We just rated the six domestic airlines that fly to Hawaii. In doing so, we looked exclusively at economy class and how they compare.
Deciding on which airline to fly to Hawaii in economy is complicated, with many variables. These include where you travel from and to, narrow-body vs. wide-body, airfare costs, ancillary fees, group/family size, and any frequent flyer loyalty. Following is our 2022 list of best picks ranked from best to worst. We reviewed the economy class experience on the plane and did not include things like customer service, check-in experience, baggage claim, lounge access, etc. We’ve mentioned if a true premium economy cabin is available and extra legroom seating is, but we didn’t rank those features since they require an added fee.
Alaska Airlines flights to Hawaii.
Alaska Airlines flies nonstop to four Hawaiian Islands from the seven mainland gateways listed below. They provide a solid narrow-body offering from a reliable Hawaii-centric airline. Generally consistent and above average product and service. Alaska has excelled in direct-to-neighbor island flights from California and the Pacific Northwest.
- CNBC/PointsGuy 2022 national rating: #5.
- BOH 2022 Hawaii ranking: #2 – tied with Delta Airlines.
Hawaii Gateway Cities include Anchorage (just resumed), Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle.
Aircraft and economy seating configuration is 3×3 on their soon-to-be all-Boeing 737 fleet. The economy seat pitch is listed as 31-32 inches. Extra legroom economy seats offer 4 inches of extended legroom.
Food.
Food is not provided in economy. Generally well-liked options, however, are available for purchase on board or in advance. In premium, complimentary alcoholic drinks are included, but the food is not other than a snack.
In-flight entertainment.
Alaska does not offer seatback entertainment, as is becoming the norm industry-wide on narrow-body aircraft. Streaming movies and TV are accessed on your personal device.
Onboard WiFi.
Almost all of Alaska’s Hawaii fleet is now equipped with satellite WiFi which is available for purchase for $8.
Checked bags.
$30 for the first bag and $40 for the second bag.
American Airlines flights to Hawaii.
American flies to Hawaii on ten routes to four islands. The product is generally lackluster, but with signs of improvement, such as their “Flagship flights.” It’s a mix of narrow-body and wide-body aircraft.
- CNBC/PointsGuy 2022 national rating: #4.
- BOH 2022 Hawaii ranking: #4.
Flagship and non-Flagship flights. American has three Hawaii routes called “Flagship flights” with free meals in all classes, seat-back entertainment, plus a true premium economy cabin. Economy seat pitch varies from 31-32 inches but is more on some aircraft. Preferred extra legroom seating offers 3-6″ more. Premium economy, where available, is listed as 38 inches.
Nonstop “Flagship” Gateway Cities are Dallas and Phoenix (some flights). Other Flagship Flight cities currently suspended include Charlotte and Chicago.
Remaining American Airlines Hawaii flights from Los Angeles and Phoenix (some flights) are their non-premium offering, including food for purchase. Most will use Airbus A321neo planes with no seatback entertainment and no lie-flat in business. A321 has a 3×3 seating configuration.
Food.
Snacks are included in economy, and food is available for purchase on board. In premium economy (Flagship service), complimentary alcoholic drinks and food are included.
In-flight entertainment.
American offers seatback entertainment on most wide-body Flagship flights but not on most narrow-body aircraft, where streaming movies and TV are accessed on your personal device.
Onboard WiFi.
American says that “Wi-Fi is now available on nearly all of our U.S. flights.” WiFi is available for purchase at $14 per day. Texting is free.
Checked bags.
$30 for first bag and $40 for second bag.
Delta Airlines Flights to Hawaii.
Delta has 19 nonstop flights from nine mainland gateways to four islands effective this winter. Using a variety of wide and narrow body aircraft with different seating configurations.
- CNBC/PointsGuy 2022 national rating: #2.
- BOH 2022 ranking: #2 – tied with Alaska Airlines.
Economy pitch varies between 30 inches and 32 inches. Extra legroom seats offer 3 inches more legroom than standard economy, while premium economy at 38 inches.
Nonstop Gateway Cities include Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. Flights from Atlanta to Maui, New York to Honolulu, and Salt Lake to Maui currently offer the Delta Comfort+ premium economy cabin.
Food.
Delta economy class offers free snacks only. Food is available for purchase. Extra legroom seats have premium snacks, while Delta’s premium economy includes free meals as well as alcoholic beverages.
In-flight entertainment.
Delta offers in-flight entertainment, including live TV with seatback or via your device, depending on the aircraft. Seatback to Hawaii may be found on A330, A350, 737-800, 737-900, 757, and 767.
Onboard WiFi.
Delta WiFi is available via an all-day plan. The Wi-Fi pass is $19. Texting is free.
Checked bags.
$30 for first bag and $40 for second bag.
Hawaiian Airlines Flights to Hawaii.
Hawaiian flies nonstop wide-body and narrow-body flights from fifteen mainland gateways to four islands. The airline has a unique brand and product that exudes Hawaii from the moment you step onboard. That, even if it is occasionally inconsistent. Read our review of Hawaiian Airlines wide-body economy.
- CNBC/PointsGuy 2022 national rating: #6.
- BOH 2022 ranking: #1 – tied with Southwest.
Economy seat pitch is 31 inches on A330 and 30 inches on A321. Extra legroom economy seats offer 36 inches and 35 inches, respectively.
Nonstop Gateway Cities include Austin, Boston, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Los Angeles, New York, Oakland, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle.
Food.
Hawaiian economy class offers free meals (which may better be described as snacks). No food is available for purchase. Free wine is available at mealtime.
In-flight entertainment.
Hawaiian offers in-flight entertainment, including either with seatback (A330 wide-body) or via your own device, on A321.
Onboard Wi-Fi.
Not currently available. Free WiFi is scheduled to be deployed on all flights to and from the mainland in 2023.
Checked bags.
$30 for first bag and $40 for second bag.
Southwest Airlines Flights to Hawaii.
Southwest flies all 737 flights to Hawaii from eight US mainland gateways, offering their unique and quirky economy product, which we’ve written about. It is a solid brand and offering with a huge following. While not at all Hawaii-like, they do what they do well and the standard economy comfort is the best we’ve found.
- CNBC/PointsGuy 2022 national rating: #2.
- BOH 2022 ranking: #1 – tied with Hawaiian.
Economy seat pitch is 32 inches on-board their all Boeing 737 fleet.
Gateway cities include Las Vegas, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego and San Jose.
Food.
Southwest offers free snacks. There is no food available for purchase.
In-flight entertainment.
Entertainment is offered via streaming to personal devices.
Onboard Wi-Fi.
WiFi is available on all flights for a fee of $8.
Checked bags.
Two bags per passenger are included in the fare.
United Airlines Flights to Hawaii.
United Airlines flies to Hawaii from seven US mainland gateways. They still carry among the greatest number of passengers to the islands yearly of any airline. United has a popular product, especially among its many frequent flyer program members. A United fleet improvement program will now add hundreds of new planes.
- CNBC/PointsGuy 2022 national rating: #3
- BOH 2022 ranking: #3.
They offer standard economy, extended legroom (Economy Plus), and true premium economy (Premium Plus). Economy seat pitch is generally 30 inches to 31 inches. Extra legroom seats feature up to 6 inches more legroom, while premium economy has 7 inches more legroom.
Gateway cities include Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, and Washington.
Food.
United economy class offers free snacks or free meals, depending on the flight. West coast flights offer snack bags. Denver and Houston flights may offer either sandwiches and/or snacks. East coast and midwest flights complete meals. Food is also available for purchase. Premium economy offers complete meals on all flights.
In-flight entertainment.
Seatback entertainment is offered on some but not all flights, depending on the aircraft. Otherwise, streaming to personal devices is available.
Onboard Wi-Fi.
WiFi is available on select aircraft. Boeing 757, 767, 777, and 787. Boeing 737 does not have WiFi to Hawaii.
Checked bags.
$30 for first bag and $40 for second bag.
Please help complete this Best Economy Class To Hawaii review with your insightful comments.
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We fly Alaska, we have the card, 2 cards, so we can use miles and or companion tickets. Seats are comfortable enough. Sat in premium exit rows last 2 flights because was gifted MVP. We have TSA Precheck. Checked 3 bags free. Preordered $10 snack on board. Good meat and cheese. Good service and no problems. Dont book bargain basement airlines. Get what you pay for.
Southwest should definitely be ranked the lowest. Recently flew with them from LIH – HNL – SAN, and all flight attendants had bad attitudes. Could hear a few complaining about their jobs at the end of the flight, and asking “are they finally gone?” as the final passengers were de-boarding the plane. On the HNL-SAN flight, they didn’t serve beverages until about 2 hours into the flight, and then cut us off after two waters and one juice each, because they said we’d asked for too many already.
You wrote that Alaska Airlines flights from Anchorage to Hawaii have been suspended, but service has resumed since November 18
United?? Lol, no way, never flying them again after lost bags so many times along with late flights and cancellations!!
We flew United from Los Angeles to Honolulu and the narrow plane was good with more legroom near exits but seats did not recline. For me return flight we were in the wide body with very little leg room but seats reclined. Most of the staff were pleasant and helpful, except one who was impatient and rude. Snacks and drinks both ways, but bring your own. We bought wifi for $8 each to stream movies.
Just flew Boston to HNL to Lihue on Hawaiian, was decent, a bit tight in economy, food and inflight entertainment mediocre. Returned Lihue to Denver then to Boston. Was pleasantly suprised seat pitch was decent, food and entertainment better than HA… No issues with either airline. Will never fly AA anywhere after far too many bad experiences.
As platinum on Hawaiian for years, flying 1st class, 10-12x’s yr, they have lost my business. Now trying swa & for the service, various perks, price…been satisfied but do miss the comfort of seating.
SWA has freee texting, don’t need to buy Wi-Fi for that.
Folks the Wi-Fi is free and so is the free TV and movies. You just have to pay for internet.
Aloha Rob & Jeff.
Mele Kalikmaka to all at BoH.
Just to say my own airline of choice to reach the Islands is definitely Hawaiian – though admittedly, I do purchase the extra comfort seats. Budget won’t stretch to Business Class – that requires you to become a part owner of the airline!!!!
As regards the Dreamliner…I hope Hawaiian get their planes and start their European flights.
Many, many Christmas (Holiday) wishes.
Hi Michael.
We’ll be looking for you over there when that flight finally happens! How long have we been talking about HNL-LHR? In the meantime, good to hear from you, and happy holidays!
Aloha.
Thank you, we will be booking our 1st flight to Hawaii soon. We plan to be there the 1st 9 days of July.
This information about airlines has been useful, we will be flying out of Nashville.
Hi Dani.
Thanks. Let us know if you have any questions once your go looking.
Aloha.
Flew a United 737 from Denver to Lihue and they Did have WiFi available for $8.
Great topic.
We go “home” to Hawaii twice a year.
Go to see ohana on Karyn’s side and to our beloved timeshare in Kaanapali,Maui.
Have flown most of these.
Using Alaska’s bogo credit card promotion for 1 visit and Hawaiian for the other.
Have had good experiences with Alaska at LAX. 3 & 3 seating, aisle,aisle is best for us.
Used to love Hawaiian at LAX with the A330 2 & 4 & 2 seating.
Their new terminal has already a terrible reputation with everyone including their own crew.
We just tried Hawaiian out of Long Beach and loved it !
So totally easy and relaxing.
Great fun taking the outdoor walk to the ramp to board.
If unfortunately a rainy day that and the uncovered baggage claim can be not fun.
Loved the A321neo.
Aloha,take care
We fly in or out of PDX, usually Hawaiian because we like their schedule better. Both Hawaiian and Alaska offer direct flights to Maui(our usual destination)
Southwest maybe cheaper, not anyways. 2 free checked bags is nice but does win me over as they don’t fly direct from PDX.
Seriously?!
Make this easier next time. In a “I need my info instaneously” world, show a reverse ranking.
The airline that has the most convenient departure/arrival times works for our family. I may change based upon a review like this, but this one only helps a little.
We used to fly Hawaiian a lot when our kids lived on the west coast, but just about always fly United now, as they are the only airline flying non stop to the islands, including Kauai from Denver. I think the other airlines are missing out as the flights are always full. I do think United does a good job generally, and they are much better than the experience we recently had on American. I don’t understand what they are ranked last in your rankings. There doesn’t seem to be much differentiating the airlines from each other.
Except for our inaugural honeymoon visit in 1983, we have always flown United to Honolulu. Back then it was UAL #1 and UAL #2 to and from, complete with aloha theme from the flight attendants uniforms to the Hawaiian music when you stepped on the plane in Chicago. We don’t know What happened for them to change that but we’ve written dozens of emails asking for a return to the aloha flight. Also, for 25 years we flew in a 747, usually in the upper deck.
Your comments and ratings are generally appropriate except for Hawaiian from LAX. As you have noted in other reviews, currently Hawaiian uses gates in a remote terminal B annex that is far from check in and security and adds 1/2 hour to departure times and more to arrival and baggage claim. That time and effort are a major negative impact on its LAX flights. Notwithstanding its other qualities we will not fly Alaska from LAX until it returns to one of the other terminals.
BoH, Many thanks for the statistics. The leading paragraph says ranked from best to worst but the airlines don’t seem to be covered in that order given the BoH ranking in each airline’s section ??
Hi Dan.
Well, in a way, what you say is true. In the article, however, we do rank them from best to worst, just not in summary form. We hope you enjoyed it anyway, and thanks again for so many comments over the past nearly seven years!
Aloha.
I’ve flown all of them, in all offered classes of service, and United is first. They are hands down better than any of the others. Alaska and Southwest are the two worst. Southwest on the very bottom.
Sometimes it’s better to pay a little more. You’ll get a lot better ride.
For what you get along with comfort Southwest is a great deal
A fee years ago we were flying Hawaiian Air. The drive to LAX normally takes 1 hr. That Friday it took 2.5 hrs.due to rain. We arrived at the gate and was told we were too late even though the flight was delayed. The girl at gate was very rude and told us to step aside. $900 later we got the next flight. Never flying Hawaiian Air again!
We fly Hawaiian almost exclusively from LAX to the islands because of Aloha spirit that they have. Their coach seats are average but since we are now Gold status we have always been upgraded into Extra Comfort. We have found their panini sandwich “meal” inedible so we usually bring our own sandwich onboard. Because of the issues flying back into LAX our next return is on an American flight.
so who’s #1?!!!!!