Hawaiian Airlines and a company previously unknown to us, Qwikcilver Solutions/Pine Labs, are working together to upgrade aspects of the airline’s operations that are sorely needed. It will do so via state-of-the-art systems for customers that may include refunds and compensation vouchers, just for starters.
The exact roll-out of this solution at Hawaiian isn’t yet clear and we don’t see it yet on their website. We expect it to be customer-forward since so many of you have complained about Hawaiian Airlines in these specific areas. We too have been challenged to use credits we had from unused Hawaiian Airlines flights. And we have also lost track of companion fares associated with Hawaiian credit cards. Those are the credit card anniversary $100 companion discounts.
The India-based company said their solution would be “Integrated with Hawaiian Airlines online and offline systems, allowing for efficient and instant issuance of gift cards, refund, and compensation vouchers to customers. The integration will ensure that Hawaiian Airlines passengers receive their vouchers in a timely manner, which will improve customer experience and customer retention. The integrated digital-first platform ensures a seamless experience for all customers of the airline.”
Some changes may already have begun on the Hawaiian Airlines website, although they currently lead to a message such as the one shown above. We can only assume that these features will be made available once the system integration is complete. There are also FAQ entries regarding travel credits that point to “our new Travel Voucher Look-up feature,” a feature that is so new that it doesn’t quite exist yet. All of this would seem to indicate that these changes are imminent.
The ability to “hold fares” has also been missing from the website, with the following statement provided: “As of April 7, 2023, our Fare Hold product is temporarily unavailable. However, we continue to offer refundable fare options, no change fees on Main Cabin and First/Business Class seats, and our 24-hour cancellation policy.” We hope this function will return with the new system, as it is very popular and offered by most major carriers, but it is not clear at this time why it is still delayed.
Will a travel funds “wallet” finally arrive at Hawaiian Airlines?
One of Qwikcilver’s focus areas is offering “unique passenger-friendly concepts like, among others, the ‘wallet’ that allows passengers to manage their travel bookings effortlessly. Through the integration with Amadeus channels, Asset Manager aims to allow airlines to benefit quickly from features in a seamless manner.”
This feature is needed by customers of Hawaiian Airlines.
Hawaiian’s lack of a credit wallet is a serious deficiency in 2023. It is the only airline we know about for Hawaii flights that does not offer such an important feature. For example, storing funds at Southwest Airlines or Alaska Airlines is easy and can be managed entirely online.
At Hawaiian Airlines, it has also been up to the customer to remember flight credits and provide the ticket number to a call center employee in order to apply such credits to a new reservation. That’s right; you must call and talk to someone, which means being placed on hold. As you’ve continued to report, it naturally leads to problems and a lack of customer satisfaction, and we’ve certainly encountered this ourselves.
Your recent comments speak to the issues needing resolution at Hawaiian Airlines.
First, Hawaiian Airlines said, “Our partnership with Qwikcilver demonstrates the commitment we have to providing exceptional service and ensuring a seamless travel experience for our customers. We thank the Qwikcilver team for this timely deployment of their Asset Manager solution.” Then Qwikcilver added, “We are proud to partner with Hawaiian Airlines to help enhance their customer experience.”
We hope that many of the issues you’ve expressed frustration about will be more easily resolved with up-to-date systems such as this. Additionally, their foreign call center, mentioned many times as another source of consumer dissatisfaction with Hawaiian Airlines, should be required far less often with an automated system. That’s good for customers and for Hawaiian Airlines.
DrNorm said, “I have been having nothing but ongoing problems with using a flight refund credit with Hawaiian since they switched to their new computer system… I had a ticket credit for a prior cancellation and shortly after the changeover, I tried to use that credit but the reservation agent said she, “Could not find it,” and told me to allow a few more days for the system to update and then call back. I waited a week, called again, and they still could not find the credit (using the original ticket #).”
Patrick asked, “Has Hawaiian done anything to make their customers whole again where they had to spend extra $$$ because of the (reservations system upgrade) meltdown?”
Roberta said, “The new system has been frustrating! I had to cancel a flight due to it being delayed 4 times!!! I was told they would refund me $161.80 back to my credit card. Never happened then I was told I had to “request it be refunded!!!” Insane Never can get an agent that speaks clear English. After an hour I said I’m done and disputed the charge w/my cc bank. Still waiting for it to be resolved. Absolutely terrible customer svc.”
And Bob R added, “Unfortunately Hawaiian Airlines is doing just about everything to ruin the company, by not having a computer system still not working after months, refund policies are not as good as any airline that flies here, i.e. Alaska, Southwest, United, and more. Customer service is handled from the Philippines, the phone service between here and there is not very good, I have been on the phone and chat service for over 2 hours sometimes and nothing gets resolved.”
Samo: “Normally used to Alaska Air refunding or crediting price reductions to fares, not so with Hawaiian. The airfare for our upcoming flight was reduced by $200 and so I reached out to ask for an adjustment. Was told no can do and furthermore that if I canceled the flight and rebooked using the credit, it would all have to be used and any balance would be lost. Not sure if this airline is subliminally telling me to fly other airlines.”
And lastly, Michelle exclaimed: “Booked a flight from Oahu to mainland for 9/16, as my payment was processing on the website it crashed so I had to repeat and book again. The next day I see that I’ve been double booked, on 9/8 AND 9/16. I used the chat on my Hawaiian Airlines app and was on hold for over 3 hours didn’t get a response until after midnight mainland time. So this morning I called customer svc and was advised to request a refund for the 9/8 flight via HA website and rebook for the correct date of 9/16. I completed the request, clicked to submit-a red box popped up stating they’re facing technical difficulties. I filled out a new form online again, got the same red pop-up. Worst website I’ve ever used, considering ending my membership to join a competitor.”
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I have tried to work with Hawaiian for years.
Finally changed to Delta, last year, due to all my travels got to their Platinum level and can do my own Coach to Comfort upgrades on line
Their wallet is instant and clearly shows amount and due to spend dates.
Southwest has been my go to on the US side and the credits and cancellations are all processed on line. Any changes on both these airlines are done on line
I do not remember any time I have had to call either of these airlines.
I have done the chat feature with Delta due to call volume and my requests were done as soon as it was understood what was need.
I have yet to get “it cannot be done”
My blood pressure would rise even prior to calling Hawaiian every time, and always “it cannot be done”
So no more Hawaiian, in the process of cancelling my Hawaiian Miles card once I move my miles out of the account.
Will Never return
specifically not only because of their systems but letters to the corporate office were replied with standard “it cannot be done”
verbiage to that effect. Never taking responsibility.
In addition baggage arrive is usually 1 hour after landing.
Everyone else is 30 minutes or less, Delta even tells you where you bags are in the process from departure to landing.
So technology and call center is just the tip of the ice berg, other than front line staff who are some times embarrassed Hawaiian has a lot more things to fix other than their technology.
To Lawaia-I just booked a flight yesterday from LIH to OAK and also experienced the same issue. No email was sent by HA with any type of confirmation of my flight.
This is basic airline 101 stuff that should not be happening.
Hi Bruce. I totally agree that receiving an email booking confirmation email from an airline is “basic airline 101”. I have contemplated what compelled Hawaiian Airlines to discontinue what is probably the lowest cost and most basic of customer service tools for an airline, and I cannot figure it out. The Hawaiian Airlines customer service people do not know why, as I asked one of them and they were unaware that we do not automatically receive a confirmation email after booking a flight online. The person then suggested that I talk to their web services people. I asked her to transfer me to them and she advised that she could give me the number to call them directly but she could not transfer my call. When I called web services immediately after she gave me the number, I reached a recording saying that they were closed for the day. As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I really try to avoid talking with Hawaiian Airlines customer service, reservation or ticketing phone lines, as I only end up frustrated. Thanks for your reply.
Is anyone else experiencing getting charged for booking a ticket but then not having a reservation? I book 300-400 flights a year inter-island for my employees and I have never had this problem. But, twice in the last two days I have booked flights, been charged and haven’t received a confirmation. When I contact customer service they tell me that they have no reservation under the employees name or mine or any information that confirms a booking. This is ridiculous for a public company. I might expect shenanigans like this from Southern Airlines (i.e. Mokulele), but Hawaiian Airlines? C’mon man! Maybe you folks here could check into it. I’ll gladly provide information on my bookings and proof that Hawaiian charged my card. Thanks.
I have not experienced your particular issue Don, but I have been experiencing a similar issue when making a reservation online. Prior to Hawaiian Airlines big website “upgrade”, when I made an online reservation I would receive an email titled “Electronic Ticket Receipt”. The body of the email showed the pertinent information including the Confirmation/Reservation Code, the complete itinerary, passenger names, passenger Hawaiian Miles numbers, seat assignments, links to add the flights to a calendar or to print the itinerary and receipt, and also had the E-Ticket, the reservation/itinerary and the receipt as separate attachments. All the pertinent information one needs regarding a flight reservation and ticket purchase. For whatever reason, when I make reservations on their website or through the app on my phone, I no longer receive any documents afterwards from Hawaiian Airlines. Nada. To me this is a big thing. And to make things a little more confusing, when I login to the website or open the app, it shows a different confirmation number than the classic six digit alpha confirmation code that we are all used to. It showed a new alpha-numeric code. When I called the Hawaiian Airlines customer service line to make a change, the representative did not recognize the alpha-numeric confirmation number. Eventually she found my reservation and gave me with the correct confirmation code. Have you seen this issue? Thanks!
I am a Big Island resident who has been a loyal Hawaiian Airlines customer for over half of my life and I am almost 70 years old. It is my humble opinion that the issues that we are currently experiencing with Hawaiian Airlines online as well as their customer service, reservation and ticketing phone lines, started several years ago when the airline moved all of their customer contact lines to a call center in the Philippines. I now avoid talking to human beings at Hawaiian Airlines as I almost always end up frustrated from being put on hold, many times over an hour. Even though the website itself was always slow, it generally worked ok and was far better then than it has been since they “upgraded” it a while back. We have suffered the same issues that all other Hawaiian Airlines customers have had with the website, which is bad in every way. The latest issue which started about three months ago and is yet unresolved, is that they somehow managed to get our TSA known traveler numbers mixed up with the wrong names of our family members that are saved in my Hawaiian Airlines account. Each time I call they say the issue is fixed, but next time I buy tickets the problem is still there. We now stand in line at the airport while the clerk enters the TSA number for each one of us. We are now booked for the first time on United Airlines to the mainland in October. It is not what I want to do as I always support Hawaii businesses first, but enough is enough. Auwe!
Aloha Lawaia, I feel your pain. I did want to point out though that Hawaiian Airlines is no longer a local airline. They were sold to a mainland company several years ago. In my opinion, that is when the troubles began. You can safely fly Southwest and not be harassed for not supporting local. Even Mokulele is owned by mainland airline Southern Airlines. There really aren’t any local flyers anymore. Hawaiian Airlines has created a mess and I hope that they clean it up soon. It’s embarrassing for the local folks that put their heart and soul into serving customers like you and me.
I am a Big Island resident who has been a loyal Hawaiian Airlines customer for over half of my life and I am almost 70 years old. It is my humble opinion that the issues that we are currently experiencing with Hawaiian Airlines online as well as their customer service, reservation and ticketing phone lines, started several years ago when the airline moved all of their customer contact lines to a call center in the Philippines. I now avoid talking to human beings at Hawaiian Airlines as I almost always end up frustrated from being put on hold, many times over an hour. Even though the website itself was always slow, it generally worked ok and was far better then than it has been since they “upgraded” it a while back. We have suffered the same issues that all other Hawaiian Airlines customers have had with the website, which is bad in every way. Our latest issue started about three months ago and which is still ongoing, is that they somehow managed to get our TSA known traveler numbers mixed up with the wrong names of our family members that are saved in my Hawaiian Airlines accounts. Each time they say the issue is fixed, but the next time I buy tickets the problem is still there. We now stand in line and wait until the clerk manually enters our TSA numbers on each booking. We are now booked for the first time on United Airlines to the mainland in October. It is not what I want to do as I support Hawaii businesses first always, but enough is enough. Auwe!
Aloha!
It saddens me to read all these problems. Changing computer systems is always a problem, but HA’s problems have gone far and beyond what normally happens. They need to do something to repair the horrendous damage done to the brand. The flight crews are equally frustrated as they have to deal w/unhappy passengers. Someone has to get the CEO to take these problems seriously. It would help if he actually flew on some flights to personally see and feel the problems. Those in charge of integrating the systems need to be replaced.
A Major DITO to all the Comments. They are all true and all have happened to me.
I have tried to like Hawaiian Airlines. I’ve really tried. I’ve really wanted to make it work out between us. But they make it so.. damn.. difficult! Over the past several years the cabin service has gone downhill and the seats are now ridiculously crammed together. I’d like to see CEO Peter Ingram fly from ITO to OGG in economy class and report back on how well it met his standards. In the airports – especially HNL – there are always more empty customer service counters than manned ones. And the foreign call center is just the worst; they are always hard to understand. Every. Single. Time. For example, if you call to make arrangements to travel, say, with a pet inter island, they start reading from a really long script about quarantine protocol which I can read myself thanks, its right there on the website but inter-island travel has no rabies/quarantine issues, so there is of course no need to read that long script in broken English, at which point you realize with certainty that the person on the other end of the line has no idea what you’re talking about. Especially when they then refer you to the pet quarantine station on Oahu, which has nothing to do with pets travelling to and from neighbor islands. Maybe they need flow charts there or something so they can understand what should be a simple inquiry. Here’s a fun idea: Somebody challenge Mr. Ingram to make a few calls to the call center with some random typical questions. And put it on youtube so we can watch and see how long it takes him.
In my view, Hawaiian has 2 problem areas. First, a historically grown antiquated IT system that really is a patchwork of dozens of IT point solutions that, each, may work fine but “as a whole” is brittle and prone to failure, sometimes systemic failure. Then, socially, the organization itself has never been customer focused. Unlike, say, Southwest it never really tried to develop a customer centric soul. Instead, it has acted as a competitive follower, except for periods of expansion.
The proposed system itself is just one more point solution added to the existing brittle whole. It will alleviate the immediate problem of refunds, but may not solve the underlying systemic and social issues.
My spouse and I were going to fly Hawaiian in November. Now we’re going to wait until they get it together. We do feel fortunate to have options to the mainland. Mahalo for keeping us informed!
Last week our round trip flights from PDX to LIH in October
were changed twice. Our seat assignments were trashed.
Called late last week and was on the phone for about an hour.
Nothing got fixed due to supposed computer problems?
Called this morning, again was on the phone for about 45 minutes.
Their “no change fee” pledge is meaningless.
I ended up paying an additional $464 just to get everything straightened out. I was forced to pay because “fare prices have increased” In other words the reservations that I paid for in early May are meaningless. Hawaiian Airlines changed our flights and trashed our seat assignments then I had to pay them just to get them to fix the problems they created! “Greedflation”
As stated, when you call Hawaiian airlines for help you can’t understand the person. Bring the call center back to the US!
Maybe the maintenance also.
My family of 5 just flew Hawaiian Airlines on July 13th & 18th, SFO to Honolulu round trip. We had absolutely no problems. Flights ran on time, the staff was friendly/efficient & we found them to be a wonderful airline.
Today I found out you have to call the HA Reservation Center to purchase additional miles. All other airlines make it so simple to do this online.
I am surprised after the HA computer “upgrade” that this procedure has not been fixed.
“The India-based company…”
Hmm… that does not bode well.
Great get! I am hoping someone at HA is listening. This whole year to this point has been really awful to be a Pualani Platinum member at HA.
This makes management look really incompetent not to mention what it has done to the bottom line at the airline.
Oversight by managers has also been abysmal. There needs to be senior members of management that can answer simple questions.
If I was not a platinum member and enjoying the perks of 1st class, I would also be looking for a different product.
Thanks again gentlemen.
Hi Kelly.
Thanks very much! We really appreciate yoo being in touch today!
Aloha.
So glad I am not the only one having issues with HAL. Finally after at least 25 years with HAL’s credit card…we cancelled it. Used the $100 companion fare twice…too difficult. Costco’s credit card is better…you get more $$$ for travels.
But yesterday…Sunday, July 23…took the cake. I called to change our interisland connecting from HNL to LIH to the next later flight. Ash…customer service told me I need to pay the fare difference of $7,500.00+!!! I asked for his supervisor…Pamela…after over an hour said the same thing…we will owe $7,500.00+ per passenger. I was totally shocked. Did that happen to anyone else?
Did you ask them where they came up with that number?
I only said…you must be kidding! Don’t think they really can think beyond their noses. But I believe they must have had some kind of program glitch but didn’t express that.
You & I & others would have said…this isn’t right. But it is not written on their instruction sheet.
Are you sure they were asking for $7500 or 7500 miles? Because you can travel anywhere in the world they fly in 1st class for less than $7500.
7500 miles would be appropriate miles for an inter island flight.
Yes…you are correct to think it was miles rather than dollars. But it was not. I wish I could remember the exact amount…maybe something like…$7,526.39. Both agent said the same amount. Maybe it was the India based software company’s error. But that said…do we as HAL customers have to put up with incompetent employees like that? Are we not paying HAL to be better with much higher airfares?