FCF’s Hula Loophole Soothes the Transcon Price Sting

Lei over: How East Coast travelers can get free First Class tickets to Hawaii on their trip to California

A transcontinental route combined with a free round-trip ticket to Hawaii — how pineapple sweet can that be! In fact, it’s quintessential FCF thinking — i.e. something most people never consider when flying but which yields a Business or First Class ticket for way less, or at the very least, a more valuable product for the same money. This is how it works.

Transcon Daylight Robbery

We published our latest lament on ridiculously high transcon fares — recently in the $2,000+ plus price range for nonstops between Los Angeles or San Francisco and New York on American, Delta, and United (that aren’t 6 a.m. departures or red eyes). We cover that in detail here. Just when we got accustomed to those $2,000 round-trips (after being accustomed to $1,000 round-trips), one month later the average transcon fare jumped to $2,300+. I get grumpy when five or six months ago fares were a third to half of what they are now, as you can see here and here. That’s where the Hula Loophole comes in.