Important information for future flights to Hawaii starts with Hawaiian Airlines lawsuit.
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Important information for future flights to Hawaii starts with Hawaiian Airlines lawsuit.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Comments are closed.
We have a flight booked on Hawaiian on May 16th from OGG to Lihue and then returning May 20th. It is a secondary stay to a 2 week holiday on Maui. I purchased insurance too, so would I get a refund on the insurance too?
Are airlines cancelling flights to other U.S. cities now or mainly just Hawaii? I have an American Airlines flight to Grand Island, NE from Ft. Myers, FL in June to celebrate my mother’s 90th birthday. I haven’t heard anything from AA yet, but maybe it’s too soon. Also, are the airlines required to refund money for cancelled flights even if the tickets were purchased through a third party, i.e. cheapoair?
Hi Pam.
Good questions. We don’t follow what is happening outside of Hawaii travel to any great degree, but concur it is too early for June at this point. When tickets are purchased through a third party (which we would never suggest by the way), you are going to need to go back to them. It would “seem” they will comply with the same rules, but whether they are bound to or not, we do not know.
Aloha.
Aloha
Just heard that American Airlines had 11 passengers on a mainland flight. Since they all bought the cheapest tickets, they were all forced to sit together in the very back. My wife and I flew Hawaiian from SMF to OGG on Feb 2nd. Only 1/2 the flight was full. They moved quite a few of us around to balance the airplane.
Mahalo
Hi Sam.
Thanks for letting us know. That’s interesting.
Aloha.
We have a flight scheduled for May 15 to Hawaii. We haven’t cancelled it because HA says they will only change the ticket dates. So we are waiting for HA to cancel it so we can request our refunds. But today I received an email from HA confirming my flight and gave me my electronic ticket receipt. The 2 other people in my party received the same email. What’s going on over there at HA?
Hi,
Please advise, I booked for my family using miles, and it took all the miles I had saved up. Do you have any idea if and how I will be refunded?
Thank you!
Deborah
Hi Deborah.
You did not indicate which airline. If that was Hawaiian, they said that those would be redeposited. You’ll need to check with your airline as this DOT rule is for purchased tickets, not award tickets.
Aloha.
Many thanks for the response. Yes, this was for Hawaiian Airlines.
Hi Deborah.
We’re happy to try to help.
Aloha.
I had a flight to Maui booked on Hawaii 5/19-6/13. I used miles for the departure and dollars for the return trip home. Hawaiian told me that they would RETURN my miles into my account but since there is no travel restriction yet for my return trip of 6/13 they would not refund the money I paid. What do you think is my best recourse. I am not able to rebook and travel by 12/20.
Mahalo
Hi Adam.
What we wrote about only applies when flights are cancelled or substantively changed. Thus of course your situation is different. You can wait and see what happens and if the flight cancellations extend beyond the current May 20. Otherwise, we don’t know what recourse you would have beyond what was offered.
Aloha.
Ok, thank you. I noticed on HA website I can’t even book a flight from or to OGG in June.
Thanks for your service to everyone. Look forward to all your emails.
Hi Adam.
Thank you!! We also appreciate your being a regular leaving comments.
Aloha.
WE had the same situation on an American flight to Maui. We were to arrive in Maui on March 28 for a week and had an interisland flight to Kona and were to return from Kona on April 5 on American. American has been horrible to deal with. We called and had to talk to a supervisor. She said she didn’t know anything about the 14 day quarantine when it was posted on their website. At that time American was going to release new flight schedules. She knew at that time if we had flown to Maui that we would be stuck there with the quarantine and knew the fact that they were only going to be flying in and out of Honolulu in April. We would have been stuck. They couldn’t honor our return flight home. Since we didn’t fly on March 28 they canceled all our reservations and haven’t sent us any emails regarding a refund. If you try to call them you will be on hold for hours if you don’t get the recording to just call back later. It’s hard to even get to stay on hold with them. They are using deceptive practices. I understand they may have financial issues but they need to honor their obligations. I don’t want to ever fly them again. You may want to look at AA.com/travel alerts. They are supposed to show their May flight changes on April 5. They play stupid and act like they don’t know what their own website says.
I had cancelled my trip for April with Hawaiian Airlines and re-booked for September with no change fees or additional cost, even tho the tickets in September was more than what i paid.
Thank you Hawaiian Airlines
How about Southwest Airlines? Our April trip from / to the mainland was on AA while the inter island flights were on Southwest. AA issued us a cash refund within 24-hours. Since the Southwest flights are still operating, they would only offer their “Travel Fund” program.
Have purchased 20 tickets la too Maui on Aug 2020 if we can’t go do we get a refunf
What if you purchased in February for flight in june? Can you get a refund even if you didn’t purchase the flight insurance?
Hi – What happens if the flight that you’re rebooking costs less than the original? Do you retain the difference of cost in waivers?
Thanks in advance, this is my first time getting a waiver so I’m not familiar with the process..
-Don
Hi Don.
If your flight was cancelled then, since you have the DOT rules of refund you, it would appear you should be able to retain any beneficial difference in fare. If that makes sense. In other words, you can always cancel, refund, and purchase again if need be.
Aloha.
Darlene C – We planned to celebrate our 50th anniversary in Hawaii with our immediate family of 10 (W grandchildren) during Spring Break (March) since that was the best available time for all families. We booked in August of 2019 to get a reasonable fair. Hawaiian Airlines is asking us to rebook by Dec 2020 which is not reasonable for us to reschedule. Why wouldn’t we be able to rebook a year from when we originally planned to fly? Please reconsider offering 12 x18 months to rebook. We in good faith pay in advance for these flights.
Darlene C, My thoughts exactly, If they would offer at least 12 months from date of flight not purchase date, or 18 months would be easier to see if we can make new travel plans. No way can I get to Hawaii by end of Dec 2020.
I’ve been given the option of ONLINE reschedule or CANCEL to reschedule later. No CHANGE charge, but Rate difference will need to be paid.
Problem 1 – The online reschedule system just gives me ERRORS for ANY or ALL parts of my original itinerary in May.
Problem 2 – I’m traveling with 2 other families. Both other families DID manage to reschedule (one online and one by phone). Both were charged MYSTERIOUS NEW RATES for their flights! Even though they are leaving from the same city, on the same day and rescheduling to the SAME flights. All new rates don’t reflect ANY INTERNET SEARCHABLE PRICES.
Apparently, it seems, depending on what you originally paid for your tickets, depends on how much they want to gouge you for the new price rate?
None of this is OUR fault, why are we paying extra for it?
I have a family of four… I really don’t want to pay another $600 – $1000 more for me flights.
Many Mahalos for this great service!! I am a recent sign up and I am getting better information here than anywhere else.
To show my appreciation I would like to get you a gift certificate for your favorite restaurant that is doing take out. Please let me know what is easiest for you to access and I will try to order it online for you. That will also help a local business through this tough time.
Again Mahalo!!
Hi Michael.
That’s a first. And we’re most appreciative of your comment and offer. How about Monkeypod Jam. https://monkeypodjam.com/. They know us.
Mahalo nui loa.
J/R
Great choice. Monkeypod is the best!
We called to cancel our flight and was told we could use the tickets before the end of 12/31/2020. No refund. Other airlines were refunding their customers. It will be hardship to go on vacation before the end of this year now that the State and companies are furloughing and reducing hours. Hawaiian Airlines should refund or extend the tickets to the end of 12/31/2021.
I also have a ticket to fly out 3/30/2020. atfirst they didn’t want to refund me and just wanted me to rebook by 12/2020. But since they are the one who is not flying on my original date which is Las to HNL – i told them that its the LAW per US Dept. of Transportation and so they refunded me my ticket (even though it was the main cabin).
Rebooking and using the ticket by 12/31/2020 won’t work for many of us who hope to be back to work and catching up on bills. It would be so helpful to the customers and probably help the airline and economy if HA could offer 18-24 months to reuse the ticket credit. Believe me, I really want to vacation in Hawaii again, I’m just flat broke now while this lockdown is costing us so dearly.
I agree wholeheartedly. We go every year but have to travel in June or July.
You can file a complaint with the Department of Transportation if they refuse you a complete refund if they cancelled your flight. Here is the link to the form:
https://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.cfm
Keep the $$ on your side of the table.
G’day,
Our flight has also been cancelled from sydney australia return…..we have tried a different approach for a refund thru the credit card company we purchased the tickets from. Their website states that you are entiltled to a full refund if you didn’t get the item you purchased ie..cancelled flights. I’ll post again when I get a result.
Mahalo, Robert L
Hi Robert.
Thanks. Let us know how it goes.
Aloha.
We had tickets for flights to oahu for april 1, returning on may 1. I finally got through on the phone and was told I could rebook our flights without a change fee but no refund.
I rebooked for end of September and the flights were $300 cheaper. I was not given a voucher or credit for the difference. I could have used that credit for my luggage fees.
Totally unfair. If they had refunded my original tickets, I could have booked my own flights online and saved $300.
hi there Robert , any updates on your approach?
they refunded me my ticket. you just have to tell them its the LAW per US DOT
Aloha! Give that mule a scratch behind the ears for us 🙂 We recd the refund offer yesterday from HA for one of the April interisland flights we still hold tickets for. Went online to apply and it looked as if I would need to do it for each ticket segment (4) for my wife and I. Took a chance and called HA at 10pm CST last night and was done in 15 minutes total time. Was initially told by ‘that voice’ wait time could be over a hour. Punched thru all the prompts and was greeted by a live voice with zero hold time. Refund is in process now. Hope others have the same experience! My frustration now is with AA dropping our June 1 rebooking from DFW – HNL from the schedule. I will remain hopefully optimistic and continue to follow BoH. Mahalo for the continued updates!
Hi Al.
Thanks for letting us know! And the mule likes that too.
Aloha.
Just wondering if you have any idea since airfares for summer and fall 2020 are $220 right now, if hotels will be dropping prices too?
Hoping that travel will be allowed by then…
I purchased a Round trip ticket on Hawaiian Airlines last November for an event in June 2020. The event I was going to attend has since been cancelled so I’m stuck holding the ticket. I see no information on HA website for tickets purchased prior to this issue. Do you think their refund/rebooking policies will soon accommodate this problem? Mahalo for any help you can offer in answering my question.
Hi Susan.
It seems that will depend on whether their flight cancelations extend beyond May 20.
Aloha.
We had May 10-16 flights, if Hawaiian Air would extend the usage dates say at least 18-24 months I might get by without a refund, but I cannot guarantee
that I can reschedule by end of Dec 2020. The resort I had reserved gave me a much bigger window of time to rebook.
Aloha! My trip to the Big Island is scheduled for April 29th with Hawaiian Airlines connecting in Maui. Once they implemented the 14 day quar antine on all visitors I followed the cancellation policy but never heard back from them. Last night I got an email that my flight is canceled but no idea how to rebook for later in the year when, as far as there website is concerned, my trip is still booked and I can’t get ahold of Hawaiian Airlines.
My return flight on Alaska immediately canceled upon request and they just put that money in your Alaska Airlines account wallet to apply to a future flight done and done.
Is anyone else stuck in limbo after using Hawaiian Air’s online COVID19 cancel form? I thought it would be easier to do and I don’t want to even try to call them until their recommendation of 72 hours before my flight.
I really just want to rebook not cancel. Ok. I’m on hold now lol. Mahalo!
Hi Tammy.
First, thank you so much for the dozens of comments you’ve posted over the past four years!
Was that the same form we referenced which was recently updated? Beyond that, perhaps a phone call with a long wait time will be the only way to resolve it. Let us know.
Aloha.
Love you Beat Of Hawaii.
Hi Tammy.
Back at you!!
Aloha.
What happens when you purchased one way using miles and the return using dollars?
Mahalo
Hi Adam.
You’ll need to contact the airline. We are just posting updates as we receive them.
Aloha.
Mahalo,
For all the updates,
Good luck getting in touch with Hawaiian.
After being a Loyal Hawaiian cardholder
For many years, it looks like it’s time to look elsewhere. I think Southwest is going to getting a lot of new customers.
Hi Adam.
Thank you.
Aloha.
Hello
My mother is coming from Phoenix arriving the 9th of April, I believe she booked this last year…what does this mean for her trip
Why is Hawaiian Airlines refusing to grant rescheduling waivers for a trip we scheduled in November 2019 at Disneyland, that was closed, because of the situation. It is not our fault. You want to charge us a $200 rescheduling fee for something we had not control. Thats not fair. Show some aloha..
Please your immediate response will be appreciated
Thank you
Hi Marilyn.
We are not Hawaiian Airlines and they have never responded to any comment written on our website. We do suggest you contact their customer relations department directly.
Aloha.
What about inter island flight will that eventually cancel?
Hello!
We have a trip planned to Kauai for Spring Break, scheduled to leave Denver in a week. We did get trip insurance through Delta Vacations. I’m not so much concerned about catching the virus, as much as I am concerned about things being cancelled or shut down when we get there. Any advice you could give on the current situation there would be appreciated. Thank you!
Hi Keri.
What we are hearing is that trip insurance isn’t helping with this situation so suggest to check. We can’t say what will be cancelled or shut down as this is so rapidly changing – literally multiple times each day.
Aloha.
Please do not come. The Governor has asked politely that visitors postpone their travel for at least 30 days. He has just instituted a curfew, visitors included, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Kaua’i does not have the resources to take care of the people here should this become more widespread. It will not be the vacation you envisioned as services are limited.
I live here. Everything is shutting down. Please reschedule your vacation for a time after this has passed. Mahalo
Will be visiting Maui with family late march for 10 days and not giving momentum to this topic! Doing what we always do to keep immune systems happy and healthy! Cheers to good health!
Why dont they disinfect all interisland flights . It’s the only mode of transportation between islands and they are germ capsules- should disinfect after every flight!
We are scheduled to travel on Hawaiian on April 28 to JFK then continue the following day to Amsterdam for our 21 day cruise & return at the end of May to Hilo. Holland America is allowing us to cancel our cruise because my husband & I are in our 70’s with cardiovascular disease and respiratory problems. They contacted us to inform us. I contacted Hawaiian Airlines to inform them of this, and so, we have no need to take the flight and would like to get our miles upgrade back with our fare. We are Platinum members but we would have to rebook this flight with whatever repercussions this will entail. At this time, who of us in the very high mortality risk would want to book any flights as our own country is far behind in addressing the availability of the test compared to other countries, just to name Only one of the numerous problems in our government’s handling of this.
Following up with what I wrote yesterday, I still believe that Hawaiian Airlines is not being customer friendly because of the requiring rebooked travel to be no later than this year instead of at least one year waiver from original departure date. CDC feels the earliest a vaccine for this pandemic can be produced is approximately a year from now. This is beyond the date that Hawaiian Airlines is giving all those who need to rebook regardless of high risk or not. We are only at the tip of the iceberg as to what will continue to happen in America. Hopefully, our warmer weather coming soon will lessen the impact.
there are over 300 million people in the US and a couple thousand in fected people of which very few died. Take the flight enjoy life odds of dying of the f lu is greater and that’s not stopping anyone
You state DOT policy is if flight is cancelled we are due value of non used tickets – I assume that is in cash as there is no real value to a ticket that has a must use by date. So will Hawaiian follow DOT rules? I don’t usually book with Hawaiian and was disappointed to see how they are acting so differently from every other carrier that are offering full refunds.
Would you like to adjust your reply abit???
Oh There it is now….I guess it took a little bit…no worry’s
Mahalo BoH👍
Hi John.
Thanks.
Aloha.
I have a flight scheduled for 30th April from Australia to Honolulu, i can see i can cancel due to the waiver however i do not understand completely what the waiver means.
Am i entitled to a refund or am i only required to rebook prior to December 31st? This is something that i do not want to do at this stage my familys safety is my priority and nobody can guarantee this will blow over for any future dates
Please advise, my accommodation has confirmed a refund.
Hi Snezana.
Wet understand your concerns but cannot speak for the airline. Please go online to manage your reservation and the options available. You can also call the airline, but there may be a very long wait time.
Aloha, Beat of Hawaii…
where’s my reply to JNL and that question/comment?
Mahalo, John
–Aloha JNL, I would pop in to see your family Doctor a day or two before you go, get a clear bill of health ..(and a letter from him/her wouldn’t hurt either)! err on the safe side-as an ounce of prevention lol
This is exactly what I’m going to do,
Aloha, Take care and have a great time,..and a swim for me if ya’ get a chance🏊👍
Aloha – We booked in November to fly to Maui on May 19 via Hawaiian. We’re thinking that the virus will probably be a non-worry by then. But, if it does become a full-blown pandemic and travel is restricted, do you think the airlines (Hawaiian) will allow either rescheduling or cancelling with no fees? Also, we booked our hotel over a year ago through a friend who had time share points to sell, so not sure we’ll be able to reschedule those. Do you have any tips you can offer about cancelling time share bookings?
Very much appreciate you taking the time to read this.
We are choosing to keep a positive attitude and e noho hauʻoli. Mahalo.
Hi Debi.
We don’t know anything about time share bookings. The airline policies, as we have seen in just the past two days, are fast changing in relation to the situation.
Aloha.
We’re looking to book flight from Seattle to Honolulu in mid-June. Do you know if prices will be coming down due to falling oil prices and the current situation? Current roundtrip prices are $500. Thanks!
Hi Tom.
Anyone’s guess at this point. Probably wouldn’t hurt to wait and see.
Aloha.
Same with American, they will charge me $150 plus $25 per additional ticket to rebank my miles. Cashed in their new non changeable FF tickets. I knew it going in but hoped that they would take the current situation in mind. My experience with their customer service is that they are there to protect the airline, and not to be on the customers side.
We are leaving in about 10 days…not on Hawaiian but delta. First trip to Kauai….would be great if we got out on lockdown there! Still planning on going but with reservation.
Fly Hawaiian frequently. VERY disappointed that only passengers booking in March are the only ones able to reschedule without penalty. This makes Hawaiian corporate sense but not from either their personnel or customer’s viewpoint.
Come on Hawaiian – be a LEADER not a follower! DO WHAT’S RIGHT! PONO!
Let ALL your customer choose what’s right for their situation and reschedule without penalty. Big bonus points if you super step up and offer refunded tickets.
This too shall pass for corporate, but it could cost a select group of people their LIVES.
Flying to Kona on a 9am from BOS in late March through Hawaiian. (Tickets dropped nearly 200-300$ within a span of a few days, outside of normal fluctuations.) Glad for an almost direct flight with a pit in Honolulu.
Any word on if seat upgrades would become more available with people canceling plans? Would love to hear your thoughts /suggestions on how/when to even ask about such a thing.
mahalo
Hi Heather.
Not sure exactly what you mean by seat upgrades. 3 options exist: Change seats to anything available at any time with regular economy. Purchase upgrade to extra comfort or first class at any point. Bid to upgrade to first class.
Let us know if this answers your question.
Aloha.
We would like to go to Maui in October, and I hope we are all in a better place for travel by then. Last year I booked in March for October, mostly to secure our favorite condo. This year I’m going to wait a bit longer before putting down miles and deposits. But as soon as we can see the community transfer risk has diminished we will be booking again.
Mahalo for your updates!
Hi Michele.
Thank you.
Aloha.
I leave tomorrow and am counting the hours. I plan on doing my Christmas shopping and spending money on locally owned restaurants. Their economy is dependent on us, I look forward to embracing everything I can.
Are there protocols to screen passengers for fever/symptoms prior to flying?
Aloha JNL, I would pop in to see your family Doctor a day or two before you go, get a clear bill of health ..(and a letter from him/her wouldn’t hurt either)! err on the safe side-as an ounce of prevention lol
This is exactly what I’m going to do,
Aloha, Take care and have a great time,..and a swim for me if ya’ get a chance🏊👍
We have plans for June and are def going no matter what!
Same here. Not super concerned at this point.
I too, called hawaiian to see about my options, and found that I will indeed incur a change fee. We are flying our child home from uh, for his spring break. And we have plans to visit him during our spring break. But now, I’m hoping we’ll hear more about the options as the days go on. Good thing our flight isn’t till 3 weeks, so I think I have some time. Maybe?
Thank you always, for keeping us informed and up to date!
Hi Susie.
We concur that this may not be the fun final word.
Aloha.
We have vacation plans for April 27th for 1 week to Disney resort and plan on coming no matter what. Unless our flights get cancelled.
I find the fact that Hawaiian is only waiving fees for trips booked between March 1-31 to be profoundly disturbing and anti-consumer. We booked our fare for May back in October 2019 and were told if we were to change flights (say, to next Fall or even later) we would be hit with a $250 per person change fee, and also charged $150 to recoup our air miles.
As much we love Hawaiian, I’m think this will be our last trip with them.
We bought our tickets several months ago for travel to Hawaii in April. We are very concerned about flying and considering canceling our flight. But it doesn’t seem fair that only those who purchased their tickets in March will get a refund. We fly annually to Hawaii in Hawaiian air and have been a very loyal customer. My friend always flies Alaska airline and they are looking better all the time.
I also purchased 2 one way fares from Sea-Koa and Koa -Sea for travel Mar 12 and April 20th. These were purchased in Dec ’19 and Jan ’20.
I called Alaska and was told I would only be charged a $125 total for the 2 flights. Not waiving anything else.I planned ahead for these flights and it seems not fair to those of us that did. I mean really, if all this is going on why would you even purchase a ticket during the dates they are talking about.
I do love Alaska Airline though and will always fly to Hawaii with them as well as anywhere else I decide to travel as long as they can get me there.
Hawaiian is showing no ALOHA
We did the same thing as Dennis D. And are disappointed at the policy however by May the virus may not be the problem it is today.
Hoping for a better policy if it is the same.
Merry Monarch should be cancelled this year…for safety sake.
The choice is yours — to go or not to go.
It looks like they are saying, ig]f your trip dates are in March, regardless of when you booked time, you can reschedule. And they are offering very low prices. Really great I think.
Me too! I booked by miles and they want to charge me $150 to “ re-Bank” my own miles. They are greedy pigs. I am so done with Hawaiian Air. I am supposed to return to KAUAI March 26 after 3 months on the mainland. I told them I have a doctors note and they don’t care! I have an auto-immune disorder, I’m 74, AND I have a HEART CONDITION. I am going to shred my credit card…..
You are right, they must not hold us responsible for the fact that they can not secure our safety… We fly them a lot but if they don’t handle this right get ready for the FED to shut it down…. that will help them a lot… Let those that are concerned book at a later date or loose us for life as a customer!