Hawaii fare war erupts + Earn Virgin points at Airbnb

Virgin’s Richard Branson showed up for the inaugural flight in a vintage VW van (Image: Virgin America)

Dreaming of a discounted fare to Hawaii this winter? Then you are in luck.

Ever since Virgin announced its new nonstops from SFO to Honolulu and Maui last spring, we’ve been monitoring fares for discounts and deals with little luck. In our mind, a “good deal” to Hawaii is now anything less than $400 from the west cost. Over the last couple months, it has been tough to find anything for less than $500.

All that changed today when Virgin’s first nonstop (dubbed “Pineapple Express”) took off from SFO and it kicked off a fare sale to celebrate. (Stay tuned for photos below from today’s very Virgin celebration at SFO– we’ll post them below.)

This morning, Virgin publicly discounted round trip fares on SFO-HNL to just $398 round trip. When we went to take a look at fares, we found them as low as $338 round trip on a handful of flights. Not bad!

One example of a Virgin $338 fare

From New York and Boston round trip fares on Virgin fell to $680 round trip. Chicago -Honolulu round trips fell to $560 round trip. These deals are good for trips between now and March with the usual restrictions around days of week and holidays. Tickets must be booked by midnight November 4.

Hawaiian Air discounted fares slightly more… with several fares coming in slightly less at $393 roundtrip. Delta’s nonstops on SFO-HNL came in at about $415.

United then joined the fun, matching Virgin’s $398 fare, but adding this kicker: It discounted MileagePlus redemptions for mainland-Hawaii round trips by 20% to just to 36,000 miles (down from 45,000).

Not to be outdone, Oakland International put on a big Hawaii-style celebration this morning, and announced that it would offer free parking for up to five days to those flying Alaska or Hawaiian to Hawaii, plus ticket giveaways along with hula dancers, island music and leis.

NOTE: All fares checked on Monday, Nov 2 and subject to change!

In another bit of news released today, Virgin said that its Elevate members now have the opportunity to earn points for every Airbnb reservation they make. Get 1,500 Elevate points for your first Airbnb stay, then one point per dollar spent on all subsequent completed Airbnb stays. Become an Airbnb host and you’ll score 20,000 Elevate points. For more, visit: virginamerica.com/airbnb.

With a new competitor in the market and decreasing fuel costs, I suspect we’ll be seeing more discounts to Hawaii in coming months – but likely not to the degree we are seeing today. Are you planning to go?

Check out the massive estate where Virgin America and Airbnb are throwing a big welcome party in Oahu.