Seat selection on Hawaii flights has evolved from a standard convenience into the airlines’ most important profit center other than the flight itself.
Seat selection on Hawaii flights has evolved from a standard convenience into the airlines’ most important profit center other than the flight itself.
We had planned to fly out of LAX on Hawaiian Dreamliner in first class …until we saw that it is only a one person row. So couples cannot sit together. We decided to fly out of Ontario international where we could sit together in a window row.
Hi Victoria.
The middle seats of the Dreamliner are all in pairs.
Aloha.
I meant to say that only the row with window seats had one seat on the Dreamliner in first class so if couples wanted to sit together they would have to choose the middles seats. 1- 2- 1
I was hoping that you’d let us know what American Airlines is doing, with over-charging for seats. Mainland flying from Hilo is a nightmare, due to no airline at all servicing the mainland from Hilo non-stop & vice-versa. My trip last week on Delta took an eternity and their “comfort” level was a joke: expensive seat upgrades for no comfort. Hard-as-a-rock seats, very crowded. The overhead light was broken & there was literally a hole in the airline floor next to my window seat [I have photos]. Last year, SouthWest out of Kona was a cattle-car experience; we were all stacked in there like sardines. So I had just booked my Fall trip on American Airlines out of Kona. That will take me 2 one-way rental cars (Hilo/Kona). So I did splurge for First Class($), chose seats, but now AA is calling it “Business Class”. Very confusing, a rip-off price, but I can’t be tortured for hours again.
Good day all~ My first flight to Hawaii in 1976 cost $500 round trip accounting for inflation and $value that is equivalent to $2700. In the intervening 40+ years fares have gone up slightly. Any ideas how much the cost to operate an airline has gone up int that time frame?
Albeit, coach pitch used to be 34-36 inches and you were served a decent meal. Wondering how many would consider paying $2700 for that same level of comfort. It is still a bargain even with fees piled on. However, I agree that the pitch in coach is out of control and we can vote with our dollars and not fly. Unfortunately, someone will still put up wth cramped seats, no food, no chaced bags.
Bit of a catch-22.
So true, what I see as the biggest cost of travel is lodging, by far. That is where the discussion should be focused. Why is it that after COVID they still don’t always clean the room yet charge more (for less service). Air travel has come way down in terms of inflation adjusted dollars and made it available to the masses. Part of that is more seats, folks who want economy prices can’t complain too much about the seats, they could make all the seats have a lot of room but the price would be back up where only high income folks could travel. The option of paying for more room is there so if folks want more room, pay for it. If you want a better price, deal with the economy seat. If airlines gave free upgrades then they would have to raise prices on the economy seats, which doesn’t make sense either.
Jenny T- Two weeks before your flight you will get an email from Hawaiian Airlines inviting you to bid up to First Class. You go to the HA website, see if you qualify, place your bid and wait. Usually 24-48 hours before your flight you will find out if you are successful. You qualify if you are in their equivalent of Comfort plus. We usually bid 200-300 and have yet to not get our bid up to First Class. It’s cheaper than booking first class, but you won’t know until right before you fly. Usually bulkhead seats, but we don’t mind sitting there! We usually fly OAK-OGG or SJC-OGG. More info on the HA website.
I am getting older and I am getting to the point that I really don’t even want to fly any more. My kids and all of my grandkids live on the mainland. I might like to visit them once a year or so. But, I am just disgusted with the airlines. Charge for bags, charge for a seat, blah, blah, blah. I am just over 5 feet tall, so I don’t need a lot of room, but, I don’t want to be squeezed to death in my seat either. Don’t even get me started on the lavatory situation! If I can barely sit down in there, I cannot imagine what it is like for someone 6 feet tall! I am a senior citizen, on a fixed income, and I’m tired of the whole mess! One of the other things that really irritates me, while I am on a roll here, is that I can look at prices on the internet for Hawaiian Airlines at the Same Time, as my husband is also looking at the same website, for the same dates, and almost always, they are not the same!!! I don’t understand this at all! What gives?
Aloha BOH Bros
Please keep posting negative articles on travel to Hawaii the more posters here who say they aren’t ever returning makes the islands cheaper and less crowded for us.
Thanks
Richard C
Yeah, right because that’s how the economics of visiting in Hawaii works, said no one Ever!!
We have always flown United to Kauai from Denver, sometimes directly, sometimes stopping over in California. I’ve wondered about their procedures for standby customers…. There is a list, first come first serve, to get available seats. Some of the seats that become available are in Economy Plus. If all regular economy seats are taken, do these standby passengers have to pay extra at the gate to get the empty E/P seats? I really doubt it. The gate agents probably don’t want to take the time or aren’t equipped to handle the financial transactions. Seems totally unfair, if that is the case.
The majority of standby passengers are usually airline staff traveling on industry tickets. If there are revenue passengers (those that either missed their flight, or are trying to catch an earlier flight), they will be given priority ahead of airline staff, however the seats assigned for revenue passengers will be based on the fare paid.
Airline staff however are not charged extra for premium seating. They are only cleared off the standby list within the last 20 minutes (or less) prior to the door closing. There simply isn’t enough time to play musical chairs.
Now I’m scared to fly…
We refuse to fly United Airlines now due to their cramped seating and their seat selection policies. So far SW Air and Hawaiian has somewhat better options (for now).
I have never had any issue with seat selections on my Hawaii flights to or from the mainland and even interisland because when I am on vacation I am truly on vacation and I spend accordingly. That also applies to how and where I spend my $’s while in Hawaii. After 3 total knee replacements or revisions I now also only fly first class for all of my mainland flights.
Could I book a coach seat and hope for a complimentary upgrade because of my status on American? Yes I could but I haven’t and have no plans to do so in the future.
Flying anywhere and expecting comfortable seating is a thing of the past unless you fly upfront. They are a business like so many others and they have their own issues to deal with which is why I won’t be flying again until the flight attendant contract issues on American are settled.
This comment is not specifically, re: seat selection but I would like an opinion. I live on BI & the most I have flown in the past 8yrs is on Mokulele from Waimea to OGG. I am contemplating a flight from Ogg to Portland, PDX in July or Aug. I only want direct flights which from my search only gives me a choice betw Hawaiian & Alaska. With all the negative issues in flying these days, I am wondering which airlines would you trust more for an UNevenful flight?!
Mahalo Nui Loa!
Hi Susie.
We’d go with either one with regard to “uneventful.” There are other considerations like aircraft, seats, and schedule they might sway our decision.
Aloha.
We fly Alaska from PDX to KOA with there companion fare. We tried cheap tickets before on other airlines. 6 hrs on a rock hard seat. No go. Same with STR. Buy the cheapest and regret later. Find your comfort level and save money somewhere else in the yearly budget. Like no new cars.
My husband and I have a strategy to get comfortable seats- we book the seats we want. We like the exit row seats on Hawaiian that only have two seats or we just book the comfort plus equivalent and bid up when we get the offer. Sometimes when we have enough points we just bite the bullet and book first class. Now that my Delta card allows me to book a first class companion fare to Hawaii we will probably book that for future flights. There is a price for everything- and as you get older it’s tough to fly the cheap seats from Oakland to Maui!
Hi Michelle! I flew Hawaiian for the first time to the islands 2 weeks ago. Good experience. I am intrigued by your “bid up” comment. I have seen seat bids on other carriers, but was totally unaware that HI did this. Can you explain further for us newbies? TIA
It’s a loose loose for the airlines. People want a cheap ticket but not a cheap seat. It’s the old saying, “you get what you pay for”.
Smaller people in general probably eat less. Should we have smaller people pay for some of the food larger people need to eat?
Business travelers all have an airline strategy that they understand and makes sense for them. Not too complaining.
Bottom line is that in general most tourists don’t “get” flying. I try not to loose my patience with slow boarding tourists. They after all are people too.
You are definitely right about the cost of extra comfort seating on Hawaiian airlines flights. We travel as a family, and when you’re ticketing for 5 people it adds a ton of money to the total cost. On the other hand, several of our members are well over 6 ft, so economy seating just won’t work for a 5-6 hr. flight. Add to that the cost of seats these days, and it’s approaching the point where it won’t be possible to fly. Thanks for the information.
The issue I saw on a recent flight were passengers trying to move from economy to open higher level seats. The flight attendant promptly announced the upgraded seats can be purchased on the plane.
I miss the old days of First Class and Coach. When you bought your ticket it included seat selection, 2 checked bags, a hot meal served on china, playing cards available for long flights, newspapers or magazines and the seats were way more plush with much better recline and leg room(standard!). It was a pleasure and a luxury to fly. I loathe shopping on HA or UA/AA/Delta because of all the upgrades. Want to pick a seat, pony up some more $$, want to check bags, more $$, need to fit? Give up some more $$. HA has the shortest leg room (which stinks for us tall people, we Have to upgrade to premium seats just to not sit sideways), Alaska has better leg room (I’m speaking of their Bay Area –> Kahului specifically) than Hawaiian but these days Hawaiian isn’t as bougie as it was even just a few years ago. As a tall person, I have to get the extra leg room just to fit. All of the dynamic and à la carte pricing is maddening. Wish they’d go back to the days of yore
I’m 6’2″ so I need extra legroom on flights longer than two hours. I was so happy when HA came up with comfort+.
For about 60$ I could get extra legroom! Now, HA has more than doubled the cost, taking more of my dough. Pete needs to place more restrictions on these pirates. The money grabbing never end. I guess the “suits” upstairs decided the flight attendants can do their dirty work now. Deplorable!
Keep adding costs to the ticket and see what that does to travel here.
I don’t know about all these other airlines, but Hawaiian has been suffering from another issue that they don’t want to address and I’d like to call it a wheelchair scam.
At the departure gate you’d see at least a dozen of passengers lined up in wheelchairs which obviously get priority boarding before anyone else. At the destination, the flight attendants always announce that the passengers needing wheelchairs need to stay in their seats, but everyone jumps out of their seats and almost no one ever asks for a wheelchair. Over the years, the number of these gate scams have gone up and it’s obvious that they are taking advantage of this policy.
If Hawaiian would reverse it and have the wheelchair passengers board last, I’m confident that the next day the numbers would go down to zero or perhaps one or two per flight, just like it used to be many years ago when people seemed to have been a bit more honest.
That may be, but I use wc on and off and since I can barely walk, I’m the last or one of the very last ones to leave. Look for us staying seated. We’re there.
These are called “miracle flights”. People can’t walk when they get on, but apparently have had something miraculous happen that allows them to walk off the plane!
I agree and shame on these people. There was a period of time when I could not walk very far without pain. Since it was a long walk from check in to the gate I needed a wheel chair. When I had surgery for a hip replacement my femur was crushed (no fault of the doctor) and spent 6 weeks in the hospital. Had a very large blood loss and mulitple blood clots in both legs and other complications. I am now doing PT 6 months after my back to hip and femur surgeries and had to learn how to walk again. I am able to walk longer distances without the pain I had prior to my 2 back to back surgeries. I am so glad I can walk longer distances and would never think of using a wheelchair if I did not need one.
I am 6’5″ tall, 220 lbs. Not necessarily my choice. The space between rows has become so restricted that I can only comfortably fly using a beneficial seat selection. It is a real drag that airlines continue to raise prices for better seat selection. It restricts me so much that I fly less than I would if seat selection was more reasonable. AAUUWWEE!
Geez, are these policies being introduced through the airlines by Governor Green and his cronies? Seems like they know how to take it to the visitors while on the islands, so maybe the airlines are now using his staff to conjure up ways to inconvenience the trip over.
Southwest is the best seat option for cheap legroom.
Southwest 32″
Hawaiian 29″
Check Google Flights to dial in the details of the airline you want to use Before buying.
I’ve mentioned it before, I’ll cattle car anywhere in the CONUS (Vermont for example) from the S/E. Hawaii? No way. I either break up the trip as I did last month or I just pony up and bite the bullet cost wise. I just booked a P/Econ seat on AA (I think they’ve got the most comfortable seat in that class) to HNL next May – $816, When they become available in a couple weeks, I’ll book F/C for the return and I expect to pay ~ $2000. I just won’t play those stupid airline switcheroo games…
Best Regards