Flying to Hawaii soon? Don’t have a lot of money to spend? Hawaiian Airlines A330-200 economy is what I recommend.
Not only will you get a free hot meal, you’ll get free Starlink internet access and a large video screen at your seat loaded with lots of great content.
They also serve a complementary tropical-themed alcoholic drink prior to landing (for those who prefer to kick off their vacation with a stiff buzz).
This is a full review of my most recent experience. Without the buzz.
HA15 San Diego, CA (SAN) – Honolulu, HI (HNL) Tuesday, May 6, 2025 Aircraft: A330-243 Registration: N361HA Duration: 5 hours 39 minutes Seat: 27G (Economy)
Hawaiian Airlines A330-200 side view illustration by NorebboStock.comOur route from San Diego to Honolulu today as HA15.
Checking in at SAN
The last time I flew Hawaiian Airlines flight number 15 from San Diego to Honolulu, it departed at 9:30 AM. This time? It was going out at 8:35 AM. I wasn’t about to let it go without me.
OK. I know this is a Hawaiian Airlines review, but I’d like to take a moment to direct your attention to fact that the San Diego Airport Authority is confident enough in Porter Airlines to include them in the overhead signage. They are more far optimistic about the longevity of their SAN service than I am!Enough about certain Canadian airlines that may or may not survive San Diego. I’m going to Hawaii bay-bee!Somewhere way the heck down there is the Hawaiian Airlines ticketing and baggage drop counter. I’ve already got my boarding pass (and I don’t have any luggage to check), so I ain’t walkin’ that far. Long time readers of SANspotter.com know that when you see a picture from the general vicinity of the Sunglass Hut, there’s a pretty good chance that a moody and dramatic picture of gate 48 is next.Told you. It’s always gate 48.Pualani seems most pleased with her gate assignment today. I don’t blame her. 48 is a good one.
The boarding process
Boarding zones 1-3 on Hawaiian Airlines are reserved for first class passengers, active-duty military, Hawaiian Airlines credit card elites, and Extra Comfort passengers. My zone 4 boarding assignment was about as good as it could get for a lowly basic economy passenger such as myself.
Yup. Even the economy class boarding passes are sexy AF on Hawaiian Airlines. I think I was even smelling a twinge of coconut as I was holding it up like this.Looks like it’s going to be a full load out to Honolulu today (and I was very excited to be part of that load thank you very much).
The boarding process started exactly on time at 7:50am. The way in which they expedited the process led me to believe that they had done this a time or two before.
I’ve been all over the world on over a hundred different airlines, and let me tell you what: standing at the boarding door of a Hawaiian Airlines A330-200 bound for Honolulu is still one of my favorite things ever. Emirates who?
Hawaiian Airlines A330-200 economy seat overview
Those of you who are thinking that the basic economy seats are in any way similar to what you’ll get in Hawaiian Airlines A330-200 first class need to get your head out of your a**. Unlike the seats up front, the ones in the back are narrow and tightly spaced. But they are tropical.
Welcome to the main cabin. The extra legroom seats (brilliantly named “Extra Comfort” seats) are located up front and around the perimeter. Basic economy (where I’m headed) is right down the middle. I have arrived at seat 27G. Don’t let my sulky body language fool you. The tropical themed fabric is dope.So. What do you think of the leg room? Be sure to read my Hawaiian Airlines A330-200 Extra Comfort review before answering! Under seat storage space: about the size of three pineapples and a coconut.Leg room isn’t all that great if I’m being honest, but the in seat video screens and the island-themed fabric goes a long way towards making this feel kinda nice. Even here in the center section! And yeah, these videos screens aren’t as nice as what you saw in my Hawaiian Airlines 787-9 Extra Comfort review. But that’s OK. I appreciate their existence.“Manaʻo wau ʻaʻole e noho kekahi i ka noho ma ka ʻaoʻao oʻu!” (look at me being all smart trying to say “I hope nobody sits next to me” in Hawaiian).Laugh all you want, but it worked! The two middle seats in our row remained vacant. I was so excited about the empty middle seat thing that I forgot to tell you that there are USB-A charging ports in these seats. And because there was nobody sitting next to me, that means that I got two.
Although basic, these seats are a huge improvement over what you saw in my Hawaiian Airlines 767-300 economy review. They’ve come a long way since the days of the old seven-six.
The departure from San Diego
It was 8:27 AM when they got us pushed off the gate. That was 8 minutes early – which was surprising considering that it was nearly a full load this morning. There were a few empty seats around the cabin, but I’d estimate the load factor to be 80%.
Taxiing to runway 27. There are no external cameras on these old A330-200s, so you’re going to have to take my word for it.It’s kind of a bummer that Hawaiian language tends to be more formal and respectful, and it doesn’t have direct equivalents for strong profanities such as “f*ck yeah” (which I totally could’ve used in these moments leading up to takeoff)…
In-flight entertainment
The highlight of the in-flight entertainment experience on these Hawaiian A330’s is the complementary high speed Starlink Internet access (which is active for the entire flight – from gate to gate).
Free Starlink Wi-Fi! Don’t mind if I do.“No voice video calls. No Livestream broadcasting. No viewing obscene offensive content.” Does it count if I do all three at once?
Another nice thing about these A330’s is the fact that there are videos screens at every seat. You won’t even get that on their A321neo’s for cryin’ out loud (which is a more modern aircraft).
A home screen so stunning that I almost didn’t want to leave it. Hawaii is freaking beautiful, yo.It’s a pretty nice user interface actually. Lots of purples. Lots of pinks. Easy to navigate too!
Note: earbuds are not complimentary, so you’ll either have to bring your own or purchase a set onboard.
Food and drinks
Hawaiian Airlines is still serving a FREE hot meal to all economy class passengers on flights between Hawaii and the mainland. And you know what? It’s actually pretty good.
They also offer a full menu of food for purchase items. In my opinion, unless what they’re serving for free sounds absolutely disgusting to you, skip the food for purchase menu.
I’m pretty sure that “haha hou!” Is the most Dr. Seuss name for in in-flight magazine that I’ve ever seen. Little Cindy Lou Who would’ve loved this I’m sure.From macadamia nuts to blankets and earbuds to bottled water, there’s something for all the happy Who’s down in Whoville here on the menu.“Here comes the cart with a clatter and clink, rolling right down with a jingle and chink! Beverages, snacks, oh what a delight, zooming your way, morning or night!”And that concludes the Dr. Seuss portion of this review. Partly because I’m hungry and I want to eat, but mostly because I lack the brain cells required to keep it going.That’s a whole lotta ingredients for a turkey sausage egg and cheese croissant IMHO. But it was free, so I’m not one to complain.Guava juice (because anything else would’ve been the incorrect choice for a flight to Hawaii). Mahalo for the full can!This breakfast sandwich thingy may not look all that pretty, but boy was it ever tasty. Shoutout to the fine folks who slapped this thing together (in what was most likely a grungy warehouse somewhere deep in the heart of industrial Honolulu).The best way to arrive in Hawaii? Loaded up on sugar and saturated fats, of course!
One complementary tropical-themed alcoholic drink is available to all economy class passengers over the age of 21 as well. You’ll have to pay if you want another.
The lavatory
Every time I fly Hawaiian Airlines, part of me secretly hopes they’ve come to their senses and added floral wallpaper to the interior of their lavatories. It disappoints me to report that the economy lavatories here on the A330-200 are as basic as they’ve ever been.
You know, the aft lavatory isn’t all that bad of a bad place to sit and wait for something (anything) to happen. Even without the floral wallpaper, it’s not that bad in here.
Seat and cabin comfort
Not gonna lie: the A330-200 economy seats are just too hard IMHO. In comparison, I flew Hawaiian Airlines A321neo Extra Comfort on the way back to San Diego from this trip, and that seat was far more supportive. And soft. And comfortable.
I’m not a fan of the 2-4-2 seating configuration here in economy class, but it’s a tradeoff I’m willing to make for the opportunity for some R&R in the islands.Two things will be required to be able to cross your legs: first, you’ll need to be under 6 feet tall. Second, the seat next to you needs to be vacant (because there will be some spillover).Not everything about Hawaiian culture is respectful and polite. This seat recline (if you’re on the receiving end of it) is a bit of mofo. She looked comfortable though.
The arrival into Honolulu
Despite what seemed like an unusually long flight for SAN-HNL (nearly 6 hours!), we actually started the descent into Honolulu about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Maybe it was the uncomfortable seat that made it seem longer? I don’t know.
Although they didn’t serve any drinks prior to landing, they did a hand out cookies from the Honolulu Cookie Company. I wasn’t even kidding about the sugar and saturated fats thing BTW.
Touchdown on runway 8L happened at 11:28 AM. Now 12 minutes ahead of schedule!
Welcome to Honolulu! I wonder if Porter Airlines has bailed on San Diego yet?
The taxi over to our gate took 13 minutes, and it was 11:41 AM by the time the captain turned off the seatbelt sign. We lost one minute during the taxi, so we had to settle for an 11 minute early arrival. Oh well.
What a great flight! I haven’t even come down from the sugar high yet, so the next 20 minutes or so ought to be really good.Want the best chance of an empty middle seat just like I had? First, fly mid week (weekend flights to and from Hawaii are generally full). Second, choose an aisle seat in the center section where the other aisle seat is occupied (leaving the two middle seats open). Not many people will volunteer for those middle seats.“Oh boy oh boy oh boy!” (still waiting for the post sugar crash)Aloha (the goodbye version) to you, N361HA. May your trip back to the mainland be safe and prosperous. And let me know if you hear anything about Porter!
Hawaiian Airlines A330-200 economy pros and cons
Even though I found at the seat to be somewhat uncomfortable, I’d still choose the Hawaiian A330 over the A321neo for a flight between the US mainland and Hawaii. Mostly because I’m old, and I consider flying a narrowbody out to the islands to be a total sin.
Pros
Complementary Starlink Internet access. And it’s fast too!
Having a video screen at every seat is pretty nice.
The free hot meal. It won’t exactly be healthy, and it’s probably gonna be a little sloppy, but it’s definitely worth trying.
Cons
There’s something about the seat that I found to be extremely uncomfortable. Too rigid maybe?
Although there are USB-A charging ports, there are not any 110 V electrical outlets.
You should probably bring your own food if the sight (and smell) of a gooey / hot / greasy sandwich disgusts you.
You were right about Porter, Scott! They are gone as of late June. No big loss though as Air Canada is still there and we’re getting KLM and Copa.
I have to say the food in Hawaiian economy looks as disgusting to me as ever. How do you compare this trip with your Southwest flight to Honolulu awhile back?
I heard the news about Porter about three hours after I published this review. On one hand, it feels good knowing that my Spidey sense is still sensing correctly. On the other hand, it’s never a good feeling knowing that we’ve lost an airline at SAN. I didn’t think it would happen this quickly actually.
I can’t fault you for thinking that the breakfast sandwich looked disgusting. That was my first impression as well. But it was good! You had to be there man. lol
Compared to Southwest Airlines, well, there is no comparison. Maybe it’ll be better once Southwest starts with the assigned seating and extra legroom option? Even then, there’s nothing quite like flying Hawaiian out to the islands.
Actually, this doesn’t look too bad. And the complimentary drink at landing sounds very nice. Flying to Hawaii should be a special experience, even in economy. I know Southwest does this route as well, but I’m sure it’s not nearly as nice. Hopefully you’ll have a chance soon to fly in Hawaiian First for comparison.
Nice review as always…I have flown the A330 to HNL, during the time the fuel pipeline busted and we had to go to LAX for fuel…made for an interesting take-off on RWY 9…
I fly the ERJ out of SAN and love every time I see the A330 either take off or just parked when we’re in the penalty box waiting for our gate.
I’m sure it was inconvenient at the time, but on the plus side, you’re one of the very few people who have ever flown from San Diego to Los Angeles on a Hawaiian A330. 🙂
And I agree. Still, after all these years, that airplane is one of my favorites at SAN.
Hi Scott, were you affected by that Cessna Citation crash? But anyways, great review as always, I would actually would like to try the world’s longest domestic flight(As I live in Boston) seeing that the economy class is bearable.
It was pretty far east of me thankfully. I didn’t even hear about it until later in the afternoon while I was browsing YouTube. Scary stuff!
Glad you enjoyed the review! BOS-HNL on Hawaiian would be a lot of fun I think. Not sure I could do it in economy though, as that seat was awfully hard.
This honestly looks like a really solid Economy product. And not only that, but it also has character, between the turquoise blue seats, tropical IFE interface, guava juice, the pre-landing cookie and the fact that they’re the only US airline serving free food on all mainland-Hawaii flights (I think Delta serves a meal on their Midwest/East Coast flights, but not on their West Coast ones). Here’s hoping Alaska doesn’t discontinue the Hawaiian brand!
Also, just curious, why do you dislike the A330’s 2-4-2 configuration? Yeah, those 4 middle seats can be underwhelming, but I’m a huge fan of having 2 seats by the windows.
I’m pretty sure that part of me will die inside if Alaska kills the Hawaiian brand. That would be such a huge loss IMHO. It’s not the best economy class product, but it’s certainly unique.
I do like (and prefer) 2-4-2 if I am traveling with someone. It’s just slightly inconvenient as a solo traveler IMHO. 3-3-3 would provide more opportunities for having an empty seat next to me I think. At least it seems that way – but I haven’t done the math on it. Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know lol.
Keep them coming, Scott. Always love your videos and reviews. Thanks!
CHRIS
Thanks Chris, I really appreciate the support. Lots more to come!
You were right about Porter, Scott! They are gone as of late June. No big loss though as Air Canada is still there and we’re getting KLM and Copa.
I have to say the food in Hawaiian economy looks as disgusting to me as ever. How do you compare this trip with your Southwest flight to Honolulu awhile back?
I heard the news about Porter about three hours after I published this review. On one hand, it feels good knowing that my Spidey sense is still sensing correctly. On the other hand, it’s never a good feeling knowing that we’ve lost an airline at SAN. I didn’t think it would happen this quickly actually.
I can’t fault you for thinking that the breakfast sandwich looked disgusting. That was my first impression as well. But it was good! You had to be there man. lol
Compared to Southwest Airlines, well, there is no comparison. Maybe it’ll be better once Southwest starts with the assigned seating and extra legroom option? Even then, there’s nothing quite like flying Hawaiian out to the islands.
Actually, this doesn’t look too bad. And the complimentary drink at landing sounds very nice. Flying to Hawaii should be a special experience, even in economy. I know Southwest does this route as well, but I’m sure it’s not nearly as nice. Hopefully you’ll have a chance soon to fly in Hawaiian First for comparison.
It was pretty nice. And yes, a lot better than what Southwest Airlines is currently offering.
I actually have done first class in every aircraft in the Hawaiian fleet except for the 717:
A321neo First Class
A330-200 First Class (the old version)
A330-200 First Class (the new version)
787-9 First Class
A330-200 economy is nowhere near as good as first class (duh), but it is still fun!
Indeed you have! I’ll take a look at it. For some reason I thought the last time you had flown Hawaiian in first class was pre-Covid.
Nice review as always…I have flown the A330 to HNL, during the time the fuel pipeline busted and we had to go to LAX for fuel…made for an interesting take-off on RWY 9…
I fly the ERJ out of SAN and love every time I see the A330 either take off or just parked when we’re in the penalty box waiting for our gate.
I’m sure it was inconvenient at the time, but on the plus side, you’re one of the very few people who have ever flown from San Diego to Los Angeles on a Hawaiian A330. 🙂
And I agree. Still, after all these years, that airplane is one of my favorites at SAN.
Hi Scott, were you affected by that Cessna Citation crash? But anyways, great review as always, I would actually would like to try the world’s longest domestic flight(As I live in Boston) seeing that the economy class is bearable.
It was pretty far east of me thankfully. I didn’t even hear about it until later in the afternoon while I was browsing YouTube. Scary stuff!
Glad you enjoyed the review! BOS-HNL on Hawaiian would be a lot of fun I think. Not sure I could do it in economy though, as that seat was awfully hard.
This honestly looks like a really solid Economy product. And not only that, but it also has character, between the turquoise blue seats, tropical IFE interface, guava juice, the pre-landing cookie and the fact that they’re the only US airline serving free food on all mainland-Hawaii flights (I think Delta serves a meal on their Midwest/East Coast flights, but not on their West Coast ones). Here’s hoping Alaska doesn’t discontinue the Hawaiian brand!
Also, just curious, why do you dislike the A330’s 2-4-2 configuration? Yeah, those 4 middle seats can be underwhelming, but I’m a huge fan of having 2 seats by the windows.
I meant to say “overwhelming”. Lol…
That’s what I figured!
I’m pretty sure that part of me will die inside if Alaska kills the Hawaiian brand. That would be such a huge loss IMHO. It’s not the best economy class product, but it’s certainly unique.
I do like (and prefer) 2-4-2 if I am traveling with someone. It’s just slightly inconvenient as a solo traveler IMHO. 3-3-3 would provide more opportunities for having an empty seat next to me I think. At least it seems that way – but I haven’t done the math on it. Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know lol.