I'm still fighting this one out..
The two o/w tix I booked from ICN-LAS for my gf and I (travel date Sept 11/12) have been moved to coach. No refund offered with this downgrade.
My original e-mail to the "Customer Advocate" saying that none of the original 3 options would work (I made other travel plans around these tix so the dates/routes were set) was returned by Mark Arimoto, HA's Assistant General Counsel basically saying I had no legal right to expect to travel on an "invalid ticket." So much for the customer advocate..
Of course, my requests to Mr. Arimoto as to why the ticket was "invalid" were ignored. I did offer to HA and Mr. Arimoto multiple times that I am willing to be somewhat flexible (e.g., fly in Y if I received a refund and/or travel vouchers), but they told me to "reconsider the three options, or their 4th "generous" offer to fly in Y (remember, the economy fare was $50-100 LESS per ticket for the same flights while this deal was still active!). I replied as such, and noted if I had wanted to fly Y I would have paid for the cheaper ticket. Their response "I should "receive some satisfaction in knowing the economy fare is normally twice the price I paid."
I am shocked. Also e-mailed Hoyt Zia, HA's General Counsel, asking him to please let me know why my ticket was invalid. I also noted to him that contract law is very established, and I would appreciate to see the relevant statutes or cases they are basing this claim on. His response: "
First, you continue to insist that we provide you with legal justification for our actions, and to be clear it’s simply not our policy to argue the law with customers. That is what the courts are for, and we instead have chosen to put our efforts into offering you alternatives to seeking legal redress.....to sum up, it’s our position that we are treating you fairly, honestly, and more generously than any other carrier has in this same situation. You will have seats on the KE flight in question; if you decline to accept them or the other alternatives we have offered, there is no more we will offer you."
On the HA website, it states:
Establishing and maintaining the trust and confidence of all stakeholders including employees, the Board of Directors, existing or potential stockholders, creditors, customers, suppliers, vendors, government agencies and the communities we serve is of paramount importance to the Company. The reputation of Hawaiian Airlines as a fair, reputable and honest organization can only be maintained if all of its employees, officers and directors adhere to high moral and ethical standards in conducting the Company’s business.
Seems laughable after this incident. While I had been holding out, I finally filed a claim with DOT. Anyone have other suggestions about what to do? Has filing the DOT claim helped anyone yet?