Hawaiian Airlines

• Ticket Prices
• Rewards Program and Points
• Flight Statistics
• In-Flight Services
• Time in Business
• Industry Awards and Reputation

Ticket Prices

Hawaiian Airlines offers average ticket prices. While not generally the cheapest option for a ticket, Hawaiian is far from the most expensive. For both domestic and international flights this seems to be true. Even within the Islands of Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines was occasionally beat out by other airlines.

Rewards Program and Points

Hawaii Airlines is a great airline for earning different rewards and mile points which would help make ticket prices even lower. The carrier even allows points to be earned and redeemed from some of their partnering airlines.

Flight Statistics

Hawaiian Airlines is number two in terms of being the most on-time airline with their daily flights. According to Flightstats.com:

• 86% on time
• 6% late
• 2% very late
• 3% excessively late.

This is a higher on-time percentage than the majority of all other airlines. It also has 0% canceled and diverted flights. When looking at its most active routes, there is a bit of variation. Top flights range from 4 stars all the way to a 1.5 star rated flight from San Diego to Honolulu.

Top flights include:

• Honolulu to Kailua-Kona (4.7 stars, 96% on time)
• Honolulu to Kauai Island (4.7 stars, 94% on time)
• Honolulu to Kahului (4.6 stars, 95% on time)

It is interesting to note that the majority of high-rated flights are around the Hawaiian Islands, and lower rated flights are to outside destinations.

Flights in and around Hawaii are their strongest areas.

In-Flight Services

With one exception, in-flight services for Hawaiian Airlines are standard. They include the following:

• Food and Beverages: Hawaiian Airlines offers complimentary meals, beverages, and snacks on board. This complimentary dining is better than a lot of other airlines. The menu varies based on the destination, but they are also served by top chefs, taking airline food to the next level. A variety of drinks are available to go along with the meals served.
• Entertainment: Hawaiian Airlines' in-flight entertainment is similar to services offered on other airlines, with a large variety of the top movies, TV shows, music and games on a personal screen located on the back of the seat. On the Boeing B767, personal tablets are available for passengers to rent that come preloaded with the new movies, games, and shows.
• Wi-Fi: Hawaiian Airlines does not offer Wi-Fi as many of the top airlines do.
• Pau Hana Cart: Along with the other amenities, Hawaiian Airlines also offers a cart full of different items for passengers to purchase for themselves or for others as gifts. They include different snack items, pillows, blankets, and headphones.
• Duty-Free Shopping: As is typical of most airlines, Hawaiian Airlines also offers tax-free shopping to passengers from their catalog. Passengers can choose different items as souvenirs for themselves or others while on the flight.

Time in Business

Hawaiian Airlines has been in business for over 90 years, making it one of the oldest airlines in the industry. The company has been in business longer than many of the top airlines and much longer than a number of smaller airlines. 

Industry Awards and Reputation

As Hawaii's largest and longest-serving airline, over 10 million guests are transported each year.

It is arguably the safest airline in the industry, with no fatal accidents or plane losses.

Hawaiian Airlines has also won a number of other awards for their services. A few of them include:

• Travel+leisure's World's Best Awards: Best Airlines
• Zagat: Premium U.S. Airline
• U.S. Department of transportation: #1 On-Time Performance 
• Forbes: World's Most Punctual Airline

There are a number of other awards won by Hawaiian Airlines for their performance over the decades.

• Baggage Fees
• Check-In
• Limited Destinations

Baggage Fees

Unfortunately, Hawaiian Airlines does not offer any free baggage on either domestic or international flights. There are certain airlines that do allow for free checked baggage, making Hawaiian Airlines at a disadvantage. There is a fee for all baggage whether on flights to and within Hawaii or places farther away.

When checked bags exceed 50lbs, there will be an additional excess baggage fee that will vary based on how heavy the bag is. It ranges from $25 to $200 a bag.

Similarly, there will be a varying fee for baggage that exceeds their normal linear dimension of 62 inches.

Check-In

Seats are selected or changed at check-in so that passengers know where they are headed when they board the airplane. Hawaiian Airlines also offers a few different ways for passengers to check-in for their flight and proceed to boarding the plane:

• Passengers can check-in online up to 24 hours before their departure date and pay their baggage fees online to make the airport process even easier.
• Standard check-in kiosks and counters are available at the airport.

These options are standard for most airlines. Hawaiian Airlines actually offers fewer check-in options than many other airlines. There was no mention of mobile check-in and information was not very clear on the times check-in and boarding need to be completed. There was no specification about the online or at airport check-in process without having ticket information to complete an actual check-in. Reservations for certain seats can be made, although not online. Reservations can only be made over the phone with Hawaiian Airlines.

Limited Destinations

Hawaiian Airlines specializes in flights around the Hawaiian Islands, but it also offers routes to 28 other international destinations. These include cities in the following areas:

• North America
• Asia
• South Pacific

When compared to larger airlines with more than 300 destinations, Hawaiian is very small. Even when compared to other small airlines, 28 destinations is very small. However, Hawaiian Airlines does offer more travel options through its partnering airlines:

• All Nippon Airways
• American Airlines
• China Airlines
• JetBlue
• Korean Air
• Virgin America
• Virgin Atlantic
• Virgin Australia

When flying with many of these partnering airlines, Hawaiian Airlines also allows passengers to earn HawaiianMiles for rewards.