Review: American Airlines Admirals Club Honolulu Airport

"step up from a standard Admirals Club, at least in terms of the food"

for real? what food do the other clubs serve???

You are so right about HNL. WAY past it's prime BUT super friendly TSA.

That's too bad that the WiFi in the lounge was so terrible. From what I recall, there is no free WiFi at HNL.

I have been to two JAL Sakura lounges in the US, the one at SFO and the one at JFK (including the First Class lounge) and was not impressed by either one very much. Granted, the JFK lounge is currently being renovated (which was badly needed) so I cannot report on what it will be like in the future. I would say that the food offerings were marginally better at the US Sakura lounges than at Admirals clubs, but would definitely not rush to the airport to spend time at either one. I will say even the JL F lounge at NRT did not wow me in terms of food selection. Although onboard, JL is a class act all the way!

I never knew this lounge existed! Anything is better than the horrible UA lounge at HNL. The Delta SkyClub at HNL is OK, and it has super-friendly agents. Next time I'm in HNL, I will have to check out the AA lounge!

Wow, thats the most crowded ive seen it.
And the front desk women are awesome, they all know my wife and I by name!

You should do a ranking of the Top 5/10 Best/Worst Admirals Clubs in the US/World. I'd vote the one at DEN #1, although I still can't figure out why they even have it as it's always so quiet and uncrowded. SFO is pretty nice. GRU is the worst. And its not even close. Would be interested to hear your take.

@EthaninSF The food at the JL F Lounge didn't impress you? You must be really tough to please 🙂

They've got a wide selection, the beef curry is excellent, and they have make to order sushi. All good things to me.

Any showers? If not, where can I get a shower at HNL?

I think more than anything these shared lounge situations paint a very different picture/departure from other alliances. AA has shared lounges in several cities like HNL, DEN, SAN, PHL (previously with BA), and yet the other alliances have not capitalized on this opportunity. AA has been very smart in this respect IMO.

@ Mason -- Nope, no showers. Maybe a more frequent passenger at HNL could chime in about where to get a shower there.

Ben you did not talk about the most fascinating thing abt AC HNL. The crapper!

I kid not... it's a toilet from the future!! 15 button panel next to the heated cushioned seat, controlling the pressure/angle/temperature for water jets and what not. I bet there was PS4 activation switch in there somewhere....

Amused that Air New Zealand get their logo on the sign for their one flight a day operated with the highly unsuitable Boeing 767 aircraft.

rick already beat me to it, but Lucky, you missed out on your favorite amenity if you didn't use the bathrooms. They have the Toto Japanese seats with heated seats and the little water jets. Even better is that they are outside the club and thus available to the public who know where to look.

@ rick -- Hah, (almost) sad I missed it!

I LOVED the Sakura lounge!! I think I made and ate like 30 packs of instant noodles and drank a ton of drinks. I ate the other things too but the noodles and drinks were definitely my favorites. Even slipped a couple packs of those noodles into my bag... 😉 Way better than American Airlines' other lounges, IMO. I haven't tried the food in the updated United Club lounges.

Lucky, just there for the third time and you are indeed easy to please as my wife and I think that this is one of the worst clubs we have visited. We were connecting from Maui to Dallas and arrived at 8:00pm and all of the wonderful food was gone, the alcohol selection certainly not up to even a modicum of class and yes the WiFi was almost unusable. Sorry to disagree with you on this one. I would pass if there was a choice.

I went to this lounge for the first time this past weekend and enjoyed my expereince. Since my UA flights I take out of HNL depart in the evening, if you go this lounge by about 630p, it is completely dead. So it's quiet and serene. This is vs. the United Club in the evening when it is packed. I will go here from now on when I transit HNL in the evening. Their chicken noodle soup and breads are delicious.

Hey Ben,

One can never hope for much from a U.S. lounge, so I count my blessings with the Admirals/Sakura combination at HNL. The people are awesome. One lady particular, Tempe, is the absolute sweetest. I have never flown AA or JL, but no matter which airline's boarding pass I show, I'm treated well.

The food spread isn't too extensive, but quite qood for a U.S. lounge. The ministrone soup is delicious. And Ben, those are buns. 🙂

In terms of the Wi-Fi, I must have gotten lucky on the occasions that I was there. The speed was good enough for me to use VPN and for my teenager to watch videos. As far as airport-wide Internet, the State of Hawaii (which operates the airport) is waiting for the contract with the current vendor to expire sometime this year before implementing free wireless.

@Bob - Missed the made to order sushi (maybe it was the jet lag 🙂 ). The curry was good both in the air and on the ground. I just think that while the F lounge in NRT was nice (and certainly better than anything in the US), it is not at the top of the list of the best F lounges in the world. I actually thought the business class lounge at NRT was more impressive looking than the F lounge (and food seemed to be very similar).

Only Bud and Miller Lite? Pretty pathetic beer selection.

Agree with previous commenter that rated Admiral's Club at DEN highly. Super-friendly agents and decent food and drinks on offer. I would disagree, however, with the characterization it doesn't get crowded. When you get closer to the 18:40 BA departure, it gets pretty busy.

I'm w/ Isbuffs and no Gin pictured??? early AM & I'm fine with the Baileys for my coffee. but who wants an early AM departure from paradise?

@Bill n Do... The reason that gin isn't pictured is because it isn't there. Disappointing indeed.

I was near that place about 8 hrs ago... I met the most friendly TSA officer everlll

Hi Lucky,
I have an itinerary coming up with AA in F which looks like this: HNL (evening day 1) - LAX (morning day 2) - MIA (afternoon day 2) - CLO (evening day 2).
As far as I understand the lounge access policy, I should have access because of my international segment. Do you have any experience if I might be denied Access at HNL because the itinerary starts the previous night?
Thanks for your input!

@ Patrick -- Technically the rule is same-day travel, but the might make an exception given you basically have a red-eye before your international segment. The agents at the HNL Club are super nice, so it's worth asking.

I don't understand the friendly TSA comments. I go at least once per year and I haven't noticed particularly friendly TSA agents, compared to say PHX or SEA. The last time I was in HNL, I was flying first which allowed me to use the Gold Line. When I asked the agent where the entrance for the Gold Line was, he said grumpily, "Just use the REGULAR line. The Gold Line isn't any faster." I don't appreciate the HNL TSA agents being lazy and flat out lying to me. I found the Gold Line myself and it saved me at least 30 minutes in line (in the outdated, humid open air terminal).

Hello, Would I be able to access this lounge with a 30 day admirals club pass? Also would my wife be able to come with me as immediate family?

While present HNL ADM Club "OK," it was much better when paired with the Qantas Lounge, which included showers.

Just an FYI as of Nov. 2019 you won’t be able to get in with a Hawaiian Airlines flight.