More travel reports are coming after getting through this airport maze.
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167 thoughts on “This Hawaiian Airlines Terminal Is A Traveler’s Nightmare”
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More travel reports are coming after getting through this airport maze.
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Long Beach airport all the way! Both my wife and I love the A-330 out of LAX but when HAL was moved to the Tom Bradley west gates it is a pain in the behind! To be honest, it does not bother me so much when we leave for Maui on flight 33 but when we return in the evening it just seems that walk goes on forever! Check out Youtube videos that compare flying HAL from Long Beach or Los Angeles. The one I posted was done prior to the move to the Bradley terminal.
Everything said is true.a w/c doesn’t help cause u transfer to carts and that’s long and disorganized.after 40 yrs I even considered another airline please fix this.And shuttle in drop off is inconvenient also
I wish I had read this before today. Due to the construction, the shuttle left us like 200 meters from the airport entrance, then there was the “maze” mentioned in this article. Anyone traveling HA out of LAX should add 45 minutes to their accustomed arrival time. In addition, wear comfortable shoes & bring a light carryon because the walk / maze can be challenging. If you are travel with elderly people and plan to use their little golf carts, add another 30 min, I saw a line of elderly people waiting for the carts.
We’re heading to Kona in October, and I had to go with Delta for KC to LAX, Hawaiian LAX to KOA (separate bookings, not connecting). So we will have to pick up our luggage at LAX, then change to the next carrier.
Any navigation tips/info for:
1) Our trip out includes a stay at the airport Hilton overnight; this gives us a ‘normal’ departure from LAX to KOA the next morning. Is 2 hours prior to the flight enough time to check bags and get to the terminal?
2) The return trip, we’ll have to go to Hawaiian’s baggage claim, then check bags on Delta for our next leg. Is this possible without going back through security? My girlfriend is officially ‘disabled’ so I’m guessing the carts are the best option for the ‘trek’.
Any tips? Thanks!
Hi Ken.
Two hours should be enough time. Be sure to check the MyTSA app to see what that delay may be. On Tuesday, TSA was under 10 minutes. There was a line at Hawaiian for check-in/baggage drop however. Then add the 15-20 minute walk. And be sure to pick up anything to eat in the main terminal before the walk.
Some people are reporting in comments that carts aren’t always available, and we noticed them in the morning when departing but not at all in the evening on arrival.
Regarding your security question, we don’t know the answer. Try to get DL and HA to interline the luggage. They absolutely still can do it. You just need to get someone to help. Hopefully, a disability will play in your favor in that regard.
Please let us know how it goes.
Aloha.
Thanks–will do!
Be sure and add an additional hour for catching the shuttle at the Hilton. They allow parking/shuttle service to the general public which adds a lot of travelers in line to catch one of their free shuttles.
I missed my flight to Kona in August! After the TSA checking, I remember a flashing message when I printed the boarding pass, about allowing 15 mins to the gate, but I wasn’t expecting such a long hike! And I didn’t know they had shuttles. My flight was at 11 AM, and I ran to the gate, it was 10:35 AM when I got to the terminal where the gate was, but I made a left turn instead of a right! By the time I got to the gate, they had closed the door, and It was 10:50! They put me on the next flight to Kona the following day. I love Hawaiian Airlines, they have the friendliest on-flight staff, and they feed you! but I’ll be looking at other options for my next trip.
Y’all realize that this was not a decision made by Hawaiian Airlines right? Hawaiian got kicked out of terminal 5 because American is planning on buying Terminal 5. LAWA made the Tom Bradley West extension to increase gate availability, but that would sacrifice convenience for many passengers. Luckily, Hawaiian was able to persuade LAWA in making a Domestic baggage claim in Tom Bradle, otherwise passengers would have to catch a bus to terminal 1 for baggage. Obviously it sucks that it happened, but that’s what happens when you don’t have money to throw around.
It wasn’t that bad. We flew to/from Kona in August 2022. Our 3 and 5yo loved all the escalators and moving walkways. It was a good walk but it got some of their energy out and they weren’t complaining.
I have actually changed flying from Kona to LAX on Hawaiian to United due the awful terminal change.
We flew LAX to KOA, soon after Hawaiian moved to the Bradley Terminal. Never again! Our last two HNL flights were on UA. Terminal 7 is great, and the new UA lounge is too. Also, UA has a much better lounge at HNL. Sorry to say it’s UA for our future flights, even with the possibility of HA 787-9 flights in the future.
I thought your article was sad. I travel back-and-forth from Maui to California every other month. It’s not as bad as you make it out to be. It’s just different. If people wait till the last minute, sure they are taking a chance on missing their flight. Otherwise, I think it’s much nicer. As you mentioned there are carts to transport you as well as elevators. These will cut your time in half as well as your physical exertion. also, there are coffee and snack options very near the gates to fly out. Why don’t you try writing a article that’s a little more positive instead of sounding like a bunch of whiners.
Itsdefinitely fun the wife and I did it earlier this year. from the terminal it’s about a 20 minute walk feels like it’s never gonna end
We flew to Kauai last July and this article is totally accurate! Even riding the golf cart only reduced the distance by about half. The Lihue gate is the very last one in the terminal so add that distance. Then the walk from the drop off for the golf cart when returning still leaves a long walk to the baggage pickup and then there’s another long walk to the hotel shuttle pickup point. And as the article points out, there are almost no food options once you get to the terminal – including plain coffee only from one vendor. I told my husband that we can still fly Hawaiian, but definitely Not from LAX. We have to fly to a departure city anyway, so we’ll pick another one. It’s just a total mess!
Longtime reader, BTW – Mahalo for all your info!
Hi Holly.
Thanks so much for your first comment, and for being a regular reader. We appreciate it!
Aloha.
I could not agree more with the author of this article. It’s absolutely ridiculous that anyone would need to walk more than a mile to get to their gate. Especially at LAX. There are no food courts open near the HA gates and there are no stores near the gates, except for a small coffee shop.
I switched to using American Airlines because Hawaiian gave no warning and late at night, it’s not safe walking that far in any airport.
I did this journey from LAX to Maui in July with 2 kids (1st time flyers) and they Hated the airport experience because of all the walking and mom not knowing where to go….
I flew into LAX airport from Oahu on Hawaiian Air for a short trip to be w family–and the information on this article is absolutely correct! Although I am a senior thankfully I am in shape and took that Verry brisk walk to baggage claim area ( was more like 20 minutes–and at one point we had no other choice but to walk down 2 flights of stairs ( w/ my carry on luggage in hand). Hope this is resolved by my next trip to LAX in December!😊
Wow! We just experienced this and it was a nightmare! I’m not exaggerating. My husband, 82, is in good health, but this was not something we were expecting. It’s not just the distance, which is significant; it’s up, then down….then up again! Then an escalator, only to turn around and go down again. One escalator wasn’t working, which meant no reprieve from walking. Not one golf cart offered a ride. Not one. We took the 11:00 am flight to Kona. Even the hot Kona airport is better than this. And the return flight lands around midnight, so a long walk to claim luggage and grab your ride. Hawaiian Airlines must’ve lost a lottery or something. I prefer Hawaiian, but if we return, I’ll be looking at other airlines.
The worst part of our travels was Hawaii air at lax. Not sure I will use them again unless they do something to help move passengers better. Thanks
As a rule, I will avoid LAX if possible. I flew into LGB this past July and it was beautiful.
Departed via LAX on Alaska on a Saturday morning. Traffic was a nightmare and it took forever to get to Terminal 6. The bag check lines were outrageous. The TSA lines were also long but moved at a pretty good pace. LAX is just a cluster …
Longbeach airport is a delight! Peaceful, tranquil, easy access to TSA. The antithesis to LAX. Traffic to and from is much better too. Onward travel via American, Delta and Southwest as well. Highly recommended.
LAX HA has never been user friendly. Check in and baggage to security was always with no help from staff. I’ve moved over to Alaska Air for airfare, food and service.
I would rather jam a stick in my eye than fly out of LAX.
I knew exactly what airport this is was going to be about. Went there earlier this year and I was a really bad experience. I felt like I was walking from Honolulu to LA. I can’t imagine what this is like for our kapuna. On our return flight we added a half hour to our arrival at LAX to plan for the hike to the gate. If you get a rental car ad at least another half hour to your plans as this is a long bus trip away (if you’re lucky enough to get a seat on the bus at all)
Thus is simply false information. While it is true that it is very inconvenient it is not 1 1/3 miles. I noticed the problem on departure last week, so upon return, I found no shuttle as suggested by signag. I used my apple watch to measure distance in this maze. From getting off the plane to the Uber/Lul6ft shuttle, total distance was .53 miles. Still unacceptable as was the maze 9g signs but no where near the distance you claim.
You must have found a short cut somewhere. This was at least a mile hike that felt like three.
Thanks very much for bringing this to light! We traveled out of that new LAX terminal location last June. I knew that there was going to be a longer walk than typical, but this is an absolute joke. That outer terminal, is so remote and outlying that it’s designed like some kind of contingency location used during a natural disaster or emergency. Basically, a very poor design for this day and age. On our return, there were HA customer service agents helping everyone navigate the various hallways and doorways that we had to go through. It was like we were going through an “employees only” backroom or service way to get to baggage claim. The only bright spot was that we didn’t have to wait for our luggage! LOL
We traveled to Kauai this past February. We did like the look of the newer terminal and it seemed like there was much more room to keep social distancing for Covid. We had a 9am flight from LAX to Kauai, so arrived early. Most of the restaurants and shops were closed at that time. We did find some food and water to buy for the flight. The walk to the terminal was longer than usual, but we did not find it too bad. We had been warned to get there a little earlier than usual. Once we arrived at the terminal, we found plenty of seats and lots of room to keep social distancing. This was very nice compared to the other terminals where many times there are no seats available and it’s not possible to do any social distancing.
We are in our 70s and travel to KOA from LAX three times per year. We will now start flying out of LGB via HNL. Going from baggage drop off to the gate is a very long walk. For these departing flights we can usually find an ecart to drive us through the tunnel. Unfortunately when the return flight lands at 1130p, no ecarts are operating. The maze that one must walk through to get to baggage claim makes the distance seem much further.
You are 100% correct. It’s a nightmare at best, and potentially health hazardous for elderly and anyone with serious health issues. We discovered the LAX disaster scenario last May. We will Never fly Hawaii Air via LAX again – period. It’s insulting to a paying customer. We recently moved to Kauai and flew Hawaii Air via Oakland Airport, a much better experience.
Agreed! It’s a shiny new terminal but…we did not expect the trek to the gate or the lengthy, up-down maze to baggage claim after our return trip. It took us a full hour to get to our car and our bags were already waiting at baggage claim by the time we got there. Also, no restaurant or coffee shop options so if you are looking for food then it’s prepackaged.
This article is so true. Hawaiian made a huge mistake with this move. I travel to Hawaii several times a year through LAX and always on Hawaiian. After experiencing the new terminal nightmare in July, I will no longer use Hawaiian Airlines.
We did this trip during covid and it took almost an hour to get to the gate. Yes there are lots of ammenities on the way but they are all closed when you board in the morning. It started with elevators, excavators, stairs, long walks, and wondering if we took a wrong turn. Definitely plan ahead!
The LAX terminal (International) that Hawaiian utilizes is so great at checking in at such a massive modern updated section of the airport. That is where the great experience ends. It is a very long and winding pathway to the departure gate. On arrival, it is the opposite direction from the arrival gate to bag claim that is just as burdensome.
Hawaiian Airlines move is a nightmare. We flew in June from LAX and getting out of the terminal was awful. We will fly out of Long Beach next year. LAX never again!
Hawaiian Airlines has received the short end of the stick with the move to this new terminal. Hawaiian (and even Philippine Airlines) protested this move initially with Los Angeles World Airports – which runs LAX, as it was not Hawaiian’s choice to move. Thumbs down to LAX for this.
Unfortunately it’s not just Hawaiian; American is also having flights out of that dystopian International terminal. I recently arrived on a LIH-LAX flight, in Terminal 5, to discover that I had 30 minutes to make my connection at Gate 153. I am able-bodied, but at 70 with a very heavy backpack, that was not doable. If I had not quickly snagged a wheelchair (vaguely humiliating), I could not have made it.
We traveled in Feb. to go to Kauai, we heard there was a walk, but we didn’t expect such a long one! I am older w/bad hips & knees, it was rough! Signs weren’t clearly marked which way to go, my party of 6 went the wrong way for a short bit. Started to get frustrating & we live near LAX! Come w/patience & you’ll have to buy water @ the airport after that brisk walk, since you can’t bring any thru bag check. Water costs a lot. By time we got to the gate, we were winded. The seats are comfortable. That’s the only plus for the new terminal. Good luck everyone.
My elderly parents just returned to LAX from HNL and they experienced an undesirably long walk to the baggage claim area.
If someone is older, I would recommend arranging for a wheelchair or porter to assist. They said they will never take Hawaiian through LAX again because of this.
I had the privilege of flying round trip out of LAX at the beginning of Aug. Everything you’ve mentioned in this article is accurate and more! There is terrible internet service anywhere near the Hawaiian Airlines gates so if your trying to download some entertainment…. Better do it way before you get to the gate. There is NO food, grab it by the tsa check in. There is supposedly some online ordering and delivery service for food but …. No internet and the fees plus 45 minute delivery time made that a not an option. I had a good attitude about the walk and extremely adventurous pathway to the baggage claim. At times I thought I’d never find my bags but after a half an hour of twists turns endless hallways and numerous escalators I did.
We try to avoid LAX as much as possible. The Hawaii customers suffer a long walk when a bridge could be built for a straight walk.
This article is on point. No Hawaiian Airlines lounge at LAX and a super long walk from the terminal to the gate. On return flights is a long walk to the baggage claim. For any Senior, i’d suggest taking another airline.
To Fran H who was asking about the golf cart ride at LAX. After the security ✓point, you will go halfway through the shops. Stop. Turn left and proceed to escalators. At the bottom is where you will find airport employees that will shuttle you to an elevator that will take you up to the gate area. Hopefully your gate will be in the low 200’s. Just allow a lot of extra time and take it slow so you don’t get confused. Even ask someone to guide you if possible. Good Luck. Have a nice trip and just stay calm.
Unfortunately, Hawaiian Airlines is at the bottom of the totem pole as far as gates and terminals go. Airlines don’t pick their terminal unless they’re one of the big boys. Fly Southwest, enjoy that single isle jet for five hours and maybe you can get some sleep while they’re giving hula or a ukulele lessons…😂