Surf’s up, dude: Alaska Airlines is discounting airfares based on Hawaii swells

Alaska Airlines is currently discounting fares to and from Hawaii based on the size of waves around the archipelago.

Partnering with global surf forecasting site Surfline, Alaska Airlines will discount up to 30 per cent off flights to and from Hawaii based on the height of forecasted waves around the islands.

In a press release, the airline confirmed that the bigger the waves in Hawaii, the bigger the discount for travellers.

“Flyers today have access to so much more information and in turn, are making decisions based on that data,” Natalie Bowman, Alaska Airlines’ managing director of brand and marketing communications, said.

“With the start of surf season in Hawaii, we saw an opportunity to further support our flyers’ passions by using the power of data to offer better deals as surf conditions improve.”

Until 8 November, for travel through 20 November, Alaska will discount fares based on the following max swell heights tracked by Surfline:

• Lower than 10-foot swells: 10 per cent off
• 11- to 15-foot swells: 15 per cent off
• 16- to 20-foot swells: 20 per cent off
• Higher than 21-foot swells: 30 per cent off.

Surfline will pull data from 14 different locations monitoring minute-by-minute forecasts around the Hawaiian Islands.

The sub-regions for data tracking include Oahu South Shore, Hawaii Kona, Maui South, Kauai South, Kauai North, Maui West, Oahu North Shore, Oahu Windward Side, Maui North, Hawaii South, Hawaii Hilo, Oahu West Side, Lanai and Molokai.

Alaska Airlines has also revealed it could introduce similar discounts on other experiences to “help customers enjoy more of what they love”.

“By leveraging data, we can give people another reason to get on a flight, just when they want it most, to enjoy perfect conditions or take that bucket list trip that they might have otherwise missed,” Bowman said.