Itineraries flown on 20+ days in the Jun 6 – Jul 31, 2026 schedule · each leg’s record Aug 2025 – Jul 2026

The best bet has a stop: Southwest via Oakland (7h 45m) reaches San Diego on time almost all the time, against 75% on the nonstop.

Nonstops (seasonal or thin)


Alaska	LIH	SAN	5h 44m	77%	2.1%	284	Flying now

Best connections, any airlines

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

Ranked by chance you reach San Diego on time. Total trip = scheduled departure to arrival, layover included (San Diego is 3 h ahead of Lihue). Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


Southwest Details →	LIH 21:10 → OAK 05:20WN 2523	1h 00m Oakland	OAK 06:20 → SAN 07:55 +1WN 3073	7h 45m	97%	97%
Southwest Details →	LIH 06:15 → HNL 06:55WN 2508	1h 15m Honolulu	HNL 08:10 → SAN 16:35WN 1938	7h 20m	100%	95%
Southwest Details →	LIH 19:10 → HNL 19:50WN 664	1h 35m Honolulu	HNL 21:25 → SAN 05:50 +1WN 512	7h 40m	100%	93%
United Details →	LIH 22:00 → LAX 06:32UA 1612	2h 28m Los Angeles	LAX 09:00 → SAN 10:08 +1UA 4643 · flown by SkyWest	9h 08m	100%	87%
Southwest Details →	LIH 20:10 → LAS 05:00WN 2514	1h 05m Las Vegas	LAS 06:05 → SAN 07:15 +1WN 4342	8h 05m	98%	87%
United Details →	LIH 19:35 → DEN 06:28UA 2308	1h 15m Denver	DEN 07:43 → SAN 09:05 +1UA 2309	10h 30m	98%	86%
Alaska + Deltatwo ticketsDetails →	LIH 11:31 → LAX 20:01AS 964	2h 39m Los Angeles	LAX 22:40 → SAN 23:40DL 3746 · flown by SkyWest	9h 09m	96%	82%
United Details →	LIH 22:44 → SFO 06:56UA 1685	1h 19m San Francisco	SFO 08:15 → SAN 09:59 +1UA 444	8h 15m	98%	78%
Tight connection: often missed
Alaska Details →	LIH 11:14 → HNL 11:53AS 1054	46m Honolulu	HNL 12:39 → SAN 21:07AS 816	6h 53m	52%	33%

Same layover, different day-part

How often the first flight arrives too late to connect (45 min minimum), for one-ticket layovers of 45–80 minutes.

Morning

HNL · 1h 15m · leaves 06:15 0%

DEN · 1h 15m · leaves 19:35 2%

LAS · 1h 05m · leaves 20:10 2%

Afternoon and evening

LAX · 1h 16m · leaves 13:01 3%

SFO · 1h 10m · leaves 13:17 10%

HNL · 1h 15m · leaves 20:03 13%

Delays build through the day, so an afternoon first leg eats the layover. A short connection is fine early in the morning and a gamble later on.

Mixing airlines

One ticketMiss it and the airline rebooks you; bags go through. 45 min is enough.

Separate ticketsMiss it and you buy a new ticket. Re-check bags, clear security again: we require 90 min.

The table above includes two-ticket connections (marked “two tickets”), held to the 90-minute minimum. One ticket only →

Regional partners count as the airline that sells them: SkyWest flying Delta Connection is one Delta ticket.

How these are worked out. Makes the connection: share of the last year’s flights where the first flight arrived with at least 45 minutes to spare (90 on separate tickets). Arrives on time: first flight not cancelled × connection made × second flight not cancelled and arriving within 15 minutes. Not yet counted: the second flight also leaving late (which helps), gate-to-gate distance at the hub, and rebooking after a missed connection.

About this data: US DOT on-time records, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026, all US airlines; regional flights count under the airline that sells them. Schedules (which flights and connections exist, and their times) are as of Jun 6 – Jul 31, 2026; seasonal flights outside that window aren’t ranked. Rebuilt monthly. JSON