Your preferred airline to HNL?

Timothy02359 · Feb 21, 2017

We are planning our 1st trip to Aulani for late summer early fall and would like to know which airlines you prefer when flying there. We will be flying out of Boston and may break the bank and go 1st class or business because its such a long flight. Thanks!

buffettgirl · Feb 22, 2017

Timothy02359 said:
We are planning our 1st trip to Aulani for late summer early fall and would like to know which airlines you prefer when flying there. We will be flying out of Boston and may break the bank and go 1st class or business because its such a long flight. Thanks!

I like Delta. Delta to Atl then to HNL is my favorite flight. the ATL to HNL is a long flight, but the plane is huge and it's just a nice comfortable flight (movies in the seats, etc). My next favorite is Bos to Minneapolis and then to HNL. Same huge plane. Sometimes I'll do delta comfort, but I've never really thought I needed first class (though, I've never flown first class, and I guess I"m happy not to know hahaha) Also, on the big flight, the plane is usually 2 /4 /2 seats and we like that because it's generally my son and I flying back and forth alone and we feel like we have more room without someone next to us the whole way.

My son and I are flying in a few weeks (HNL to BOS) and those were my first picks (and the cheapest flights). I think I have atl flying to boston and MSP flying home.
the ATL to HNL and MSP to HNL are both Airbus 330

Timothy02359 · Feb 22, 2017

Thanks, I`m going to check out the delta comfort seats. My wife gets motion sick sometimes on just the couple hour flight to MCO so I figured if I got extra room It may make it more enjoyable for her on the HNL flight. I think the Minneapolis stop would be a good stop just to get off and walk around for a bit.

alldiz · Feb 22, 2017

Lots of people here like Hawaiin air. That is what I booked. I am stopping in Disneyland so I wound up booking Jet blue to LA from NY. I am flying Hawaiian Air from LA to HNL.

and then a direct flight to Ny from Honolulu.
All my flights since I booked have gone up. I booked early Jan.
Happy planning
Kerri

nkereina · Feb 22, 2017

buffettgirl said:
Delta to Atl then to HNL is my favorite flight. the ATL to HNL is a long flight, but the plane is huge and it's just a nice comfortable flight (movies in the seats, etc)

This was what we flew in September, in Coach class, and it was wonderful! Newer plane and it has 2-4-2 seat configurations, so DH and I had our own space. They provided pillows and blankets for everyone regardless of fare class, and everyone also got a free meal and alcohol, regardless of fare class. There were hundreds of movies and TV shows, current and popular ones, to choose from. I never even took out my iPad. From Atlanta to HNL was about 8-8.5 hours. Went by much faster than I was anticipating.

Amw1064 · Feb 22, 2017

Our first trip was out of Florida on American and it was awful. Last year we took Delta and it was great. Doing Delta again this summer.

CateinPhoenix · Feb 22, 2017

We love taking Hawaiian out of LA. Just gets you in the "Hawaii" frame of mind right off the bat!

DisneyWorldbuff · Feb 22, 2017

We flew United to/from Denver. It was awful. I'm sure the first class was lovely but even in Economy "plus" it was so tight and uncomfortable. They reconfigured the planes to a 3-4-3 seating arrangement to cram more flimsy seats in. No in seat entertainment, just a tablet holder. Seats were so narrow and thin it was very uncomfortable. I have heard good things about Delta, but cannot recommend United.

happymommy · Feb 22, 2017

If you want lie flat seats in first class, our experience has been HNL-DFW (connecting there) on American is good (the return flight is always a redeye, so lie flat seats are nicer to try to sleep - it's what I have booked for our next trip this summer).

Also first class on Delta connecting through ATL. The ATL-HNL segment has the lie flat seats as well.

I believe the Dulles to HNL on United also has lie flat seats, so it would be a short flight from Boston to IAD.

Going over TO Honolulu, I find comfort plus or whatever the airlines call them is fine, but returning with lie flat is the most comfortable way to go.

kdonnel · Feb 22, 2017

The cheapest for the dates we are traveling.

jtkboston · Feb 22, 2017

We flew SYR-JFK-HNL (JetBlue connecting to Hawaiian) and reverse, it was fine in economy except for the red-eye being brutal. Normally we fly out of BOS, but in-laws are in SYR and that made sense for other reasons before/after Aulani.

Next time we go we'll stop in California for a day on the way back, so we can avoid red-eyes. Planning something like BOS-XXX-HNL, then on the Friday return HNL-SFO or LAX (afternoon HNL departure, arrive before midnight in California), then spend the following Saturday in SFO/LAX, then fly Sunday to BOS (morning departure, early evening arrival).

happymommy · Feb 22, 2017

jtkboston said:
We flew SYR-JFK-HNL (JetBlue connecting to Hawaiian) and reverse, it was fine in economy except for the red-eye being brutal. Normally we fly out of BOS, but in-laws are in SYR and that made sense for other reasons before/after Aulani.

Next time we go we'll stop in California for a day on the way back, so we can avoid red-eyes. Planning something like BOS-XXX-HNL, then on the Friday return HNL-SFO or LAX (afternoon HNL departure, arrive before midnight in California), then spend the following Saturday in SFO/LAX, then fly Sunday to BOS (morning departure, early evening arrival).

I've tossed around the idea of stopping in California on the way home several times, but we're always ready to just get home (or at least, the family is). It would be a nice way to do it though!

ktlm · Feb 22, 2017

I think any of your majors can have good flights and bad flights and good days and bad days. We flew to HNL on American last year and had a great experience. We planned to nap on the way there, but we got on a plane that had individual screens and a good selection of free movies, and we all ended up watching movies the whole way. We had no travel issues at all- everything was on time and good flights.

Timothy02359 · Feb 22, 2017

DisneyWorldbuff said:
We flew United to/from Denver. It was awful. I'm sure the first class was lovely but even in Economy "plus" it was so tight and uncomfortable. They reconfigured the planes to a 3-4-3 seating arrangement to cram more flimsy seats in. No in seat entertainment, just a tablet holder. Seats were so narrow and thin it was very uncomfortable. I have heard good things about Delta, but cannot recommend United.

I have never heard anything good about United.

KBinCO · Feb 22, 2017

We just flew Hawaiian and enjoyed it. We got ourselves to the west coast from Denver on SWA points and then flew for a reasonable $420/ticket from the SF area and got meals and booze included on the flight. We met people who'd flown from the east coast on United and weren't given any food.

OKW Lover · Feb 22, 2017

We fly Delta a lot. The flight from ATL to HNL on the A330-300 is a great flight in first class. Have done it a couple of times now and it really makes the 10 hours "fly" (sorry, couldn't resist). You leave ATL about 11:00 am and get to HNL around 3:00 pm, except its 6 hours time change as well. Very nice meal, lots of selections on the in-flight entertainment, and the lay-flat seats are very comfortable.

Lain · Feb 22, 2017

KBinCO said:
We just flew Hawaiian and enjoyed it. We got ourselves to the west coast from Denver on SWA points and then flew for a reasonable $420/ticket from the SF area and got meals and booze included on the flight. We met people who'd flown from the east coast on United and weren't given any food.

OKW Lover said:
We fly Delta a lot. The flight from ATL to HNL on the A330-300 is a great flight in first class. Have done it a couple of times now and it really makes the 10 hours "fly" (sorry, couldn't resist). You leave ATL about 11:00 am and get to HNL around 3:00 pm, except its 6 hours time change as well. Very nice meal, lots of selections on the in-flight entertainment, and the lay-flat seats are very comfortable.

Basically, these two are the major reasons Hawaiian Airlines is our preferred carrier to Hawaii.

Flying Hawaiian may complicate your itinerary since there's no service out of Boston. You could fly another airline to JFK or to one of Hawaiian's western US destinations to connect with a Hawaiian flight that'll take you to Hawaii.

When comparing ticket prices, consider that Hawaiian is pretty much the only domestic airline that still feeds you a free (inclusive), proper hot meal. In our experience, from SFO to HNL, Hawaiian also offers two complimentary beverage services (including POG/Passion Orange Guava!) and an alcoholic drinks cart.

Hawaiian flies pretty new Airbus A330s, and the seats and cabin (even in coach) are quite comfortable. Hawaiian has entertainment screens behind each seat with a variety of free programming that gets you in that "Pau Hana" (done with work, goin' home) and "Aloha" frame of mind. Also, lot of the flight attendants are Hawaii "locals" and very warm and friendly, so we always feel like we're in a part of Hawaii on the plane even before we land and haven't entirely left Hawaii even as we're flying back home.

kdonnel · Feb 22, 2017

I am going through a crappy experience with American for my upcoming trip. They took away my economy plus seats for the DFW-HNL leg that I paid extra for and did not refund my money, notify me, or assign alternate seats. Took over a month to get my money back.

I have flown United when the mechanics were working exactly to the contract prior to a strike. As a result most flights were somewhat delayed. Ours got stuck in Los Angeles for 4 hours.

I've been on a direct Delta flight from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale and had the agent tell me my luggage missed the connection. My luggage didn't catch up to me until day 4 of a 7 day cruise.

My wife got stranded for 36 hours by Frontier as a chaperone with 15 teenagers on a school trip.

All the airlines suck. It's a 50/50 chance they will disappoint or just be mediocre.

KBinCO · Feb 22, 2017

FWIW Our Hawaiian Airlines plane didn't have screens or wifi (this was 2 weeks ago) and I was still happy with it, although extra entertainment would have certainly helped. On the way back, they did rent out iPads preloaded with movies that kept my kids happy for the flight.

Timothy02359 · Feb 22, 2017

Lain said:
Basically, these two are the major reasons Hawaiian Airlines is our preferred carrier to Hawaii.

Flying Hawaiian may complicate your itinerary since there's no service out of Boston. You could fly another airline to JFK or to one of Hawaiian's western US destinations to connect with a Hawaiian flight that'll take you to Hawaii.

When comparing ticket prices, consider that Hawaiian is pretty much the only domestic airline that still feeds you a free (inclusive), proper hot meal. In our experience, from SFO to HNL, Hawaiian also offers two complimentary beverage services (including POG/Passion Orange Guava!) and an alcoholic drinks cart.

Hawaiian flies pretty new Airbus A330s, and the seats and cabin (even in coach) are quite comfortable. Hawaiian has entertainment screens behind each seat with a variety of free programming that gets you in that "Pau Hana" (done with work, goin' home) and "Aloha" frame of mind. Also, lot of the flight attendants are Hawaii "locals" and very warm and friendly, so we always feel like we're in a part of Hawaii on the plane even before we land and haven't entirely left Hawaii even as we're flying back home.

Thanks! I`ll check into them.

Your preferred airline to HNL?

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