Hawaiian Airlines

Sydney-Honolulu return. Upon check-in at Sydney advised that we were split up. Food was only one option. Planes old with no in seat entertainment unless you pay $15USD for a portable unit.

Honolulu-Seattle return on B767. Baggage handling and boarding staff were lovely. I was in Economy class and the seats were comfortable I managed to sleep. Flight attendants were friendly and available in the aisles food choices were delicious safety instructions were polite and clear. Lavatories were clean inflight entertainment had plenty of choice.

Sydney-Honolulu-Sydney. Pleased with the services both in the air and on the ground. The check-in staff at Sydney airport were pleasant and courteous. The meal after take-off from Sydney was ok. The outbound flight was an overnight one and an eye-shade was offered which was nice. The check-in staff were kind and helpful when checking-in for return flight at Honolulu airport. The home-bound inflight service was excellent cockpit crew for both flights were first-class. The cabin crew are sincere laid-back and easily approachable.

HNL-LAS on an A330. New aircraft in excellent condition. Paid to upgrade to a Premium seat in bulkhead row 14 which had at least 48 inches of legroom. Great IVOD offerings but limited free selections. Meal was adequate and accompanied by great cabin service throughout the flight. I have avoided Hawaiian in the past while the numerous fees have only got worse with time this was all-in-all an unexpectedly good flight.

First class from HNL-SMF. We have flown First Class several times before on this route but this flight was exceptional. The flight attendants went out of their way to make sure we were well taken care of and checked on us regularly to make sure we had whatever we needed. Hawaiian has a real asset with this crew. On the flip side I do have complaints not related to the staff of Hawaiian. I am a Premier Club member and upon rejoining this year I found out that the benefits have changed. Members and a companion were allowed two pieces of checked luggage gratis. That has now changed to only the member getting that. We used to be able to ask for an exit row and that has also changed and now you pay $25. It's difficult justifying paying $249 a year for a rest in a room at the airport and some packaged snacks.

Manila-Seattle via Honolulu and return with an additional stopover in Maui. Flights were labelled as Business Class (MNL-HNL) and First Class (HNL-SEA) though in fact there is no difference in cabin or service. All flights were on Hawaiian's elderly 767's. Do not be fooled by the winglets (which HA added to save fuel) these are old planes with interiors to match. Also do not for a moment think you will be getting anything like a Business or First Class product on a first tier airline this would be a mediocre Premium Economy product at best. The seat I would guesstimate the pitch to be around 38-40" with limited recline and in a 2-2-2 layout with only 3 rows. I am 6ft 5" and sat in 1B for all sectors this bulkhead seat has the advantage that you don't have someone reclining their head into your lap but the leg space is woefully inadequate. I had to sit at an angle with my feet into the forward galley to get at all comfortable. The AV comprised personal players that were handed out with a limited range of films and TV shows pre-loaded. Unfortunately this was the same content for all 4 long haul flights and by the end of the first flight I had already watched all that interested me. It was also awkward to use these during the meal service as there was basically nowhere to put them. Food was adequate although dry and uninspiring. The "champagne" served on take off was in fact a fairly unpleasant Prosecco and the single white wine choice with the meal was probably a hazard to the aircraft paintwork if you spilled any. As with all airplane travel the quality of the experience is relative to the price you have paid. Clearly Hawaiian are used to people upgrading into this cabin either as a frequent flyer freebie or as a $1-200 add on to the regular ticket price in which case possibly its worth it but probably not.

LAX-HNL A330 a nice new plane but very disappointing experience. Carry-on baggage size limit not enforced making those of us who paid the $25 feel like fools. Boarding time on boarding pass 45 mins ahead but boarding does not begin until 30 mins before (happened on another HA flight so assume that Hawaiian thinks passengers too stupid to get there on time) causing uncomfortable wait in undersized departure lounge. The inflight "meal" they boast about is a tasteless ham and cheese sandwich with a brownie served in a cardboard box- a "snack" at best. Flight attendants not friendly lacking any Aloha spirit. Had hoped that Hawaiian would be better.

HNL-SYD. Travelling with 4 young children and wife. Departure delayed by 2 hrs. Nice new 767 but no personal AVOD. Could not get infant seat belt for 1 yr old despite repeated request. My wife was quite worried as this has always been available when needed. Staff seemed uninterested almost unhelpful and sometimes rude. Kept to themselves gossiping in the back of the plane. Food was ok. Toilets started to break down half way through the 10 hr flight. 3 hrs out of SYD no toilets were working! A cabin announcement was made advising that passengers should refrain from using toilets especially depositing "solids". Captain advised on landing that he considered landing in Fiji but by the time pax would be deplaned it would have been about the same time to reach a working toilet. Sometimes things go wrong which is understandable but cabin crew were very poor. A memorable experience!

I am not a fussy person but I really thought this was the worst service I have ever had on an airline. Both ground staff and cabin crew were rude to me on a number of occasions about the fact that I am diabetic. I was given a hard time about my need to carry "sharps" with me even though I offered to hand them over to the cabin crew. The food wasn't very good and there were only 2 choices of meals. One was totally unsuitable for a diabetic so I asked if I could have the alternative choice reserved for me. They refused and I got stuck with the unsuitable food (because they ran out of the other choice) on each leg of my journey. My requests re the food and carrying my diabetic supplies were quite reasonable and I made them in a very polite manner and yet I was treated like a real trouble-maker. This was not what I expected from Hawaiians who I know to be very hospitable people. A huge disappointment and I would not fly willingly with them again.

Horrible experience. SEA-OGG and back and was severely harassed for trying to use my common Graco infant car seat to keep my baby safe in flight (the airline approval sticker was partially ripped off however you could clearly see it was airline approved). Once they finally said I could use it I was not allowed to use the car seat correctly (rear-facing) as they said it would not allow the person in front of it to recline their seat. Never mind that there were very many empty seats on this flight they could have moved this person to including the empty seat next to him if it had bothered him. Then was harassed because they assumed I had not purchased a seat for my infant when in fact I had and was required to show my tickets to them. Again despite having at least 8 empty seats within four rows of the seat I was in - it was a very empty flight. I fly often and have never experienced such horrible customer service.