Three years ago I was converted to a loyal Delta flyer after a period of time post-Continental merger when I was working for Hawaiian Airlines and I didn't have to pay for travel. Fast forward three years and I started wondering if maybe I should be diversifying my mileage accrual. Working for Hawaiian I had a number of great flights with them domestically and international in both cabins and I was excited to see if they were as good as I remember. This trip was a good lesson that standby travel is very different from revenue in one important way: as a non-rev, you're grateful for any seat and humbled by an upgrade; as a revenue travel (especially in first) you have the luxury to be more critical with certain expectations of service. After this trip with Hawaiian, I will gladly return my loyalty to Delta. Hawaiian is a 'nice' alternative and certainly a great option for the infrequent traveler; however, being used to the service standards of Delta - from the lounge to the seats, onboard service and meals - I felt underwhelmed by my entire experience. I certainly will not be spending my own money on Hawaiian again except for interisland flights (where there's no real choice) when I can get better service and more valuable miles from Delta. Have I mentioned Delta enough? ;P
Here are a few highlights of this flight: * Premier Lounge (complimentary for Pualani Gold and interisland/domestic first class) - a glorified overcrowded waiting room with complimentary POG (passion fruit-orange juice-guava juice mix), coffee and water
* Plumeria Lounge (complimentary for international business and $40pp for all other passengers) - completely underwhelming waiting area devoid of character with cheap red wine, vodka and rum, a soda fountain, bottled water, and bananas; there is wifi but I didn't test it out
* While at the outset the cabin appears clean and fresh, further inspection of the seats, tray table and hidden corners reveals dirt, grease and grime. Wipe down your area with the provided oshibori (wet cloth)
* Business class features leather seats in a 2x2x2 configuration. Bulkhead has excellent legroom and, while there is curvature in front of you it does not impede your space. The seats show their age - buttons must be pressed extra firmly, tray tables and television monitor need to be firmly pulled and pushed into place. Cleanliness is definitely not a Hawaiian Airlines trademark. Perhaps due to short ground times there was a lot of dirt and grime in and around the seat. That being said, the seat width is extremely comfortable and the legroom in the first row window sides is fantastic - better than any other business class I've ever experienced. The center bulkhead has restricted legroom, however, so I would definitely not choose those seats. Keep in mind that the A330 fleet is having new lie-flat business class seats installed so the issue with the seats will be moot in about a year.
* IFE - the movie selection is far from exhaustive and no where near Delta or even United. You'll probably find something to watch but keep an open mind. There is a cool mix of Asian movies if that's your thing. The TV selection is even worse - one episode of various shows but nothing that appealed me
* PDB - upon boarding, you are instantly welcomed with a refreshing cocktail of POG and sparkling wine/Prosecco. This is a Hawaiian Airlines signature cocktail and cannot be passed up. I have flown in the past and drank that cocktail nonstop from boarding to arrival.
* There is one white and red wine choice - this flight had a HandCraft Pinot Grigio or a StoneCap Merlot. Neither was terribly impressive.
* Food - a flight to the US west coast features one meal; this afternoon departure features lunch which starts with a beverage and nut mix, a salmon miso salad, and then a choice between short ribs or pumpkin ravioli. The short ribs were a bit tough and overcooked but otherwise delicious. The ravioli was amazing! The lilikoi (passion fruit) crunch cake for dessert was a let-down because it was overwhelmingly sour, although paired with my cognac it wasn't too bad.
* Service - two crew members serve the business class cabin. They were fairly attentive on this flight though each had her unique style; one was very nice, polite, and professional though she disappeared for the second half of the flight; the other was brusque and not particularly suave but was always quick to refill drinks, clear plates, and even offered my partner her crew meal because he didn't like the short ribs. Service starts from the right rear forward then left rear forward. If you are in the right hand window side seats you probably won't get your meal choice.
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Verdict
Hawaiian Airlines
5.0/10
Cabin5.0
Cabin crew5.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering5.0
Honolulu - HNL
5.9/10
Efficiency8.5
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0
Seattle - SEA
9.0/10
Efficiency8.5
Access9.0
Services9.5
Cleanliness9.0
Conclusion
Three years ago I was converted to a loyal Delta flyer. Fast forward three years and I started wondering if maybe I should be diversifying my mileage accrual. After this trip with Hawaiian, I will gladly return to my loyalty to Delta. Hawaiian is 'nice' alternative and certainly a great option for the infrequent traveler; however, being used to the service standards of Delta from the lounge to onboard service and meals, I felt underwhelmed by my entire experience. I certainly will not be spending my own money on Hawaiian again except for interisland flights. Have I mentioned Delta enough? ;P
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Thanks for this interesting report! I am a bit surprised that you would put DL ahead of HA on Hawaii West Coast routes. I was a loyal DL flyer for years (Platinum Medallion) and agree with you that DL has high service standards for a major U.S. carrier, but on Hawaii to West Coast, DL runs older planes with standard Domestic F cabins. IME DL has the least legroom in F with most planes on HI routes featuring only 37" of pitch. Compared to HA's 45" pitch, HA wins, at least comfort-wise IMO. Yes, the HA lounge is barely better than being in the concourse; I'll give you that. Thanks for sharing!
You know, I was surprised as well about my experience. I had high hopes because of my previous flights with HA as a non-rev but I really did feel let down overall. In my opinion the legroom on Hawaiian does beat Delta's in every domestic configuration (and that can really make or break it for some folks) and to some the wide body factor may be a bonus. Also, the HA seats are more padded than DL's. What I love about DL is that it's 'consistent' - great IFE (this is super important to me, don't ask me why) FAs who are pretty great on almost every flight I've had, and almost consistently on-time (I've had a couple of minor delays but the crew kept apologizing and feeding us information, I thought I was on Korean Air). HA's crew is usually pretty good but sometimes there is such a disparity - high highs and low lows.
The only other aspect for me that's a toss up is the food: Hawaiian serves what one would call an actual meal (spare ribs, pasta, etc) and it's 3 courses. I know from experience the breakfast frittata is amazing; I also know the international lunch and dinner is delicious; and the international dessert is cute (heart shaped ice cream in hard chocolate shell) and also really good. I thought the lunch on domestic HA was okay - plane food - with the dessert being the letdown. Now, on DL depending on the time of day you can get anything from an actual meal (chicken salad, ravioli I think, penne if my memory serves me right) to a snack (sliders) - all on one tray versus the 3 separate courses on HA. DL's food doesn't particularly make me excited even if it is familiar. I like the multi-course experience on HA which no other domestic carrier does; everyone else is on a single tray. But like I said, the meal situation is my only toss-up.
All this being said I would love to try the new lie-flat experience on HA! That should be a killer product across to the mainland.
Sorry, one last thing I forgot to mention which I'll add to the report - the DL app vs the HA app. Some may think this is a small difference but the DL app makes traveling so simple and easy - anything you'd want to do is in the app. HA's leaves a lot to be desired. Just getting your boarding pass takes 8 steps - it literally takes me about 5 minutes just to check in on HA. So immediately from the get go I'm having a smoother trip with DL than HA. I don't understand why DL's app is so amazing and state of the art while others feel so clunky and useless. Have you tried using the apps of the other US carriers? I open my DL and look around multiple times a day just because it's so fun. Maybe I'm weird ;)
Thanks for sharing this report! I am loyal DL flyer, but I was impressed by the photos of your trip with Hawaiian Airlines. The food looked pretty nice, and that welcome cocktail is making me thirsty! Also, great to get on a wide-body jet on a domestic flight, albeit a long domestic flight.
That HA cocktail is to die for! I once took a morning HNL LAX and drank that thing nonstop until landing. Needless to say I wasn't quite sure where I was landing but I sure was happy!
Greetings Obelau24 and thanks for sharing this flight with us. Even Hawaiian's older config seats look better than the majority of the 757s running between the mainland west coast and Hawaii. The new seats will be a nice upgrade. The meal also looks better than the US3 offerings on the route. Thanks again and I enjoyed reading your report.
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The only other aspect for me that's a toss up is the food: Hawaiian serves what one would call an actual meal (spare ribs, pasta, etc) and it's 3 courses. I know from experience the breakfast frittata is amazing; I also know the international lunch and dinner is delicious; and the international dessert is cute (heart shaped ice cream in hard chocolate shell) and also really good. I thought the lunch on domestic HA was okay - plane food - with the dessert being the letdown. Now, on DL depending on the time of day you can get anything from an actual meal (chicken salad, ravioli I think, penne if my memory serves me right) to a snack (sliders) - all on one tray versus the 3 separate courses on HA. DL's food doesn't particularly make me excited even if it is familiar. I like the multi-course experience on HA which no other domestic carrier does; everyone else is on a single tray. But like I said, the meal situation is my only toss-up.
All this being said I would love to try the new lie-flat experience on HA! That should be a killer product across to the mainland.
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