We tried booking a simple interisland Hawaiian flight using Alaska Airlines credits and discovered the seat map was hidden until payment. Here’s what happened and the workaround that helps.
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61 thoughts on “Hawaiian Flights On Alaska Hide Seat Maps Until After Payment”
Yes, the lack of seat preview sucks. So did this:
1) Niece booked *same seat* on H/A codeshare flight using Alaska miles (Sac to Maui) *months ago*. Outbound 11/1 and return 11/7. Outbound seat confirmed at no cost but return flight seat missing. When she noticed and called they informed her she would have to pay $65 to have the same exact seat home. Wait, what?
2) I was ticketed Hawaiian Kona to Maui 11/1 to meet niece. Comfort seat on confirm showing exact seat #. But when I tried to check in online, system would not allow. At airport, agent said system indicates unpaid seat upgrade fee. Wait, what? I pointed out system would not issue a reservation confirm with a Comfort seat number without having been paid. Luckily I carry receipts (vs just confirms) and could prove paid. Not so most travelers… don’t leave anything to chance with this merger. Carry *all* documentation. April can’t come fast enough.
As a 25 Year Hawaiian Airlines customer the seat selection issue described in this article is a huge frustration. I am actually unable to see the seat selections available before purchase even on the Hawaiian web site as of today Nov 7th 2025. (This has never been the case in the past) Interestingly, the seat map IS available before purchase if you look at the flights on Travelocity. This may be a temporary workaround for the next few days until Alaska stops it. If I am unable to see the seat map before purchase this will force me to another carrier. I have a right to know what product I am purchasing before I purchase it. I bet this is illegal under the fair-trade acts.
That happened to me on a trip from Honolulu to Reno and back. Tried both airlines and always no seat selection on one. I ended up booking 2 separate round trips: Honolulu to Portland and Portland to Reno. No checked baggage so that wasn’t a problem, but the ground crew in HNL at HAL took so long to load the luggage, then unload some luggage, then reload the same luggage, that we took off late and missed our connection in Portland. Coming home we waited 20 minutes in Portland for a walker to be brought up. Serious ground crew issues.
In addition to the seat issue.. you can’t get the same Alaska benefits when you book Hawaiian on the Alaska website.. you can pick the extra legroom seats on Alaska flights if you are a silver or gold 48 hrs before your flight for free.. you can’t do that on Hawaiian. But Alaska has also been selling it’s remaining first class seats right until the flight leaves and not allocation to it’s gold or silver. The perks are not worth it anymore. It’s best to find whichever airline is the best value for that particular trip. Loyalty means nothing anymore.
Snafu, situation normal, all ___ up.
Traveling nowadays means you need to play ‘Let’s Make A Deal’.
Whether airfare, carfare, hotelfare, or miscfare. It changes to fish you in. Going to get worse too with AI.
The integration has been a terrible experience so far. Not well planned, not well executed, and certainly not what was promised to Hawaiʻi travelers.
I’m a frequent corporate traveler with a corporate account and dozens of Hawaiian Travel Bank credits that I now can’t access directly. I’ve been told they will “eventually” appear in my Alaska wallet, but in the meantime I have to call an 800 number every time I want to use the credits. It now takes me longer to book a ticket than the actual flight time. That’s ridiculous.
Hawaiian built years of goodwill with local residents through trust and loyalty. In just a few months, Alaska has burned through a lot of it. What was sold as a “value-add for Hawaiʻi” has so far been anything but. The process feels mainland-driven, out of touch, and extremely inconvenient for customers here.
I truly hope Alaska leadership is listening. Hawaiʻi travelers deserved a seamless transition, not a downgrade in service and respect.
If it makes you feel any better, they are destroying goodwill towards PNW, West Coast, and Alaska fliers too. Their mismanagement isn’t only directed towards Hawaii.