies on international route?

There are so many choices. UA knows that it is not competitive enough in term of service, so it positions itself somewhere between the foreign airlines and budget carriers in term of price.

UA is really cheap. For example, if you fly to Asia other than Japan, UA flight usually stops over in Guam. UA doesn't serve meal to Economy class passengers during the 7-hour flight between HNL/SFO and Guam because it is DOMESTIC.

[Ian_Lee]

Other than X'mas, there are already cut throat competition in the Hawaii market. I just bought a one way IAD-HNL ticket in mid May by Alaska Air that cost $295. Can Southwest go much lower?

[haudi]

I choose to fly United because it flies me to all the destinations I need to visit (business or leisure) with the least amount of stops. For business travel that's exactly what I'm looking for, and I earn elite status with the airline in the process. This gets myself and a companion or few guaranteed economy plus seating, 2+ 70lb bag allowances per per person, upgrades and a few other niceties.

This doesn't mean much to the casual flier, but it does mean something to people who travel quite a bit. I don't pretend United has the best service in the business, but they've never really done wrong by me either.

Staying with Star Alliance, I do prefer Lufthansa's business cabin to United's business cabin, as well as Lufthansa's available premium economy for European travel, but they are often much more expensive than United even in economy.

Originally Posted by Ian_Lee

Why will someone choose United (or Delta or AA) when he flies on international route?

There are so many choices. UA knows that it is not competitive enough in term of service, so it positions itself somewhere between the foreign airlines and budget carriers in term of price.

UA is really cheap. For example, if you fly to Asia other than Japan, UA flight usually stops over in Guam. UA doesn't serve meal to Economy class passengers during the 7-hour flight between Honolulu and Guam because it is DOMESTIC.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by haudi

They are trying to ETOPS certify the new 737-700 MAX. The 737-7 MAX has a 3,850 nautical mile range vs the current 737-8 that has a range of 3060 nautical miles.

Thats where payload comes in though. Southwest is going to have a higher payload than United or American on the same plane due to its configuration. That will make the range lower.

Originally Posted by Ian_Lee

Why will someone choose United (or Delta or AA) when he flies on international route?

There are so many choices. UA knows that it is not competitive enough in term of service, so it positions itself somewhere between the foreign airlines and budget carriers in term of price.

UA is really cheap. For example, if you fly to Asia other than Japan, UA flight usually stops over in Guam. UA doesn't serve meal to Economy class passengers during the 7-hour flight between HNL/SFO and Guam because it is DOMESTIC.

Its because of the benefits having status offers. I fly UA everywhere I can. Im 1K and they treat me like royalty. I get upgraded all the time, I get upgrade certificates for overseas flights, I get a dedicated line, I get free snack boxs and booze when I fly domestically, etc. If your a frequent traveler, it makes a lot of sense to keep your business in one place.

Originally Posted by Ian_Lee

Other than X'mas, there are already cut throat competition in the Hawaii market. I just bought a one way IAD-HNL ticket in mid May by Alaska Air that cost $295. Can Southwest go much lower?

Not without taking a hit on tickets. Alaska is losing money on your flight too.

Originally Posted by haudi

I choose to fly United because it flies me to all the destinations I need to visit (business or leisure) with the least amount of stops. For business travel that's exactly what I'm looking for, and I earn elite status with the airline in the process. This gets myself and a companion or few guaranteed economy plus seating, 2+ 70lb bag allowances per per person, upgrades and a few other niceties.

This doesn't mean much to the casual flier, but it does mean something to people who travel quite a bit. I don't pretend United has the best service in the business, but they've never really done wrong by me either.

Staying with Star Alliance, I do prefer Lufthansa's business cabin to United's business cabin, as well as Lufthansa's available premium economy for European travel, but they are often much more expensive than United even in economy.

And that hits the nail on the head. I dont have time for layovers and I dont care how much my tickets cost because I never pay for them out of my own pocket. I need what I need.

[azinwood]

let's be real, some of the perks of 1k and global services are nice, but you are NOT treated like royalty on UA. Absolutely not. If the attendant is having a bad day you're going to get poor service on UA, that's a fact.

source: 1K and 1.6million miles on UA.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by azinwood

let's be real, some of the perks of 1k and global services are nice, but you are NOT treated like royalty on UA. Absolutely not. If the attendant is having a bad day you're going to get poor service on UA, that's a fact.

source: 1K and 1.6million miles on UA.

FA's differ from time to time, but theyve always done right by me. It depends on the flight crew. The Houston crews are great. The Chicago crews are terrible.

That said the airline has treated me very well.