ArcaMax

Q: I booked two first-class, round-trip tickets through the Hawaiian Airlines app for my wife, Linda, and me to travel from Honolulu to Haneda, Japan. I received written confirmations for both tickets almost immediately. Both were purchased, one after the other, using the same credit card. When we arrived at the airport in Honolulu, an agent told me that I had a ticket, but my wife's had been voided.

No one could tell us why. Her seat had already been sold to someone else. The agent told us that to get my wife on a later flight, I'd have to buy her a completely new ticket. The new ticket cost $575 more than the original I'd already paid for. I was assured at the airport that I could contact the customer relations department for a refund.

Hawaiian first insinuated that my credit card was declined. I've spoken at length with my credit card issuer, and it's adamant that it didn't decline the charge for my wife's ticket. (Why would it decline one ticket and not the other when both were purchased on the same card at the same time?)

Then Hawaiian tried to deflect blame to a third-party booking channel, even though I booked directly on its app and had the confirmation to prove it. In another email, a representative admitted that our tickets were being treated as a direct booking from Hawaiian.

Since neither I nor Chase took any action to void my wife's ticket, the fault lies with Hawaiian. The airline shouldn't be able to take advantage of its own mistake, hold me hostage in Honolulu, and force me to pay an additional $575. I only want reimbursement for the extra amount I was required to pay. Can you help? -- James Phillips, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

A: Hawaiian should've honored your wife's confirmed ticket. Full stop. When an airline's system experiences a ticketing error -- which this obviously was -- it should have two immediate priorities: First, alert the passenger. Second, fix the problem at no cost to the customer.

What an airline shouldn't do is void a confirmed reservation without notice, sell the seat to someone else, then charge you a premium to get her on another flight. The airline's response to you was even worse. Blaming a nonexistent "third party" or, even more absurdly, your credit card was a classic runaround.

You did exactly what I always recommend: You kept a meticulous paper trail. Your documentation was flawless. When a company gives you a nonsensical answer, you must continue to push for a logical one in writing -- which you did. When front-line customer service fails, the next step is to appeal to the executives. I publish the executive contacts for Hawaiian on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.

Based on the correspondence that you shared, it looked as if Hawaiian was doubling down on its mistake, so we took a two-pronged approach. My advocacy team and I decided to contact the airline on your behalf. We presented your clear documentation and asked for a review. You also filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation.

This worked. I heard back from a senior resolution coordinator at Hawaiian, who apologized and admitted that the previous agent's responses "didn't provide a fair resolution," adding that the agent was "coached regarding this case."

Hawaiian admitted that its system canceled Linda's ticket by mistake. It refunded the entire fare difference and issued a $250 travel voucher to both you and your wife. This is a textbook case of why you should never accept a company's first "no," especially when it defies logic.

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Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/.

(c) 2026 Christopher Elliott

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