For those of us who are frequent Southwest fliers and Southwest fans, the question of when will Southwest fly to Hawaii has been a big question. Southwest has often said that it’s no longer a question of IF they will fly to Hawaii but now WHEN Southwest will fly to Hawaii. A few weeks ago, Southwest announced publicly that they were flying to Hawaii, but… didn’t really give any details about when Southwest would start flying to Hawaii. There are also no known Southwest Hawaii destinations – so we don’t yet know if they will fly to Honolulu, Maui, Kauai or anywhere else. We don’t even know where Southwest will fly to Hawaii FROM, though California airports like SFO, OAK, SJC, LAX or SAN seem to be most people’s best bets.
Image courtesy of Jason Francisco
Easy Southwest Companion Pass for California residents
Yesterday’s news and notes post contained information about how California residents are being targeted for an offer where they can receive the Southwest Companion Pass by signing up for one of 3 Southwest credit cards and making only ONE purchase (rather than the regular offer which requires earning 110,000 Rapid Rewards points in one calendar year. This offer came out a few weeks ago but was targeted – now though it is open to ALL California residents.
[Southwest Companion Pass: What is it and how to get it]
You generally do have to be under Chase 5/24 to be approved for a Southwest card, though it is not 100% clear to me at this point if you would be eligible for the Companion Pass offer if you’ve gotten a signup bonus on the Southwest card you apply for in the past 24 months (I assume you wouldn’t earn the signup points but would you still get the CP?)
The Southwest Companion Pass you earn through this promotion would be good through the end of 2018.
Speculation wondering when will Southwest fly to Hawaii
When I shared the news on this California Southwest Companion Pass offer over on the Points With a Crew miles and points Facebook group, one of the people I thought about was Leslie from Trips with Tykes. Similar to PWaC, Trips with Tykes is a blog that covers both family travel and miles and points. I’ve met Leslie a few times and she is my go-to expert on all things Disney as well as (if you’re a blogger like me) Pinterest. She replied with something that I found interesting
I think that speculation on when will Southwest fly to Hawaii is very good one and has a decent shot at being right. Southwest’s initial Hawaii announcement said that they hoped to start selling TICKETS to Hawaii in 2018, but that doesn’t mean those tickets are for FLIGHTS that will happen in 2018 :-). California is a crowded airline market with American, Delta, Virgin / Alaska and Southwest all heavily invested – so getting a jumpstart in the hearts and minds of California residents before starting Hawaii service seems like fairly sound marketing strategy
We still don’t even know if the Companion Pass will be good for flights to Hawaii, or if it may come with additional restrictions (an additional copay on Southwest flights to Hawaii?)
Readers what do you think? When will Southwest fly to Hawaii? Do you think the California Companion Pass offer is part of their Hawaii marketing strategy?
Points With a Crew has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Points With a Crew and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them
Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
No sure about using the CP to Hawaii?
According to a post on MommyPoints you will be able to .
http://mommypoints.boardingarea.com/2017/10/12/use-your-companion-pass-to-fly-southwest-to-hawaii-in-2018/
Cool – thanks for the info
For the purpose of sw companion, what documentation is necessary to become a California resident?
Feel free to apply offline if best perhaps there is a thread that you could refer me to thanks for the great info!
For CA residents, I think what I’ve seen is you have to have a CA address on your Rapid Rewards account. I don’t know if you’d also need one as a billing address for the credit card? I have to figure that they have systems in place to combat that or else everyone would just change to CA 🙂
There is no doubt this promotion in California is tried to SW going to Hawaii. I feel Hawaii has a part in it to spur travel to the islands as well. Why not? Just get them to the islands to spend. Makes complete sense. They are taping potentially a new customer base in the loyal SWA travelers.
Question: Do we think Californias can get the “companion pass”, but not the bouns if they have signed up for a card in the last 24 months?
That is still unclear to me – have you looked at the fine print on the card offer?
I have and it’s not clear to this point. I just need to call them.