Over the weekend, Travel Weekly spent the night onboard a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Sydney to Honolulu to give their Extra Comfort feature a roadtest.
Here’s what we thought:
Flight: Sydney to Honolulu via Hawaiian Airlines
When: Thursday 16th August
Aircraft: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A330-200, flight: HA 452
Class: Extra Comfort
Configuration: 2-4-2
Seat: 14B (aisle seat)
Duration: 9h50m
Verdict: 9/10
Baggage:
Hawaiian Airlines allows two check-in bags, at 32kg each, plus carry-on. Yep, that’s right, folks TWO BAGS! So you don’t have to feel guilty about overindulging at the fabulous malls Hawaii is famous for.
Plus you can bring back some pretty funky Hawaiian shirts for all your friends at home.
Checking in:
The attendant at check-in was lovely and even answered a few last minute visa queries for us.
The line was verrryyyy long, as is often the case with overnight flights, and the staff showed phenomenal patience when dealing with some of the less patient customers.
Onboard:
The flight left bang on time and the crew had everyone in their seats quick as a jiffy.
As an Extra Comfort passenger, we got priority boarding, right after first and business class so we were well settled by take off. The blankets provided were soft and perfect for a mid-flight blanket cocoon.
The atmosphere in the cabin was very Hawaiian, with relaxing Hawaiian tunes playing while we waited for takeoff. Not to mention the crew were decked out in the most delightful Hawaiian print uniforms.
Service:
The crew were very cheerful and efficient in serving up both meals (a small snack just after takeoff and breakfast before landing) so no complaints there.
They were also very chatty and sweet with our fellow travellers, which was largely made up of Personal Travel Managers on their way to the TravelManagers conference in Oahu.
Meals:
The first meal came not long after take off, and comprised of a small chicken and pesto wrap, a bag of chopped up apple and a very cute little pineapple cookie.
We didn’t have the heart to tell them we were vegetarian, as we already had dinner before boarding (it was a 9:40 pm flight) but the apple and cookie were pretty sufficient as a little before bedtime snack.
Beverages were complimentary and we may have drunk a few too many teas, as we had to make a few more mid-flight bathrooms runs than usual!
Come breakfast time, we were gently awoken and asked if we wanted breakfast to which we sheepishly replied that we’d forgotten to let them know our dietary requirements. But the flight attendant was sweet enough to forgive our misgiving and promplty went to see if there was something we could eat and sure enough they had a few spare meat-free options.
This really stood out to us, as we’ve had a few bad experiences in the past with other airlines unable to cater for us and even reprimanding us for not letting them know in advance.
So major props to Hawaiian for that one.
Entertainment:
Truth be told, we fell asleep while scrolling through the entertainment options, but we kinda wish we’d stayed awake longer because the options were plentyful and we wound up with a bit of FOMO once we woke up and realised the flight was over.
Comfort:
As the name suggests, Hawaiian’s Extra Comfort option did not disappoint. We had plenty of extra legroom, which was exacerbated by the fact that we were up the front of the cabin so we were able to stretch out.
Extra Comfort passengers also receive a cute little amenities bag complete with lip balm, hand cream, a comb, and plenty of other little goodies including a fantastic face mist that really helped us feel less like a goblin when we got off the plane.
Overall, we’re going to have to be dragged kicking and screaming back to economy after experiencing the Extra Comfort product.
We’ve never slept that soundly on a plane before or had such a lovely experience with cabin crew.
It’s not just a tagline. You really do feel like you’re in Hawaii as soon as you step on the plane.
