In February 2024, Hawaiian Airlines introduced a new premium ground experience at its hub, Honolulu Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL). This is a combination of an airport VIP service, plus an exclusive lounge, and it’s open to all Hawaiian Airlines passengers… at a steep cost.
Well, unfortunately just a year after it was launched, this service will be discontinued as of March 14, 2025, as flagged by Zach Griff. Let’s cover the basics of the current service, and then discuss the closure.
In this post:
Hawaiian Airlines’ Premium Airport Service
Hawaiian Airlines currently offers Premium Airport Service (yes, that’s the name — not very creative!), intended to make the journey through Honolulu Airport easier for anyone who is willing to pay. This service can be booked for arriving, departing, or connecting passengers, and starts at $500 per couple.
For those departing from Honolulu Airport, the service includes the following:
- Pre-arrival check-in on your behalf
- Curbside greeting by your host, whether arriving at the terminal or rental car facility
- Priority baggage handling
- Expedited queuing through TSA
- Access to Apt. 1929
- Private escort to your gate (for flights departing from Terminal 2, private driver service provided)
- Option to board the aircraft first
For those arriving at Honolulu Airport, the service includes the following:
- Priority baggage handling
- Aircraft door greeting by your host
- Assistance with carry-on bags
- Premium lei greeting
- Coordination with transportation
- Private escort to transportation (for flights arriving at Terminal 2 or guests with a rental car reservation, private driver service provided)
- Baggage delivery to your final Oahu location
For those connecting at Honolulu Airport, the service includes the following:
- Priority baggage handling
- Aircraft door greeting by your host
- Assistance with carry-on bags
- Private driver service within the airport facility for guests arriving at Terminal 2
- Premium lei greeting for guests with a final destination in Hawaii
- Access to Apt. 1929
- Option to board the aircraft first
While I’ll talk more about Apt. 1929 in a second, the actual ground experience otherwise sounds comparable to some of the VIP services offered by the “big three” US carriers, like American Five Star Service or Delta VIP Select. I think the one thing that stands out is the baggage delivery to the final Oahu destination that’s offered as part of the arrivals experience.
Hawaiian Airlines’ exclusive Apt. 1929 lounge
As part of Hawaiian Airlines’ premium ground experience, the airline has Apt. 1929, which is a special lounge (1929 is the year Hawaiian Airlines was founded).
The lounge is located in Terminal 1 near the Plumeria Lounge, and it can accommodate up to 24 guests at a time. This is by far the carrier’s most exclusive lounge, and it offers everything from the ability to pre-order meals, to a curated liquor menu by James Beard Award winning bar Leather Apron, to a shower to freshen up.
In terms of design, the lounge doesn’t look that exciting, though it has both an indoor and outdoor seating area. I think the main selling point here is having a private and exclusive place to relax, plus the food and drink options.
Hawaiian Airlines is discontinuing this service
As of March 14, 2025, Hawaiian Airlines will be discontinuing its Premium Airport Service and Apt. 1929 concept. We don’t know anything about future plans beyond that, other than the airline explaining that “we will sunset our Premium Airport Service on March 14 to focus on delivering an elevated lounge strategy.”
I’d assume that this decision was made centrally by Alaska Air Group, given that the company has acquired Hawaiian. We know that Hawaiian is planning on opening a new proper lounge in Honolulu, given the carrier’s otherwise awful lounge situation. However, that lounge won’t open until 2027, so that’s at least a couple of years from becoming a reality.
So one wonders what the motivation is for the current setup closing:
- Has it just not proven popular with guests, in the way the company was hoping?
- Does Hawaiian want to repurpose the Apt. 1929 space, and turn it into something that’s more widely useful, with higher capacity?
- Will the space of Apt. 1929 be used for the new lounge space that’s being developed?
Honestly, if this concept didn’t work due to lack of demand, then I’d be kind of surprised. Like all of the uber-VIP services offered by airlines, I don’t think anyone actually “needs” this, but rather it’s for people who have bottomless pockets, people who are celebrating a special occasion and want to splurge, or people who value peace of mind of being able to simplify the airport experience. And I think that describes a lot of people traveling to Hawaii.
Hawaiian Airlines’ Plumeria Lounge is kind of awful, so being able to get access to a decent lounge is worth something in and of itself, assuming you plan to spend some time at the airport.
Bottom line
In early 2024, Hawaiian Airlines introduced a new Premium Airport Service, available on departure, arrival, or for connecting passengers. This service even includes access to an exclusive lounge, named Apt. 1929.
Just a year later, the airline has announced plans to discontinue both the service and the lounge as of March 14, 2025. It’s not entirely clear what the motivation is for this ending so quickly, so I guess we’ll mark this as “developing” for now.
What do you make of Hawaiian Airlines ending its Premium Airport Service?
Can you use this service when on AS metal? I have a flight coming up to HNL on AS and would love to see this before it’s gone
The marketing world is totally out of control. A "premium lei service"??? As opposed to a standard lei service? Do the people who come up with this stuff actually take themselves seriously?
I remember during Covid (2021), Andrew Harrison congratulated himself for not installing lie-flat business class seats on Alaska metal. It's always been a decision that I've factored in when *not* taking them from SFO to JFK or SFO to HNL.
While they are publicly excited about international expansion and taking over Hawaiian's fleet, I always sense they're going to be a little backwater when it comes to premium products. Cutting the only decent lounge in...
I remember during Covid (2021), Andrew Harrison congratulated himself for not installing lie-flat business class seats on Alaska metal. It's always been a decision that I've factored in when *not* taking them from SFO to JFK or SFO to HNL.
While they are publicly excited about international expansion and taking over Hawaiian's fleet, I always sense they're going to be a little backwater when it comes to premium products. Cutting the only decent lounge in HNL further contributes to that concern, at least in my book.
What exactly was the cost, Ben ? you had mentioned that the service is available " at a steep cost ".
He said it "starts at $500 per couple" (which makes me wonder where it ends.)
I am curious how they expected to make money off of that. since the space is private, only one party can use it at a time. Maybe they can book 3-4 per day.
I believe I read somewhere that each room can accommodate up to 8 people. So, there must be 3 rooms in this space.