# Hawaiian Airlines Zone Boarding



## HatTrick (Nov 26, 2014)

Boarding by Zones


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## Ken555 (Nov 26, 2014)

Huh? Context?


Sent from my iPad


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## davidvel (Nov 27, 2014)

Don't most all airlines do this in some fashion or another?


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## klpca (Nov 27, 2014)

Doesn't matter...everyone gets in a messy line as soon as they announce boarding. They don't enforce it at all so its a giant free-for-all. I've taken 6 flights on HA in three weeks. It might as well be Southwest.


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## BocaBoy (Nov 27, 2014)

klpca said:


> Doesn't matter...everyone gets in a messy line as soon as they announce boarding. They don't enforce it at all so its a giant free-for-all. *I've taken 6 flights on HA in three weeks. It might as well be Southwest.*


Were your flights inter-island or across the ocean?


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## klpca (Nov 27, 2014)

BocaBoy said:


> Were your flights inter-island or across the ocean?



One mainland, the rest were interisland. I checked my bag so it was no big deal for me because I didn't need space in the overhead bin. My daughter flew in from Auckland and said that she saw people turned back and asked to wait for their zone so some gate agents do enforce it, I just haven't seen it first-hand. 

Btw, I think that zone 1 is first class, then they load Pualani, people with kids under two and other people with special needs, then zone 2 is the back third of the plane, and zone 3 is everyone else. (Mainland flight).


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## Polly Metallic (Nov 27, 2014)

klpca said:


> Doesn't matter...everyone gets in a messy line as soon as they announce boarding. They don't enforce it at all so its a giant free-for-all. I've taken 6 flights on HA in three weeks. It might as well be Southwest.



We just came back a couple weeks ago and they told people to sit down until their zone was called so people trying to board could get through. And people trying to board out of order were made to wait. This was at KOA. OGG, HNL and JFK.


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## klpca (Nov 27, 2014)

Polly Metallic said:


> We just came back a couple weeks ago and they told people to sit down until their zone was called so people trying to board could get through. And people trying to board out of order were made to wait. This was at KOA. OGG, HNL and JFK.



Wow. I would have loved this. (Spoiler alert: I am a by-the-book kind of person, lol). We have their credit card so I can check my bag for free so I'm not fighting for overhead space - I just wait to go last, but it's just ridiculous to see everyone in line when they haven't even called for the final zone (mainland flight - I think the interisland is just zone one and two now that I think of it). Maybe everyone is just excited to get to Hawaii. 

I was surprised how long it took to get through security in Kona. Maybe 30 min? They seemed understaffed.


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## HatTrick (Nov 27, 2014)

klpca said:


> I think that zone 1 is first class, then they load Pualani, people with kids under two and other people with special needs, then zone 2 is the back third of the plane, and zone 3 is everyone else.



Zone 1
    First Class / Business Class
    Pualani Platinum Members 
    Military personnel in uniform

Zone 2
    Pualani Gold Members 
    Premier Club Members 
    Guests seated in Extra Comfort or Preferred Seats

Zone 3
    General boarding - rear section of the aircraft

Zone 4
    General boarding - middle section of the aircraft

Zone 5
    General boarding - front section of the aircraft


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## klpca (Nov 27, 2014)

They say that the mind is the first thing to go! I was zone 5 on my mainland flight and zone 3 on all the rest. 

Another Hawaiian question - when did the main tais go away? The free wine with the meal was certainly nice, but I was looking forward to the mai tai. 



HatTrick said:


> Zone 1
> First Class / Business Class
> Pualani Platinum Members
> Military personnel in uniform
> ...


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## california-bighorn (Nov 27, 2014)

klpca said:


> We have their credit card so I can check my bag for free so I'm not fighting for overhead space


I also have the Hawaiian Airline credit card through Barclays with the 1st bag checked free perk.  How do you have to go about checking the free bag?  I asked that question on TUG a couple of months ago, but, the replies were not helpful.  Is there someplace you need to go on the HAL website when getting your boarding pass?  Do you need to check the free bag at the counter?  When I called HAL they didn't know anything about it on one call and when I called a second time I was told you needed to have purchased the tickets with the HAL credit card, but, was not given any info on the mechanics of how it should be done.


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## klpca (Nov 27, 2014)

california-bighorn said:


> I also have the Hawaiian Airline credit card through Barclays with the 1st bag checked free perk.  How do you have to go about checking the free bag?  I asked that question on TUG a couple of months ago, but, the replies were not helpful.  Is there someplace you need to go on the HAL website when getting your boarding pass?  Do you need to check the free bag at the counter?  When I called HAL they didn't know anything about it on one call and when I called a second time I was told you needed to have purchased the tickets with the HAL credit card, but, was not given any info on the mechanics of how it should be done.



When I checked in online it asked how many bags I was checking, I chose -1- and the next screen said $0.00. I was wondering about that also.


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## lily28 (Nov 28, 2014)

Did you buy the ticket with the Hawaiian airline credit card to get the free bag?  The fee of $17 for a 30 minutes flight from Hnl to Maui is just too much.


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## klpca (Nov 28, 2014)

lily28 said:


> Did you buy the ticket with the Hawaiian airline credit card to get the free bag?  The fee of $17 for a 30 minutes flight from Hnl to Maui is just too much.



Yes, it's one free bag per cardholder and you have to purchase the ticket with the card.


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## tompalm (Nov 28, 2014)

klpca said:


> When I checked in online it asked how many bags I was checking, I chose -1- and the next screen said $0.00. I was wondering about that also.



Also, don't bother to print out boarding tickets because when you get to the airport, you need to use the kiosk to check in.  That machine will print out your boarding tickets and your bag tag.  Stick your bag tag on your bag and drop it off. I checked an extra bag and paid $25 for that online.  So, the machine printed out to bag tags for me.  It worked well and was easy.

Regarding boarding, I sat there and relaxed while the herd fought to get on.  My wife and I were the last people on the flight and it was a lot easier.  If you don't have a bag to put overhead, forget zone boarding and wait for the crowd to get on.


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## BocaBoy (Nov 28, 2014)

klpca said:


> Yes, it's one free bag per cardholder and you have to purchase the ticket with the card.



This is a big improvement over the prior situation where there were no free bags unless you are elite, but the benefit is  weaker than the free bag benefit on most other airline cards.  Most cards allow a free bag for the cardholder and at least one (often more) other passenger flying on the same record.  Hawaiian allows only one free checked bag and only for the cardholder and only if the ticket is charged to the card.  As a result, a husband and wife each have to have their own card and they each have to buy their ticket separately to be on a separate record in order to both get a free checked bag.  But like I said, it is an improvement over the prior situation.


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## klpca (Nov 28, 2014)

BocaBoy said:


> This is a big improvement over the prior situation where there were no free bags unless you are elite, but the benefit is  weaker than the free bag benefit on most other airline cards.  Most cards allow a free bag for the cardholder and at least one (often more) other passenger flying on the same record.  Hawaiian allows only one free checked bag and only for the cardholder and only if the ticket is charged to the card.  As a result, a husband and wife each have to have their own card and they each have to buy their ticket separately to be on a separate record in order to both get a free checked bag.  But like I said, it is an improvement over the prior situation.



I agree with you. This time it was worth it because I did three islands so it came out about even for bag fees vs the annual fee on the credit card. (Close enough anyway). 

Between the six of us, we had 14 flights booked on either Hawaiian or Alaska Airlines using miles, companion fares, and cash. (Logistical nightmare). Hawaiian was able to link all of our Hawaiian Airlines itineraries using a tool on their the website which was helpful since I had to book most of the flights separately. The other benefit that they offer is the ability to consolidate miles in one account. But otherwise it's not a great program.


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## HatTrick (Feb 13, 2015)

Any recent experience with Hawaiian's zone boarding to comment on?


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## Luanne (Feb 13, 2015)

My sister in law and brother in law flew Hawaiian from Maui back to the mainland on their trek home in January.  They had to pay for their bags and she told me there was a separate "cash" line that was much shorter than the line with folks using credit cards to pay.  I don't know if this occurs at all airports, or just Maui.  I alerted my daughter since she and her husband will be flying San Jose to Maui (and back) in March.


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