Cathy C.
Yelp
Yelp Review 2023 #220:
Honolulu airport is one of the most basic airports I've ever landed at and departed from - it's probably one notch better than Omaha Eppley Airport. They have a few shops (Duty Free, Hawaiian shops, Burberry, Prada, Hermes, etc for last-minute souvenir shopping), a few restaurants (mostly fast food but not McDonald's and a few casual sit down restaurants. I prefer the Hawaiian restaurants: Lahaina Chicken - only if you need something quick , Royal Kona Coffee, Mauka Market, Makai Plantation), and there's a little Japanese garden outside. Just like in true Hawaiian fashion, everything is laidback - nobody's yelling at people at TSA like they do in Atlanta or Houston. It's not a big airport. It's quick and easy.
So, despite being pretty basic, they do a good job at not stressing out passengers. All the people that go viral for public outbursts are not from here.
When you arrive, you will go through an agriculture check to make sure you didn't bring any food and plants that could possibly have pests - which is a good preventative measure to protect Hawaii from an infestation of fruit flies, harmful insects or disease. Before departing from Hawaii, you have to go through an agriculture check again so you don't bring pests to the mainland - you are allowed to bring pre-treated produce at a certain amount/ quantity to the mainland. Check with your airline first before buying and bringing all the pineapples.
But I will say, I did have a bad experience at this airport during a layover from an international flight that almost made me miss my flight back to Vegas. I got stuck in the immigrations/ customs line. With hundreds of passengers waiting over an hour and only 3-4 officers, it was a nightmare! They were calling my name for last boarding. But that incident in 2012 prompted me to get Global Entry. Never again will I wait over an hour!