Hawaiian Air and JetBlue: Travelers’ paradise

Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue today announced an expanded codeshare agreement that allows travelers from dozens of cities, most of them in the eastern U.S., to easily connect to the Hawaiian Islands via Boston’s Logan International Airport (BOS) starting in April.

Boston-area JetBlue customers can now purchase tickets on Hawaiian Airlines’ nonstop flight to Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) with JetBlue’s ‘B6’ code and earn TrueBlue points when they fly.

Additionally, travelers originating in 26 cities – including Washington, DC (DCA), Pittsburgh (PIT), Philadelphia (PHL), Baltimore (BWI) and Cleveland (CLE), which currently cannot connect to Hawai’i through JetBlue in New York – can already purchase codeshare tickets that carry Hawaiian’s ‘HA’ code on their JetBlue flights that connect in Boston, and JetBlue’s ‘B6’ code on Hawaiian’s new nonstop flight between Logan and Honolulu. And they can use the ‘B6′ code on convenient Hawaiian flights that connect Honolulu to the entire island chain. Hawaiian and JetBlue’s guests also will continue to enjoy one-stop check-in and baggage transfers to their final destination, as well as the opportunity to earn and redeem loyalty rewards.

“We are excited to bring the Hawaiian Islands closer to more travelers and welcome our JetBlue guests with our warm hospitality the moment they check in for our flight in Boston,” said Brent Overbeek, Hawaiian Airlines senior vice president for revenue management and network planning. “We are Hawaii’s airline and our Mea Ho’okipa (“I am host”) inflight service philosophy is embraced by travelers for its celebration of our culture of Aloha. We know and love the Islands unlike any other carrier because Hawai’i is home to more than 6,500 of our employees and we have served our visitors and residents for almost 90 years. JetBlue’s excellent service have made it Boston’s largest airline by any measure and will provide Hawaiian guests new, convenient access to eastern U.S. cities.”

“As Boston’s #1 airline we welcome our partner Hawaiian Airlines to New England where JetBlue customers and our TrueBlue members now have the opportunity to conveniently travel to one of the world’s great destinations in superior comfort,” said Tracy Bink, director of alliances and partnerships, JetBlue. “Now Boston-based travelers, as well as new connecting customers throughout JetBlue’s network, will enjoy the same popular codeshare approach that has been successful in our New York hometown for six years with our Hawaiian Airlines partnership.”

Hawaiian and JetBlue also offer their loyal members the opportunity to earn and redeem points or miles for travel on either carrier. HawaiianMiles members can earn miles on JetBlue-operated flights, while TrueBlue members can accrue points on Hawaiian-operated flights. Similarly, frequent fliers can redeem their points or miles for travel on either carrier’s network, creating a long list of destinations for each program’s loyal members.

JetBlue flights connecting to and from Boston that are covered by the codeshare agreement are available at the following airports: Atlanta (ATL), Baltimore, Buffalo (BUF), Charlotte (CLT), Charleston (CHS), Chicago (ORD), Cleveland, Detroit (DTW), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Fort Myers (RSW), Jacksonville (JAX), Minneapolis (MSP), Nashville (BNA), New York (LGA and JFK), Newark (EWR), Orlando (MCO), Palm Beach (PBI), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham (RDU), Savannah (SAV), Syracuse (SYR), Tampa (TPA) and Washington, DC both (DCA) and (IAD).

Hawaiian Airlines will begin its five-day-a-week service to Boston on April 4. Boston is the largest U.S. market without nonstop service to Hawai’i with nearly 500 people flying between eastern New England and the Islands on any given day.
In commemoration of Hawaiian Airlines’ 90th year of operation, the flight to Boston will be numbered Flight HA90. Starting with the inaugural flight on April 4, HA90 will depart HNL every day but Tuesday and Wednesday at 1:45 p.m. and arrive at BOS the following morning at 6 a.m. Flight HA89 will depart BOS every day but Wednesday and Thursday at 8:55 a.m., except for Friday flights, which will depart at 8 a.m. The flights will arrive in Hawai’i the same day at 2:35 p.m. and the Friday flight will arrive at 1:40 p.m. Both HNL arrival times offer guests ample time to settle into their accommodations and unwind with a Hawaiian sunset, or connect to Kaua’i, Maui or the Island of Hawai’i via the airline’s convenient schedule of some 170 daily interisland flights, all of which will have the JetBlue codeshare.

At 5,095 miles, Hawaiian’s BOS-HNL route becomes the longest regularly scheduled route in the U.S. Guests traveling from the East Coast to Hawai’i will enjoy the roominess and superior comfort of Hawaiian’s 278-seat Airbus A330 widebody aircraft. Incorporating flowing curves evocative of the winds and the ocean, Hawaiian’s spacious first-class cabin features 18 lie-flat leather seats that transform into 180-degree beds at a roomy 20.5 inches wide and 76 inches long. Aligned in a 2-2-2 configuration, the seats are ideally tailored to leisure guests such as couples, families and honeymooners, while offering functionality to the business traveler. Hawaiian also recently expanded to 68 from 40 the number of Extra Comfort main cabin seats, which offer a generous 36-inch pitch for extra leg room and priority boarding. Guests can upgrade to Extra Comfort seats for $145 each way.

Hawaiian’s Executive Chef Lee Anne Wong, owner of Honolulu’s Koko Head Café, collaborates with Hawai’i’s top chefs to delight guests with two meals served in each direction.

In Boston, JetBlue will soon offer flights to more than 70 nonstop destinations – many more than any other airline – and is the leader in the number of customers carried and total daily departures. JetBlue also serves Boston with premium Mint flights to a half-dozen destinations. With Mint, JetBlue re-imagined “business class” service offered by legacy carriers with lie-flat seating, curated food and amenities, and hospitality-trained inflight crewmembers – offered at an affordable price. JetBlue is on track to reach 200 daily departures at Logan in the coming years.