If you’re looking to travel from the Hawaiian islands to the east coast, you have two choices. You can either plan a number of flights and connections, spending your day in various airports as you make your way across the country. Or, if you prefer a more relaxing experience, you can take the nonstop from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu (HNL) to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), offered by Hawaiian Airlines.

Even better: You can book a luxurious, lie-back seat in the first-class cabin. And with a little planning, you can do it for cheap by using points.

Here’s our review of Hawaiian Airlines’ nonstop first-class flight from HNL to BOS, and what to expect on your journey.

Getting From Hawaii To The East Coast

The distance from Honolulu, Hawaii to Boston, Massachusetts is a whopping 5,095 miles, or 4427 miles as the crow flies. Until fairly recently, the only way to make this lengthy trek was through a series of flights and connections.

When it launched in 2018, Hawaiian Airlines’ route from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu (HNL) to Boston Logan International Airport in Massachusetts became the country’s longest domestic nonstop flight. This new route surpasses Hawaiian Airlines’ other impressive service — the nonstop flight from JFK to HNL — by 112 miles.

For some travelers, the idea of sitting on a single plane for half a day can seem daunting or even claustrophobic. But whether you book a coach seat or opt for the first-class experience up front, Hawaiian Airlines offers an unprecedented opportunity to get from the islands to the east coast in no time at all.

Hawaiian Airlines HNL to BOS First Class Cabin

We booked the HNL to BOS flight from Hawaiian Airlines for our return trip at the end of an incredible family vacation. While no one ever wants to leave paradise (especially if it means going back to the east coast in February), Hawaiian Airlines made the experience as bearable as possible.

Plumeria Lounge

Your first-class fare will get you access to the Plumeria Lounge in HNL airport. This lounge, which is also accessible to Priority Pass members, is located upstairs in terminal 1, near the Wiki Wiki Bus stop (a free intra-airport shuttle system).

This lounge was a very different experience than most lounges we’ve visited. First, we were assigned a specific table, rather than getting to choose our own seats. The food was very limited (cold sandwiches and, when those ran out, Cup O’Noodles) and the only alcoholic options were cans of beer in a mini fridge and a wine dispenser.

Overall, though, it was still better than navigating the crowded terminal. Plus, we enjoyed free WiFi until it was time to board the plane.

First Class Cabin

Hawaiian Airlines uses an Airbus 330 for the HNL to BOS route, which features a first-class cabin with 18 lie-flat seats in a 2-2-2 configuration. Each seat is contained within its own “pod,” offering privacy and space along with a comfortable travel experience.

For our family’s flight, we chose seats 3A, 3B, 3J and 3H, which were the four outboard seats. This meant that we were all the way across the plane from one another, but each kid got a window seat.

Each seat had a plastic-wrapped package that contained a seat cover, pillow, and blanket. Flight attendants were available right away to help put on passengers’ seat covers, if you wanted to get comfortable right away. A pre-flight drink was also served, including a customary (and delicious) mai tai.

Shortly after takeoff, flight attendants came around to take our dinner menu. Since ours was an overnight flight, we were given dinner and breakfast as well as a refreshment. The latter, referred to as their beverage service, included your drink of choice and a dish of warm Mauna Loa macadamia nuts.

We were also offered tablets at this time. Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t have screens in the first-class cabin, so they hand out iPad Pro tablets and headphones to passengers. There is a pop-up stand that holds these at tray level, and they are pre-loaded with movies, shows, and even games.

After watching a bit of TV, it was time to eat our first meal.

The dinner selections were either a chicken schnitzel or a zucchini and pea dish over rice. I chose the schnitzel with potato salad and was so glad that I did… it was honestly one of the best meals I’ve ever had, in-flight or otherwise! Dinner service also included a roll with butter, baby spinach salad, and crispy coffee cake (an espresso mousse cake with a toffee-like crust), complete with a wet cloth for your hands and single-use salt and pepper in an adorable aloha shirt packet.

Obviously, the entire meal was a hit.

After dinner trays were cleared away, the cabin took on a quiet and sleepy vibe, perfect for some sleep. We settled in with our pillows, blankets, and lie-flat 180-degree seats, and managed to get in about four hours of solid rest.

We awoke to flight attendants preparing the cabin for the breakfast service. Well, some of us woke up… others slept through the commotion and even missed breakfast. (A testament to those comfy pillows, I’d say!)

Breakfast was simple but enjoyable: scrambled eggs, ham, roasted sweet potatoes, and fruit. Served with a cup of hot coffee, it was a great way to start the morning.

Once the breakfast service had ended, it was time to slowly start preparing for our initial descent into the Boston area. Flight attendants picked up our breakfast trays, brought more coffee, and offered fresh juice to anyone interested. They also began collecting the iPads that had been passed out during flight.

Before we knew it, it was time to touch down at BOS. All in all, our flight time was just under 10 hours — much better than taking two, three, or even four connecting flights to get there!

How Much Does a Hawaiian Airlines First-Class Seat Cost?

If purchased separately, the cost of our nonstop first-class seats from HNL to BOS would have been about $3,900 per person, each way. (I’m not sure who is willing to spend just shy of $16,000 for a family of four to fly home, but it isn’t me.) At the time of booking, a round-trip ticket would have cost us just over $4,600, as well, had we purchased a full-fare first-class seat.

Since my last name isn’t Rockefeller or Bezos, though, you can probably guess that I snagged these tickets with points.

Full disclosure: I originally purchased coach fare seats, at a cost of $408 per person ($1,632 total, round-trip). I then transferred a total of 240,000 Amex Membership Rewards points from our American Express Platinum card to Hawaiian Airlines. On the phone with an agent, I was able to then upgrade our seats to first class at a cost of 30,000 points each way, per person.

If we had purchased our HNL to BOS seats in cash, we would have spent about $3,900 per person for one-way or $4,600 round-trip. Instead, we spent just $408 round-trip per person, plus 60,000 points. This means that we squeezed approximately $0.07 of value out of each Amex MR Point we redeemed!

Most of those points were earned through our card’s sign-up bonus and referral bonuses, too, which made them much easier to earn than you might expect.

Is The Hawaiian Airlines First Class Cabin Worth It?

If you are flying from Hawaii to the east coast and have a few thousand dollars to spend per person, I would say that the first-class cabin was a real treat. The service was fantastic, meals were wonderful, and getting to sleep most of the way there made it much easier to adjust once we landed.

If you’re like me, though, and don’t want to spend five figures on domestic flights, consider finding a Hawaiian Airlines award flight. These book up quickly so you’ll want to snag one at least a few months in advance. If you have enough points available on a card with Hawaiian Airlines as a transfer partner, this could be one of the best points redemptions you’ll find.

Should I Take a Nonstop Flight From Hawaii to the East Coast?

I’ll be honest: the idea of sitting on the same plane for 10 hours felt pretty intimidating. What if I got claustrophobic? What if I got restless leg syndrome or ran out of things to do? That’s nearly half of a day, in the same seat with the same people… yikes.

Once I landed in Boston, though, I was so grateful that we had picked the non-stop long-haul option. This impressive route is the longest domestic flight in the nation and has been since its introduction in 2018. While it’s a long time to be in the same plane without getting off, it’s definitely the easiest, fastest, and least stressful option for getting home.

And if you can manage to snag a Hawaiian Airlines first-class lie-back seat? You’ll never want to fly any other way again.