We knew our flight to Maui was in trouble during Tropical Storm Lala before Alaska admitted it. On Saturday, the flight had disappeared from Alaska’s own booking site and from Google Flights. There’s more to what happened in the next section.
At the same time, businesses connected with our Maui trip were changing or canceling plans. Here on Kauai, we were driving past utility crews, closed roads, storm debris, and ocean water we would never consider jumping into.
That’s when Lala stopped being a hurricane story for us and became a Hawaii travel story. The airports can reopen officially, with flights starting to look normal again, and visitors can still arrive in a place that hasn’t quite caught up yet.
We knew our Alaska flight was in trouble before Alaska told us.
By Saturday, we already suspected that our Sunday Kauai-to-Maui flight wouldn’t operate. We searched Alaska’s website in incognito mode and couldn’t find the flight for sale. It had disappeared from Google Flights too, even though we’d already checked in and our reservation still showed it leaving on time.
So we called Alaska. We were told the flight was operating normally and everything looked fine. Roughly 12 hours later, late Saturday night, it was officially canceled.
The cancellation itself was neither upsetting nor surprising. A hurricane was approaching the Big Island; conditions were changing rapidly, and airlines faced difficult decisions. What bothered us was that Alaska appeared to have stopped selling the flight well before passengers were told anything was wrong or given a chance to adapt.
Alaska allowed us to move the trip from Sunday to Monday without additional cost, but by Sunday it was becoming apparent that Monday no longer made sense either. Recovery was just beginning, and businesses connected with our Maui trip were already changing their own plans before we flew.
Most Hawaii businesses we dealt with made it very easy.
Mala Ocean Tavern canceled our reservation for Monday due to changing conditions. Activity providers either moved or canceled ours, and our Kaanapali hotel graciously let us move the stay twice even though we were already inside its normal no-change window.
We aren’t naming the hotel here because we’ll be writing separately about that stay, but its response was exactly what we’d hope for in an unusual situation. None of the Hawaii businesses we dealt with made the disruption harder than it already was or needed to be.
That was one of the more reassuring things we learned this weekend. A published cancellation policy isn’t necessarily the last word when something like this happens, and calling the airline, hotel, restaurant, or activity provider directly can produce a very different result.
In the end, we decided to push Maui later in the week. That’s when Alaska became difficult again.
A 17-minute airline callback turned into a multi-hour $140 decision.
The free change we’d used previously was no longer available to us online, so we called Alaska and requested a callback. The estimated wait was about 17 minutes, but an hour passed, then two, and counting, with no call.
Meanwhile, Jeff was watching seats disappear on the nonstop Kauai-Maui flight later in the week. We could either keep waiting and risk losing the flight we needed or protect the trip ourselves.
Jeff canceled the reservation, redeposited the funds to his wallet, and booked new flights, paying about $140 more. Alaska eventually called back and nicely told us we shouldn’t have canceled first, but by then the transaction was complete and the agent said nothing further could be changed.
We’re not losing sleep over the $140, and we understand why phone lines would be overwhelmed during a hurricane weekend. But altogether, the experience wasn’t handled well: our original flight disappeared from sale far before Alaska acknowledged the obvious situation; we were reassured it was operating when it in fact was not; it was then canceled 12 hours later, and then we couldn’t reach anyone when we needed help changing the trip again.
A storm waiver can appear flexible on paper. That doesn’t mean using it will be easy when thousands of other passengers need help at the same time.
What happens after you land is another story.
All Hawaii airports and commercial harbors have reopened after the weekend upheaval, but the transportation system outside them is still recovering. HDOT reported highways affected by downed trees, debris, flooding, and power outages, and asked people to avoid unnecessary travel where possible.
On Maui, crews were clearing trees and debris along Hana Highway, with local-only traffic advised in affected areas, while Crater Road was closed due to multiple downed trees. On Oahu, the Pali Highway was closed because of fallen trees and landslides.
Hawaii Island was hit far harder. A section of Mamalahoa Highway near Pahala washed out, other sections of Route 11 were blocked, leaving Naalehu isolated, and Monday morning Hawaii County Civil Defense reported that the 911 emergency number wasn’t working.
Our experience on Kauai was much less severe, but the aftermath was still evident. Crews were working, branches and debris were down, roads were saturated, and the ocean looked nothing like it normally does.
Hawaii is open, and Hawaii was hit by a hurricane, then a tropical storm. Both are true, while telling a visitor very little about what they’ll encounter on a particular island.
Parks and ocean conditions won’t recover on airline schedules.
Haleakala National Park remains closed until further notice, while Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and several other sites on Hawaii Island are also closed. State and county parks have been undergoing damage assessments before reopening.
The ocean is on its own timetable. A statewide Brown Water Advisory issued Sunday is in effect, and the Hawaii Department of Health says people should stay out of water that appears brown or murky for 48 to 72 hours after the rain stops and beaches receive full sunshine.
That advice made perfect sense when we looked at the ocean on Kauai. The state’s lingo is hard to improve on: “If the water is brown, turn around.”
We’re still going to Maui, just later than planned. What changed for us wasn’t whether we planned to go, but how closely we needed to watch one flight, one island, and the individual businesses and places we’d actually be visiting. That was all unprecedented.
If Lala affected your Hawaii trip, what happened with your flights, hotel, or activities, and how flexible were the companies you were dealing with?
Lead Photo: © Beat of Hawaii at Poipu Beach, Kauai, during Tropical Storm Lala.
By Rob and Jeff, Beat of Hawaii.
Some of the most meaningful parts of Hawaii are the ones visitors walk right past without knowing they are there. We’ve spent nearly 20 years finding them firsthand for BOH as full-time Hawaii residents reporting on travel, culture, and island life, and telling you what they mean for your trip. Join us →
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The power outage on West Maui was the most evident effect of the storm for us. We prepared on Friday by buying ice and making sure we had flashlights and batteries. At 10 am, the Lahaina Safeway was well-stocked and minimally busy but became more crowded in the next hour, although there was no air of panic buying. Kudos to Hawaii Electric for restoring power in 24 hours, and kudos to the Sea House for remaining open on generator power. Have a great, albeit postponed, visit to West Maui later this week.
None of this should be surprising to anyone who knows Hawaii. I’ve met folks who lived in Kauai and lived through hurricane Iniki. After that experience, they left Kauai for good, only to return occasionally as visitors. If you want to live in a state with limited resources in the event of a catastrophic natural disaster, move to Hawaii.
Actually, I remember a differnent story from that time. Some tourists decided to stay, even though hotels warned about the upcoming hurricane and offered refunds. They were so impressed by the locals that they helped them clean up after the hurricane. When I went to visit a couple of years later, the island showed no signs of a hurricane. On the other hand, the Virgin Island looked like a 3rd world country …nothing had been repaired, roofs were still damaged and there were no signs that anyone was working. I live on Maui now and love it. Hawaii is not for everyone (which is a good thing). Wonder where you and your friends ended up. My ex wanted to convince me there are other places like a Hawaii, one of the reasons he is an ex.
Valid points Frank.
It’s important to consider that people have varying levels in their comfort zone. I’ve lived through various storms, Covid, the Lahaina fire, cancer, etc., and none of it would drive me out of Hawaii. For a while I was afraid that I might have to leave due to limited health care, then I joined Kaiser Permanente and that concern went out the window. They are awesome, and I absolutely love my life in Maui!
Best wishes for all!
Good story for someone off island for a few weeks. Regarding Alaska Airlines, I literally never heard anything good about it, so when they took over Hawaiian Airlines, I didn’t bother taking them up on their offer for a credit card, 70 miles points etc. I will probably never fly that airline, unless they make it the only inter-island airline which would be a shame ….Mokulele airlines should work on improving their schedules out of Kapalua. That airport is dead. Why?
We’re on Kauai now, it was a wild weekend, and this is exactly what we’re seeing. Some places look normal and then you drive a few miles and find debris or crews still working. Weather is improving although it is still quite rainy.
Looking after consumers when things go wrong costs money and eats into margins hence the old days of counting on airlines, car rental companies or hotel chains to resolve things for you have gone.
Part of this is the growth of the Gen Z traveller who wants to pay the lowest price, get the most unique experience and have someone to sort out all their issues for them for free. Regrettably life is about trade offs and something has to give.
I think the State and the Counties have done a good job minimizing damage and injuries and the airlines, hotels and rental car firms are doing the best they can in the situation. My travel approach is expect it to go wrong, then when it does you are not upset and if it doesn’t it brightens your day.
Sunday there was brown water with lots of debris in front of my house, yet tourists were out frolicking in the waves. Yuck! Hope they don’t become ill from it.
That just shows how little common sense some people have ….
Not unusual. We too had activities canceled before our airline ever contacted us. The local businesses seemed to know what was happening and responded faster than the airlines did at least this time.
Appreciate you keeping updates to the Maui situation coming. We’re arriving later this week and Haleakala is one of the big draws for us.
Here in Kona there was minimal damage and very little impact. Much much less than past storms in the last year. Hilo, different story of course. It’s a different part of the island. Lots of people wanting to go to the beach and to the parks on the west side and because the Entire state/county has been shut down are unable to…. I feel for those affected but it’s a shame that there’s a blanket closure affecting the entire island. I know I’ll get “hate” mails on this but we really didn’t even get that much rain…… just sayin’.
Hi John, my daughter and son nLaw live in Kailua Kona, and they lost a couple of trees to wind, but that was about it. They were hosting a wedding this past weekend, I’m on the mainland, trying to interpert the weather forecast. I was concerned, they were kind of hoo humm…
We learned years ago to call the hotel directly during weather problems in the islands. We’ve had supposedly nonrefundable reservations changed several times just by explaining what was obviously happening.
While it wasn’t helpful, Alaska may simply have stopped selling the flight while they waited to see what the storm did.
I’m very disappointed with Alaska, I paid for extra comfort seats for my flight last week from OGG to SMF and they changed planes last minute so my assigned seat was changed to coach. They didn’t want to reimburse my extra comfort seat and only offered $150 coupon for my next reservation.