Hawaiian Airlines First Class

I've written before about how much I love to fly in Hawaiian Airlines. Their prices are comparable to many airlines but the experience is so much better for many reasons.

We typically book economy tickets, and sometimes get upgraded to premium economy (a case in which it pays to be loyal to an airline). But I finally made Pualani Platinum status last year and with that comes first class upgrade certificates.

I applied those upgrade certificates on a recent New York (JFK) to Honolulu (HNL) flight. It was my first time flying first on Hawaiian Airlines and oh man, I wish I could do this for all my flights ^_^

I took down a bunch of notes from this flight. Hopefully you'll find this useful.

Amenities

I love airline amenity kits. It feels like a fun bonus treat for adults. The current amenity kit is a design collaboration with a Molokai-based clothing brand called Kealopiko.

You receive a neat canvas clutch with the following items:

• The clutch itself - we received the grey/white clutch, though it also comes in a natural/pink colorway. It's a simple clutch and the design part is a coral print. The little closure button is made of coconut shell!
• Cozy socks with a slipper design - super cute ^_^
• Eye mask
• Dental kit - bamboo toothbrush with charcoal bristle, toothpaste.
• Earplugs
• Tissue
• Comb
• Pen

I think the kits previously included hand balm, lip balm, mist, and sunscreen but we didn't see those in these kits.

Here's a closer look at the "slipper socks" heehee.

The Blanket

The blanket is gorgeous and also designed by Kealopiko. It's a light quilt in grey, white, and pink with a bird’s nest fern design.

They stitch a patch on the bottom corner detailing the story of the quilt design. I wish they sold the quilt. So pretty!

The Food

The most important part hahah. We were served a snack and two meals. Plus small snacks throughout the flight.

The menu was created by Chefs Wade Ueoka and Michelle Karr-Ueoka of MW Restaurant in Honolulu (a must on your Honolulu trip!)

Pre-Departure
Signature Mai Tai cocktail on the left and POG (Passion Orange Guava) juice on the right.

Beverage Service
A bowl of Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts. I had this with a cup of coffee...we were on a morning flight after all!

Main Meal
The main meal included warm roll and butter, a tomato, cucumber, olive salad with macadamia nut basil pesto and balsamic vinaigrette.

For the entree, you could pick between the garlic roast pork with mushroom gravy, roasted vegetables, and potato gratin OR the roasted shiitake mushroom and vegetable fried rice with fried shallots. I had the latter and enjoyed it!

Dessert was a slice of Coffee Crunch Cake by Michelle! Many types of "crunch cakes" are very popular in Hawaii so this was extra nice to have.

This salt and pepper was SO CUTE. It was served in mini aloha shirt packaging, a collaboration with Kahala (a popular aloha shirt brand). How adorable is that??

Mini Meal
A mini meal was served two hours before arrival and included lemongrass chicken yakisoba (really good!) and roasted vegetables with miso yuzu vinaigrette.

Snacks Throughout
Snacks included everything from Maui Style Potato Chips to Oreos, pretzels, cheddar sandwich crackers, and even little cookies from La Tour, which is a local bakery/restaurant on Oahu.

Drinks
There were many fun tropical cocktails on the menu. I tried the classic Mai Tai and the Koloa Pineapple Passion.

The Seats

We were on an Airbus A330 and the configuration was 2-2-2. They had leather seats with 180-degree, lie-flat configuration. They gave a mattress pad, the blanket/quilt, and a pillow.

There was also a pull up privacy screen divider, two usb ports, and a power outlet. There was plenty storage on the side for water bottles (they gave Mananalu, an aluminum water bottle brand by Jason Momoa), snacks, etc.

Service

One of the main reasons I fly Hawaiian Airlines is the service. I've written about this before and it really is my favorite part about Hawaiian. You really feel the local spirit in the air on these flights.

Whether you're in economy, premium economy or first, I've always had great service experiences. Good service makes all the difference, especially when you're on a long flight ^_^

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport

The flight lands at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL). It lands in a brand new terminal which is gorgeous. It's just a few years old and the first time I landed there I was like wowowowww. It's completely different from all the other parts of HNL, super modern!

FAQ