Flying Hawaiian Airlines’ longest domestic flight in first class

One of the coolest things about being an AvGeek is finding unusual routes or products to explore. Some of the longest domestic routes in America are between the East Coast and Hawaii, with journey lengths longer than many overseas international routes.

United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Hawaiian Airlines (now part of Alaska Air Group) all operate nonstop flights — some more than 11 hours long — from the New York area to Honolulu. The 4,983-mile flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) — operated by both Delta and Hawaiian — are a touch longer than flights from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) at 4,962 miles long, making the former the longest domestic flight. Delta and Hawaiian operated an even longer flight between Boston and Honolulu, but both carriers discontinued those services last year.

I have flown Delta’s route from JFK to Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), but I recently had the opportunity to try out Hawaiian’s offering.

I thought the service on my flight (HA829) to Honolulu was among the best I’ve had. The seats were a bit dated and rough around the edges, but they were comfortable for the 11-hour journey.

There is some good news to look forward to on those seats: Hawaiian and Alaska just announced that Hawaiian’s fleet of 24 wide-body Airbus A330-200s is getting a full cabin refresh beginning in 2028. The new interiors will feature a huge upgrade with new seats, carpets and lighting, plus a new high-definition inflight entertainment system. The front of the plane will get brand-new suites (which Hawaiian sells as first class on domestic flights but are comparable to international business-class seats) and a new premium economy cabin.

But, back to the current product.

Check-in and boarding

Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines’ flights now leave from Terminal 8 at JFK. That’s the American Airlines and Oneworld terminal, which makes sense since Alaska is a Oneworld partner and Hawaiian, after being acquired by Alaska’s parent company in 2024, is on track to become a full-fledged alliance member.

Alaska and Hawaiian share a bank of check-in counters. As a first-class passenger, I was able to use the “First Class and Atmos Status” lanes. When I checked in, there was no line, but it took a few minutes for Hawaiian Airlines agents to show up. (I was very early.) When they did, it took me just a few minutes to get my boarding pass and move along to the TSA PreCheck lanes.

I was able to use The Greenwich Lounge before my flight. Those, like myself, who fly more than 2,000 miles in a premium cabin with lie-flat seats get access to this lovely lounge jointly operated with British Airways.

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It was early in the morning, and Terminal 8 was not crowded. It was a 10-minute walk to Gate 47, where friendly gate agents were waiting. One Hawaiian Airlines gate agent had a nice Hawaiian touch with a flower behind her ear.

My 8:30 a.m. flight was on time, and boarding began promptly around 7:50 a.m. for ship No. N384HA.

My flight was blocked for about 10 hours and 52 minutes on the westbound route.

What it was like on board

Hawaiian Airlines’ A330s have 18 first-class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration. While there are no doors, each pair is in a sort of self-contained pod. My seat, 3H, was in the last row of the first-class cabin on the aisle.

The cabin was decorated in tropical colors of light blues and rich browns. At the back of the first-class cabin, there was a wall with small starry lights. Each seat measured 21 inches wide and had about 76 inches of pitch.

Mood lighting after takeoff added to the island vibes.

The side-by-side seats meant that the passengers at the windows needed to almost step over the passengers in the aisle to go to the lavatories or move about the cabin. However, there was a narrow space between the ottoman in the aisle seat and the aisle that allowed window seat passengers to avoid having to straddle the sleeping passenger in the aisle seat.

There was a sliding privacy divider for travelers to use if they didn’t know their seatmate.

Each seat had a large blanket and a mattress pad waiting on the seat. The blanket was from Hawaiian home decor company Noho Home.

The tray table pulled out from the center console.

You might have noticed in the photo above that there was also a screen holder that popped out from the center console. That was for the inflight entertainment, which came via iPad with preloaded movies, music, TV shows and games.

There were 33 new releases alone. I was pleased to see several short films from the Hawaiian International Film Festival featured. The Starlink Wi-Fi was free, and it deserves special praise. I have never had better Wi-Fi, even over the ocean. I enjoyed download speeds of 402 Mbps and upload speeds of nearly 56 Mbps. Wow.

The mattress pad was a real differentiator, as even many international business-class seats don’t come with one. I found that it really makes a difference in sleep quality.

There was a small bench that became part of the lie-flat bed when the seat was fully reclined. As you can see in the photo below, there was some wear and tear on the seats.

You could recline the seat by moving the wheel dial on the side of the seat. A small piece of the seat raised to meet the ottoman ledge.

There were various small cubbies in the seat for storage, though some tray-style shelves were meant only for soft items like blankets.

There were also outlets in several spots in the pod: two USB ports and an AC power port.

Instead of a full amenity kit for passengers in first class, flight attendants handed out empty kits after departure and then offered passengers a choice of amenities, which included face mist, lotion, lip balm, eye masks, socks and pens.

There was one bathroom for the first-class cabin at the front near the pilots. The Hawaiian flowers and leaves were a nice touch, along with the airline’s private skin care line Lolii amenities.

There was a small cabin with extra-legroom seats just behind first class. It was a very private cabin with just two rows, so these seats are a great choice.

The economy cabin is configured in a 2-4-2 layout, with some extra-legroom seats at the front of each section. There are 68 of these seats spread throughout the plane. Hawaiian sells these as Extra Comfort. There are 192 seats total in regular economy.

This layout in economy means that if you can snag a pair of window seats, you are likely to have a more comfortable ride.

Food and beverage

You won’t go hungry on Hawaiian Airlines’ longest flight.

Matthew, the flight attendant who was working my aisle, offered predeparture beverages. He provided what was probably the best service I’ve ever received on an American carrier. Matthew, Bobby and Autumn were working in business class, and the service they provided was friendly and attentive without being too formal.

Flight attendants offered a choice of mai tai, water, sparkling wine or POG (passion-orange-guava) juice prior to pushback, all served in real glass.

After takeoff, hot towel service was offered. It was followed quickly by a beverage service with macadamia nuts.

My seatmate had a miniature bottle of prosecco from Mionetto.

As a main course, passengers could choose between a mushroom omelet or a continental breakfast. Both meals came with fresh fruit and assorted pastries. I went with the continental breakfast, which was filling if unmemorable.

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CLINT HENDERSON/THE POINTS GUY

Here’s what my omelet looked like on the return flight.

Snacks were available throughout the flight, and Matthew was constantly checking on passengers, refilling drinks and making sure everyone was happy. Snacks available in the galley included Maui Style potato chips and Hawaiian shortbread cookies.

Prior to landing, passengers received a first course of Asian slaw with a soy and citrus vinaigrette, along with a choice of barbecue braised beef or an Asian vegetable curry. I went with the beef, which was delicious. It all came on one tray along with a tiramisu crunch cake.

The food was generally good quality and filling, and multiple meal services made the long flight go by very quickly.

Service on Hawaiian Airlines A330

Again, I thought the inflight service was phenomenal. From the gate agents to the flight attendants, employees seemed excited to be working this fun route for Hawaiian.

Booking Hawaiian Airlines’ longest flight

First-class tickets for this flight aren’t cheap, with fares as high as $3,100 one-way or 200,000 Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards points. Coach starts at $565 or 44,000 points.

Over the years, I have seen pricing for this itinerary come in quite a bit lower for both Hawaiian and Delta on the same routing, so I would suggest setting a Google Flights alert to see if you can find cheaper dates.

If you are looking for a big chunk of Atmos Rewards points (the joint loyalty program for Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines flyers), consider signing up for the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card. It comes with a welcome bonus of 80,000 bonus points and a 25,000-point Global Companion Award after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 90 days from account opening.

Bottom line

Hawaiian’s longest U.S. route is a great way to fly to paradise despite its now-dated domestic first-class cabin. Hawaiian will eventually give these beautiful A330s, including its domestic first-class seats, a full makeover, but until then, they’re still a solid lie-flat option for the long flight to Hawaii. The seats are just fine for sleeping, and the fun amenities and friendly flight attendants more than made up for a few scratched seats.

The distinctive Hawaiian branding and that warm aloha attitude make it a memorable way to fly from the East Coast to Hawaii.

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