Using an Alaska Airlines credit for a short $234 per-person off-season Hawaiian interisland round-trip from Kauai to Honolulu seemed straightforward. Because the “wallet” credit could only be accessed on the Alaska side of the website, we booked there. It should have been simple, but we hit a snag.
As soon as we went to AlaskaAir.com to apply the credit to the Hawaiian flight, something odd happened. There was no seat map. The site said we couldn’t view the seat map until after payment. We backtracked and clicked through every tab twice, certain we’d missed something. We hadn’t. A small note appeared instead: “Seats available after booking.” This meant paying first and finding out later.
We first started hearing about this problem from Beat of Hawaii readers who reported losing seat assignments or being unable to choose seats after booking Hawaiian flights that appeared when buying on Alaska’s site. Yesterday, we encountered the same issue. Curious whether this was an isolated glitch or something bigger, we decided to test it ourselves.
In an era when every airline promises booking transparency, this felt like a step backward. What followed revealed a much bigger problem hiding in plain sight, one that leaves Hawaii travelers paying for seats they can’t see and facing a consumer protection gap with no easy fix. If it was this confusing for us, people who eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff, we wondered how baffling it must be for everyone else trying to plan a vacation in Hawaii.
The 7-day trap.
Most travelers are aware of the Department of Transportation’s 24-hour cancellation rule, which allows for a full refund if a trip is canceled within a day. But what’s less known is the exception: according to federal regulations, that protection doesn’t apply to flights departing in less than seven days.
That means anyone booking a last-minute vacation, emergency, business meeting, or medical appointment is immediately locked in once they click purchase. This applies to all airlines.
Now, combine that with Alaska’s handling of Hawaiian-operated flights on its website. The booking page doesn’t show a seat map before purchase, and once you’ve paid, you may discover your family is scattered across the plane or that you’re stuck in middle seats with no refund option.
For travelers with mobility issues, small children, or urgent itineraries, that’s not a minor frustration. It’s a genuine consumer protection gap under the Alaska-Hawaiian merger with little or no oversight.
The workaround problem.
There is a workaround: booking directly through HawaiianAirlines.com still lets travelers see seat maps before paying. But for anyone holding Alaska wallet credits, or thinking that since this is now all-Alaska with the two companies operating under a single operating certificate, that path hits a wall immediately.
That solution, however, has its own drawbacks. If you have Alaska wallet credits, like we did, you can’t use them on Hawaiian’s site. I had over $1,000 in Alaska wallet credits, money from previous canceled flights that we wanted to use on Hawaiian flights. That forced us back to AlaskaAir.com, where the seat map remains hidden until payment.
Travelers using Alaska wallet credits should note that those funds can’t be seen or used on Hawaiian’s platform, forcing them into the very booking system that hides seat assignments.
We asked about how credits work if you change or cancel a Hawaiian flight booked through Alaska. For now, nothing has changed. Until April 2026, any credit from a Hawaiian-operated flight still goes back to Hawaiian, not to your Alaska wallet.
That means the two credit systems remain separate. Hawaiian credits must still be used all at once toward a single new booking. At the same time, Alaska’s wallet system lets you draw down the balance over multiple transactions within a year of the original ticket date.
Even when trying to sidestep Alaska’s booking system, the confusion continues. When we attempted to book another flight through Google Flights, the Hawaiian Airlines form still defaulted to “Atmos Rewards” instead of HawaiianMiles. That shift happened automatically, with no option to enter an old HawaiianMiles number. The changeover, intended to unify loyalty systems, now leaves travelers wondering which account to use.
It’s an integration gap affecting thousands of Hawaii-based travelers who rely on wallet credits from canceled or changed flights.
BOH Tip: what we’d do next time.
If you’re booking Hawaiian flights through Alaska Airlines, open a second browser window at the same time and check HawaiianAirlines.com directly. You’ll be able to view the seat map before paying, which not only prevents surprises after checkout but also helps you avoid having to cancel when you discover that the only seats left are two middles you do not want.
Now that we understand how the two systems work, we’d actually rather book Hawaiian flights on the Alaska website. Here’s why:
If you cancel or miss your trip, that credit automatically returns to your Alaska wallet, which is simple, functional, and easy to reuse. Over the years, we’ve lost hundreds, maybe thousands, through Hawaiian’s more complicated refund process. Alaska’s wallet system finally fixes that part of the experience.
The bigger picture: a merger moving too fast.
This booking issue isn’t isolated. It’s part of a larger pattern we’ve been tracking since Alaska’s purchase of Hawaiian Airlines was announced. Pilots have warned of rushed integration, citing rapid shifts in routes, schedules, and aircraft assignments. One 30-year Hawaiian pilot told us, “Routes, schedules, flight procedures, seniority, domiciles, aircraft, and seat assignments are about to change. This process is going faster than any previous airline acquisition in history.”
Three major system outages have already occurred during the transition. If Alaska still can’t display Hawaiian seat maps before purchase, it raises real questions about whether its infrastructure can handle the far more complex work still ahead.
There’s also a business logic to this dysfunction. When passengers can’t see seats before paying, they’re more likely to pay extra for peace of mind. Alaska charges up to $29 for seat selection on many flights, but without seeing the seat map, that fee starts looking like insurance rather than choice.
Even without this issue, the pricing stands out. That $234 fare for a 40-minute flight between islands is approaching what we once called “$300 to say howdy.”
By hiding the seat map until after payment, Alaska pressures travelers into paying more out of fear of ending up in undesirable seats. Combined with the lack of refund rights within seven days, it starts to feel less like marketing and more like entrapment.
Here are good questions for Alaska Airlines:
- Why can’t your booking system display Hawaiian Airlines’ seat maps before payment?
- Are you aware that this creates consumer protection issues for bookings within seven days of departure?
- What is the timeline for full system integration?
- Should passengers use HawaiianAirlines.com or AlaskaAir.com for Hawaiian flights?
- Will Alaska wallet credits eventually work on Hawaiian’s platform?
- How many complaints have you received about this issue since the merger? Is this a known bug or working as designed?
Until Alaska addresses these questions publicly, passengers will continue to face unnecessary stress and financial uncertainty. We’ll update this article if Alaska responds.
How has your experience been booking Hawaiian flights since Alaska took over?
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The check in process is unacceptable if you have both an Alaska and Hawaiian air flight on the same ticket. 2 different confirmation #’s that do not speak to each others airlines. You’ll need to go to the ticket counter. So getting your boarding pass online is not smooth nor easy. The seating issue needs attention ASAP. I know its merger/ growing pains. Flying is hard enough though. Mahalo from Hawaii Island.
Trying to book an interisland flight from Lihue to Kauai took more than 3 hrs. Not being able to see seats before you pay is absurd. I feel demoted from Pualani Gold to Atmos Silver. Seriously frustrating with the merger and there’s no “Hold” capability. Extremely disappointing to fly as websites and new changes makes traveling and seat assignments a huge headache to even book a ticket. I hope Alaska is committed to keeping Hawaiian Airlines employees and pilots happy! They are the reason I fly Hawaiian Airlines.
I have been trying to book a trip on Hawaiian/Alaska and am running into this issue on both websites. No matter which one I use, it tells me that I can’t see the seat map until after I purchase my ticket. It is so frustrating!
Several months ago I was making a round trip reservation Kaua’i- San Diego. Looking at both, HA and AS I learned that AS does not show a seat map until After the ticket was purchased! Apparently, that’s long been their practice. I bought the HA ticket. If AS doesn’t change that, they’ll lose flyers to other airlines.
In have flown Alaska for 20 years, Hawaiian about 15. Alaska has always shown the seat map and allowed seat selection before final purchase. I have encountered the problem of not seeing the seat map on Hawaiian when booking through the Alaska site, but it goes both ways. If I book through the Hawaiian site, they don’t show the seat map on the connecting Alaska flight either. Certainly this is to support the plan to allow Hawaiian to remain it’s own brand.
Observing all the problems/challenges the Hawaiian/Alaska integration has caused customers who really want to see it all settle down and the wide spectrum of responses from the support side of the equation, unfortunately reminds me of comedian Lily Tomlin’s ATT Operator character:
“We don’t have to care, we’re the phone company!”
It seems so frustrating to say: “Here’s my money, I want to fly with you” …and then have to struggle upstream to do just that. The airline seems to survive in spite of itself.
From your article about no seat map, I’ve been on the “Hawaiian air” website and it does Not allow you to see the seat map either before purchase of Hawaiian air tickets. Very disappointing of Hawaiian.
Same. I can’t see seat maps on Hawaiian either. Seems like they want to hide how many empty seats they have on their new international route. Alaska Airlines has changed itself, and seem to be going out of their way lately to become as customer-unfriendly as possible in many, many different ways.
Flights after mid April you can see a seat map on Hawaiian flights.
Clearly this is something about the merging of the reservation systems that ia worked out in time.
Does seem a little long to not see seats. Odd. But it works itself out.
I fly to the mainland often and always on HA. This has been frustrating and it’s not isolated to when trying to use a credit or booking through Alaska’s site. You purchase the option to select your seat and then you’re printed to purchase first and nothing. Transparency is just not there. They need to do better!
*prompted
I hate Alaska airlines (for reasons other than my username) but I believe this is a temporary problem until the booking systems merge, which should be around April 2026.
Alaska uses Sabre while Hawaiian still uses Amadeus. They reached single operating certificate but won’t have the booking systems merged until later.
Wow, We are not flying either one anytime soon. Maybe 2027 ? What is the best airline from LAX to any Hawaiian island. Probably go to Costa Rica or Bahamas next year.
Our experience with the merger actually has been pretty awful. We fly to Oahu every twelve weeks. We have been forced from our flight on Hawaiian Airlines onto an Alaska Airlines with our seat assignments being taken away. We didn’t ask for the change it just happened. When I called customer service they could have cared less. I was told to cancel the flight and rebook it if I didn’t like it. And of course the prices are higher now. I was pretty sure we had paid for extra comfort through Hawaiian as we fo most of the time and that disappeared. It took three phone calls to finally get a seat assignment for my husband and I together. We only got it because of our Pualani status. It feels like total thievery and lies. And this hasn’t been our only issue. Absolutely no Aloha Spirit. And they are now wearing plain boring Alaska Airlines outfits at check in, no flowers, nothing. Two separate brands…. Yah right! You just ruined why people HA!
You can’t display any codeshare partners in Alaska’s current web architecture (and you can’t with most other airlines). This is normal in the airline distribution world.
Alaska Sabre *can* pull up other airline seatmaps, but the website isn’t relying on Sabre anymore; it just sends the data once the reservation is complete.
I mentioned this switching back and forth a few weeks back, but hasn’t anyone noticed that Alaska is charging more for the same seat than Hawaiian? I had to book through AL to use a discount and had the HA seat map on my screen when I wanted to look what seats were open. I was so frustrated and went on Chat for 3 hours with 3 different agents. I would have preferred to book on HA but had no choice if I wanted to use my discount. Three hours later, I finally got an answer that, yes AL charges more than Hawaiian for a seat. Instead of $179 the cost was $244 for the seat that I wanted. I commented that how come I can’t get the price on my screen and was told that HA can only charge what fare is on their screen even if I said that I was looking at it on my screen at the time because prices change constantly. This price difference to me is much worse than the swapping back and forth.
How about how there are different seats available when you’re paying with miles versus not paying with miles. It’s Really F’d Up!!!! That’s been happening long before the merger 🙄
Looks like they’re integration went very poorly and they have had outages now they have Accenture coming in to audit their it systems to see where the failures are. All of us got an email apologizing for these shortcomings. I usually go to Hawaiian Airlines and see what seats are available and then I can go to Alaska and actually book the flight and then come over and pick the seats I want. I hope that all this gets integrated and we wouldn’t have to use Hawaiian Airlines website anymore since the perks of being a gold or silver member is lost when you book on Hawaiian Airlines since the nickel and dime you and you cannot get the extra legroom seats until the day of check-in if there are any. On alaska airline flights I can usually pick the plus seats about 48 hours before the flight.
I had the same problem when I booked our flight PDX-LIH for last month. I also had a second window open so I could see the seats on Hawaiian. The flights were mixed. Portland to Oakland on Alaska, then home all on Hawaiian. I had the second window open and did a lot of toggling I made it even more complicated by using Hawaiian miles on the way home to get the extra middle seat. Luckily there was no problem at check in since we could do the extra seat on line with a separate confirmation number and got printed passes for everything.
It’s time to accept Hawaiian Airlines is gone. All it is, is Alaska wearing a skin suit. No reason to go out of my way to fly them anymore.
We flew on Hawaiian to Kona and back to Honolulu first class, couldn’t check in online for the flight back so went to the desk, the lady checked our flight and ran off with my DL to talk to somebody. We waited a while before asking the other Hawaiian employee to look up our flight with my gf’s DL, she said we missed checkin by a few minutes so we can’t board. Checkin cuts off 30 min before boarding. Once the other lady came back with my DL we were put on standby economy for the next flight, lost $500. They intentionally made us miss checkin. I’ll swim before flying Hawaiian/Alaska again.
So I just went through the process and it was not very pleasant nor up to the Hawaiian Airlines standard.
I wonder what happens if you pay for a flight and then can’t get the seat that you want. More scam action from Alaska Airlines they just want your money and they don’t care about you.
I’m a Hawaiian airlines credit card holder. Am I now going to be forced to pay for an Alaska card I
don’t want (again)?
If so, how do I decline the Alaska card and it’s annual charge?
No, you won’t. And if so, you close the account just like any other credit card out there. I hope this news puts your mind at ease.
I just booked my trip to Maui using the Hawaiian website. Had no problems getting my seat choices.
I see massive lawsuits against Alaskan airlines coming.
My sister and I are senior citizens and my sister is disabled, she cant bend her legs much at all. We **will*** seat together and in a disabled/room seat and I will be next to her to help her wether they like it or not or I will file a massive lawsuit that the airline is discriminating against two groups, elders and disability. That’s what familes should do as well, threaten and follow thru with lawsuites.
Yes, I described this huge problem last week, and worse you get two different confirmation numbers one for your Atmos Alaska ticket and one on Hawaiian for your seats…. worse if you’re flying into enter island and use Huaka’i benefits for checking a free bag, each traveler must have their own number and own reservation it’s completely insane that means a family traveling together we’ll have to have individual tickets and individual seat selections which may or may not be anywhere near each other I bet that’s fun with kids!
We’re just completed a third flight to get to Wisconsin to visit a family member in Alaska had to deal with our luggage Hilo so that we received our three checked bags free one under Huaka’i and two under the Hawaiian Mastercard benefit. Painful.
Ya you have to be smarter then them , I’ll look at Alaska flights then look at the same flights on American or Hawaiian look at there seat maps and see if the seats I want are there . Pain in A but works . Just my opinion
To everyone who has experienced the “not being able to book a seat until after payment is made” situation, Please advise Alaska of your dissatisfaction. If everyone inundates Alaska with their complaints, maybe they’ll listen and fix the problem. If no one complains, they won’t do anything to remedy the situation.
Great idea I’m wondering if anybody has the website for registering these complaints. I think it’s a total scam.
The website is: alaskalistens.com
Lol. That’s a black hole. Alaska doesn’t listen.
it won’t happen since the bean counters at Hawaiian made the devastating move to Amadeus. Alaska is on Sabre, the system Hawaiian Was once on.
Its just not possible.
It must have something to do with the two systems. I’ve been a regular Alaska flyer for decades and I’ve never encountered the issue of not being able to pull up the seat map Before I book. I always do it before I book so I can make sure the type of seats I want are available. It’s always been easy to do. We don’t know which airline is at fault for this.
I encountered this problem last week. I had to buy the ticket, then go back into my acct and select/upgrade my seat. If that didn’t work, it was a call to Hawaiian Air Customer Service. What a pain in the ‘okole. However, on Saturday November 1st, I booked a flight from HNL to OGG and was able to select my seat prior to payment! Imagine that. Yet I continue to have issues when it’s time to ‘select’ the passenger (myself). I have to manually enter my information (name, birthdate, Pre-TSA, Atmos # etc) though I am logged into my Atmos account while booking. I do go back and check my Atmos acct to ensure my flight is there, which it is. I hope Alaska figures this out. Thankfully, I don’t use Alaska for flights beyond Hawai’i.
Fortunately I booked my next flight on Hawaiian Air departing LAX a few months ago and was able to pick our seats. Fast forward to this week and wanted to book my daughter on our same flight….cant pick seat until after payment. I complained to Hawaiian air through their chat messaging. They said to call reservations directly. Think I’ll start flying Drlta after 20 years with HA…Alaska is a mess
I booked a trip on Oct 31 for departure on Nov 2 SEA to HNL non stop, first class and found the same issue. I ended up booking through Hawaiian in order to pick our seats. Unfortunately we ended up with a 10 hour delay and instead of arriving at 8:00 pm we got in at 5:00 am the next day. We were offered vouchers 2 hours after the delay, but the Hawaiian agents couldn’t access them in the Alaska system so we ended up paying for a hotel and food. We got our vouchers at 9:00 pm that night and the expired in 3 hours so we used then at one of the little stores. Everyone was all ready to board at 11:15 pm after 8 hours of waiting, and another snafu now we had to wait for a flight attendant to come in. Another 1 1/2 hours of waiting and we finally board and get going. We arrived in Honolulu, yay! Now we have to wait 45 minutes for our luggage because of limited ground crews that early. I feel Hawaiian service has gone downhill since the merger. Alaska has always been subpar.
Perhaps many of you got the letter from Alaska’s CEO apologizing for the mess Alaska has created. That was followed by a letter offering $25 to change our flight to several days earlier. $25!!!! Do they not comprehend the cost of several days’ lodging cost or do they just not care. Alaska has trampled over Hawaiian in their arrogance, destroying the Spirit of Aloha that characterized Hawaiian Airlines. Now that arrogance is applied to its customers.
I thought it was just me. In my case I had to change a flight booked on Hawaiian but could only change on Alaska’s site. Even just going a change I was not allowed to see available seats until after I paid the gate difference. Another challenge was since we had separate reservations in order to use our quarterly discount, I was not able to figure out whether there were even two seats available so that I didn’t book my flight and find out my husband couldn’t get a seat. I ended up doing a chat to find out how many seats were showing so I didn’t run into another issue. I hate the separate reservation rule. It creates more problems.
I’ll give Alaska some credit. Their wallet refund system is actually a huge improvement over Hawaiian’s crazy credits that had to be used all at once. I’ve lost hundreds to those in the past. At least with Alaska I can keep track of what’s mine. Let’s hope this charade ends soon.
I booked around trip to Kona flight on the Hawaiian website. When it came time to pick seats, I got a “seat selection unavailable on flights operated by other airlines.” Entered the confirmation code at Alaska,got a second confirmation code and link that went back to Hawaiian and got the same message. The circle of doom. Finally talked to a rep who assigned us 2 seats. Yesterday,five days later, I was finally able to check (and change) our seats.
A complete f up.
The tip about opening Hawaiian’s website in another window is useful. I never thought to do that. It’s ridiculous that customers have to outsmart the system just to be sure to be able to sit next to their own spouse.
What you are describing as Alaska “hiding” seat selection on Hawaiian flights is simply the fact integration is not far enough along yet for Alaska to display seating availability on any airline other than Alaska on the Alaska website because they don’t have the information. You can book flights for dollars or points on a number of other airlines on the Alaska website. The website gives you seating information easily for Alaska flights. It doesn’t give you seating information on any other airline because it isn’t in the system. I am sure they are working on getting this information into the system, at least for Hawaiian. How much farther into the integration process will this happen is not yet apparent. Don
I actually much prefer booking on Alaska because of way the wallet thing works. At least if plans change, the money isn’t lost forever like seemed to be the case with trying to keep track of Hawaiian credits.
This happened to us flying from Hilo to Honolulu in September. I checked twice before buying to get seats together, which I could not see, so I called. The agent told me you’ll see them after you pay. I said, that’s a problem!
My Hawaiian Airlines booked Feb 2026 trip was changed to a smaller aircraft from PDX to HNL with a layover to my flight to Cook Islands same day. It also added a separate Alaska confirmation number for the same trip. Now I have to go to both confirmation numbers back and forth for the same itinerary. Another glitch for the merger.
its not a glitch. Its because the bean counters at Hawaiian Airlines dumped Sabre and went with Amadeus, a completely Different system.
If you go and book Delta with Aeromexico, guess what – you will have a different confirmation number for Aeromexico. Or United with Air Canada – each airline will have a different confirmation number. Or Hawaiian with JetBlue. You probably just didn’t notice it or Hawaiian never displayed it like Alaska does.
I’m starting to think merging airlines is like the merging of families after a messy divorce. Everyone says it’ll be fine, but nobody knows where they’re sleeping yet. I thought this deal was nearly done, and then I see it isn’t even close.
Just went through this exact mess last week. Tried to pick seats for my daughter and me, and poof, no map, no clue. I thought it was just me! Glad someone finally explained what’s going on. How long is this going to go on for exactly?
Where to start… I booked two separate trips for January 2025, one using a companion discount and another using miles. I did have to open a separate browser to see available seats as Alaska did not have it available until payment as you mentioned. Further, you have to pay for your flight through Alaska (since I was using points and the companion fare), but if you purchase seat upgrades, that went through Hawaiian still. So you make two separate payments. Then it got tricky, I had to switch my travel days to May. Had to call Alaska to switch the flight dates, but then had to also call Hawaiian to get the seat fee credit because those didn’t transfer with the cost of the flight. But the May flight seat assignments this time went through Alaska Airlines. I have checked back on the app several times to make sure the flights and seats still show as booked, because it is quite a crazy system right now. Alaska staff seemed to know more about what was going on vs. Hawaiian staff.