The Alaska-Hawaiian merger was supposed to usher in a new era, with Hawaiian Airlines helping Alaska step onto the global stage. A brand-new Boeing 787-9 paired with Hawaiian Airlines’ Leihōkū Suites sounded like a promising combination. On paper, this should have been an exciting premium experience. Unfortunately, the flight unraveled early on and never fully recovered.
Disclosure: I am not affiliated with Hawaiian Airlines and received no monetary or other incentives for this review. I booked this flight by redeeming a business-class ticket with Alaska Airlines points (I am also not affiliated with Alaska Airlines). These opinions are based solely on my personal experience.
Route Specifications
- 🛫 Starting Airport – Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
- 🛬 Destination Airport – Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN)
- 🔢 Flight Number – Hawaiian Airlines 871
- ✈️ Aircraft Type – Boeing 787-9
- 📅 Month Travelled – Nov 2025
Check In at SEA
The check-in experience set the tone, and not in a good way. Hawaiian Airlines’ counters at SEA were clearly inadequate. There was only one agent handling First Class, Business Class, Economy, and bag drop. As you might expect, the line moved painfully slowly and resulted in about a 30-minute wait.
We eventually used a self-service kiosk to speed up our bag drop, but it was still frustrating. Given that Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines now share the same parent company, it felt odd that Hawaiian flights could not utilize Alaska’s significantly larger check-in area and staffing resources. Hopefully this is a temporary growing pain related to the merger.
Alaska Lounge at the N Gates
Flying Hawaiian Airlines Business Class grants access to Alaska Lounges at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The main lounge used for this flight is Alaska’s lounge in the N Gates.
The space itself is fine, but the food selection left a lot to be desired. There was an odd mix of American Chinese and Korean dishes that tasted roughly on par with Panda Express. Drink options were mostly limited to coffee, tea, and soft drinks. On the positive side, the coffee beans are sourced from Cafe Umbria, a local Seattle chain that I personally enjoy.
With ongoing talk of a dedicated Alaska Business Class lounge coming to SEA, I think it is long overdue if Alaska wants to compete seriously with Delta Sky Clubs or the Centurion Lounge. Both offer noticeably better food and a more premium experience.
If you have an Amex Platinum card, I would strongly recommend skipping the Alaska Lounge altogether and heading straight to the Centurion Lounge. The food quality and variety are significantly better. I have enjoyed everything from baked salmon to shrimp and grits there. It remains my favorite lounge at SEA.
Seats
The business class seats on Hawaiian’s new 787-9 are decent, but not without flaws. One immediate issue is the lack of overhead bins above the middle bulkhead rows. If you are seated in 2C or 2G, you will need to use the overhead bins above the window seats. You will also hear a noticeable amount of noise due to the close proximity to the lavatories.
Because of this, I would avoid the bulkhead seats and recommend selecting seats in row 4 or beyond.
The seat itself is comfortable and does fully recline into a lie-flat bed. There is a sliding door for added privacy, although the walls are noticeably lower than what you will find on competitors. The walls here are roughly three and a half feet tall, compared to closer to four feet on airlines like STARLUX. As a result, the sense of enclosure is reduced.
The center divider between middle seats can be lowered, but only if both passengers press the button at the same time. This is a thoughtful design choice. On the downside, the sliding door feels somewhat flimsy and tends to rattle, especially compared to more solid implementations on other airlines.
Storage space is another weak point. There is only one closable compartment, which already houses the provided headphones and water bottle. Additional personal storage would have made a big difference.
One pleasant surprise was the tray table. It is large and sturdy. I was able to fit a Galaxy Tab S9 FE with a full keyboard case, a Sony WH-1000XM6 headphone case, and a Galaxy Z Fold 7 with room to spare. Even a 16-inch MacBook Pro would fit without issue.
Technology
Unlike Hawaiian’s Airbus fleet, the Boeing 787-9 currently does not offer any Wi-Fi. For a modern business class product, this is a significant drawback, especially for business travelers. Alaska and Hawaiian plan to roll out Starlink on their 787-9 fleet starting in 2026, but for now, the lack of connectivity is hard to overlook.
Despite the aircraft being relatively new, there is no built-in Bluetooth support for the in-flight entertainment system. This was surprising, as several other reviews mentioned Bluetooth availability. I checked every menu and setting and found no option to pair wireless headphones. You will need to use wired headphones or bring your own Bluetooth adapter.
Even more oddly, the system still uses a two-prong headphone jack. You can get stereo sound using just one prong, but it feels outdated. With my Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones, audio only worked reliably if the cable was loosely plugged in. The provided Hawaiian Airlines on-ear headphones worked fine, so results may vary.
On the positive side, the screen itself is large and sharp, and the entertainment selection is solid. There were plenty of movies and TV shows available, including Korean and Japanese content. The interface supports multiple languages, including English, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese. Accessibility features such as screen readers and descriptive audio are also supported.
One standout feature is the Qi wireless charging pad. Instead of being flat on the table, it is vertically mounted with a strap that holds your phone in place. This design worked very well during turbulence. Charging speeds were slow, though. My phone took about an hour and a half to charge from 70 percent to full, topping out at roughly 5 watts according to AccuBattery Pro. I have heard reports of iPhones struggling with this charger, but in my case, it worked reliably throughout the flight.
Food
Hawaiian’s business class catering is fairly limited. During the pre-departure drink service, you choose from three main meal options and two pre-arrival meal options. Drink choices included POG juice, a Mai Tai, soju, and other basic alcoholic options.
I selected the Hawaiian Fusion main meal and the Western pre-arrival meal. Overall, the food was disappointing. The macadamia nuts were stale and cold. The salad was fine, but unremarkable. The shrimp was rubbery, and the short rib was both tough and oddly flaky. My wife’s chicken dish was noticeably better and much more tender.
Dessert was the highlight. The chocolate mousse with pear was genuinely enjoyable. Unfortunately, the cheese plate was another letdown, with stale crackers and mediocre cheese.
Hawaiian does offer Shin Ramyun as a mid-flight snack. I did not try it onboard, but I have had it many times before and it is a solid spicy instant ramen. That said, it would be nice to see a few additional snack options for passengers who are not fans of spicy food.
The pre-arrival meal was a pleasant surprise. The Cobb salad with fresh fruit tasted fresh and crisp, and it ended up being the best meal of the flight.
Amenity Kit
Because of a significant delay, which I will cover in the service section, we ended up receiving two different amenity kits on this trip.
The first kit was extremely basic. It included a woven pouch from NOHO Home by Jalene Kanani, a pen, and a toothbrush kit. This is likely the standard kit for this route, and it is easily the most bare-bones business class amenity kit I have ever received.
The second amenity kit, provided on the rescheduled flight, was much better. It included an eye mask, toothbrush kit, pen, tissues, earplugs, earbuds, hand and body lotion, and lip balm. The felt pouch was also from NOHO Home by Jalene Kanani. From what I understand, this more complete kit was provided because the airline initially did not have enough ANC headphones for all business class passengers on the rescheduled flight.
Service
Service was heavily impacted by operational issues. Two maintenance problems forced us to sit on the plane for three to four hours. Eventually, the crew timed out and the flight was delayed until 6 a.m. the next day. Communication throughout this process was poor. We were not informed that the flight would be delayed overnight onboard. Instead, we were simply told to collect our checked bags and head to the Hawaiian Airlines desk.
Once off the plane, passengers scrambled to call customer service. I spent an hour on hold with both Alaska and Hawaiian trying to find alternative options to get to Seoul. Meanwhile, my wife waited nearly two hours for our checked bags due to multiple carousel changes.
At the Hawaiian Airlines desk, the line barely moved, and the lack of clear communication was frustrating. After waiting about an hour, we were told the flight was rescheduled rather than canceled, and that we only needed to stay in line if we wanted hotel or meal vouchers. The meal voucher was just $12 per person, so we chose to go home instead.
Even automated updates were delayed. I did not receive an email with updated flight information until more than 30 minutes after we were verbally informed. Later that night, we finally received an email offering the option to cancel for a refund.
The following morning went much more smoothly. There were two agents at check-in, bag drop was quick, and boarding was orderly. You could tell the crew was doing their best on short notice. Catering arrived late, delaying departure by another hour. When we boarded, amenity kits, headphones, and bottled water were missing, although the crew eventually distributed new kits and headphones. Bottled water never made it onboard.
The total delay for this flight ended up being 16 hours and 41 minutes.
Service during the flight itself was fine and the crew was apologetic, but overall it felt mediocre, especially when compared to airlines like Singapore Airlines or STARLUX.
The one clear positive was compensation. We were each given $500 flight vouchers for the delay. These vouchers expire in one year and can be used on both Hawaiian and Alaska flights.
Overall Impressions
Hawaiian’s 787-9 Business Class left me disappointed. Even setting aside the delays and poor communication, the core product feels weak. The food is below average, storage space is limited, key technology features are missing, and service is merely acceptable. The signature Hawaiian warmth I remember from past flights was noticeably absent.
This flight was booked for 70,000 Atmos points one way. Even at that redemption level, I do not think it is worth it, especially when you can book airlines like STARLUX for the same number of points. At the more typical 150,000 to 200,000 point pricing, this is an easy pass.
Alaska and Hawaiian need to streamline this merger quickly. While I am excited about Alaska’s international ambitions, this was a weak start. On the Seattle to Seoul route, Hawaiian struggles to compete with East Asian carriers like Asiana and Korean Air. Honestly, I would rather fly economy on Asiana or Korean and save my points than fly Hawaiian Business Class in its current form.
Have you flown this new route yet? I would love to hear your experience and whether you think Hawaiian can turn this product around.
Leave a Reply