Review: Hawaiian Airlines First Class A330 Los Angeles To Honolulu

Something I've always been curious about. Why don't you bring your own content on an iPad? You always watch (mostly) bad TV shows and movies. Any method to the madness? I feel like you could try the IFE to review it, and then watch a good movie or binge a TV show of your choice.

Ben, glad to hear you had a pleasant flight on Hawaiian. As a local, my experiences with them vary greatly. I've had some great crews and some awful ones, though I usually get mediocre ones that just go through the motions. And, in my experience anyway, 50% of the flights I take with them are delayed by at least 30 minutes.

That being said, it's interesting that the agriculture form wasn't collected from you or Ford. One for is required per household, and by law, the airline isn't allowed to let passengers disembark until the forms are turned in. The purpose of the forms are to help control what enters into Hawaii, as many many plants, animals, etc. are prohibited in an effort to protect our delicate ecosystem. The backside of the form is optional, though, and is used by the government to get visitor statistics.

The forms are irritating, especially since I never seem to remember to travel with a pen, but they serve an important purpose. Oh, and regarding a previous post, you're one of the few people I know from out of state that actually likes Honolulu/Waikiki! Yes, it's a crowded big city, but there's so much more to it than that. And if you decide to come back for a longer visit, I'd love to share some local information with you.

Aloha

Seconded Neil. My iPad is a gamechanger on longhauls. Smaller footprint than a laptop for work (though I usually have my laptop anyway) and great for personal IFE. I only use the built in IFE for the flight show. Can understand though your nature of work (blog formatting and also reviews featuring IFE) you would prefer a laptop.

FYI -- if you want to put a different airline FFP # on your HA ticket and don't want to have to worry about going to the check in counter (especially for early morning departures like this one), you can also call them to add the number, which is a bit of a hassle but the agents are always friendly and I've never waited more than a minute or two on hold.

Oh, and it's also worth noting that on international flights and the long flight to JFK, they do actually offer mattress pads which are pretty comfortable, along with a much better pillow and blanket, an amenity kit, and a slightly better meal service.

The spirits selection is weak. Johnnie Walker Red Label is vile, and Koloa rum is even worse, though it is a Hawaiian product (the sad part is that there are actually good Hawaiian rums, like Ko Hana). And having only Jack Daniel's for an American whiskey is unfortunate, when the other big US airlines offer Buffalo Trace or Woodford Reserve. Even Wild Turkey on Southwest is way better.

It seems like whoever designed this spirits menu doesn't actually like distilled spirits, especially aged brown spirits.

@lucky it may just be the perspective, but is there a reason that the Jin Air 777 wing has such a weird angle? It appears to be pointing upward at 30+ degrees.

The food didnt look that bad. I like the array of fruit on their flights. Thanks for posting this. Defly worth considering flying them in F using their miles, instead of a flight on United or Southwest.

The pillow and blanket are what's used in international business-class, or at least they were on my last Hawaiian international business-class flight in late 2015. Very disappointing. I don't know why Hawaiian didn't go with a more upscale product, especially for the longer international flights to/from Asia.

Loved the safety video. Cute, amusing, fun, and well done. Excellent TR! Thanks!

Strange that the forms were never collected. In many many trips to Hawai'i, never had that happen.

So @Lucky, what did you do regarding the window shade? I am with you on window shades, especially on a daytime flight.

Flew them 6 months ago on an early morning flight from HNL to BNE and thought the service was good early in the flight and not so good later on. No amenity kit was offered and the prosecco was 4th rate at best. The pre-arrival meal was unrecognizable as food.

@Kyle The forms do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to protect Hawaii's fragile ecosystem. Many trees have died needlessly to produce these forms because the state lacks an effective enforcement and inspection system. There is no penalty for failing to complete the form and no accountability regarding who completed it. And those amnesty bins at the airports are only there to scare first-time visitors.

Ironically, it's more difficult to leave the Islands with an apple purchased at Costco which acquired it from California in the first place.

Thanks for the review.

Although having done first class SYD-HNL a couple of times with the old seating but mostly we've flown extra comfort, my wife & I are flying SYD-HNL-JFK-HNL-SYD in December and are looking forward to flying in the new first class seating.

Can the IFE holder take a regular iPad or only the devices being provided?

lucky in the paragraph about boarding you write “everybody boarded thru the same boarding plane” which I believe should be “lane”

@ MACH81 -- Whopos, thank you!

Solar powered Lucky didnt get discharged on this flight due to the lack of sunlight 🙂 🙂 LOLOLOL
Nice to see you take a break though. All the best

In mid October I flew Hawaiian between Haneda and Honolulu. This was a red eye flight and I was very impressed with the first class cabin. Simple but refreshing design; comfortable seats with plenty room; a comfortable mattress pad, a large and comfy comforter a small but comfortable pillow that slips over the seat to hold in place. What impressed me the most was the flight attendants. They were all phenomenal. Extremely friendly and constantly looking out for client needs. The true Aloha and Ohana spirit. In my opinion, they beat the major Asian carriers in service and all the US carriers should take lessons from them. This going to be my go airline for this route from now on.

Loved reading your HA review. My husband and I fly HA as often as we can because we enjoy the notion that our vacation begins the moment we step foot on the airplane. Glad you mentioned the Hawaiian music being played as we both love that specific touch and ambience. We fly again to HI on 4Nov and can't wait! Happy to report we've never experienced an unpleasant flight on HA and even with so many other carriers offering service to HI, we always try to book HA. They have won our repeat business.

HI, do you know if this first class product exists on PHX to HNL route, or if not, when/if it will? We fly PHX to HNL in late December. Hope it's lie flat...

@ben (or anyone): Any insight as to differences between the F seats themselves on the A330s vs B767? SeatGuru indicates the seats on the B767 are a bit more narrow with less pitch than on the A330.

Love the seat design, especially from behind. Somehow simple but fresh.

To watch

https://leehamnews.com/2018/02/20/boeing-displaces-airbus-hawaiian-wins-787-9-deal-airline-cancels-a330-800-order/

Confirmed

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boeing-787-9-dreamliner-to-join-hawaiian-airlines-fleet-300609344.html

Great Review.
You probably already know this however, you can your frequent flyer details updated for another carrier over the phone.
This way you can spare some time at check-in.

Cheers.