Hawaii-based Airlines - Hawaiian Airlines- What's the last moment I can Cancel a Booking?-

Myself and my brother have paid for 2 First Class seats from HNL-LAS in September. My brother isn't going and the tickets are non-refundable. He wont be traveling in a year either so I will cancelling the ticket for him.

As it is paid for (i.e. the seat next to me) I am worried that if I cancel early HA might resell the seat to someone else, considering we have paid for it and are not getting a refund I would prefer this not happen.

When is the last moment I can cancel his ticket, ie when Checking in, 24 hours before hand, etc etc.

Thanks in advance.

Lastly the HA website states that for fliying to the US mainland you should be at the airport 2.5 hours before hand. Is this accurate or I don't need to be there that early for my flight.

I am not sure of the cancellation policy, but even if he just didn't show up and the ticket went unscanned, there is always the possibility that there will be a standby passenger sitting in that seat.

I can advise that I think 2.5 hours is a bit much. I'd say 1.5 hrs should be plenty sufficient.

Does your brother have an illness of some kind or catastrophic event that happened since you booked the tickets? If so, I would call/write to customer relations and plead nicely for a refund or a voucher that someone else could use within the next year. If your brother simply does not show up, HA may fill the seat with a standby or gate upgrade.

As for processing at the airport, I would arrive between 1.5 and 2.0 hours before departure. Security can easily take 30 minutes at HNL.

Thanks guys for the advice.

You could always call HA and ask them to change the name on the ticket into your name, essentially giving you two seats. (This is what they do for POS). There may be a fee involved, but then you'd be guaranteed to have the free seat. I agree with formeraa; tell customer relations the situation, they may be willing to work with you.