Hawaiian Airlines Boarding Zones & Process – Everything You Need To Know

One of the top dream destinations for many Americans is the exotic Pacific island state of Hawaii. Even from the West Coast, it’s a fairly long flight to get there, and it should be no surprise that many visitors fly to Hawaii on none other than Hawaiian Airlines.

Hawaiian Airlines is the 10th largest carrier in America — with its main hub in Honolulu (HNL) and a secondary hub on Maui (OGG), it flies to over 35 different destinations.

With the addition of Orlando (MCO) in 2021, Hawaiian serves 16 destinations on the mainland U.S. — many of those being on the West Coast.

In addition to its mainland destinations, Hawaiian Airlines also operates several short flights within Hawaii and long-hauls to Australia, New Zealand, and multiple Asian and South Pacific destinations.

Just in case Hawaii isn’t enough of a paradise for you, you can fly Hawaiian all the way to amazing islands like Tahiti or the Philippines.

Before you get to your destination, though, you need to board the plane. Boarding is one of the first parts of your trip, and every airline does it a little bit differently.

To make sure you aren’t confused before you start off your next Hawaiian Airlines flight, let’s take a look at its boarding process. That way, you will know exactly what to do when it’s time to get on board.

Hawaiian Airlines Boarding Zones

Hawaiian Airlines has one of the more simple and easy-to-understand boarding processes among all the U.S.-based airlines.

It allows certain passengers to pre-board and then use just 6 numbered zones to fill up the plane. Unless you are eligible for pre-boarding, all you really need to know is which numbered boarding group you are in. Once boarding begins, it will simply go in order.

To go a bit further, it helps to understand why passengers are placed into each boarding group. That way, if you need overhead space for several bags, for example, you can make sure you get yourself into an earlier group.

With Hawaiian Airlines, picking your boarding zone isn’t really that hard to do. Here are the details of who is eligible to board with each of the Hawaiian Airlines boarding zones:

Pre-Boarding

• Guests needing assistance
• Unaccompanied minors

Premium Cabin

• First class passengers
• Business class passengers

Boarding Zone 1

• Pualani Platinum members

Boarding Zone 2

• Pualani Gold members
• Premier Club members

Early Boarding

• 
  
  Active-duty military personnel
  
  
• Families with children under 2

Boarding Zone 3

• Extra Comfort seats

Boarding Zones 4 and 5

• Main Cabin seats

Boarding Zone 6

• Main Cabin Basic seats

Boarding Notes

As we mentioned above, it is possible to a certain extent to choose your boarding zone with Hawaiian Airlines. All you need to do is understand the zones and pick your seat according to when you want to board.

Want to board at the beginning of general boarding? Choose a seat toward the back of the plane.

Want to get on even before general boarding? Choose an Extra Comfort seat. Sure, it will cost you a bit of money — but in addition to getting to board in Zone 3, you will also have a more comfortable ride for what is usually going to be a several-hour flight.

When it comes to family boarding, Hawaiian Airlines is one of the best for young children. If you are traveling with a child under 2 years old, you get to board ahead of other economy class passengers.

Unfortunately, once your child hits 2, the policy is much less friendly. You won’t have any sort of early boarding with older kids and will just have to board with your assigned boarding group.

One unique thing about boarding with Hawaiian Airlines is that it allows Pualani Platinum, Pualani Gold, and Premier Club members to have 2 guests board with them in their boarding group; Most airlines only allow elite members to board early.

Update:

In October 2025, the HawaiianMiles program was absorbed into Alaska Airlines’ Atmos Rewards program. The Hawaiian credit cards now earn Atmos Rewards points.

How To Build Up Your Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles Balance

Flying with Hawaiian Airlines can get you to some amazing destinations, but sadly, flights to Hawaii, the South Pacific, and Asia are often quite expensive.

That’s where your miles with Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles loyalty program can come in handy. There’s nothing better than seeing an expensive flight, but knowing that you can use your miles instead and just pay a little bit for taxes.

There are several great ways to earn lots of HawaiianMiles, but perhaps the quickest and easiest is with its co-branded credit cards. Hawaiian Airlines partners with Barclays to promote both a personal and a business version of its credit card.

The Hawaiian Airlines^® World Elite Mastercard^® is the personal version and comes with a significant welcome offer and a minimum spending requirement that is fairly easy to meet.

For business owners, the Hawaiian Airlines^® Business Mastercard^® presents a great opportunity to quickly earn a lot of HawaiianMiles. The welcome offer is often higher than the personal card, and the required minimum spend is lower as well.

If you qualify for both the personal and business Hawaiian Airlines credit cards, you will be well on your way to an award flight to paradise!

If you have Alaska miles, you can transfer those to Hawaiian at a 1:1 ratio (and vice versa).

Bottom Line: When looking at the award redemption chart for HawaiianMiles, you’ll notice you can find a cheaper award with another airline’s miles on almost every route. But remember that while redemptions may be a little bit higher, HawaiianMiles are pretty easy to earn, so it may be ok to spend a few more to get where you want to go.

Final Thoughts

You would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t want to take a vacation to Hawaii.

Hawaiian Airlines is a great option for your flights to and from our most remote state, and it can also take you onward for trips to Asia, Australia, New Zealand, or the South Pacific.

When it comes time to begin your travels, you want to make sure you have everything under control so that you don’t have to worry. One of the first steps when flying is boarding the plane, so it makes sense that you would want to understand how that works.

With what we’ve shown you above, you should be ready to go when it comes time to board your next Hawaiian Airlines flight. Who knows … maybe we will see even see you out there on a beach or snorkeling with the sea turtles!