Originally Posted by
pashber
There's a lot of stuff that's been written on Hawaiian's arbitrary and capricious baggage fee charges, but I haven't see this one specifically. DH and I flew out 12/14 on HA 327 from KOA to HNL using a United FF award (5K vs. 10K miles per ticket with HA). On United's confirmation itinerary, there is a paragraph on applicable baggage fees. Here it is:
Baggage allowance and charges for this itinerary.
Baggage fees are per traveler
In compliance with U.S. Department of Transportation regulations, checked baggage policies for your entire itinerary are determined by Hawaiian Airlines. Visit united.com/baggage for more information.
Origin and destination for checked baggage 1st bag 2nd bag Max wt / dim per piece
12/14/2013 Kona, HI (KOA) to Honolulu, HI (HNL) 17.00 USD 17.00 USD 50.0lbs (23.0kg) - 62.0in (158.0cm)
However, we were charged $25 for checking in one bag. When I pointed to the $17 language, the agent told us that only tickets issued by HA would get the $17 charge; tickets booked by any other airline (meaning United specifically) would get charged $25.
I also filed a complaint with their customer service online, and was told that the $25 fee was correct because United's fee applied (because they were the marketing carrier) and that their fee was $25, so that's what we were charged.
Something doesn't square right. The point is, my ticket states that the charge would be $17, and that is what I should have been charged. Was it HA, or United, that violated the DOT rule on baggage charges?
There are only 2 scenarios under which you should have been charged $25 instead of $17:
1 - This was a round-trip award (you only mention KOA-HNL, so seems unlikely) and the outbound was on United, so their baggage rules/fees apply and if you're not a Premier member, you would be liable for $25/bag
2 - KOA-HNL was booked as an United codeshare. According to united.com:
UA 7789-7878 are operated by Hawaiian Airlines
So, as United being the marketing carrier, their baggage rules would apply and absent Premier status, it would be $25 per bag instead of $17.
However, Hawaiian is wrong due to the fact that codeshares are not allowed to be booked as an award (they probably overlooked that and simply saw it was an United ticket) and since you booked an award ticket, your itinerary would have shown HA flight number and not UA. Thus, I would point that out to them and if they are unwilling to resolve it for you, file a DOT complaint. They should be more responsive that way.
I booked a HA award using AA miles earlier this year and once again, it was a HA flight on another carrier's ticket and they did charge me a baggage fee but upon consulting my credit card, they indeed charged me the correct amount of $17 and not $25. So, United quoted you correctly that the checked bag charge is $17 per bag for the first 2 bags.
You can send a message to United as well saying something like:
I booked an award using my United MileagePlus miles on Hawaiian and was quoted that the baggage fees will be $17 per bag for the first 2 bags, however, when I arrived at KOA, the HA agent charged me $25 per bag stating that it was an United ticket and not Hawaiian and thus, United baggage rules apply, I. e. $25 for 1 checked bag. I would like to request a refund for the overpayment as I was misled to believe it would only cost me $17 to check a bag and I was charged $25 instead.
See what happens when United responds - they may refer you back to HA. Either way, by contacting HA again or UA or the DOT, one of them will be able to resolve this for you. Be persistent and it will all work out. Good Luck and happy holidays!