Hawaiian Air/Orbitz Madness
 

After searching extensively for the itinerary with the fewest and shortest layovers, I booked my partner a flight on Hawaiian Air through Orbitz to go from Kauai (LIH) to Nashville (BNA).

A few days ago I received an email notifying me of a change in my itinerary. They have added FIVE HOURS to my schedule. I would have to wake up at 3:30AM to make the long drive to the airport in order to make the new 6:29AM flight. (The original flight left 11:15AM.)

I spent THREE aggravating hours on the phone with Orbitz and Hawaiian Air (four separate calls). Hawaiian Air says that since Orbitz approved the change to the itinerary—any additional changes would incur a fee—plus the new, higher price difference. Orbitz says they never “approved” the change; they were simply notified of it, and forwarded the info to me. I received sympathy, but was told that they are bound by Hawaiian Airlines’ rules.

There are no equivalent (or even close) options on Hawaiian Air. But, an almost identical itinerary to the one I booked is available at a lower price flying Alaska Air/American. I feel I deserve a full refund so I can book an itinerary equivalent to the one I reserved. After all, I didn’t request to make this change. How can they arbitrarily make such a drastic change—and then say I’m stuck with it?

The best Hawaiian Air will offer is a credit that can only be used by the person to whom the original ticket was issued—within one year. My partner will not be doing another trip to Hawaii in the next year—and HA doesn’t offer any flights originating in Nashville.

I’m simply incredulous that they can get away with this. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Sorry, but my suggestion is never to book with Orbitz. If you browse this board you'll find lots of similar stories. If you book directly with the airlines you have more leverage.

My name is Kristi, and I am part of the Orbitz Customer Relations Team. We want to learn more about your experience so that we can address the issue. Please email us at [email protected] and enter my name in the subject line, so that I can investigate further. Please include your Oribtz record locator in your correspondence.
Thank you for your patience, and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

Kristi

Thanks, Kristi. I've sent an email.

To others following this thread ... I'll keep you posted as to the outcome.

<<If you book directly with the airlines you have more leverage.>>
Which of course is nonsense. Hawaiian are not going to do anything different because the flight was booked direct, in fact they already offered a credit. In any case, Hawaiian don't fly from BNA so there probably wasn't a choice but to book thru an online agency as there would be multiple airlines in the itinerary.

Quite frankly, it's hardly the end of the world to wake up at 3.30am and drive to an airport & the incredulous part is thinking that you have more rights than you actually have. Many of us have to do this on business trips or stay the night before in a hotel. Schedule changes are always going to happen and it certainly would not have been made "arbitrarily" by the airline. Read their contract of carriage.

<<If you book directly with the airlines you have more leverage.>>
Which of course is nonsense.

Well, I'm far from an expert on airlines and flying (thank God). But it was/is my understanding that you buy a ticket from Orbitz and that's it. No changes no refunds. True or not? While with an airline booking they/some will allow changes for a fee, true?

regards - tom
ps - my last flight to Africa on BA I complained to my safari camp dinner companions how much I hated dealing with airlines and all of the associated nonsense. The lady said - "Yes, but I guess flying is just a necessary evil". To which I replied - "Evil yes, but for me not necessary". No more for me, only for family emergencies.

regards - tom

The rules depend on the fare purchased, not how/where you booked. Most fares are purchased instantly and are generally non changeable or refundable, no matter whether they are purchased on Orbitz etc or directly with an airline website. Some fares allow a change for a fee but they are generally higher fares in the first place.

<Hawaiian don't fly from BNA so there probably wasn't a choice but to book thru an online agency as there would be multiple airlines in the itinerary.>

Correct. That's why I did not book directly thru HA.

Odin -- No. It's not the end of the world to wake at 3:30AM -- and if I had chosen to do that -- and had chosen an additional five hour layover -- I could have saved hundreds of dollars over the fare I purchased. By your reasoning, there's no limit to what an airline can change. What if they added a 12 hour layover? Or changed a non-stop 3-hour itinerary to 16 hours with three layovers? Sorry, to me that's not acceptable.

And FYI, when I faced this identical situation with a flight I booked directly through American, they were happy to offer a refund when they were unable to offer an acceptable flight.

<<If you book directly with the airlines you have more leverage.>>
Which of course is nonsense.

Not nonsense at all. Airline schedules change all the time. If the change is significant, you can get rescheduled (no change fee)or cancel for full refund. Not so with a reseller such as Orbitz. Each airlines contract of carriage rules spell out what they consider a significant change. Often it's either 60-90 minutes.

My experience is that booking directly with the airline does give me options one doesn't get with Orbitz. I've had times when I booked a flight, then the airline changed the schedule so I couldn't get to the meeting I was going to. The airline was glad to change my ticket so I could get to my meeting - no charge. I also had a time when a flight time change meant I couldn't make my connection. Again, the airline changed my flight for no charge. Sp I guess our experiences with airlines are different.

>Which of course is nonsense.
Which of course, is incorrect.

Every reservation is "owned" by the booking entity be it agency or airline. And just as agencies are not able to perform certain operations on an airline owned booking, airlines cannot do so to an agency's.

For routine operation this is fine. But when things start going squirrelly I personally want the airline to have that ownership control over the booking. They are often better able to make exceptional changes, grant waivers and favors, and even waive fees, all of which an agency cannot easily do.

As a great example, I live roughly equidistant from four major and one minor airports and can easily fly into one and return to another. When it's hitting the fan the airline can take command and alter flights to any of those airports but an agency is handcuffed by the airline rules. That's made the difference in getting home today or tomorrow.

NoFlyZone:
That makes perfect sense. I am learning a valuable (but frustrating) lesson! Still have not heard back from Orbitz.

After reading some other posts I was not hopeful. But Orbitz has gotten HA to issue a full refund. I'm very grateful. I've just learned the power of social media ;-).

Glad to hear it ended well, Songdoc!!

And thanks for that explanation, NFZ. That makes sense.....