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Hawaiian Airlines Reviews
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This was first time flying with Hawaiian Airlines. We had booked our ticket from Delta to go to Hawaii. Coming back we had use Hawaiian airlines to go to one island to another and connect to LAX. The gate agent was extremely rude to me and my kids. We were just standing and waiting for boarding on side and not in anyone’s way. She told us to go sit down, i reply saying we are not in anyone’s way. She then said they will be calling the pre boarding and first class first. When I told her I am first class, she didn’t believe me and took the boarding pass out of d my hand to confirm. Once she confirmed she left us alone. I thought that was the most disrespect and unnecessary behaviors on gate agent side.
I have been a Hawaiian Airlines customer for many years, and am a Pualani Platinum member. A month or two ago Hawaiian went through some major changes to its website, claiming it would be more efficient and easier to navigate. Total hogwash. Since then, everything has gone downhill. Even employees that I have spoken to confirm this. The system is way more difficult than it used to be. As a Pualani Platinum member, I am supposedly eligible for free upgrades if a seat is available. In the past, this was not a problem, now, it has turned into a major problem.
Today I was trying to upgrade as I was checking in, and the seating chart showed no upgrades available. I called Hawaiian directly, and was told that the seat I wanted to upgrade to was indeed available, but that they could not do the upgrade for me, as they had been able to do in the past. They told me that I would have to personally go to the airport to get the upgrade. This is unacceptable. It seems that their so called updated website is really a cheaper and less user friendly and efficient version of their old website. The problem here is that for the most part, Hawaiian pretty much has a monopoly here for interisland flights, so we are basically a captured audience. Within the past 6 weeks I have gone from an avid Hawaiian Airlines supporter to one who now dreads having to deal with them. Shame on you Hawaiian!
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I was a frequent flyer with Hawaiian, but week after week with delays and flight cancelations after waiting hours on delay. My loyalty with this airline waned. Employees are nice but they're not helpful because their policy holds them back. They can't give you a refund, they can only credit you with another flight with Hawaiian.
After booking round trip flights for four people on Hawaiian Airlines (HA), HA cancelled the outgoing flight four days prior to the flight leaving. Since they had no similar flights available, I asked for a refund and was promised one. The agent who promised the refund issued me a refund on the tax only, approximately $45. She told me the balance, the actual ticket prices of approximately $1,400, would be refunded within 7-10 business days. It had been one month, and still no refund and I can not get HA to explain to me why even though I have called, emailed, chatted, and used their online complaint process. This is the worse customer service I have ever received and HA is in violation of Department of Transportation guidelines.
The US Department of Transportation mandates that airlines must provide a refund for unused transportation, including non-refundable tickets, if the flight is cancelled or if there is a significant schedule change. They have seven business days to make a refund when a credit card was used, and I used a credit card. I strongly recommend using any other carrier when flying to Hawaii unless you want to lose your money.

Our flight was supposed to leave at 2:30 PM on 5/13/2023, then 4:40, 5:00, and finally we left at 6:38 PM. I had notifications on and only received a notification that the flight was delayed AFTER I inquired that the plane from San Diego had not left, so we knew we would be delayed. When we finally got the plane, we had no crew, which needed to be flown in from Honolulu. No updates, no compensation, nothing!
The original booking was changed to an 11 PM LAS arrival, but because of the delays, we now arrived at 3:30 AM. Upon approach to LAS, the pilot missed the runway (supposedly operational issues), but we believe a new pilot was trying to land and had to pull back up at the last minute (no air traffic at 3:30 AM in LAS). We respectfully asked for compensation for both our flights due to the unnecessary delays and late arrivals (more than 4 hours), but no response from Hawaiian at all. I also have tried three times to get mileage credit, even spending 40 minutes on a chat with a promise it would be posted in 24-48 hours. I am still waiting for the credit or a response. Website is constantly down, their chat is not working, and texting takes at least 2 hours for a response. I will not use this airline again.
Great desk staff at LGB. But that’s where it ended. Because of employee mistakes we arrived 12 hours later to Oahu than planned and 1500$ in the whole, no restitution, just I’m sorry. Our trip was definitely ruined.
My reservation was canceled by Hawaiin Airlines without notifying me. I called the customer service 7 times with a very long wait time every single time of about 1.5 hrs. I tried contacting via messages and chats. Every time the customer service was telling me that this is a system issue and we working on it. The last straw was they telling me the reservation is canceled and we are not able to fix it. This is so frustrating. After much stern conversation the agent said, "We will work on getting a new reservation" and even after days, it's still not done. I have to keep on calling back to get this reservation done. This is literally the worst customer service. Horrible. It was a mistake to book with this airlines.
You pay anual fee for a credit card that has no better miles/points benefits than any other card and when you want to use it the website gives you an error. Then, you try to call customer service and find out a 45 minutes wait. What is the point? Their flights rates are not even competitive. This company sucks!
I purchased 2 Main Cabin fares at $214.50 each on 6/26/22 for a flight from Kahalui to LAX departing on 3/23/23. On 2/11/23 I decided to go 1st class and changed to book at Web price of $814.04 x 2 tickets. HA's fare rules claim no change fees and if new fare is higher than old, the difference between would be charged. The final charges should have been $599.54 x2 but were $1028.54 per ticket which was the original $214.50 + $814.04 x 2 for a total of $2057.08. Hence the ensuing fiasco. Email is the only way to communicate with Customer Advocacy and after several e-mails they discovered a 3rd charge of $814.04 to my charge card. This was corrected but my main complaint was glossed over as a "There is nothing we can do, Case solved". Being totally frustrated I canceled this flight and was issued a credit of $1028.54 x 2 to be used by June of 2023. It didn't end here.
On 4/21, 23 I tried to book 2 tickets from Lihue to LAX at $1070 each as shown online. Once again was surprised with fare of $1238.70 x 2. At this point I see how Hawaiian Airlines misleads customers with the so called fare increased song over the phone while I was watching the booking web site showing the fare as $1070 per ticket. Protesting did not get me any satisfaction as the booking rep said it was her team's decision. Period. I have since searched other airlines and found their first class pricing to be much more to my liking than Hawaiian's. I would strongly advise one to be aware of HA's tactics and shop elsewhere if at all possible. That would be the only way to awaken management to their extremely poor service. As they say "Buyer Beware" PS: I also emailed Corporate and have not heard anything from them for weeks now.
Missed an earlier flight. Flight 225. We were helped by an older lady at first class. She was very rude to my husband who doesn’t really speak or understand English. He is still learning and will understand if you speak to him slowly so he can catch every word you say. She was belittling and so I had to step in and answer her questions and be the responder. Very unprofessional especially from an island that should be very culturally sensitive and oriented.
Hawaiian Airlines author review by Erika Armstrong
Headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaiian Airlines is the eighth-largest commercial airline in the U.S. It has the distinction of being the oldest U.S. carrier to have avoided a fatal crash.
Island destination: Hawaiian Airlines offers nonstop service to Hawaii. Travelers can book flights from major cities in North America, Asia and the South Pacific.
VIP club: Buying an annual membership in the Premium Club gives passengers access to early boarding, additional free checked baggage and more.
Vacation packages: Book a flight to Hawaii and entertainment, such as cruises or tours, all at the same time.
Regional service: Hawaiian Airlines offers flights into Honolulu and flights between all of the islands for local travel.
Delightful food and drink: Food and beverages are not only included, they are also delicious. A sommelier and chef choose each menu item and its wine pairing.

From the front desk of a busy FBO to the captain's seat of a commercial airliner, Erika Armstrong has experienced everything aviation has to offer. She is the author of A CHICK IN THE COCKPIT and her aviation articles can be found at Consumer Affairs, Plane & Pilot, Flying.com, Disciples of Flight, NYC Aviation, Contrails, Mentor, General Aviation News and Business Insider.
Hawaiian Airlines Company Information
- Company Name:
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Year Founded:
- 1929
- Address:
- 3375 Koapaka St.
- City:
- Honolulu
- State/Province:
- HI
- Postal Code:
- 96819
- Country:
- United States
- Website:
- www.hawaiianairlines.com
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