She thought she called Hawaiian Airlines. Then the $180 charge appeared.

Marcy Reginelli thought she did everything right.

She had her flight to New York confirmed. She had a ticket number. She had a seat assignment. All she wanted to do was call Hawaiian Airlines to request wheelchair assistance for her trip.

Then someone on the phone told her the flight wasn’t really hers.

According to a Hawaii News Now report published May 11, 2026, the person who answered claimed her ticket was actually “standby” and that she’d be turned away at the gate unless she paid $180 in additional fees right then.

Panicked, she paid. Moments later, her bank flagged the charge as fraud and canceled it.

Hawaiian Airlines, when contacted, said it had no record of the call and no record of the payment.

If you’re calling an airline this week, this story matters to you, not because your flight is in danger, but because the Alaska–Hawaiian merger transition has opened a window scammers are walking right through.

What this means for your Hawaii trip

Hawaiian Airlines’ reservation system officially folded into Alaska’s on April 22, 2026.

Since then, travelers have been navigating a confusing patchwork of confirmation emails, app logins, ticket-number formats, and customer-service phone trees.

That confusion is the opening.

Scammers know travelers are uncertain about which number, app, or website is the “real” one, and they’re impersonating airline agents to extract quick payments.

This is not a Hawaiian Airlines billing problem.

It’s a phone-impersonation problem built on top of merger chaos.

The distinction matters, because your actual flight, ticket, and seat are very likely fine.

Hawaiian Airlines reservation system officially ends.

Does this Hawaiian Airlines phone scam affect your flight right now?

Probably not your specific booking. Hawaiian Airlines told Hawaii News Now that it hasn’t received similar complaints, so this doesn’t appear to be a widespread pattern, yet.

But the risk environment is real.

Retired Honolulu deputy police chief John McCarthy told Hawaii News Now that scammers are actively watching the merger:

“They’re going to take advantage of the situation… if they can get just pieces of information, they’ll suck money or information out of you with no remorse whatsoever.”

The travelers most at risk are the ones doing exactly what Reginelli did: searching for an airline phone number online, often through ads or third-party sites, while trying to handle something time-sensitive like wheelchair assistance, a rebooking, or a refund.

Red flags that the call isn’t really the airline

• Pressure to pay extra fees right now or lose your seat
• A “standby” claim when your email confirmation clearly shows a seat
• Vague or shifting justification for the charges
• A phone number you found through a Google ad or random search result instead of the official site

How do you know if you’re actually talking to Hawaiian Airlines?

The shortest answer: type the URL yourself. Go directly to hawaiianairlines.com or alaskaair.com in your browser.

Don’t click an ad. Don’t trust the first phone number Google shows you. Get the number from the airline’s own contact page.

Even better, skip the phone entirely when you can.

The Alaska Airlines app now houses Hawaiian reservations and lets you view your booking, check seat assignments, request special services, and message support, all without dialing anyone.

How the Alaska and Hawaiian app transition works

A quick verification checklist before you pay anything

1. Log into your account on alaskaair.com in a separate browser tab.
2. Confirm your ticket number, seat, and flight match what the caller is telling you.
3. Check your original confirmation email: does it show “confirmed” or “standby”?
4. If anything doesn’t match, hang up and call back using the number from the official website.
5. Never read your full credit card number to an inbound caller, and never pay “release fees” to confirm an already-paid ticket.

What should you do if you think you’ve been scammed?

Move quickly, but not in panic.

Call the number on the back of your credit card to dispute the charge and request a new card, this is exactly what stopped Reginelli’s $180 from going through.

Then report the incident to Hawaiian Airlines through the official site, file a complaint at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and consider a local police report so the activity gets logged.

Save everything: screenshots of your booking confirmation, the suspicious charge, the call log, and any texts or emails connected to the call.

Those details matter if a pattern develops later.

Traveler tip: book your summer flights confidently, not nervously

The Alaska–Hawaiian merger is messy. The underlying flights are not.

Planes are taking off, seats are real, and most travelers will move through the transition without a problem.

The single best habit to carry into summer travel is simple: never pay over the phone unless you initiated the call from a verified number.

If a caller pressures you to settle a fee in the next sixty seconds, that’s the cue to hang up and verify on the website.

For travelers actively comparing summer airfare and routes, the broader market context is worth a look too.

Hawaii airfare summer 2026

Hawaii is open. Your flight is almost certainly fine. The only thing worth a second look right now is the phone number you’re about to dial.

FAQs

Is the Hawaiian Airlines phone scam widespread?

Not based on what’s been reported so far. Hawaiian Airlines told Hawaii News Now it has no record of the call described by Honolulu traveler Marcy Reginelli and has not received similar complaints. But retired Honolulu deputy police chief John McCarthy warned that scammers actively exploit big airline transitions like the Alaska–Hawaiian merger, so more attempts are possible through summer 2026.

What’s the safest way to contact Hawaiian Airlines right now?

Type hawaiianairlines.com or alaskaair.com directly into your browser and use the phone number listed on the official contact page. Don’t click ads, and don’t trust the first number that appears in a Google search. Even better, use the Alaska Airlines mobile app — it now houses Hawaiian reservations and lets you handle most requests without calling anyone.

How do I know if my Hawaiian Airlines flight is really confirmed?

Log into your account at alaskaair.com in your own browser and check the reservation directly. A real confirmation will show a ticket number, a seat assignment, and a “confirmed” status. If a caller tells you your flight is actually “standby” but your account and email say otherwise, trust the website — not the caller.

What should I do if I think I paid a scammer pretending to be Hawaiian Airlines?

Call the number on the back of your credit card right away to dispute the charge and request a new card. Then report the incident to Hawaiian Airlines through its official site, file a complaint at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and consider a local police report. Save screenshots of your booking, the charge, and any call logs in case a pattern develops.

Will the Alaska–Hawaiian merger keep causing booking confusion this summer?

Likely yes, in smaller ways. Hawaiian’s reservation system officially folded into Alaska’s on April 22, 2026, but ticket-number formats, app logins, and customer-service routing are still settling in. The flights themselves are operating normally — the friction is mostly in the systems around them, which is exactly where scammers try to slip in.