Airfare to Hawaii appears to drop after Southwest Airlines completes test flight

If you want to get away on an island vacation, now might be the time to book it.

Southwest Airlines' successful test flight to Hawaii may have sparked some friendly fare competition, at least for the time being.

As of Feb. 12, nonstop flights could be found on Google for as low as $358 for Tuesday, March 12 - Tuesday, March 19 from San Francisco International Airport, San Jose International Airport and Oakland International Airport to Honolulu.

True, you'd have to fly out of California.

But since Bush Intercontinental Airport would be much more convenient for people in the Houston area, you can expect the roundtrip flights to be a bit steeper, but not bad.

For about $200 more, you can fly out of IAH to Honolulu on a carrier other than Southwest during the same timeframe for $567, according to a search on Kayak.

The drop in prices comes about a week after Texas-based Southwest Airlines completed its first test flight from Oakland, California to Honolulu.

The flight was so that the airline could demonstrate to federal aviation officials that it should be authorized to begin scheduled flights from the U.S. Mainland to Hawaii.

Southwest says its initial intention is to begin nonstop service from Oakland, San Diego, San Jose and Sacramento to four Hawaiian destinations: Honolulu (Oahu), Kahului (Maui), Kona (Island of Hawaii), and Lihue (Kauai).

You can read more about Southwest Airlines' plans on its website.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.