Hawaiian Airlines
has an exclusive membership, which gives its members access to things like priority lines. The Premier Club is offered as a 12-month paid membership and has a fee of $299 or 40,000 miles for new members.
The full list of benefits is as follows:
Booking with ease:
- Access to priority reservations line that is available 24/7
- Discounted flight awards help you reach award travel faster with a lower HawaiianMiles redemption rate
- Complimentary preferred seats, based on seat availability
Priority departure
- Premier Club/First Class check-in lines available for you and two guests at Hawaii airports
- First two checked bags are free of charge with priority handling
- Make your way to priority security lines at select airports
- Premier Club access helps you relax with complimentary Wi-Fi, food, and drinks
- Two one-time passes to The Plumeria Lounge at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport
- Enjoy a CLEAR Plus Membership at a discounted rate of $159 per year
Flight perks
- Enjoy zone 2 priority pre-boarding and early access to overhead bins for you and two guests
- 25% discount on in-flight purchases from our Pau Hana Cart
- Earn 500 miles on every Neighbor Island flight
Photo: MKPhoto12 | Shutterstock
As mentioned above, the fee for new members of the Premier Club is $299 annually or 40,000 miles. For existing members renewing their membership, the fee is $249 or 35,000 miles. Passengers must first be HawaiianMiles members to join the Premier Club.
Upon enrollment, which is simple and done online or via the phone, the airline will mail a kit with a membership card and luggage tags to each member. If lost, Hawaiian charges $10 to replace the card and $6.50 for a pair of luggage tags.
The airline’s website states that it can take up to 48 hours for membership statuses to be updated. The kit mentioned above will be put together and delivered with 4-6 weeks. In addition to the card and luggage tags, the kit includes the one-time passes to The Plumeria Lounge.
Lounge access
Lounge access with the Premier Club Membership is available in the following cities:
- Honolulu
- Hilo
- Kona
- Kahului
- Lihue
Photo: Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines Premier Club lounges have the following rules:
- Eligible guests must have a first-class seat, Gold, Platinum, or Premier Club member status listed on their boarding pass to access the lounge
- Pualani Platinum, Pualani Gold, Premier Club Members, and First Class guests must be departing on a Hawaiian Airlines-operated flight. Arriving guests may use the Premier Club lounge only if they are connecting to another Hawaiian Airlines-operated flight. First Class guests connecting to another Hawaiian Airlines- operated flight must have a first-class seat on that connecting flight in order to access the Premier Club upon arrival.
- First Class guest must be departing on a Hawaiian Airlines operated flight. Guests traveling inbound to Honolulu and connecting to another HA operated flight must have a first-class seat on that connecting flight.
- Pets are not allowed inside the Premier Club
- Smoking, chewing tobacco, smokeless tobacco and electronic cigarette use is not permitted
In addition to receiving the one-time passes to The Plumeria Lounge, members can access the space by purchasing a lounge pass, which costs $40. It is important to note that the complimentary passes must be physically handed to an agent to be redeemed. If registering for the Premier Club before a trip, make sure to do so with plenty of time.
One-time access to The Plumeria Lounge is limited to departing flights only. The airline requires that boarding passes be issued in the name of the person accessing the lounge.
Inflight discount
To take advantage of the inflight discount, Hawaiian Airlines requires proof of current Premier Club membership in one of the following ways:
- Paper boarding pass
- Digital boarding pass
- Hawaiian Airlines mobile app
- Premier Club membership card
Pau Hana cart purchases included beverages, snacks, earbuds, and blankets.
Photo: Hawaiian Airlines
Priority Security
Typically reserved for those flying in premium cabins or those with airline or alliance status, priority security is available for Premier Club members. According to Hawaiian, passengers must present their membership card to TSA agents in order to use the priority lane, which is available in the following cities:
- Honolulu
- New York
- Oakland
- Phoenix
- Portland
- Sacramento
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- San Jose
- Seattle
CLEAR discount
CLEAR is a private program in the US that allows members to cut to the front of the security checkpoint line. Its services are focused on biometrics and go beyond airports, with kiosks in stadiums, allowing fans to access games. Premier Club members are given a discount on the annual CLEAR membership, which is $199.
For a long time, CLEAR has been viewed as a perfect complement to the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) PreCheck program. By combining the two, passengers are able to cut to the front of the PreCheck line, which is typically shorter and moves faster than the regular check. But today, CLEAR has a membership base of more than 25 million people, and kiosks are often congested.
In addition to allowing passengers to cut to the front of the line, CLEAR does not require any form of identification, usually… CLEAR uses biometrics, either an eye scan or fingerprints, to confirm the passengers’ identity. The system does select passengers randomly for ID verification with the TSA agent at the kiosk, but, more often than not, no ID is needed.
Secondary driver fee waiver
According to the frequently asked questions about the Premier Club, members have a perk when renting vehicles with Avis or Budget. Typically, rental car companies charge for a second driver, but Premier Club members get this fee waived. This applies to rentals in the US and in Hawaii and requires special codes to be used on the reservation.