I’ve had it with Hawaiian Airlines. They’re Hawaiian in name and décor but they have the spirit of a Dick-Cheney-channelling waterboard technician working for a credit-card company. If your HA travel plans change, you could find yourself paying more in change fees that you paid for the original ticket.
I paid premium dollars ($751) in January 2009 for a March flight, a 60-day advance purchase. When my plans disintegrated, I called and cancelled my flight but left the ticket open. A couple of months later, after fares had dropped, I rebooked and was socked with two $150 change fees, one for each direction. My $751 ticket had become a $1,051 ticket. Today, that ticket prices out at $490.
The meal service on the Seattle-Honolulu segment was a bean burrito…yes, that’s right; I though serving them in a confined space was illegal. I was going to grouse about a $10 Chicken Caesar salad but, depending upon the quality, that price may not be unreasonable.
After spending all this money and booking months in advance, would you be surprised to learn that on my connecting flight I was seated in the second-to-last row, right next to the engine? Waterboarding or dentistry without anesthesia would have been less painful. This seat was assigned 30 days before the flight and I can’t believe it was the best available.
I just called to see if I could advance my return flights and a supervisor decline to waive another change fee, even after I pointed out the total I had already paid for my tickets. Hawaiian even charges a change fee if you want to stand by for an earlier same-day flight (I was booked on the noon flight and couldn’t stand by for the 10:55 AM departure). This non-valuer-add grab for your wallet is admirable in its gall.
Is there a double standard? They can change their prices up and down after you’ve purchased your ticket but we can’t change our plans without a penalty.
They piously point to their tariffs as justification for change fees. Well, boys, here’s my tariff:
(1) I will play above-market prices for consistently better-than-average service.
(2) I will not demand freebies as a condition of my patronage.
(3) I will play market rates for commodity services (see the next tariff item).
(4) I will be loyal to my preferred vendors, even if they’re slightly more expensive.
(5) My vendors will treat all their customers fairly.
(6) My vendors will provide good value for their products and services.
(7) My vendors will keep each customer satisfied.
The airlines wonder why we hate them. Yes, business is tough, but driving your passengers into the seats of other carriers is just plain dumb. And as to Hawaiian’s boast about being #1 in on-time service, well, let’s say they’re the best of a bad lot, their ranking is a serendipitous combination of geography and meteorology, and good management has nothing to do with their ranking.
I’m going to complain…a lot. I’m going to complain to the managers of Hawaiian Airlines; Federal, state, and local governance agencies; other businesses; and my Microsoft colleagues. I think it will cost HA a lot more than $150 to deal with this issue. And this situation really sours me on Hawai’i as a vacation destination.
Ann, Laura, and Monica have competition: Sarah
Posted by Reeve on July 5, 2009
Sarah Palin’s resignation is likely a reaction to the incessant investigations of her conduct as Governor of Alaska, a conservative Republican, and a holier-than-all-thou parent. However, this move proves her to be a quitter and an opportunist; I’m sure she’ll end up on Fox News, giving speeches, and making plenty of bucks like the felonious drug-abusing whore-mongering Rush Limbaugh and the congenitally-unable-to-speak-the-truth loudmouth bully Bill O’Reilly.
Who knows what hand the First Dude had in this? It sounds like he needs a new snow machine and Mama controls the checkbook.
It will be interesting to see how Ann Coulter (watch for her on Family Guy’s “FOX-y Lady” episode), Laura Ingraham, and Monica Crowley, the right wing’s resident harpies, will respond to a competitor. I smell a cat fight! On, wait-like I would care.
My early prediction for Obama’s running mate in 2012: Rahm Emanuel.
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