Virgin America Offers Limited-Time Special Rates to Hawaiʻi

Virgin America is offering “Now Serving Paradise” fares from the West Coast. Tickets must be purchased by 11:59 p.m. CT on Wednesday, April 8, 2015.

By Maui Now Staff

Virgin America will start flying from San Francisco to Honolulu beginning on Nov. 2, 2015, and Kahului starting on Dec. 3, 2015, with fares on sale as of today from $199 one way (taxes and restrictions apply).

To celebrate the new route, Virgin America is offering a nationwide “Now Serving Paradise” fare sale.

The new Hawai‘i flights are on sale now and can be purchased at virginamerica.com or 1-877-FLY-VIRGIN. Tickets must be purchased by 11:59 p.m. CT on Wednesday, April 8, 2015.

Elevate members can redeem reward flights to Hawai‘i with no black-out dates for as few as 8,559 points. Members can earn more points by signing up for the Virgin America Visa Signature Credit Card.

The Silicon Valley airline, the only California-based airline in the US, will offer Bay Area travelers a fresh and upscale new travel option to the Aloha State, the most desired destination by members of its Elevate loyalty program. Hawaiʻi continues to be the No. 1 tourism destination from the West Coast, with over 3.2 million visitors in 2014.

Virgin America’s service is tailored to the modern traveler and to the longer Hawai‘i flight experience. Its new aircraft offers three custom-designed classes of service, touch-screen personal entertainment and an award-winning on-demand food and cocktail menu on every flight. Travelers departing from the new Terminal Two at San Francisco International Airport can begin their Hawai‘i vacation as soon as they step onboard.

Virgin America has been named the “Best Domestic Airline” in both Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards and in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards for the past seven consecutive years.

“As one of the most popular leisure destinations among Bay Area travelers, we are pleased to announce our new nonstop service to Hawai‘i,” said Virgin America President and Chief Executive Officer David Cush. “This marks the next phase of growth for our airline, as we take delivery of new Airbus aircraft and expand our Elevate program with more world-class rewards destinations. With a loyal following of Bay Area-based business travelers who have long requested our expansion to the islands, we couldn’t be more pleased to offer our ‘work-hard/play-hard’ frequent flyers the opportunity to fly in style to the ultimate getaway. We look forward to bringing a new kind of flight service to the market and to building lasting community ties with the state of Hawai‘i.”

In a private call last month, Cush received permission from Hawai‘i Gov. David Ige to bring Virgin America’s new flight service to the state.

“On behalf of the state, I would like to welcome Virgin America to Hawai‘i and congratulate the company on its new service to the Hawaiian Islands,” said Gov. Ige. “We are excited about the business and leisure travel opportunities the service will provide. We look forward to Virgin America’s success in serving both visitors to and residents of Hawai‘i.”

“By year end 2015, scheduled airlift to Hawai‘i is expected to top 11.8 million seats, an increase of 6% over last year,” said David Uchiyama, vice president of Brand Management of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, the state’s tourism agency. ” Air access is a critical component to the health and sustainability of our tourism economy and the HTA will continue to work with our airline and industry partners to create and maintain demand for travel to the Hawaiian Islands.”

“We are pleased that Virgin America will launch inaugural service to Honolulu and Kahului this fall,” Uchiyama continued. “These flights will boost air seat capacity to Hawai‘i from our core US west market and attract new visitors through Virgin America’s vast flight network across the United States. San Francisco is one of our top visitor markets and we look forward to welcoming Virgin America and its guests to the Hawaiian Islands. These flights will generate an estimated $138.6 million in annual visitor spending and $14.8 million in state tax revenue.”

Virgin America is a US-controlled and operated airline and is an entirely separate company from Virgin Atlantic. Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is a minority share investor in Virgin America.

For more information, go online.