Lovevas

I have a reservation with Hawaiian Airlines for ~$2000, and now I have a schedule change, so I have to cancel the ticket. I called them, and realized that they DO NOT refund money back to my credit card, they only give me airlines credit, which expires in 1 year, and can ONLY book Hawaiian airlines tickets, plus they will also charge change fee in the future.

Check their flight map, they do not have any flight within US continental, and I don't think i have any plan to travel to Hawaii in the next 1-2 years.

How can I do now? Thanks!

747FC

Ouch. I feel your pain. Does your credit card have trip insurance?

Otherwise,you have a great incentive to schedule another trip to Hawaii.

Lovevas

I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred, not for sure if it has insurance to cover this.

I will file a complaint to BBB, because I am not based at Hawaii, and it's ridiculous to force customers keep credit from an airline that even not have flights within US continental.

747FC

Advise not wasting your time with BBB. No jurisdiction. You accepted HA's terms when you clicked "purchase." Check with Chase.

BTW, yours is a cautionary tale re the utility of trip insurance.

formeraa

Not so much about trip insurance, but more about CHOICE of carriers. Unless you purchase a refundable fare (usually much more expensive), you will never get your money back. If you are not from Hawaii, you must choose HA carefully. If you cancel, you must use the credit within a year (i.e. must schedule another trip to Hawaii). Otherwise, I suggest flying one of the other carriers (i.e. UA/AA/DL) who serve numerous places and you can use the credit anywhere.

Lovevas

The reason I am not satisfied is that, usually airlines either charge a cancellation fee and give the rest money back (UA/AA, etc.), or do not charge cancellation fee, but give credit (Southwest). Hawaiian Airlines only gives credit, PLUS charge a change fee (which is the same as cancellation fee, in my case, $600 for 2 tickets). Considering HA do not have any flights within US continental, it's horrible idea to force customers accept this.

I didn't realize HA is so horrible in this situation, when I was booking, I assume this airlines should do better than UA/AA, based on its reputation.

I also checked with Chase credit card agreement, trip insurance only can be claimed in certain situations, i.e. medical emergence. So does not apply here in voluntary cancel trips.

I will wait until there is involuntary flight change and ask them to cancel my ticket for free. There are still a long time before I fly.

Thanks guys for all the best suggestions.

tdowl5757

Often1

1. You have no complaint with HA. You chose to purchase a non-refundable rather than a refundable ticket. HA does not do anything different than most other carriers, including AA, DL and UA. More importantly, the terms and conditions are clearly stated in the fare rules and you agreed when you purchased them. If the lack of CONUS flights was an issue, using one of the carriers with such flights might have been a better option.

2. If the flight is cancelled or there is a significant change (likely 2+ hours) between now and your scheduled flight date, you will be able to obtain a full refund to your original form of payment.

3. If not, and as you note, the ticket is not covered by your travel insurance, you will have learned an expensive lesson unless you take a trip to someplace HA flies.

sggolf

Yes, if you are making the schedule change, credit less change fee only.

However, if they make the schedule change and there aren't suitable flights, you might be given the option to refund by the agent.

So if your flight is a long time out, keep checking for schedule changes, if the schedule change is great enough, that could be your ticket to refund.

However, once you accept schedule change, you are out of luck...until another schedule change comes along...

I did a similar thing on another airline with an award ticket...so little open award space to change to. I just wanted my miles back..so I waited for a schedule change that allowed the agent to refund my miles back with no fee.

Good luck!