Hawaiian Airlines

MNL-SEA and LAS-MNL. Overall a disappointing experience and we won't make the mistake of booking it again. It was really like taking a domestic US flight across the Pacific when there are so many options on international airlines. The service amenities and aircraft are not comparable. Manila check-in was ok but they had problems with non-working printers and were unable to print all of our boarding passes (they told us to just pick up the last one in HNL because they couldn't figure it out). We boarded the 20+ year-old 767 with overhead bins sized from the 80's no IFE and ageing cabin. The flight attendants all appeared to be senior and had a lot of attitude. We overheard one flight attendant insult an elderly passenger behind her back because the passenger requested to change her new blanket which had hairs on it. The mocking and poor attitude of flight attendants which other reviewers below referred to was true on our flight. To watch movies they rented personal DVD players for $15 per segment. With a change of plane in HNL that meant 4 segments round-trip or $60 per person to watch movies. When we inquired if there was a seafood option (the only choices were chicken and pork) the flight attendant replied they used to have special meals but no longer offer them. On the return flight from LAS we stopped over in HNL for a night but were charged baggage fees for that segment because it was technically a domestic flight - $25 per bag. Finally we took off from HNL-MNL and weren't in the air for 30 minutes when the captain announced a faulty generator requiring us to return to HNL (again a 20+ year-old 767). However we had to burn fuel first so we flew in circles at 7000 ft for 4 hours with the landing gear and flaps fully extended - an uncomfortable ride. The flight attendants were plain combative with understandably worried and upset passengers. Six hours later we landed in HNL again. They arranged another plane with a new crew and we arrived in MNL 8 hours late. To make matters worse they left behind baggage of at least 50 passengers in HNL so there was an ugly queue of irate passengers at 2:30 am after an 8 hour delay. We received our luggage two days later. We wrote a letter to Hawaiian but they did not respond. All in all if we had flown on CX or KE or OZ via HKG or SEL to the mainland we could've avoided a tremendous amount of hassle (eg. having to collect your bags and check-in again in HNL) being nickel and dimed (eg. luggage fees and DVD rental fees) poor service (being insulted by flight attendant) and delays from old faulty aircraft. I should also mention I felt bad for the business class passengers who paid $2000+ for their seats. The seats in business class are domestic US first class seats - very little recline and leg room. You have many choices and until Hawaiian actually starts caring about their transpacific passengers we are not flying them again.

First Class LAX to HNL-LIH. First class was mediocre. The first class cabin was quite crowded seats weren't that large. Nothing was electric on the seat an older manual style. The entertainment consisted of small video units passed out to each passenger -entertainment choice was terrible. The food was ok drinks were fine. The staff was exceptionally nice and the cabin was clean. It was all quite mundane and functional.

Honolulu to Manila. They made us wait for hours outside the boarding area by the hallway with no seats- in Honolulu. They only let us in the boarding area room when it was time for us to board the plane. In Manila they only have 3-people checking in. It took me 2.5 hours to get checked in. There were a lot of empty seats at the back and they would not let any of us transfer since they are all reserved for their attendants - one whole row for each attendant. It doesn't make any sense - we were all cramped in the forward cabin and every time I use the bathrooms at the back - these reserved seats were not used by the attendants. I overheard the attendants congregating at the back making fun of the Filipino passengers - they copied their strong accents and made fun of their requests. I thought that this was so unprofessional. I guess because the fare is cheaper you get cheaper service. The only thing I like about the flight is its direct flight - the schedule is so convenient. Food is average nothing special.

SYD-HNL-SYD on B767-300. Very pleasant flight with good service entertainment and food. Comfortable seats with very good leg room. Cabin crew polite and friendly. Cabin kept clean. Plenty of water offered during flight.

SJC-HNL-LIH. I booked our flight 3 months in advance - only to find a month later that the company offered a Hawaiian Plus fare for $200 per ticket cheaper than the ones I had purchased. This Plus fare included 2 free checked bags as well! The Hawaiian Plus fare was not even offered at the time I made the reservation. The checked baggage for our trip will cost an additional $100! When talking to customer service and asking that our bag fee be waived I was told by the service representative and supervisor that they could not do this. It is amazing that the two service representative did not recognize how the airline "Policy" makes little sense. Future travel on this airline is highly doubtful. The trip was to celebrate my wife 50th birthday and all I can do cross my fingers and hope the rest of the experience with Hawaii will be positive.