Hawaiian Airlines

If you are flying coach w/o elite status Hawaiian Airlines is great because they you are their target market. I have flown Hawaiian many times between Las Vegas and Hawaii most recently just a few days ago. Here is what I like: 1) A decent seat pitch of 32 inches is standard 2) seating on the transpacific planes is 2-4-2 so a husband and wife can get a window aisle seat by themselves 3) nice free meals in coach 4) they actually answer the phone reasonably quickly by airline standards 5) the flight attendants are actually friendly.

LAX to HNL in First bumped onto Hawaiian due to American Airlines flight going tech. Great new Airbus aircraft clean bright and fresh fantastic staff friendly very out going nice pre take off drinks great Menu and Catering Wine choice was very limited and The Seat is terribly uncomfortable but overall I think Hawaiian have a great little niche and are the best of the American Carriers.

HNL-SFO. Self-service check-in quick although not enough personnel to help through the relatively complex system. Bags are weighed and you even self-tag the bags before dropping it off. Potentially efficient but the communication needs to be better. However the extra charges are ridiculous on Hawaiian. Check in per bag at $70 movies at $12 extra legroom seats at $70 again. I know American carriers practice ala carte pricing but Hawaiian's charges are more then other carriers. The so-called trumpeted meal service was a few bland pieces of chicken with rice an aged salad and a piece of chocolate. The final straw however was the crew. While sitting on a bulkhead seat after paying the ridiculous charges passengers were trampling on my feet to get to the other aisle. When I advised the crew they said its not their problem. Bags in SFO took ages mitigating an on-time arrival. Sorry Hawaiian but serving sub-standard complimentary food does not allow you to rip off passengers with extra charges and poor service. Next time I am bringing my own food on-board and flying Delta!

Oakland - Maui - Kona. An excellent experience from start to finish. Great service punctuated by smiles and efficiency. A delicious breakfast was served with a small cheese plate offered before landing. The other carriers on these Hawaiian routes should take notes about first class service and offerings. Easy transfer in Maui to a short efficient hop to Kona.

Returned from Honolulu to Sydney Fri 26th July. Business Class was a shambles checking in. There was no one at the desk and a queue was building. A girl finally appeared and was so slow and uninterested we asked another guy who was assisting economy people get their own baggage labels in a machine and finally he assisted us. Really disappointed after paying so much. A330 seats not very comfortable and my video machine did not work. The staff were very friendly and couldn't fault them but would not fly again with them.

Honolulu-Seattle-Maui First Class. Although somehow skimpier than it was in past years the experience was generally very good. Smiling truly friendly attendants comfortable (767) seating and decent food are the mainstay of Hawaiians First Class mainland service and they delivered. The aircraft is old but very comfortable. Digi players are annoying and clumsy to use but provide a fair amount of entertainment on this particular route. Somehow the meals seemed a little less robust than before but were tasty. All in all at the head of the pack certainly for travel to and from Hawaii and perhaps domestically altogether.

SYD-HNL return. Sydney to Honolulu - Check in staff very efficient. Friends travelling to Honolulu night before and went to service desk to ask about window seats. The man at the desk said that we were currently sitting in the middle of the aircraft and he would try to get us window seats as the flight was full. Arrived at the airport next day to check in and was assigned window seats. Cabin crew were very friendly. All of them smiling. Cabin very clean and comfortable. New A330 aircraft. Pillow and blanket provided. Food was good. Very good portion sizes. Cabin crew regularly came through the cabin offering water to passengers. Other drinks were available from the galley upon request. Range of TV's and movies available to watch. Over movies were available for a fee. Smooth flight. Honolulu to Sydney - Printed out boarding pass previous day and had chosen seats then. This time in the middle of the aircraft. Used self serve kiosks to weigh and print out bag tags. Also printed out new boarding passes. Very efficient process. Again a friendly crew. Meal service was good again. This time sitting in the middle of the aircraft there seemed to be more legroom. Cabin crew kept offering water during the flight. The Pau Hana Snack bar was open during the flight. Staff very friendly and efficient. However 1 cabin crew member did not seem as if she wanted to be there. All other cabin crew were great.

Honolulu-Kona-Honolulu. B717. A real shame. Hawaiian is taking profit of its monopoly. Our United Airlines flight from Tokyo arrived much earlier and therefore we decided to travel immediately to Kona on already booked tickets. A bad humored attendant decided that we should pay US$50 and not US$30 each. We had also to pay for checked-in luggage (US$17) each. As one was 2 pounds over the permission I had to transfer clothes to the hand luggage. Ridiculous. Plus: flight was 90% empty + service was a warn cup of coffee with a soup taste. Note that our return flight was delayed 1hour and a half with no apologizes whatsoever even not from Captain.

My friend and I both took our 9 month old sons to Hawaii. Staff on flight were not helpful at all. We asked if they would wash our bottles for us being our hands are tied with the babies and they pointed to the restrooms. Asked for help with our carry on we were actually turned away. Both going and back the flight and staff were not accommodating to us fellow passengers were more of a help.

Hilo to Sydney via Honolulu 10th June. Hilo check in was quick bags booked all the way to Sydney. I still get the lounge due to gold status. Hilo to Honolulu seat 7b 8.50am flight left on time pleasant crew. At Honolulu lounge access again basic wifi coffee soft drinks. No food or snacks available and lounge is a long walk from international gates. Honolulu to Sydney business HA451 seat 1H. Boarding procedures were business and wheelchairs first as it should be then children and pualani gold and platinum. Plane left on time clean and new airbus welcoming crew. After take off spicy crab sushi with pickled ginger and cocktails 45 minutes after take off. Dinner was salmon in rice paper Himalayan rice with macadamia nut pesto and salad - very impressed. Desert was Ice cream truffle strawberry sorbet. Cocktails constant and staff attentive. Before arrival a Hawaiian style high tea was served. Arrival as usual. Due to the airbus only utilizes one door business must walk back through economy to get off so not first off the plane but we are given priority customs forms to fast track forms through customs and immigration. Bags are tagged first class priority and come through very quick. My only complaint is Sydney airport customs they give you an express path ticket when in business and first and that line was huge at Sydney. Overall a great flight and always recommend Hawaiian to all USA destinations.