I was one of the lucky few to be on HA51 on its first day of service, June 5, 2012. This was also my first long-haul trip on Hawaiian. I was VERY impressed.
There was a big party in the terminal (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2012/06/aloha-nyc-hawaiian-airlines-launches-jfk-hawaii/), both out at check-in and in the gate area - prior to the flight. Speeches were made and hulas were danced.
That's all well and good, but the proof is in the pudding, so to speak, and the in-flight experience was nearly flawless.
Shortly after take-off there is a meal snack/drink service. Then a meal service. It was something of a brunch-ish wrap, with the option to buy a cheeseburger or caesar salad. A bit interesting that the BoB includes an alcoholic beverage but there is no discount for refusing the drink. Not that I refused. ;)
The IFE is the paid stuff that the A330s all have, though they gave us free TV during this trip. It was a pretty good selection but I probably wouldn't pay for it on a normal trip. The 9" screens are sufficient and there are USB plugs at every seat, though not 110v plugs.
I slept a bit (the FA said they are probably going to swap out the cushions for something softer as there have been complaints, though I didn't mind much) and chatted with a bunch of different folks. Before I knew it we were on final into HNL.
Overall, it was a long flight (10:15 and we got in 45 minutes early) but definitely a tolerable one. And a much better in-flight experience than the United trip I took a few weeks earlier from EWR.
More from the trip can be seen/read here. (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2012/06/aloha-nyc-on-board-the-inaugural-flight-jfk-hnl/)
There are also a few videos (hula dancers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-v911Xvj-c), prayer for the route/partnership (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SBaF_lhFuM), water canon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5clHQC_1GEA) & take-off roll (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulx8LaZcjU8)) available on YouTube.
tonywestsider
Jun 6, 12, 8:40 pm
Mahalo nui for posting the inaugural flight! ^
It looks like you had a fun time flying out of New Yawk. ;)
edcli
Jun 7, 12, 7:56 am
Thanks for the post. Can't wait for my own trip. :)
thebat
Jun 7, 12, 8:58 am
Thanks very much for your comprehensive TR. I won't be going till next March and we're really looking forward to it.
slippahs
Jun 8, 12, 3:26 am
Wirelessly posted (iPhone-ETOPS: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)
Very nice bowl and a nice touch by HA.
twospirits
Jun 12, 12, 5:32 pm
Awesome report. I'm curious as to what was in the bowl?
TS
DanTravels
Jun 12, 12, 5:57 pm
Very nice bowl and a nice touch by HA.
I'm curious as to what was in the bowl?
Aside from the engraving, it looks similar to the gift bowls available from Big Island Candies in Hilo (in-store only, it seems - can't find them on their web site) which I think contain chocolate covered mac nuts and chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies (all individually wrapped). I see a "-ndie-" on one of the plastic wrappers, but the other word fragments are too diverse for me to figure out. But I'm guessing something along those lines, whether from BIC or a different supplier.
sbm12
Jun 12, 12, 6:58 pm
Aside from the engraving, it looks similar to the gift bowls available from Big Island Candies in Hilo (in-store only, it seems - can't find them on their web site) which I think contain chocolate covered mac nuts and chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies (all individually wrapped). I see a "-ndie-" on one of the plastic wrappers, but the other word fragments are too diverse for me to figure out. But I'm guessing something along those lines, whether from BIC or a different supplier.
:-: :-:
Precisely!
It is a custom-engraved gift bowl from BIC with the chocolate-dipped shortbread in it.
JTEL
Jun 26, 12, 3:33 pm
I also had taken United as well as Continental (non-stop from EWR) on 2 prior trips but moreso looking forward to taking Hawaiian this time! Being a private pilot myself and a plane enthusiast... I have flown on every Boeing except the 777 and 787 (and 707) and was thinking of taking the United 777 from Chicago straight to Maui, but when I saw HA was coming to JFK, I just had to pass up in the 777. (plus will be traveling with 2 children - enough can't be said for the IFE system on the 330 for 10+ hours I'm sure!)
Thanks for the posting - I hope I'll be reporting the same good news in 36 days :)
Mahalo
misdirected baggage
Aug 15, 12, 10:57 pm
I also had taken United as well as Continental (non-stop from EWR) on 2 prior trips but moreso looking forward to taking Hawaiian this time! Being a private pilot myself and a plane enthusiast... I have flown on every Boeing except the 777 and 787 (and 707) and was thinking of taking the United 777 from Chicago straight to Maui, but when I saw HA was coming to JFK, I just had to pass up in the 777. (plus will be traveling with 2 children - enough can't be said for the IFE system on the 330 for 10+ hours I'm sure!)
Thanks for the posting - I hope I'll be reporting the same good news in 36 days :)
Mahalo
I've done both and HA is a better ride than UA (old CO) from EWR, but you need to get to/from JFK which, for many, defeats the advantage. Majors tend to fly their oldest (aka rattiest) aircraft to HI because it's sadly perceived as a vacation route. I live on Maui and don't recall UA using a 777, but they do service it with 767's. HNL is a different situation.
LIH Prem
Aug 16, 12, 6:39 am
I live on Maui and don't recall UA using a 777, but they do service it with 767's. HNL is a different situation.
Until Smisek/CO took over, UA had daily domestic 772 service between SFO and OGG. It was UA34/35, a great flight. We also had seasonal UA domestic 772 service between ORD-OGG-KOA-ORD (for a brief period, it was ORD-OGG-ORD also.) They were great flights on nice aircraft, and it was a treat as UA only had around 6 domestic 772s. In prior years, the 772 was seasonal, and would switch to a domestic 763 during "off peak" periods.
It wasn't that long ago.
-David
sbm12
Aug 16, 12, 7:30 am
Wow...hard to believe that the UA domestic 772s are being called "nice aircraft." Very little about them was great IMO, other than the fact that they can seat a whole lot more people inside meaning bigger crowds.
cblaisd
Aug 16, 12, 7:31 am
...We also had sezsonal UA domestic 772 service between ORD-OGG-KOA-ORD
And OGG-KOA was the only intra-Hawai`i UA segment that earned EQMs. Kind of fun to fly a 777 on that short route :)
I loved those 777s in 1A/B or H/J to and from the mainland. Great flights, great seats, great service.
LIH Prem
Aug 17, 12, 4:15 am
Wow...hard to believe that the UA domestic 772s are being called "nice aircraft." Very little about them was great IMO, other than the fact that they can seat a whole lot more people inside meaning bigger crowds.
Not hard to believe it all for those of us that actually flew it regularly when compared to the domestic equipment now being used on the same routes. Given a choice between the domestic 763/752/753/737 and the domestic 772, which would you choose?
Nobody's comparing them to BF equipped planes. And this isn't about how they are curently being used on HNL-GUM-NRT flights.
I loved those 777s in 1A/B or H/J to and from the mainland. Great flights, great seats, great service.
+1 Row 1 was great.
-David
sbm12
Aug 17, 12, 7:21 am
Given a choice between the domestic 763/752/753/737 and the domestic 772, which would you choose?
I don't see a sufficient difference in them to really rank them. The 763 in F sucks more than the others but otherwise I really don't care all that much. The seats are pretty much the same. As you note, we're not talking about the actual premium configs. :-:
Often1
Aug 17, 12, 7:51 am
I don't see a sufficient difference in them to really rank them. The 763 in F sucks more than the others but otherwise I really don't care all that much. The seats are pretty much the same. As you note, we're not talking about the actual premium configs. :-:
Exactly. Mainland-HI on UA was on either ghetto birds or poorly-configured 2-class. The 772's in F had the most uncomfortable design in the system.
But, you get what you pay for. If there was a market for 3-class intl. configuration on the Pacific Islands routes which was willing to pay $20K for a RT in F, my guess is that UA would scrounge up aircraft for it.
HA seems to have struck a balance. Long-haul w. some comforts and decent BOB mixed with some free items (in Y).
twospirits
Aug 17, 12, 8:28 am
Its a shame that HA doesn't introduce premium economy (like UA's economy plus) on its longer flights like JFK-HNL. The extra leg room/pitch would make for a more comfortable trip. Funny how even B6 has more leg room in their "even more space" economy class seats for shorter flights.
TS
sbm12
Aug 17, 12, 9:10 am
Exactly. Mainland-HI on UA was on either ghetto birds or poorly-configured 2-class. The 772's in F had the most uncomfortable design in the system.I think that the 763 was slightly worse, to the point that I didn't mind trading my F seat for E+ on a 763 to HNL a couple years back (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2011/07/did-i-really-just-downgrade-myself-on-a-long-haul-flight/). But now we're really picking nits. ;)
HA seems to have struck a balance. Long-haul w. some comforts and decent BOB mixed with some free items (in Y).Agreed, and their new BoB menu looks very nice (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2012/08/upgrades-to-in-flight-dining-on-hawaiian-airlines/).
Its a shame that HA doesn't introduce premium economy (like UA's economy plus) on its longer flights like JFK-HNL. The extra leg room/pitch would make for a more comfortable trip. Funny how even B6 has more leg room in their "even more space" economy class seats for shorter flights.
TS
B6 managed to also cut one FA from their A320s when they removed the seats to get to a 150 capacity. It wasn't completely altruistic. ;)
I agree, though, that a minor up-charge for a bit of extra legroom is somewhat profitable to the airlines. The real question is how many rows to dedicate to that and how many seats to cut because of it. B6 did it with a different goal. HA does it (stupid cheap) for the bulkhead row. UA has the most seats and charges the most for it IME. DL managed to make E- worse on a few planes to make room. It really does vary across the carriers.
Often1
Aug 17, 12, 12:58 pm
I think that the 763 was slightly worse, to the point that I didn't mind trading my F seat for E+ on a 763 to HNL a couple years back (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2011/07/did-i-really-just-downgrade-myself-on-a-long-haul-flight/). But now we're really picking nits. ;)
Agreed, and their new BoB menu looks very nice (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2012/08/upgrades-to-in-flight-dining-on-hawaiian-airlines/).
B6 managed to also cut one FA from their A320s when they removed the seats to get to a 150 capacity. It wasn't completely altruistic. ;)
I agree, though, that a minor up-charge for a bit of extra legroom is somewhat profitable to the airlines. The real question is how many rows to dedicate to that and how many seats to cut because of it. B6 did it with a different goal. HA does it (stupid cheap) for the bulkhead row. UA has the most seats and charges the most for it IME. DL managed to make E- worse on a few planes to make room. It really does vary across the carriers.
I suspect that there's an E+ model to be had, but on long-hauls such as this, will only suceed if it includes some form of soft product improvements as well as the pitch (and is priced accordingly).
sbm12
Aug 17, 12, 5:00 pm
I suspect that there's an E+ model to be had, but on long-hauls such as this, will only suceed if it includes some form of soft product improvements as well as the pitch (and is priced accordingly).
I think that they can get away with just improving pitch, or pitch plus one free drink and still make some money. But they also have to be careful about cannibalizing the F product. And HA's F isn't all that great, so the margins there are tighter IMO.
The hard part remains the price point. At $25 or $35 (I forget which it was) that I paid for the bulkhead on JFK-HNL it was way too cheap. And that was just for legroom. I'd say they would probably sell enough of it at $75 or $100 that they wouldn't lose so much.
LIH Prem
Aug 17, 12, 5:38 pm
The 772's in F had the most uncomfortable design in the system.
I'm guessing that you are confusing the PMUA domestic 772 (6) with the PMUA domestic 763 (20+).
We've gone off topic enough in this thread, haven't we? If anybody wants to continue this sub-topic, let's continue it in the consolidated UA forum since there aren't enough argumentative threads over there.
The hard part remains the price point. At $25 or $35 (I forget which it was) that I paid for the bulkhead on JFK-HNL it was way too cheap. And that was just for legroom. I'd say they would probably sell enough of it at $75 or $100 that they wouldn't lose so much.
According to your trip report, you paid $35.
Apparently, it's now $75 on the JFK flights ... Link to post in the A330 thread that mentions the updated JFK add-on price with link to the chart (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/19108285-post230.html)
HA Add-on Pricing Chart (http://www.hawaiianair.com/help/fees-id-1922) (Scroll down to Miscellaneous Section)