Hawaiian Airlines

On my trip back from HNL to LAX this week, even your flight attendants, who have never disappointed, disappointed this week. Maybe they were just tired, but if you're in the service industry, you better do a lot better than this. To wrap things up here, we decided to watch a movie and were interrupted 4 times. It was almost pointless to watch anything with that many announcements. And they weren't even important. One was for a credit card. I don't have credit cards and I don't want any. Please do better. I want to love this airline. I did love this airline in 2016, but in the last few years, you make me think I'll be booking a new airline for my next birthday trip.

The first person I encountered to check in and drop my bags off was short with me, obviously wanting to rush through the check in (perhaps wouldn’t have needed to be done if they’d have opened the check in and bag drop counter on time). I couldn’t understand what the woman was requesting from me as her English wasn’t the best, so I politely asked several times for her to please repeat herself as to understand what was being requested of me. I was quickly shoved off to a so called manager, who gave me a poor explanation of what the issue was (to do with my having a one way ticket to the US as my partner and I are sailing back from Mexico on our yacht).

I have since researched and now know that a person cannot enter the US without a forwarding ticket (I had one, although mine was to Mexico which is one of the only countries not applicable on the ESTA visa waiver program). Whilst trying to ascertain what was needed to be checked onto the flight, the manager Leanne was extremely rude, uninterested, couldn’t give me a straight answer and very condescending. I was quite upset (crying, not angry) as I did not understand the situation and was concerned about not getting on the flight. Leanne had zero sympathy towards me, taking full advantage of my emotional state. She was cold, heartless and quite stuck up, as if I was wasting her time.

I asked Leanne whether I was able to contact Homeland Department of Security directly for more concise information, as I was clearly getting nowhere with her. She said that she didn’t advise it as my name would be “flagged,” wanting me to believe I’d be given hell in the US. It was basically a bloody threat. I was told I MUST buy a ticket out of Mexico in order to be let on the flight to the US, however Leanne was unable to give me the full details on why this needed to be done. I was extremely confused by this stage and unfortunately, very upset. I was stressing out that I wouldn’t make the flight and the tears were flowing. Leanne, the apparent psychopath, seemed unbothered by my being flustered and continued to treat me in a disgusting manner. Leanne made it clear that the only way I was going to be allowed to board my flight was if I bought a ticket out of Mexico.

She suggested an obscure place I’d never heard of (Bogotá) and told me to come back once I’d booked it to show her the ticket. I spent $184 on a ticket I will never use. Upon asking Leanne what I was to do if quizzed by US immigration about my plans, she told me I was to LIE. The manager of Hawaiian Airlines check in counter, told me to LIE to US immigration. Need I say more? I only wish I’d have recorded the conversation to implicate the haughty thing.

I cannot stress how CONDESCENDING and RUDE this woman was. She took advantage of my fragile state and abused her position of power. It was disgusting. I am normally a strong willed woman, however this piece of work managed to break me down (much to her satisfaction). All I needed was concise information, not to be ridiculed.

When she mentioned "**" which is the equivalent to the f word not knowing I was still online I became so distraught about the customer service experience standards of Hawaiian Airlines. No person should be cussing someone out especially in a different language on the phone while doing their job. I felt so much disrespect with what happened that I will never fly with Hawaiian Airlines ever again. Customer service is a big factor when doing business and this set the bar so low I am still quite baffled about it today. I asked for the supervisor and he apologized and mentioned he will give me a callback and if not him the quality assurance team will but I doubt they will call back as they try to avoid confrontation at best.

Additionally their fees are another issue, charging a $200 ticket change fee is absolutely outrageous when the return trip you are trying to change is actually cheaper than the one you booked, on top of the fact that they are already a more expensive airline to fly and all the other fees they want to charge, $25 to transfer miles to a family member, higher ticket prices to book multiple tickets, etc. The spirit of "Aloha" and sense of "Ohana" may only exist after they have separated you from more of your money than other airlines.

My son, who had never been to Hawaii was so sad because he had looked forward to this trip!!! I then frantically searched the internet to find another flight, but realized we had already paid for this flight so I called Hawaiian Airlines and was told that they can reroute us to leave from San Diego instead of Long Beach, but that it would cost an additional $50.00 per person (x3) = $150.00 regardless of the circumstance. When we arrived at Long Beach we had to tell the car rental company (Enterprise) that we were not returning the vehicle to Long Beach, but to San Diego. Instead of it costing us the original quoted amount of $78.30, it now cost us $149.82 (almost twice the amount).

We understand that things happen, however, we were not notified of the cancellation in a reasonable manner (no phone call) only an email which I don't always check. Hawaiian Airlines should have accommodated us without additional fees, especially if we were being inconvenienced due to no fault of our own (we now had to travel to San Diego for the flight) and had to pay extra for a car rental because the vehicle was not being dropped off at the same location.

It is absolutely ludicrous to fly 5 hours WEST and BACK to then GO EAST!! Because the deadline to re-book was near, I ended up making travel plans to visit Hawaii, which I have to do ALONE and I don't know anyone in Hawaii. I will never book with Hawaiian Airlines again. They waste travelers' time giving piecemeal information and hold travelers hostage to go to Hawaii.

This also has to be used within 12 months and as we are travelling a very long way from England is not a feasible option either. Hawaiian airlines do not negotiate at all. Therefore if you intend to book a flight with them do not expect good customer service for booking early. I have had conversations with others looking to travel highlighting the above.