Complain about a product or service

Hawaiian Airlines

Stephanie of San Diego CA (05/01/08)
This is the best yet! I have been flying for over 45 years, and never had something like this happen. My children, their spouses, and my Grandchildren were all flying to Honolulu for our yearly vacation together. We go to Mexico alternating years. We arrived at the airport at 8:15am for our flight departing at 10:30am, Flt. 15. At about 10AM they post a Delayed message. Next we're told they have a maintenance issue and we should depart at 11:30AM. This kind of thing went on every 1-1/2 to 2 hrs. Each time they promised a departure in approx. 2 hrs. We were given lunch vouchers, then dinner vouchers. Mind you it was for a bunch of junk food. At 9:30 PM approx. we are told a plane from Maui is coming in and they're going to board us on that plane.

Well, they boarded us on something, but it was a larger Jet, in a different gate, than the jet from Maui. We boarded and flew out between 11 and 11:15PM. Needless to say, we lost one whole day and night in Honolulu. We were up for 25 hours without sleep. Today, vouchers in the amount of $400.00 each showed up in the mail. I'm not happy with that small concession. Is there anything else I can do? Hawaiian should have brought another Jet in right away instead of lying to us and keeping us there for 12-1/2 hours before departure!!

Lost one whole day and night in the Resort that was already paid for. We were up for 25 hours without any sleep.

Neil of Kirkland WA (03/12/08)
I wanted to use my Hawaiian Miles for a trip from Kona, Hawaii, to Seattle, WA for next February 6, 2009. At 3:00 am this morning PDT, which is midnight in Hawaii, I went online to get first crack at the seats that were going to be released which is 331 days in advance. The seats become available at midnight. Just before 3:00 they showed what the reward miles would be for coach as a preferred member: 15,000 miles. At 3:00 when the seats became available, the cost jumped to 25,000 miles, and there were NO SEATS at the 15,000 miles super saver rate. When I went online later this morning after speaking to 3 different people at the web support and reservations desks, I was told that there was only 1 seat available on all 6 flights leaving on Feb 6th. When I went to see what happens if I tried to book just 1 seat instead of 2, it allowed it; and when I got to the seat availability page, every one of the seats on those flights were available!

So I wrote to Peggie at Hawaiian's Consumer Affairs Office, and she double talked about how those seats go so fast. Well, if they really did, why weren't some seats occupied on those flights? Anyone savvy enough to know to go online 331 days before their planned trip would definitely get seats at the same time, especially if the seat selector page comes up automatically in Hawaiian Air! So....do you think travel agents that are tied into the airlines machines grabbed up those seats for THEIR customers? I am so furious with Hawaiian that I am transferring all my miles for 2 times the amount of Hilton Honors Points!

I went to Alaska Air and booked my flight for 17,500 miles with absolutely no problems. They even give you 3 days to change your mind with NO penalties at all! I also booked my flight from Kona to Honolulu on Aloha Airlines for $49!

Delia of Santa Cruz CA (03/12/08)
I reserved on line a ticket through Hawaii Airline, and it would not take my free miles. I had to call by phone to make the reservation. I had 80,000.00 miles, and they would only honor departure--not return. I paid for 2 tickets out of pocket at $599.00 each. (Last year I received 2 tickets, round trip, free for the same amount of miles.) I tried to cancel the flight 2 days later, and Norman stated that I had to call on Monday. My husband called, and Jason would not refund our money. We were not expecting to get 100% refund, but instead we told that they would give us credit only and charge us an additional $179.00 per person to make another reservation within the year.

What was not stated is that we always purchase insurance on line. Since we were not able to make our reservation online, and we needed assistance by phone, it voided the insurance. That was not explained to us. I do have a copy of the online reservation that I tried to make with proof of insurance, and all they stated is that that is voided because you made the reservation by phone.. My husband spent 2 hours talking to customer service. We are "preferred customers"; what a joke. Hawaii Air would not give us a phone number to call, but faxed it to consumer affairs and were told they will get back to us. It has been 3 days and yet have not received a call. We own a condo in Kona and fly there frequently. We will no longer fly Hawaii Air, and I would not recommend them to anyone.

Georgette of Los Angeles CA (03/04/08)
I bought a packet vacation deal from Hawaii Airlines and they were supposed to get my miles credited to my America West/Us airways account. They still have not done it. What makes me even more furious is that I thought I was buying a luxury packet with the 5 star hotel name backing it. Just to find out it was so dingy. I got over it. I only got that packet because Hawaii Airlines is supposed to be an affiliate of the airline I prefer and I want my miles credited. They asked for my miles number and each leg of the trip, I was told I was getting credited. After so many weeks, all I get is the inability to reach a human being on the phone and email auto-responses. It's ridiculous.

Bryant of Phoenix AZ (01/10/08)
I had a death in the family that caused me to cancel in 2007 our 20th Wedding Anniversary Trip. My wife and I had never had a honeymoon so this trip was going to be that special time. We had been saving our hard earned money for the last few years. Unfortunaetly we had to cancel the trip last year to utilize our money to take care of our family. I followed all the procedures requested of me through Expedia, when cancelling a trip and they were great. The death over a year ago was tragic enough for my family, but because I had to cancel the trip, I had to use the Airline tickets within one year to book another trip. That time frame is up on 1/13/08.

Therefore, I contacted Hawaiian Airlines on 1/03/08 to learn how this was to proceed. In that conversation I was told I would be charged a fee against my origianl $1,200 tickets that they had since last year. That fee could be between $125.00 - $175.00 per person. As stupid as this may be, I understand it and I was willing to pay it to utilize my $1,200.00. On 1/9/08 I called to order the tickets. At this time, I was was rudely informed that the fee was $175.00 per person per way bringing us to add $750.00 in change fee orders due to a death in my family. During this call and the call with theri Supervisor Peter (Badge PB) no one even told me that I could have this fee waived because of the death. I had to get so irrate that I pulled the Consumer Advocate number from him and place a call and complaint. The CAO-Manager is just as useless as they send you a goofy condolence message and then requested us to send the Death Certificate in order for them to review if they will waive the cost. Here is the point I am talking about waiving only $350.00 with this multi-million dollar company. I am willing to pay a change fee but $700.00 is a crime! They already have my money made a profit and cost them nothing because that flight was filled last year. But they have a chance to utilize their position and drag out more money from the common man it is disgraceful! My family has relocated and I need to have reprinted a death certificate and all has to be done and processed in three days. They know I can't and I just won't. I'd rather lose this money then pay this airline another dime. Going to Hawaii choose any other airline then Hawaiian.

Loss of $1,200.00 and an anniversary trip.

W of Waipahu HI (10/12/07)
I am a concerned former employee of Hawaiian Airlines. The information that I am about to disclose should be considered a major infraction that affects air safety and security. If the FAA has not been informed Hawaiian Airlines has had numerous load shifts on inter-island and transpacific flight. During my 3 years of employment I have witnessed that the actual weight of baggage that is loaded in 717 and 767 A/C transpac cans is not as what they should be. In my opinion, more than a fair share of flight are over weighted (sometimes <2000 lbs.).

Fyi, the current instruction from station managers is to approximate a total bag count multiplied by 35 pounds. Transpac can curtains are not secured as the manufacturers standards and sometime tied off with strings.

Hawaiian Airlines employees are not screened by TSA before entering the sterile/black top area when entering the Hawaiian Airlines cargo area, admin area behind customer service, inflight lounges, and Elliot street parking lots. This may cause a serious security problem for passengers and other airport employees.

Mary of Sacramento CA (10/01/07)
I placed a call on the same day that I made a reservation, Aug 21, 2007, on Hawaiian Airlines for a flight out on Aug 24, 2007 from Sacramento, CA to Honolulu, HI. I had purchased my tickets online and found that I had erroneously made a roundtrip ticket for my name & my husband when it should have been made for my grandmother & grandfather, Francis Dela Cerna & Reynaldo Lucio. I tried to explain this information to the agents and I had emailed my concern to consumer affairs, per what was relayed to me by the Hawaiian Airlines agent. I even went in person to the airlines on the day of leaving to see if any corrections had been made. I have a copy of a print out that was given to me by an agent who showed me that I was told the policies over the phone as well as in person, that the tickets are non-refundable.

I was not looking for a refund. What I was hoping for is that I could get credit with Hawaiian Airlines as a gift certificate for this flight that I did not get. There was a documentation that I did call on the same day the order was made. The agent that I spoke with, did not complete any other information as to why I called, but it's on my copy of the print out. What I would like to have done is to have a higher supervisor or even someone higher that can take care of my concern. I believe, as a consumer, that I should receive what is fair and that I get what I paid for. In this case, I did not get a return flight on the date stipulated, Sept 4th, 2007.

Michael of Portland OR (04/20/07)
Myself, along with 8 friends purchased round trip airline tickets to Maui from Portland Oregon on Hawaiian Airlines in early 2007 for a trip commensing on April 27 through May 6.

As I went to their website today to check on my departure details etc, I noticed that if I booked the same itinerary and class of service the fare was about $120 LESS expensive. It goes without saying that I was more than a bit irritated - given that I had made and paid for my reservations several months ago and here it is a week before the start of the travel to find the same flight to be about 25% less.

I contacted the company to discuss the situation and rememdy. I was told that it is not their policy to make refunds for lower fares and that the only option would be to reticket it, but there would be a $100/ticket fee to do so and the remainder would be a credit for future travel.

I can see this being the case if after making a commitment to them I needed to change my plans of date, time or class of travel - but in this case it was the exact same flight, date, time, seat.

I know the airline provided a type of remedy (to reticket the flight and leave me with a relatively worthless credit on their airline for future travel) but with that kind of remedy I will not want to travel with a company that penalizes customers so heavily for making reservations and committing to them early.

Michael of Elk Grove CA (02/14/07)
I booked a flight for my wife and I on Hawaiian airlines last year, (May 10-19,2006) I had to cancel for a family emergency and was informed by the ticketing agent that I had a year to rebook my flight. He stated that I'd have to pay an additonal fee of $125 per ticket. I thought the fee was steep, but agreed that I could pay that to re-book my flight. Today, Feb 13, 2007, I attempted to re-book the flight and was informed that I would have to pay $500 dollars ($125 per ticket each way) to rebook the flight. I went on the internet and Hawaiian is selling seats for $429 round trip. They also told me (today, almost a year later) that if I got a note from the doctor, for my father's illness, they MIGHT waive the $500 fee.

I have until the 21st to book the flight and that is subject to availability. When I asked to speak with a supervisor, I waited 15 mins on the phone. The supervisor never came but told the ticket rep that I'd have to pay the $500 or lose my ticket. i have paid a thousand dollars and received no services from Hawaiian airlines.

I feel blackmailed by Hawaiian Airlines. Either pay an additional $500 or be out the $968 I already paid for my tickets. I will never do business with them again.

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