How Hawaiian change & cancellation actually works
The mechanics behind the fork above, fare by fare.
Premium Class and First Class are the most flexible, Main Cabin is Hawaiian's standard fare, and Main Cabin Basic and Saver style fares are the most restricted. Never assume before we've read your actual ticket.
Cancel within 24 hours of booking for a full refund to your original payment, on any fare including Saver, as long as travel is more than 24 hours away. It's the most valuable protection you have and it costs nothing to use.
Once that window closes, a Saver fare's flexibility falls off fast. Cancel it 14 or more days before departure and you get 50 percent of its value back as credit. Cancel inside 13 days and you get nothing back at all.
Where a change is allowed, you generally pay any difference in fare if the new flight costs more. We don't publish a flat change amount because it depends entirely on your route, fare and the flight you're moving to.
You're generally entitled to rebooking on the next available flight or a refund to your original payment, even on a fare that's otherwise nonrefundable. That protection comes from the disruption, not from your fare type.
Hawaiian tickets are generally not transferable to a different traveler. Minor corrections, a misspelled name for instance, can often be handled by phone, but don't plan on handing your ticket to someone else.
These rules are Hawaiian's own published fare terms, not ours, they vary by fare and Hawaiian can update them without much notice. We'll confirm your exact ticket's rules before doing anything.
Main Cabin Basic & Saver vs. Premium Class & First Class
Two very different sets of rules, depending on which side of this line your ticket falls.
Main Cabin Basic & Saver
Most restricted
- The most restricted fares Hawaiian sells
- Full 24-hour refund still applies, even on Saver
- Outside 24 hours, Saver returns only 50 percent as credit 14 or more days out, nothing inside 13 days
Premium Class & First Class
Most flexible
- The most flexible fares Hawaiian sells
- Where a change is allowed, you pay only the fare difference
- Main Cabin sits between the two tiers as Hawaiian's standard fare
Not sure which fare you booked? It's usually on your confirmation email, or tell us your confirmation number and we'll look it up.
The Saver value cliff, and why timing matters
The kind of detail that's easy to miss until you're the one losing money.
Saver style fares are Hawaiian's cheapest way to fly, and inside the first 24 hours after booking they're protected exactly like every other fare, cancel and get a full refund to your original payment, provided your travel is more than 24 hours away. What most people don't realize is how steep the drop is right after that window closes. Cancel a Saver fare 14 or more days before departure and you get back half its value, as a travel credit rather than cash. Wait until you're inside 13 days of departure and cancelling returns nothing at all, the money is gone. That's a sharper cliff than most travelers expect from what looks like a normal ticket at the time of booking. If Saver is what you booked and your plans are shifting, the date on the calendar matters as much as the decision itself, and it's worth calling before you assume you've lost the whole fare. Our refund policy page walks through how this plays out against a full Hawaiian refund request in more detail.
Have this ready before you call
Thirty seconds of prep gets it done on the first call.
- Confirmation code, the code on your confirmation email
- Passenger name exactly as it appears on the ticket
- When you booked, that's what decides whether the 24-hour rule still applies
- Fare type if you know it, Main Cabin Basic and Saver change what's directly possible
Booked Saver and your plans are changing? If you're still inside the first 24 hours, cancelling for a full refund and rebooking the fare you actually want is usually the cleanest move. Past that window, cancelling a Saver fare 14 or more days before departure still returns half its value as credit, but wait until you're inside 13 days and there's nothing left to recover. Call us before you assume either way.
Managing the rest of your trip yourself
Changing or cancelling is only part of it, most of a booking you can manage online, free.
With your confirmation code, hawaiianairlines.com or the Hawaiian app lets you handle most of this yourself at no cost: review your itinerary, update contact details and Atmos Rewards information, and check in for your flight. Arrange special requests, a pet or an unaccompanied minor, ahead of time rather than at the gate. When a self-service change fails, a payment won't go through, the site won't recognize your booking, a fare difference won't calculate right, that's the moment a call saves the trip.
Frequently asked
Can I cancel my Hawaiian flight within 24 hours for free?+
What happens if I cancel a Saver fare after 24 hours?+
Does Hawaiian charge a fee to change my flight?+
What if Hawaiian cancels or heavily delays my flight?+
Can I put someone else's name on my Hawaiian ticket?+
Do you charge to change or cancel it for me?+
Contact options
Reach Hawaiian directly, or let us handle it.
Contact Hawaiian Airlines directly
The airline's own official channels, free.
More Hawaiian Airlines help
Related guides.