Economy Plus offers up to six inches more legroom than standard economy seats.
United's Priority Boarding places you in Zone 2, avoiding carry-on gate-check.

Planning a trip from San Francisco to Honolulu? KAYAK’s data-powered insights will help you find cheap flights. Learn the best time to fly, how early to book your ticket, and other tips to secure great prices.
When planning a trip from San Francisco to Honolulu, there are several strategies that can help you save money. Generally, Tuesday is the cheapest day of the week to fly, while September offers the lowest average prices throughout the month.
Cheapest Route: Stick to the direct route from San Francisco (SFO) to Honolulu (HNL) for the best prices.
Booking Advance: Aim to book your flight at least 135 days in advance for the best rates.
Low-cost Airline: Consider flying with Alaska Airlines, which generally offers the cheapest fares for this route.
Direct vs Layover: Opt for direct flights as they are typically cheaper than those with layovers.
This feature is powered by ChatGPT: an OpenAI-developed artificial intelligence model trained with KAYAK proprietary data and third-party data not verified by KAYAK.
| Low season | January |
|---|---|
| High season | April |
| Cheapest flight | $169 |
Direct departures
San Francisco to Honolulu
Monday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Tuesday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Wednesday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Thursday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Friday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Saturday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Sunday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Direct returns
Honolulu to San Francisco
Monday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Tuesday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Wednesday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Thursday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Friday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Saturday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Sunday
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, +1 more
Flight was delayed 14 hours! We missed an entire day of our vacation and had to pay for hotel that we didn’t use
Flight was delayed 14 hours! We missed an entire day of our vacation and had to pay for hotel that we didn’t use
Could not check in online. Called airline twice, thinking Hawaiian Airlines could check me in during phone call. NO. In 2nd phone call, Customer Service explained that due to “transition period” of Hawaiian Airlines/Alaska Airlines merger, I could only check in at the airport. In addition, flight to Kahului was late at arrival gate; I made connection to Lihue but my bag did not, so I had to return to Lihue airport a couple hours after my arrival to retrieve the bag.
I still in San Francisco😡the flight has delay and lm not sure l can back to Seattle or not😡lm here from 7.30pm and still waiting😡 l never will use of Kayak.
The boarding was confusing because the PA system at PDX was so quiet you couldn’t hear anything being said . The seats were uncomfortable. The food was pretty bad and I normally don’t mind airplane food. The flight attendants were not friendly. I learned upon check in that Hawaiian airlines had reassigned our seats of the second leg of the trip. I had confirmed and paid for special seats but they put me and my companion on standard seats in different rows. Hawaiian also did the same on my return flight after the flight times had changed. I happened to go online to check my reservation and saw the flight had changed. I gad received no notice. I saw that my confirmed seats that I had paid extra were gone. After much back and forth with the airlines they refused to correct their error. I showed them confirmation documents of my seat reservation and receipt of payment but they refused to correct the seat change or reimburse me. I had to pay $200 again to reserve the original seats. Shameful and manipulative. They basically held me hostage. If I wanted to be in that flight I had to pay up.
On time boarding, take off and landing. Will fly again with Alaska Airlines.
I liked that internet connection while in flight was available.👍
The pilot performed the smoothest landing I’ve ever experienced. What a light touch. And I’m an avid traveler!
Flight was smooth, pleasant passengers and crew. Enjoyed the experience
Flight attendant was awful, I felt second hand embarrassment with every one of her interactions with people onboard. She was so incredibly rude every chance she got
Great flight - efficient and cheerful team on board, at SFO gate. Also, PAE (Paine Field, Everett, WA) is a great little airport to fly out or in to!
Sacrament staff are always polite and helpful. Airport is easy to maneuver and boarding is straightforward.
As always, the entire Southwest experience was wonderful, from online booking to flight to baggage retrieval. Very grateful.
The weather could have been better. There was a 40 minute ATC delay in SFO because of marine fog and a micro cell storm delayed landing and take-off at Nashville. The gate was changed 5 minutes from boarding from gate B3 to gate C23 at Nashville airport.
The cabin was quiet for the redeye flight. The area was clean. The staff was great. The 787 Max was in good condition. Drawbacks were that the seat widths were tight for some passengers. The seat padding was at best average and for a long flight uncomfortable.
Delayed flight. Nicest crew member was a SW pilot flying seated next to me who kindly move to seat the final passenger. Flight extra delayed. My cup of refreshment of ginger ale was so packed with ice it was literally 2 sips.
No trays in our seats, we sat in first row, purchased a business class fare. Had to hold our drinks and snack in our hands. No plugs for our cell phones. Had to pay for it a drink cocktail each. Seats so uncomfortable.
Flight wasn’t even full, but too many carry-ons caused us to run out of bin space. New bag fee has folks who would usually check their bags carrying on. Watching Southwest morph into Spirit/Frontier is so sad to watch
Southwest is Southwest. No frills. If you're luck enough to get a happy crew (we did), then it makes for a nicer flight.
It was a perfect flight in all aspects! Both legs!
Great flight, 47 passengers on a 180 seat plane. Stewardess was pleasant and cheerful.
The flight used a B767 with a very old interior from before 2014. The entertainment system did not work at all during the flight despite attempts to reset the system. It was like they flew this route just to be competitive.
Delayed flight (1hour) plus a long layover after an overnight flight with no backup plane available.
Flight delayed for two and half hours and then canceled altogether due to mechanical issues. No mechanic onsite to fix so had to send one from LAX.
My husband upgraded our seats and I don't know if it was due to the type of planet was or if they didn't upgrade our seats. We were supposed to be in I believe comfort seats and they were just as tight as any other seat- no leg room and we are very tall people but at least it wasn't extremely cold. My husband did put in a complaint about our seating because he paid extra and if we would have known that the space and the tightness would have been the same, we just would have gotten the emergency row emergency row seats that we normally get. We love Delta but both our flights coming home we're not good. Oh I forgot to mention that on our flight to Hawaii our luggage wheels got broke and we had to purse new luggage on vacation then we never had this problem so we didn't know protocol and reported it after we got home only for them to tell is we only had 24hrs to report the damage. Not sure what was going on with Delta this vacation trip.
Crew was excellent. Comfort seats not as nice as other kinds of planes.
It was a great flight and the stewards and stewardess were all kind and accommodating!! The seats were comfortable and entertainment screen excellent!
There are 4 flights in consecutive gates with about the same departure time. Two flights were boarding at the same time. One was delayed or boarding would be happening at the same time. I am not sure what Delta and LAX need to do to have a better layout at the end of Terminal 2
There was a security issue at the airport and we were unable to land. We circled endlessly and then landed at another airfield for fuel. We then circled the airport again, almost landed but didn’t fully touch down before circling again. I am thankful to the crew for keeping us safe- the issue was the airline and staff at the airport getting us seats on our connecting flights. That part was hours of searching for someone and getting in double my steps.
Most aspects were good however if they assign boarding zones they ought to enforce them or why bother? My luggage from SAN-JFK-MAD was lost in NY so I without my main bag for two days upon arrival in Spain. They were helpful in tracking it and eventually delivered it to my hotel. The flub was because of a delay upon arrival in NYC. I had booked 2 1/2 hours between flights but we had to hold on the taxiway for an hour after landing while waiting for a clear gate which likely caused the baggage error.
Excellent flight, the planes were newer, they did a nice job with boarding, great service overall.
Everything was great and smooth. Given the short flight there was no entertainment but the rating does not give this option. My first flight with Hawaiian was a success all around.
comfortable but the food is horrible. I have flown Hawaiian several times now and no matter what they say the food is its the same squashed bread with melted goop inside. Tastes fake and isnt what they represent, its quite nasty. What happend to real food? And there is NO entertainment!! so not sure why they are asking for a review on that.
I was very, very cold and a stranger loaned me her sweater next to me. I didn’t wanna buy a blanket just for a four hour trip when I did not need the pillow or the earphones. I don’t mind purchasing a blanket, but I only needed that not all of it accessories. Cold air pretty much blew the entire trip. Two people in front of me both bought the blanket packages. Maybe that’s the idea. The crew was exceptionally nice and passed through multiple times.. the restrooms were very clean and usually accessible.
Very accommodating on flight changes when something came up. Definitely felt a notch above other airlines.
They we able to seat my companion and I next to each other. Plane’s temperature was very cool. Willl be more prepared on return trip.
What an amazing flight. I haven’t experienced this level of service in a flight in years. This will be the only way to fly to Hawaii for me in the future.
Hawaiian airlines has awful customer service. Told me to keep a flight I wasn’t boarding, instead of rebooking me under two separate reservations, which caused my whole reservation to be canceled. Major issues with leadership and management. The staff at Hilo was reluctant to give me a refund, so I had to by a first class ticket in order to get on a flight the same time as my partner. The blame was pointed at me without sincere apology until the supervisor came out, who also apparently had no authority to refund me. Still waiting on correspondence from the airline days later.
I could not believe that on a 5 hour plus flight we were not given a complimentary meal . That should be illegal. Or it would be nice to be informed beforehand that a complimentary meal would not be provided. The wording in the email I got about pre ordering food was phrased in a way that made the food seem like it would be free. Very misleading! Also during boarding we were informed there would be empty seats we could move to if we wanted, all we had to do was wait for an announcement, however an announcement was never made. Then when we tried to change seats ourselves we were singled out over the loud speaker and told we could not move without asking. Then the flight was about to take off , so we didn’t have time to ask . Then we were told we could not move to the exit row because you had to pay for those seats, but we were not told where we could move. Also no one was in the exit rows so , if something happened no one would be there to assist the passengers. Also people should be allowed to move there if the airline wasn’t able to sell them. One passenger asked if he could pay for the upgrade and the flight attendant said she did not have the capability to charge for the seat on her mobile device, so the airline ended up losing possible income anyways . So why not let people move there during flight if you have no way to charge them? Then the landing was bumpy and awful and many passengers complained out loud when we landed .
The flight was great! The flight attendants were friendly and attentive. I would definitely fly Hawaiian Aurlines again!
You have to buy the ear buds and they only offers little cup of water twice.
Same as last comment. Food sucks. Quality. Not surprising most people have no clue about nourishment Clearly
We were in business class. the angled seats in that class do not have a real window view & the placement of the controls are bad. But we knew that. But the food options were mediocre. The taste was fine, but the size was for a child. It’s just really feels like United is skimping on everything. Even when we were in the Polaris lounge they did not have diet sodas. They said they were out no Coke zero no Diet Coke, etc. I do not think the portion of nuts they serve on the plane could get any smaller. Really a minimal service and offer for what you’re paying for in business.
Stuck on tarmac for two hours plus a 5.5 hour flight. Rude flight attendant. And no meals, not even for purchase!
I learned that seating towards the end of plane that a line forms for the restroom and people use your chair as a hand railing, bumping your seat consistently. I was seated in the aisle. I think that next time if I am towards the back row I would want to sit in the middle or window seat.
Everything was great. Only thing that could’ve made it better was buy on board options for hot food, but the snacks were decent. The flight attendants were great. I had no complaints. I was able to make it to my destination safely
Horrific. They missed my connecting flight to San Diego. I didn’t get there until Monday at 9am when I had a mandatory court settlement conference scheduled at 6am since we had parties on the east coast. This caused many issues. All because United apparently forgot to hold the doors open until my flight landed that only had a 10 minute delay. This was the last flight to Southern California. So I couldn’t even rent a car to finish the trip. United cannot be trusted when traveling on specific days and times since weather didn’t have anything to do with the delays.
Very comfortable (upgraded to business class). The audio on my screen didn’t work, but I managed to play the audio through my phone while watching the screen.
Boarding seemed to be organized bedlam. For what ever reason, preboarding took longer than 20 minutes. Made the plane 20 minutes late taking off. Luckily we arrived on time. Flight crew seemed very friendly. Only slight turbulence.
The personnel were professional and friendly. The Boeing 737 Max 9 is too claustrophobic and was very warm at both airport gates, and still warm in the air.
While the staff was pleasant and helpful, the following observations are for your awareness. There was some delay on the tarmac on take off and landing. The paid lunch/food offerings were limited. Entertainment was only available on WiFi at a cost.
Not what you’re looking for? Find thousands of other hotels, flights, car rentals and package deals with KAYAK.