Flew HA810 on Dec 15 and it turned into a long day, but honestly Hawaiian came through in the end.
Original 7:50am departure got pushed to 10:00am early that morning. We boarded, started taxiing, then a warning light came on and we went back to the gate. They said 11:15 at first and kept us on the plane.
Around 11 they admitted it would take longer, the crew would time out, and they needed a new crew. We deplaned, got a new boarding time of 2:45pm, and they handed out $15 meal vouchers without anyone asking.
Killed time at Panda Express and wandered the cultural gardens. Hawaiian also emailed offering a full refund if we wanted to cancel. Tickets were only $217 roundtrip so no way we were doing that.
Boarding was late again. Everyone was seated by about 3:15 but we didn’t actually take off until 3:45. Landed at LAX around 10:30pm, then sat waiting because only two gates in T6 can handle widebodies and both were occupied. Finally got to the gate at 11:10 and home around 12:30am.
Then the nice surprise: less than 24 hours later, Hawaiian emailed each of us a $100 travel voucher. No complaints filed, no requests made.
I fly Hawaiian multiple times a year to visit family and friends and this is why I like them. Hot sandwich, free tropical cocktail in coach, and solid treatment when things go sideways.
Only real frustrations were learning that Hawaiian is super constrained at Alaska’s LAX terminal and that Alaska lounge passes don’t work at the Plumeria Lounge. Ended up in the Premier Lounge with Priority Pass, which wasn’t great. Might try BUR instead of LAX next time.
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