Hawaiian Airways opens new non-public lounge in Honolulu
Hawaiian Airways is providing a brand new choice for vacationers to skip the road and transfer via Honolulu’s Daniel Ok. Inouye Worldwide Airport (HNL) with a bit extra consolation. And the service contains entry to an unique new lounge.
The airline not too long ago unveiled its Premium Airport Service in Honolulu. To faucet into the advantages, you do not have to have HawaiianMiles elite standing, carry a bank card that features lounge entry or journey on a business- or first-class ticket.
You simply should be flying with Hawaiian and be prepared to pay for the service.
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Hawaiian’s new concierge-esque program features a host of paid perks, which shift in scope (and price) relying on whether or not you are arriving, departing or connecting in Honolulu.
The array of companies contains precedence baggage dealing with, an escort via the terminals and, contingent in your plans, a personal chauffeur between terminals, or to and from the airport’s rental automotive facility.
Plus, departing and connecting passengers get entry to Hawaiian’s new, unique lounge in Terminal 1: Condominium 1929, named for the 12 months the airline was based. The lounge soft-launched in December however is now totally open to vacationers who wish to purchase their means in.
Now, these perks actually do not come low-cost: Departure companies, which embrace entry to Condominium 1929, begin at $750 for a celebration of two. Arrival companies begin at $500 for a celebration of two.
It is value noting that in lots of instances, you’d pay much less for a journey bank card that carries a 12 months’s value of lounge entry at airports throughout the nation (amongst different perks).
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However, for those who’d want a one-time expense to make your expertise on the airport a bit much less irritating, the brand new service might actually make for a extra satisfying journey via the terminals.
Hawaiian unveils Condominium 1929 lounge
The centerpiece of Hawaiian’s new, premium airport service is its Condominium 1929 lounge, which is positioned proper close to The Plumeria Lounge in Honolulu’s Terminal 1.
That includes an array of tables and sofas for consuming, ingesting or stress-free, the airline payments Condominium 1929 as a personal lounge, which is obtainable to paying vacationers departing from the airport or on a connection.
Guests to Condominium 1929 may have entry to a full food and drinks menu, which features a cocktail listing curated by Bar Leather-based Apron, a James Beard award-winning bar in downtown Honolulu. Visitors will place a meals order earlier than arriving on the airport, as a part of the check-in course of with the Condominium 1929 concierge.
In the event you’ve grown uninterested in airport lounge overcrowding, you actually will not discover it right here. Condominium 1929 can accommodate as much as 24 visitors at one time, however even that doubtless makes it sound much less tranquil than it’s.
The lounge provides a “quiet and stress-free setting brimming with the smooth sounds of Hawaiian music,” the airline says.
The house features a non-public room that may maintain as much as eight visitors.
Past that, there’s only a handful of tables — each indoor and outside — that may every seat not more than 4 guests.
Condominium 1929 additionally contains bathe amenities in case you wish to clean up throughout a layover or earlier than an extended flight to the U.S. mainland or Asia.
Different departure companies
As a part of the premium airport departure companies, a Hawaiian consultant will greet you on the curb in entrance of the terminal, or on the rental automotive facility for those who’re returning a automotive.
The service contains precedence baggage dealing with, an expedited Transportation Safety Administration checkpoint lane, an escort via the airport (who will help you with any carry-on luggage) and precedence boarding when you’re on the plane.
In case your gate is in Terminal 2, you may get a personal driver to the terminal.
And, as soon as on the gate, you may have precedence boarding.
Arrival companies
For these wanting to make use of the service after an arrival in Honolulu, the service features a greeting from a Hawaiian consultant on the plane door, who will help with any baggage.
Then, you may get a personal escort to your transportation — together with a personal driver from Terminal 2, and to the rental automotive facility for those who’re choosing up a automotive.
Don’t be concerned about stopping by baggage declare: So long as you are staying on the island of Oahu, the airline will switch your bag proper to your lodge.
Connection companies
Hawaiian additionally provides a mix of those companies to vacationers making a connection in Honolulu, from driver help from Terminal 2 to precedence boarding, an escort via the airport and entry to Condominium 1929.
Is Hawaiian Airways’ new premium service value it?
For rare vacationers with some nerves about navigating the airport, there actually are some advantages to this service.
For arriving passengers, there’s comfort in handing off your carry-on luggage on the plane door and getting an escort via the terminal — maybe even to your automotive rental pickup, to not point out having your baggage dropped off at your lodge.
Vacationers may even doubtless benefit from the quieter, extra seamless expertise of stress-free in Condominium 1929 earlier than a flight versus the louder, extra crowded airport concourses.
Nonetheless, frequent vacationers who have already got elite standing, lounge entry and TSA PreCheck might wish to weigh the prices and advantages of this new expertise.
In any case, the departure companies begin at $750 for a celebration of two.
For $695(see charges and costs) yearly, The Platinum Card® from American Specific, as an example, will get you a full 12 months’s value of entry to Centurion Lounges and Precedence Cross Choose lounges globally, together with a few Precedence Cross choices in Honolulu. Enrollment is required.
Different playing cards, just like the Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card ($395 annual payment (see charges and costs) and Chase Sapphire Reserve ($550 annual payment), additionally embrace a 12 months’s value of lounge entry world wide — together with lounges in Honolulu.
For what it is value, the airport additionally contains airline lounges from every of the main world alliances, together with an American Airways Admirals Membership and a Delta Air Traces Sky Membership.
For charges and costs of the Amex Platinum Card, click on right here