Earlier in the month I took a trip to Honolulu and back on Hawaiian Airlines. They operate Austin – Honolulu non-stop three days a week, and since I hadn’t flown Hawaiian in a year and a half it seemed worth passing along some observations.
I booked award travel in one direction: Virgin charges 40,000 points each way for Hawaiian first class on the route, and I had a stash of Virgin’s miles from when Bilt offered a 150% transfer bonus (so 16,000 Bilt points turned into 40,000 Virgin which covered the flight). There was availability for 5 when I booked.
The return flight, on a Saturday night, didn’t have first class award space available but had tons of upgrade availability – so I bought sub-$300 one-way tickets and transferred points into HawaiianMiles from American Express Membership Rewards instantly to confirm the upgrade by phone. There was saver upgrade inventory available for four on the flight I was booking.
- First class saver awards book into D inventory.
- First class saver upgrades book into A inventory.
- First class additional upgrade inventory is the P bucket.
I searched the space at subscription service ExpertFlyer.com. I won a lifetime subscription about 8 years ago in a charity auction, so I more than got my $500 in raffle tickets paid back.
Here are 10 observations about the trip on Hawaiian:
- Hawaiian Airlines has good seats.. compared to U.S. airline narrowbodies on the route. Their new Boeing 787s are competitive with the widebodies other airlines fly but they have a number of Airbus A330s also. These wouldn’t be great business class products to Europe or Asia, and they aren’t super padded (but they give you bedding), however they’re fully flat and a great leisure seat since at 2-2-2 you’re right next to the person you are probably traveling with.
- Food is mediocre though that’s true on competitors, too. I didn’t each much on board in either direction on my latest trip, and that was true the last time I flew them as well. Chicken was flavorful but tough to cut. Alaska Airlines may be the carrier that most consistently does better, so an improvement here is something to look forward to if Alaska’s acquisition of Hawaiian goes through.
- There are two levels of upgrade seats. I find that Hawaiian award availability from the West Coast is reasonably good, at least better than other airlines between the mainland and Hawaii. Their upgrade space is better, still. You can transfer American Express points to Hawaiian, and sometimes with a bonus.
What’s really special – that competitors do not offer – is two levels of upgrade award. For Austin – Honolulu it’s 25,000 at the saver upgrade level each way and 50,000 for extra availability and I’ve found really good availability both in West Coast markets and in underbooked Austin.
- I love their amenity kits with bags that are nice enough, but an approach to the products that’s a flight attendant bringing around a basket of items for you to take what you wish. ANA used to do this years ago in long haul first class. Want extra lip balm? Take a couple.
- Hawaiian provides lounge access in Honolulu for mainland first class flights. The lounges are weak. Hawaiian’s Plumeria lounge is considered better (!) than their Premier lounge, and is offered to international business class customers whereas Premier is granted to domestic first. And it’s also a Priority Pass lounge. A line, though.. for this?
People are standing in line to get into this lounge.
Make it make sense. pic.twitter.com/8nBRY3Zm5y
— gary leff (@garyleff) August 11, 2024
- There’s a water bottle at your seat which is also very Alaska, though you’ll also be offered a predeparture beverage.
- You’re going to start drinking POG juice. You’re on Hawaiian, you might as well submit to the concoction of Passionfruit, Orange, and Guava – created 53 years ago by a food consultant working for Haleakala Dairy on Maui.
- They offer tablets for inflight entertainment which I suppose aligns well with Alaska. Tablets don’t hold as much content as a central server broadcasting wirelessly throughout the cabin. But the A330 seats have a built-in holder for them, and they give you earphones as well.
- Between services there are chips which ordinarily gets a shrug, but Maui onion chips are addicting.
- Starlink wifi is amazing. I didn’t have it on my outbound flight. The first week of August only 6 out of 24 Airbus A330s had been outfitted with it. It was available on the way back, and at that point twice had many had already been kitted. It only takes an overnight to do a plane.
Starlink is faster than satellite wifi on other carriers, but most importantly is there’s seemingly no latency. The satellites are in lower orbit and signals just have less distance to travel.
I’m grateful that Hawaiian Airlines operates this flight. A couple of years ago I wondered whether it would last, but so far it has. It’s super convenient, offers a good product considering I’m flying from the middle of the country and not the East Coast, and comes at a value compared to what American and others charge using points for their flat seats from the mainland. With plenty of Virgin points, and how easy those are to come by, I’ll happily book this again.
While I’m generally positive on Alaska Airlines acquiring Hawaiian (and how that opens up more flights to Hawaii and inter-island connections as well to oneworld flyers), the one thing I’ll miss is Hawaiian’s approach to revenue management and upgrades where there’s tremendous space available if you’re willing to spend miles at a premium for it – which can still be a value compared to headline pricing for the forward cabin.
The food … Ugh .
Hawaiian has had awful food and awful wine for years. Even in its international business-class. How do you not offer champagne at least internationally?
Good assessment Gary! I would add that another unique aspect to Hawaiian is they are the only airline that you feel like you are in Hawaii when you board rather than have to wait till you land The big question mark in the merger will be if Alaska can keep that alive, my feeling is it’s a powerful marketing advantage…..Alaska seems sincere in recognizing this, we’ll see.
As to the above comments, two things the merger should bring will be Alaska’s superior technology (website) and better food! No secret I think the merger will create an airline better than a stand alone Alaska or Hawaiian and the naysayers are just that…they bring up some valid points but ultimately not the reality of the situation.
I was sure your article was going to be:
10 Reasons Not to Purchase Hawaiian Airlines First Class
The *only* benefit is (if you’re flying A330) it’s a lay-flat seat.
The pricing is absurd on most routes (up to 10x the cost of economy!) and almost always significantly more expensive then AA/DL/UA, the food is truly terrible, their first class service is spotty at best, the alcoholic drink offerings are subpar and the IFE is a joke (they give you a tablet to watch….in 2024?!?)
Their upcoming 787 hard product looks much better, but it will take many years before it replaces the A330 routes to/from NY & Boston.
I have to question the judgment of the person who selected the breakfasts on the second First Class meal listed above. Normally I’d expect that one of the choices would be a non-meat choice — yet both of the choices for breakfast not only include meat, but it’s the exact same meat (Portuguese sausage) for both of them.
What’s available for the amenity kits? Do they include slippers?
In first, the A330’s are worn out. 787’s are nice – as they are new. I thought the seats on the 787 were adequate for business class. Is AS re-visiting this and going to place another seat type for the 787 in business class, and a new seat for premium class?
Lounges stink – however, the new Apt. 1929 lounge and service compare to AA’s Five Star/Flagship. Food is not quite there – but has potential under AS and that’s if AS elects to continue Apt. 1929.
Anybody rushing to make speculative transfers with their AMEX Membership Rewards points over to HA with the hope they transfer 1:1 to AS Mileage Plan? Last day is today, Saturday, August 31, 2024.
SO_CAL_RETAIL_SLUT
One thing to know about Hawaiian first class:
It sucks
But Gary, where are the doors?
Please explain why EVERY plane on EVERY airline isn’t equipped with Starlink immediately (within Starlink’s service area, that is) if it only takes one night to outfit an aircraft and it’s better than current aircraft satellite wifi?!?! This needs to happen now, lol!
Not everyone enjoys Hawaiian style food. I wish they would offer a 3rd entree of basic beef or chicken.
I’m appalled at the negative comments re Hawaiian Airlines. I’ve flown their FC a few times and thought the food was quite good. It’s not a 5 star restaurant but better than UA/DL to/from Hawaii. The beverage offerings on the menu presented in the article looked pretty amazing and such a large selection. The amenity kit and all the items were very generous. Also ,I’ve found the HA flight attendants to be very attentive vs UA/DL whose attitudes enter into their work habits. The comments seem to have come from super rich misogonist men who expect to be pampered and treated like royalty.
@Mary Courtheyn: The wine selection is awful. And the meat-heavy menu, which hasn’t really changed in several years, is below what you expect.
@Mary Courtheyn: I’m not a “misogonist man” – but nonetheless, the food onboard is fine. Anymore, I don’t expect food to be of decent or restaurant quality from any domestic airline in first or business, except for Alaska – and that’s only on their long haul flights.
All airlines, including HA have decimated food service budgets. Always some excuse – we’re broke/bankrupt, fuel costs are too high, some work group is on strike – can’t get the food provisioned and boarded, 9/11, mergers, etc.
What happened to the days when airlines promoted/advertised their onboard food service offerings, and owned/operated their own flight kitchens? Back in the day, regardless of how much you disliked the ol’ red tail, NWA’s Regal Imperial and Executive Class flights offered great meal service! Ahh…ears of deregulation put an to that as consumers want Spirit-type fares and all the amenities that go with first class…lol
If AA and UA through their respective Flagship and Polaris food offerings could replicate that onboard, it would be a welcome improvement. I even have hope that HA will re-work the food options for their Apt. 1929 service. If they do, and AS chooses to keep it, HA/AS will have a very competitive product. Once AS takes over, the HA lounges should see an improvement to the food/snack offerings and a few pancake machines thrown in!
SO_CAL_RETAIL_SLUT
Looks better than Lufthansa first class!