HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review :  31 December 2008 : by A Gurevich

SEA-OGG-HNL First Class. This was a 767 in 2-2-2 configuration out of Seattle, and a 717 out of Maui. As the Maui-HNL flight was 25 minutes, there is little to be said. On the 767 the seats were between a standard US domestic First Class seat and an international Business Class seat. They had very good lumbar adjustment, an extendable leg rest and fold down foot rest, and an adjustable headrest. However, like most headrests, you can't get it out of the way and, after 4 hours, it became uncomfortable. Also, it did not recline very far. Overall, I felt the seat was comfortable enough for the flight. The food deserves comment: Hawaiian asks you to choose three items to "sample" from a six item menu. My flight had cold beef salad, warm lamb chop, cheese plate, chicken breast, and a couple of others. The three I had were like a Spanish tapas plate with a vegetable/potato accompaniment- a reasonably sized sample. Three together made a satisfying meal. More than satisfying was the quality and flavor which were excellent - it was truly a surprise to me that you could get such high quality food on a domestic flight, from a US airline. The entertainment system was one film and some filler showed on overhead screens and a portable entertainment player pre-loaded with about 8 films, lots of music, some TV, etc. It was free in First Class, though the films were a little too vanilla for me. Each First Class seat also came with a noise-canceling headset. Overall I would happily fly transpacific on Hawaiian again, although if it were over 5 hours (this flight was just short of 6) would know that my neck would start to complain towards the end. The only drawback is that they are not a partner in many mileage plans.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review :  22 December 2008 : by Lorraine Cobcroft

My husband and I flew Hawaiian Airlines Brisbane to Honolulu return and will never travel Hawaiian again! Our comment on transferring to a Qantas flight from Sydney to Brisbane was "WOW, isn't it nice to see hostesses smiling?". On our return flight from Hawaii, staff on Hawaiian Air were abrupt, unfriendly, and unhelpful and never smiled once. Staff going over were a little better, but we had the feeling that they regarded their role more as one of policing than servicing. The seats are way too close together and the plane layout poor, so passengers travel in extreme discomfort. Coming back, we had an extra tall person behind us and my husband could not recline his seat without cutting the poor man's legs in half, so he was forced to sit upright the entire trip. Worst of all, foods containing chocolate were served at every meal and snack, with no alternate options. My husband - like many people - is allergic to chocolate. We advised his allergy when booking and were told there were no food options. "Take what is served or go without". On a long haul flight, this is unacceptable when there are not reasonable options for people with very common food allergies. At one snack, there was nothing at all on offer except chocolate ice cream, and when my husband asked (very politely) if an alternative was available the hostess snapped at him quite rudely. Our overall experience of Hawaii was not great. We would never go again, and wouldn't recommend it as a holiday destination for Australians. Everything is outrageously expensive, and you would never guess from the conduct of most of the service staff in hotels and restaurants that the state depends on tourism heavily for income and there is a worldwide recession threatening heavily reduced tourist activity! Honestly, I expected to see people in the tourism industry working doubly-hard to make their service or destination the first choice of travellers!

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review :  11 December 2008 : by Dave Robbins

SYD-HNL-LAX return. Overall a pretty lousy experience. Flying LAX-HNL both of our seats had very loose backrests - I understand that backrests are designed to collapse forward in a crash situation however it seemed strange that our seats were so very loose and didn't inspire confidence. After duct-taping closed an overhead compartment an engineer adjusted a setting in the seat just prior to pushback. As we were a little uncomfortable we were re-accomodated in other seats and our original seats were used for crew rest (crew were pleasant and helpful regarding this). On the same flight other anomalies included safety video not playing properly, my reading light button activating someone elses light (and vice-versa) and overhead display monitor only showing red. As regular fliers we noticed cabin crew not completing safety checks properly - allowing passenger to carry his non-infant son on his lap at takeoff, carry on baggage left in the isles and on seats, seats reclined, and window blinds left closed. Check-in LAX-HNL was a severe headache as another flight had been cancelled. The quality of food on the HNL-LAX legs was pretty average, however SYD-HNL had better cooked meals and a full beverage service. Some crew were quite friendly however others stand-offish - the pilots were excellent at providing updates and came out to thank passengers at the end of each flight. Digeplayer IFE had a reasonable selection however should be an inclusion for International flights, not $15 extra. The seats on the international legs were quite comfortable with adjustable head-rests however seats on HNL-LAX legs were below par.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review : 27 October 2008 : by Pat Payne

Customer Rating : 4/5

I flew Hawaiian in mid-October for a vacation on Oahu, and was pleasantly surprised by the experience. The insides of the two planes were clean, and cabin attendants friendly and helpful. For the inflight meal, you have two choices - amazingly a complementary meal (which is usually a turkey sandwich or penne pasta with red marinara, chips and cookie) or you can upgrade to a full-on meal for $10. Drinks selection was amazing. The inflight entertainment was either expensive or mediocre though - you can pay $5 to watch the ceiling/bulkhead mounted video screens (that played HA's in-house features magazine "Skies" for the first half of the flight and then a first-run movie - sadly, the choices were limited, or you can pay $15 for a small personal media player loaded with music and TV shows that you may or may not be interested in. Hawaiian Airlines staff at the airports were helpful.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review : 13 October 2008 : by M Gregory

Customer Rating : 3/5

PDX-HNL-MNL-HNL-PDX on Coach. Service great, friendly and pleasant. Food above average for an American based airline - flight attendants much better than NW or UA. However, connecting in HNL was a nightmare as there was inadequate ground staff to help out. Being on an international flight one has to deplane, go thru immigration, get luggage, pass thru customs and repeat the check-in process all over again. This was agonizing as I had to go to another terminal, up one floor to check-in 2 pieces of luggage weighing 50lbs each plus carry-on. The 2 hour layover was just enough to go thru all of this and make my connection. Will fly this airline again if going to Hawaii only but not international.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review : 15 September 2008 : by A Ayres

Customer Rating : 4/5

SYD-HNL return. Boeing 767 with plenty of room and a clean, up to date interior . Staff friendly and attentive. Food better on the return trip, but overall fairly good. Check in at Honolulu was very poor. Only one staff member available for coach check-in. They should look at getting personal entertainment systems as standard in the backs of seats. Overall, it was a pretty good experience for a 3 star airline.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review : 9 September 2008 : by J Li

Customer Rating : 3/5

SEA-HNL-SEA in first class. Friendly crew, but lacks attention to detail. Food quality is poor and taste is just as appealing. Coffee is lukewarm and extremely weak. Digital player was distributed an hour after take off and collected more than an hour prior to landing. My unit was malfunctioning, and was reluctantly exchanged by the flight attendant. No water run during either direction. No harsh complaints about Hawaiian, but I will stick with legacy carrier if schedule permits in the future.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review : 7 September 2008 : by Peter Pomeranze

Customer Rating : 4/5

Honolulu to Manila/Business class-For a ten hour flight, the lack of lie flat seats is the only negative. Everything else is positive. The crew, food and general ambience is excellent. This airlines deserves kudos for its high quality service.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review : 30 June 2008 : by Alex Buchanan

Customer Rating : 4/5

PDX-HNL-SYD return. Flew coach outbound and Biz/first class inbound. Overall seat, service and food was OK in coach, about what you can expect from most airlines and superior to your normal US domestic fare. Biz/First class return was excellent, very attentive cabin crew and a genuine sense of enthusiasm. Taster plate meal was a novel idea which I enjoyed. Biz class cabin does not quite match up to the high end long haul carriers (no flat bed, average IFE via Digeplayer) but the price point is significantly lower and in my view service is at least on par. Hawaiian does need to start offering online check in for international flights. This is not new technology and it would speed up check in as passengers would enter passport information etc - before arriving at the airport. If you are travelling from the Pac NW and don't fancy the 14 hour hop from LAX/SFO give Hawaiian a try.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review : 27 June 2008 : by Peter Pomeranze

Customer Rating : 4/5

Kona-Honolulu-Las Vegas First Class-Although the front cabin mainland service has lost some of its luster it is still a decent experience. The entrees have diminished in quality yet the smiles and efficiency remain a constant. The 767 has adequate space for a 6 hour flight and the digiplayers provided help pass the time

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review : 24 June 2008 : by M Saunders

Customer Rating : 3/5

Went with Hawaiian for Sydney-Honolulu specifically for a few days in Honolulu rather than the 14 hrs to LA. Flight (just over 9 hrs) left on time and was only half-full. Leg-room in economy was not overly-generous, but worst problem ended up being the guy in the middle section who stretched out across 3 seats and snored all night. Quality of food was good, portions not enormous. Staff were competent but not exactly exuding that 'aloha spirit' they go on about. I was surprised that they allowed a female passenger to keep her 18-mo old child on her lap, not strapped in, for landing - indicates they didn't know (poor) or didn't care (even worse).

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES review : 30 May 2008 : by Brandon Starr

Customer Rating : 1/5

I will never travel Hawaiian again. Our plane (Seattle to Honolulu flight) turned around about 2 hours into the trip on May 24. At the airport they said "we are going to take everyone off the plane". Fine. An hour later they tell us it will be about 45 minutes. An hour later they tell us it will be about 45 minutes. Then, 45 minutes later, "it will be about an hour". They give us meal vouchers only to tell us later in the day that they wont be able to get us out until 2:00am (about seven hours from that point) due to the plane issue being "worse than expected". I had my three year old with me, a dead cell phone battery, and no charger. Normally I would bring it with me but I had a full battery and a plane ticket telling me I would be there in no time so I figured there was no need for it. We could access our luggage if we wanted to wait around a couple hours. I take a shuttle home and a shuttle back to the airport, get to the gate, and see that only the waiting passengers are there and no airline personnel to update anyone. Our plane boards, about 45 minutes past when they said it would, and after offering a $300 voucher for our troubles - if we wanted to wait in line for it (my tickets were a total of around $3,000). I used to get a free round trip ticket for being bumped from a flight and having a 2 hour delay, making the $300 dollar voucher unacceptable. Heres the kicker. After we finally board, a flight attendant informs me that the issue was fixed shortly after we landed and the delay was because the "crew wanted to rest". So, after being told we were waiting on parts from Boeing etc, it turns out the crew just wanted to get a hotel and a nap.

Hawaiian Airlines - by John Dineen

23 May 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I recently flew Hawaiian Airlines to Honolulu and Maui First class. My trip was from Sacramento, California to Honolulu and connecting to Maui. The first class service from Sacramento to Honolulu was terrible. Although food was good, service was unacceptable. The flight attendants could not care less about the passengers and this comment was shared by others. I ordered coffee and it was 20 minutes before it was delivered. For the price Hawaiian charges for first class travel, I would not recommend first class to anyone on Hawaiian. Maybe they are taking advantage of the airlines that recently went bankrupt and they are aware that they are the only players on this route, although hopefully only for the short term.

Hawaiian Airlines - by L Souza

27 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I recently had an incident where I was unable to fly on March 24th to San Diego and had to change my tickets. I purchased two tickets on the Hawaiian Airlines site in February, at a cost of $509.98 per ticket for a coach seat. When I called in on March 21st I was informed by the customer service agent that my change fees amounted to $300 per ticket to change my dates from March 24 to March 31 to new dates April 17 to April 24!! My coach seat tickets would cost me a total of $809.98 each, for Off-Season travel. I protested, was told to contact another department and did so on March 21st by fax and still have not received a resolution. $300 per ticket for change fees are totally out of line and I want satisfaction. I am not saying they are not entitled to some kind of change fee, but $300 per ticket is absurd! I am telling of this incident to bring to light the fact that Hawaiian Airlines is not acting like Hawaii's Airline! Sad because this airline has been the airline of choice of all of our family travel for quite a few years now. We need more competition in the Hawaii market, especially for the Honolulu to San Diego route!

Hawaiian Airlines - by J Greene

6 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Honoululu to Sydney 10hr 15mins, all in all a good flight especially as we only paid $350 for 2 people one way! Online check in doesn't seem to work for international flights (the website doesn't tell you this!). However the airport check in staff were nice, we had our seat moved to an exit row for the extra leg room and this was done seemlessly. The flight was only half full. Earphones were free onboard for in flight entertainment, we did rent one of the media players for $15, as it was such a long flight - this wasn't worth the money, and some of the programs on it were a bit dated and it was hard to prop up the screen on the fold down table. You are better off with the IFE they show on the big cabin screens. Cabin crew were lovely and the meal served was acceptable. For me this was one of the best value for money flights I have travelled.

Hawaiian Airlines - by R Rositani

7 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Sacramento - Oahu-Kauai round trip. Economy SAC to Oahu, fine. Inter-island was fine. Lost my driver's license in luggage pick up in Oahu and they were extremely helpful! First class back to SAC and it was good. Plenty of food and service. Very nice crew - very accommodating.

Hawaiian Airlines - by G Hillier

24 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

PDX-Maui-Kona in First. After flying AA's Nonstop LAX-Kona flight, which was disappointing from the cramped 757 to mediocre food and middling service, I opted for Hawaiian this time and was extremely impressed throughout the entire journey. Ticket Agent in Portland was friendly and helpful and tagged my bags with a "Premium Cabin " tag - equally impressed by the calm, boarding process that had everyone in their seats 10 minutes before scheduled departure time. FA's offered champagne or guava juice before departure and 767-300 left on schedule. I have read some complaints with regard to room/seat comfort on HA and the seats were less roomy than I expected - but OK for 5 hours and footrests were appreciated. FA's friendly without being intrusive and had hawaiian-style beverages (Mai Tai's, Passion Fruit Punch, etc) which AA sorely lacks. The food was very good - you are given a menu with 5 items and you may pick 3 of them. An appetizer of humas and pita bread was served with drinks and my tapas-style meal of chicken, ravioli, and beef was tasty and just enough. Cheesecake for dessert was very good. Digeplayers and noise cancelling headsets passed out and not collected until 20 minutes out from Maui. On-time Inter-Island flight from Maui-Kona on an immaculate 717 was very quick but still enjoyed a cocktail delivered from a smiling FA. Minor complaint: despite premium tags my luggage was the last off the plane in Kona (but still on the belt within 15 minutes of landing).

Hawaiian Airlines - by Jonathan Goff

2 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

OGG-HNL-LAS first. Inter-island flights are fine due to the short duration - however we paid $200 extra each to fly Hawaiian to LAS because we didn't want to have to get a connecting flight at LAX after an overnight flight - and would rather do the inter-island flight beforehand. Plane looked very old and worn and first class on this Boeing 767 had 2-2-2 abreast seating - similar we thought to a short haul business class and not at all comfortable. However, the worst thing about the flight was the food - bearing in mind this was first class, on a 10pm departure arriving LAS about 0630 the following morning, we were only given 1 meal. This first class meal consisted of a sandwich and a mug of soup! What we would have expected on a lo-co airline. We so wish we had eaten at the airport before we boarded! Next time we would fly one of the majors and change at LAX or SFO.

Hawaiian Airlines - by Rick Nadeau

30 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

SMF-HNL-OGG. We always take Hawaiian over Aloha for trips to Hawaii because the service is great and planes are bigger. On this trip, everything went very well except I noticed that the seats had less legroom. This was a window doubles seat. I noticed that the people seated in the middle triple seats had more legroom. I think these are 30 inch and not 32 inch as advertised. The interisland 717 seemed to have more legroom, which was surprising.

Hawaiian Airlines - by C Morinaka

5 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Honolulu to LAS and back in first class. The first class seats are okay, not as comfortable as I imagined, but service makes up for that.

Hawaiian Airlines - by Meredith Lamb

5 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Honolulu-San Francisco and return, September/October 2007. The airline was quite comfortable, the crew were extremely pleasant and we had absolutely no complaints about Hawaiian Air. The check-in process was long for economy passengers, at both airports, but thankfully we took out Premier Club membership and we were able to glide through without effort! The food was delicious for an airline and the crew attentive. It was really cold though, which I'd not considered. I was freezing within a few minutes of being on the plane, and coupled with being extremely tired after flying from Melbourne to Honolulu, and then Honolulu to SFO, I got off the plane with a very sore, dry throat. I'd just recommend that you wear something warm onto the plane to avoid catching a chill. I rugged up for the flight back to Hawaii and I felt a lot better.

Hawaiian Airlines - by Brian Grennan

19 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

First class SAN-HNL with a coach return HNL-SAN. The service over was pleasant, with above average cabin service. I fly Hawaiian frequently and this is one of the few times the flight attendants in first class did not vanish after serving the meal. The return flight in coach was actually better! Enthusiastic friendly cabin crew and nonstop service! I was offered a beverage more times than I can count! I flew again with a party of three SAN-OGG in May. I upgraded all of us using my miles to first class - what a waste! The morning meal service was limited, more of a snack. The cabin crew again - as it usually is - disinterested and quickly vanished after the service. The return flight was below average, the cabin crew seemed tired and noncommunicative - no offer of any meal choice - they just handed you a sandwich (I assume everything else was gone). Hawaiian used to be great- they are becoming more average every flight!

Hawaiian Airlines - by Hakan Ersoy

21 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Sydney-Honolulu-Kahului return. The crew were very good. Inflight entertainment OK but we also hired digiplayer - Hawaiian Airlines provided private entertainment function. All flights on time. The aircraft were clean. Food is very average and needs to be improved!

Hawaiian Airlines - by W Speers

2 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Honolulu - Sacramento and Las Vegas to Honolulu; service was professional without being overtly friendly. Cabin service was attentive and efficient. In relation to the service of meals and drinks, it was a bit confusing at first because I didn't realise we would get a meal. They offered snacks for purchase (Pringles, chocolate bars and candy) and I thought that's all the service consisted of, but to my surprise a meal was offered after the first beverage run. One criticism - headsets should be free.

Hawaiian Airlines - by Peter Pomeranze

2 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Los Angeles-Honolulu-Kona First Class. A very decent experience as a whole. Fairly comfortable seating, decent entertainment via "digi players" and a great meal service with a choice of 3 out of 4 "small plates"offered. At last something original in airline catering. A very gracious cabin staff served us and made constant runs after the service offering water etc.

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