Review: Hawaiian Airlines LAX to HNL

Posted by Nick on May 17, 2010

I booked a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines after reading glowing reviews online in regards to their service and overall flight experience. I had read, or at least I thought I had, on the Hawaiian Airlines website that they had in-flight entertainment centers at each seat. I assumed it would be similar to flying on JetBlue or Virgin America. With the reviews I had read online in mind, as well as what I read about the in-flight entertainment system, I paid around $700 each for two round trip tickets. This was about $100 more than the cheapest flight, which was on Delta.

The reviews I read online were nothing like my experience flying Hawaiian Airlines from LAX to HNL.

I flew on Virgin America to get to LAX. When I got on the Hawaiian Airlines flight I was shocked to discover that my carry-on would not fit easily under my seat with my girlfriends, as it had on the Virgin America flight. This could be why.

Each aisle seat has one of these taking up precious carry-on luggage space. I have no freaking clue what it is, other than a pain in the ass. It was also clear that there is MUCH less space as far as legroom and such in your seat on Hawaiian Airlines compared to Virgin America and JetBlue, which is the airline I fly most frequently.

There are four archaic small TV screen coming out of the ceiling in each aisle as well as a screen on the wall at the start of each section. This is for both coach seating areas. When I flew to Hawaii in the late 80s I recall a similar television viewing setup. Apparently, Hawaiian Airlines did not get the memo that this is 2010, not the late 80s. Someone needs to tell them to play catch-up.

This so-called “entertainment system” was airing one movie – Twilight New Moon – that started around 3 hours into the flight. I wasn’t upset about this as I have no interest in seeing New Moon, but found it odd that it started so late into the flight.

To hear the sound of the movie, you have to plug headphones into your arm rest. The fee for headphones is $5, and if you have your own headphones it is also $5. Ridiculous, right? Apparently the fee is the “access charge” for the movie. I have no idea how they enforce this access charge though.

Before the drink service, before the one movie played, before anything really, they brought a cart through the aisles with their premium snacks and mini-TV/movie player. So, before they gave anyone anything to eat or drink they wanted to sell you something to eat or drink. Some people across from us got one of the mini TV players. The rental fee is $15, but here’s the kicker – they pick them back up a full hour before the flight lands! I saw one guy try to return his after he got it. He appeared to be unsuccessful. It is supposed to be pre-loaded with TV shows and other things. I noticed that ‘My Name is Earl’ and ‘Malcolm In The Middle’ were on it.

The highlight of the flight was the complimentary meal. When I say highlight, what I really mean was, “Aren’t they ashamed to be handing this out?” What was in-flight meal?

A ham and cheese sandwich. That’s right. A ham-and-fucking-cheese sandwich.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the pitiful excuse for an in-flight meal was actually frozen. When I took the top bun off there were literally pieces of ice throughout the ham. And the center of the cheese was entirely frozen (yes, that is ice in the pic below). True story.

Oh, and there was also a little packet of brown spicy mustard and a chocolate chip brownie. Fortunately, the brownie was not frozen. That didn’t help the taste of it though. A plastic fork was included in the pack, and I’m still not sure what I was supposed to do with it. I did see one woman using it to spread mustard on her sandwich.

But before the lovely ham and cheese sandwich meal was served, the beverage cart went through the aisles. My girlfriend got water spilled on her leg. The flight attendant that spilled the water never apologized; not even when she tossed napkins towards my girlfriend.

If you, for some reason, are flying Hawaiian Airlines in the future, please know that you do not get an air control thingie above your head. Instead, there is a master air conditioner that they control, which means you freeze your ass off most of the flight. So, dress warmly!

I did not really experience the great customer service on the flight that I had read was typical of Hawaiian Airline flights. In fact, many of the flight attendants seemed downright pissy. The worst part of my flight experience was knowing that I not only had my return flight on Hawaiian to look forward to, but three round-trip inter-island flights.