Hawaiian Airlines

Sydney to Honolulu return. Check-in at Sydney was good and flight on time. The staff SYD-HNL may as well not have been there. One female attendant was extremely unfriendly and really did not want to be there. Food was mediocre at best but it was an overnight flight so not so bad I guess as most of the time was spent sleeping! Honolulu to Sydney was the opposite. The staff went out of their way to oblige in all requests. Service with a smile and there was plenty of it. Drinks frequent meals were ok and flight went smoothly. It is an older style plane and not the most comfortable but I was prepared for all the little negatives.

Helpful check-in people brilliant crew. Nice cabin clean fresh aircraft. Best economy airline in USA by a long way.

LAS-HNL-LIH. Midnight madness flight out of Las Vegas at 1.40pm. We could not drop our bags until after midnight as they opened late had only two or three staff on hand and they were dealing with would be stand-bys leaving ticketed passengers to stand and wait and wait. Finally got onboard and got off. The new A330s are good planes. Seat back screens in all classes clean and as comfortable as economy gets. Arrived in Honolulu early morning and transferred over to the inter-island section. small plane arrived on time the flight over to Kaua'i was a mere 20 minutes but was so rough no beverage service was attempted. Not a problem. On the way back it was all pretty smooth. The meals/snacks on the long flights are small but very welcome. There were many drink rounds and the staff did appear to genuinely care about the customers. If only they could sort out staffing on the mainland!

HNL to LAX on Boeing 767. I booked a window seat but for reason that I can't understand (my english was poor!) the staff asked me to seat in the middle seat of main line of seats with two fat men on each side of me. It was terrible They pressured me all time I was sleepy the flight was full and I had nowhere to move to.

Sydney to Honolulu and purchased internal flights to Kahului and Hilo. SYD-HNL was good considering the price paid if you compare to other airlines offering the same route. The staff were friendly and attentive. The inter-island flights departed on time and the service was again enjoyable- and loved the views of the Hawaiian Islands.

LAX-HNL-ITO return economy and first. LAX-HNL segment on an old but immaculate 767-300. Bulkhead row with plenty of legroom and enough room to change a nappy (diaper) on the floor. Hawaiian Airlines is the only US airline to offer complimentary food in all classes on domestic flights - food was quite tasty. The inflight entertainment was average - for $15 you can rent a cumbersome hand-held unit with 12-15 movies 12-15 TV programmes music videos and audio tracks. The $15 is pretty steep but it's better than standard IFE on other US airlines. HNL-ITO and ITO-HNL on B717-200s which have assigned seats and first class cabin. Service very good and beverages ae offered on the 40 minute flights. HNL-LAX segment with the new A330-200. We upgraded to first class for $300 per seat - recliner seats have adjustable legrests and footrests and recline to about 130 degrees. The controls are non-electronic and the legrests are a bit difficult to push back in place. Food service very good. Hawaiian's first class is very good value for flights to the USA but does not compete with Korean Qantas Delta or the Asian airlines on flights to the Pacific Rim. Service on all flights is cordial and friendly and FA's are more professional and customer-friendly than other US airlines.

Sydney to Oahu Oahu to Las Vegas return. The crew were great. When we landed back in Hawaii from Vegas another passenger accidentally took my friends cabin bag. Within half an hour the crew had located the passenger (he was well on his way home along the freeway apparently.) The luggage was returned intact.

SFO-HNL. Boarding procedure seemed a bit haphazard and gate area became crowded but eventually everyone boarded the plane. Gate staff friendly as were flight attendants. Premium meal offered both ways - this is a cashless airline so you need a credit card to pay for this. We were directed at SFO to use the self service check in but were advised not to do this or use online check in as we are international pax. As we are from the UK we did not have to pay any baggage fees to and from the Mainland (had to show check in staff our flight details from the UK). Hawaiian Airlines website unbelievably does not as yet have the ability to process applications from passengers in the UK so we used their UK based agent to book our flights. Flight back to SFO ten days later left late due to potential problem with aircraft (rectified on the ground). Hand baggage was weighed at check in at Honolulu but not at SFO.

Flight crowded but ok. However very dissatisfied with Hawaiian Airlines baggage policy. If you are flying with them multiple times you have to wait 24 hours before each flight to prepay to save $2 that that offer for prepaying. So with 8 people traveling from New England to Hawaii not only are we not allowed one lousy piece of luggage but we can't even prepay unless we track down a computer in California and on each island that we visit because you are not allowed to call in to pay or to do it earlier than 24 hours. Our Luggage bill for each person to bring 1 piece of luggage adds up to $528. How ridiculous!

Check-In was ok and that's about it. The crew were your typical US carrier and everyone was just a pain to them. They threw the meal bag and any request for a drink was treated with a grunt. They sat in the rear galley for the rest of the flight.