WestJet is banking on Hawaii for the upcoming winter season with an announced expansion of flights to the islands in the Pacific! With an increase of flights by over 25% WestJet will offer 57 weekly flights out of Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver to four Hawaiian destinations. While flights from Vancouver have already resumed we see the return of Calgary and Edmonton in November and December respectively. On top of the usual routes the airline has flown we see new direct non-stop flights out of Calgary to Kona and Lihue! This is exciting news as Calgarians will no longer have to connect in Vancouver to get to the Big Island or Kauai.
WestJet’s Winter 2021-2022 Hawaii schedule is as follows:
|
Market |
787 Peak Frequency |
737 Peak Frequency |
Effective |
|
Calgary-Maui |
6x weekly |
1x weekly |
November 5, 2021 |
|
Calgary-Honolulu |
7x weekly |
December 3, 2021 |
|
|
Calgary-Kona* |
1x weekly |
December 19, 2021 |
|
|
Calgary-Lihue* |
1x weekly |
December 19, 2021 |
|
|
Vancouver – Maui** |
7x weekly |
3x weekly |
October 31, 2021 |
|
Vancouver-Honolulu** |
14x weekly |
October 31, 2021 |
|
|
Vancouver-Kona |
7x weekly |
October 31, 2021 |
|
|
Vancouver-Lihue |
7x weekly |
October 31, 2021 |
|
|
Edmonton-Maui |
2x weekly |
December 12, 2021 |
|
|
Edmonton-Honolulu |
1x weekly |
December 18, 2021 |
You can see that Maui gets WestJet’s best plane each and every day out of Vancouver and nearly every day out of Calgary. That plane the Boeing 787 Dreamliner features three class service (lie flat business class, a true premium economy and economy). The 787 flights are daytime flights to Maui that arrive early in the afternoon which is perfect for checking in to your hotel or condo and getting to enjoy some time on the island that first evening! I remember the days when the arrivals were late evening on WestJet or Air Canada and arriving at our hotel as late as 1am sometimes! So this earlier arrival is great for travelers!
Remember that right now you can get a $0 companion fare with the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard and that includes their flights to Hawaii. You can use it to buy one fare at a regular price (seat sale fares included) and your companion will fly for $0 (instead of the $399 usually added) plus taxes and fees. You can use the companion fare on Economy and Premium Economy fares which the latter will get you the front of the plane on the 737’s or in the super nice Premium Economy section of the 787. The offer for the $0 companion runs is good for applications made until June 30, 2021 and the bookings with the companion pass must be made within one year of it being issued, but that’s booking not the actual travel date, the travel date can be nearly a year after so you have almost two years to technically use it.
 |
| WestJet 787 Dreamliner Premium Economy |
Wrapping it up
Between our two major airlines Canadians now have lots of options for flying to Hawaii directly from five cities along with easy connections from most other Canadian cities. Both airlines also offer select flights with their internationally configured business class cabins so there are lots of premium options as well to get the islands.
Recommended reading: Air Canada adding new Hawaii flights for Winter 2022 season including new direct service from Montreal