Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive financial compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). However, the credit card information that we publish has been written and evaluated by experts who know these products inside out. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers that are on the market. See our advertising policy here where we list advertisers that we work with, and how we make money. You can also review our credit card rating methodology.
We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.
Hawaiian Airlines is the Aloha State’s largest carrier and the tenth-largest commercial airline in the U.S. Although it’s not in any major alliance, Hawaiian has codeshare agreements with a dozen airlines in various alliances and serves many destinations, including Asia and Oceania.
HawaiianMiles is the airline’s frequent flyer program. Though many flagship carriers now award redeemable miles based on the cost of a ticket, HawaiianMiles still lets flyers earn miles based on the distance of their flight.
This helps program members earn miles more quickly! For example, Los Angeles to Honolulu would earn 2,556 redeemable HawaiianMiles, and New York to Honolulu would earn 4,981 redeemable HawaiianMiles.
If you’ve collected enough points for an award flight — either through credit card spending, by flying the airline and its partners, or by shopping and dining with its partners — keep on reading for some of the best ways to use HawaiianMiles.
Amex points transfer to Hawaiian Airlines at a ratio of 1:1. Look out for sporadic transfer bonuses that can Amex offer to Hawaiian, too! The last major bonus offered a 25% bonus.
If you’re a business owner, see our list of the best Amex business credit cards.
The following cards also collect HawaiianMiles directly, but this is not our preferred method because the points are not transferable or flexible like Amex points are.
You can earn Marriott Bonvoy points and transfer those to Hawaiian at a transfer rate of 3:1. Plus, for every 60,000 Marriott points that you transfer, you’ll receive an extra 5,000 HawaiianMiles bonus.
As mentioned above, Hawaiian Airlines is not part of an alliance, but it does have several airline partners. These partners include:
Passengers who hold a Hawaiian Airlines World Elite card (or have HawaiianMiles elite status) are eligible for discounted flight awards.
The credit card typically offers a welcome bonus, but the annual fee of $89 is not waived in the first year.
If you’re already in Hawaii and want to take advantage of an opportunity to island-hop, one-way flights in coach are 7,500 to 20,000 miles.
Hawaiian Airlines also offers premium cabin awards for 15,000 to 30,000 miles.
Do you enjoy flying in style on short flights? Economy flights booked with cash can be upgraded to first class for 7,500 to 15,000 miles.
All award upgrades must be processed through reservations and ticketed at least 26 hours before departure.
Here are a few great example redemptions you can make:
Most travelers looking to fly to Hawaii on points are likely located in the continental U.S. and will benefit from this redemption opportunity.
First class awards are as low as 80,000 miles round-trip, with a maximum of 160,000 miles round-trip from the West Coast and 260,000 miles round-trip from the East Coast.
Here are a few great example redemptions you can make:
Hot Tip: The Amex Platinum card provide miles you can transfer to HawaiianMiles and also offers great travel benefits like lounge access and airline fee credits to help pay for bags and other services!
Hawaiian Airlines also connects the mainland with the land down under and presents some interesting redemption opportunities.
A round-trip flight from Hawaii to either Sydney or Auckland in first class ranges from 130,000 to 260,000 miles.
In comparison, you’ll need 180,000 Delta SkyMiles to book a flight from Honolulu to either Sydney or Auckland at the lowest redemption level.
We’ve found availability for a round-trip ticket from Honolulu to Auckland at the Saver level on United for 140,000 MileagePlus miles. American Airlines requires 150,000 AAdvantage miles.
Here are a few great example redemptions you can make:
Hawaii and Japan are 2 of the most intimately connected regions. In fact, the first known arrival of Japanese came in 1806, and the Japanese have since become the second largest ethnic group in Hawaii.
For this reason, Hawaiian Airlines, among other airlines, offers some of the most unique routes to/from Japan. And by booking these tickets on Hawaiian Airlines, you’ll get to experience its long-haul business class product on point-to-point routes.
For one-way flights between Hawaii and Japan on Hawaiian Airlines, you’ll pay as little as 35,000 miles in economy and 65,000 miles in business.
Here are some great example routes you can take:
The South Pacific region includes far-flung tropical destinations such as Pago Pago in American Samoa and Papeete in Tahiti.
Many travelers put Tahiti and its gorgeous islands high on their bucket list and using HawaiianMiles to get there isn’t a bad redemption if you depart from the Hawaiian Islands.
A round-trip flight from Hawaii to Papeete in first class is 95,000 to 190,000 miles round-trip.
Here are a few great example redemptions you can make:
Hawaiian has several partnerships with other airlines and offers a separate award chart for each of its partners. For example, Hawaiian uses a region-based award chart for flights booked on Japan Airlines, the second-largest airline in Japan after ANA.
You can book either one-way or round-trip flights on Japan Airlines, where round-trip is twice the cost of a one-way ticket.
Flying round-trip on Japan Airlines between North America and Japan will cost 90,000 HawaiianMiles in economy, 120,000 in premium economy, and 180,000 in business class.
Flying round-trip on Japan Airlines between Japan and Hawaii will cost 80,000 HawaiianMiles in economy, 100,000 in premium economy, and 150,000 miles in business class.
For shorter hops, travelers will spend 24,000 HawaiianMiles on a round-trip flight within Japan in economy and 30,000 miles for premium economy. One thing to remember that each flight is priced by sector, meaning this price is only valid for nonstop flights. If you want to book a connecting flight, it’ll double in price for adding that extra segment.
Hawaiian Airlines’ own redemption rate to Japan ranges from 80,000 to 280,000 HawaiianMiles round-trip.
Here are a few great example redemptions you can make:
Hot Tip: Looking to fly to Japan using points and miles? We’ve got you covered in our guide!
Just as with ANA, it is possible to redeem HawaiianMiles for flights operated by Korean Air (but not Korean Air’s other partners). This award chart is region-based. At the moment, you can only redeem flights for:
Passengers can book a round-trip flight within Korea for 15,000 HawaiianMiles in economy and 30,000 miles in business class. Flyers can also book a round-trip within Asia for 30,000 HawaiianMiles in economy and 60,000 miles in business.
A round-trip flight between Korea and the U.S. can be booked for 100,000 HawaiianMiles in economy and 200,000 in business class.
All the redemptions above can actually be booked with Korean Air SKYPASS miles for a bit cheaper: 10,000 miles for flights within Korea, 30,000 miles within Asia (China and Japan, for example), and 70,000 miles from Seoul to Honolulu — all in economy class.
Please note, awards on Korean Air booked through Hawaiian Airlines are based on round-trip travel only, while Korean Air allows one-way award bookings through its own program.
Hawaiian Airlines’ own redemption rate to Korea ranges from 80,000 to 280,000 HawaiianMiles round-trip originating in Hawaii.
Here are some great example redemptions you can make:
Hot Tip: Need help booking? Check out our step-by-step guide to booking Korean Air business class.
This award chart is distance-based, meaning a longer flight will require more miles to book.
Flights within Australia can be booked for 20,000 miles in economy if they’re 1,000 miles or shorter, and 40,000 miles in economy for distances longer than 1,000 miles.
These rates increase to 30,000/60,000 miles for awards booked in premium economy, and 40,000/80,000 miles for business class flights.
International destinations served by Virgin Australia also vary. Passengers can book economy flights of 2,000 miles in length or shorter for 40,000 HawaiianMiles (60,000 in premium economy and 80,000 in first).
Travelers can book flights that are between 2,001 and 4,000 miles in length for 60,000 HawaiianMiles in economy, 90,000 miles in premium economy, and 120,000 miles in business class.
Flights longer than 4,000 miles can be booked for 100,000 HawaiianMiles in economy, 150,000 miles in premium economy, or 200,000 miles in first class. All mileage calculations are based on round-trip bookings.
Similar to airlines previously mentioned, these awards cannot be booked on flights operated by Virgin Australia’s other partners.
Here are some great example routes you can take:
It is possible to redeem HawaiianMiles on JetBlue flights, and this award chart works a little differently. Redemption levels are directly correlated with a monetary ticket value, which is a little unusual considering most other partner redemptions are distance- or region-based.
JetBlue tickets that cost $99 or less require 10,000 HawaiianMiles. If the flight costs between $100 and $179, then redemptions fall between 15,000 miles and 20,000 miles. Tickets that cost between $180 and $259 will cost between 25,000 and 30,000 miles.
Flights costing $260 and $339 require 35,000 to 40,000 miles to book, and a ticket that costs $340 to $419 can be booked for 45,000 to 50,000 HawaiianMiles.
As you can see, redemption values are the poorest for the more expensive flights, coming in at about 0.8 cents per mile. Generally, redeeming TrueBlue points will return a better value of about 1.5 cents per mile.
Redeeming rewards on this Hawaiian Airlines partner will be based on regions rather than distance flown or ticket costs. As with the other partners we mentioned, HawaiianMiles can be redeemed for flights operated by Virgin Atlantic only.
Flying round-trip from the U.K. to the Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, or North American East Coast will cost 60,000 miles in economy, 100,000 miles in Premier Economy, and 125,000 miles in Upper Class.
For flights originating in the U.K., awards to India, Asia, Australia and the West Coast of North America come to 80,000 miles in economy, 130,000 miles in Premier Economy, and 160,000 miles in Upper Class.
It turns out that redemptions from the East Coast to the U.K. are on par with many U.S. carriers’ mileage redemptions, which makes this a decent use of HawaiianMiles. Expect to pay 60,000 miles in economy, 100,000 in Premier economy, and 125,000 miles in Upper Class for North America East Coast flights.
North America West Coast flights are slightly more expensive at 80,000 miles in economy, 130,000 miles in Premier economy, and 160,000 miles in Upper Class.
Another bonus of using HawaiianMiles to book Virgin Atlantic flights is that Hawaiian does not charge exorbitant fuel surcharges on these flights.
Here are some great example redemptions you can make:
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about what we feel are some of the best ways to use HawaiianMiles.
Hawaiian Airlines does not always present the most lucrative options for booking award flights, but there are a few sweet spots travelers can leverage if they’ve amassed a healthy balance of HawaiianMiles.
Hawaiian Airlines is also an Amex transfer partner if you need to top off a balance before booking one of these awards.
The information regarding the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Hawaiian Airlines Business Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information for The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card has been independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® card, click here.
Was this page helpful?
Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.
Travel is changing fast... Stay on top of all the points strategies, exclusive offers & pivotal news - and lock in huge savings along the way.
We respect your privacy. Please view our privacy policy here.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.
28 comments
Renee Guevara
March 08, 2018
I have a question. When booking a flight and I have points on my account from flying and I have points from my Hawaiian airlines credit card, how do I bundle them to redeem? My daughter will be attending college there (from California) I want to be sure this can be done before being their credit card!
Alex Miller
March 08, 2018
When you setup your Hawaiian credit card account, you likely put into your Hawaiian frequent flier number so that the points would deposit into there. If that’s not occurring, my recommendation is to call the CC company and request that your FF is added.
AJ
September 09, 2018
I can’t find any reference to United being a partner with Hawaiian. I would love to use my Hawaiian miles to go non-stop from SFO to PPT on United. Do you have any more information on United partnership with Hawaiian as referenced at the top of this article?
Christine Krzyszton
September 10, 2018
Hawaiian Airline miles can be redeemed for flights on Jet Blue, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, and Korean Air. http://hawaiianair.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/528
United is a partner for earning United miles on the Hawaiian Airline flights referenced here. https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/earn-miles/airline-partners/hawaiian-airlines.html
Linda Marsh
September 19, 2018
How do I use my Hawaiian air miles to fly from Portland,Oregon to Tucson,Arizona?
Christine Krzyszton
September 19, 2018
Hi Linda and thanks for the question. You can redeem Hawaiian Airline miles only on Hawaiian Airlines and partner airlines Jet Blue, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, and Korean Air. Some of these airlines don’t even fly out of Portland and none fly direct to Tucson. However, Delta, United, American, Frontier and Alaska Airlines frequently have flights for around $100 each way to Tucson from Portland, a very good value. Here are some examples: https://www.google.com/flights/#flt=PDX.TUS.2018-11-10*TUS.PDX.2018-11-14;c:USD;e:1;sd:1;t:f
Karen Kelly
December 25, 2019
Hi Christine
Do you know how to redeem Hawaiian Airline miles on JetBlue? I recently obtained the Barclays card and was advised that the only way to redeem Hawaiian Air miles is by phone call to them. I am looking for a very popular route JFK-LAX on Jetblue and the Hawaiian agent advised that it would be 90,000 miles which is outrageous! I checked several off-peak dates for 2020 and the miles were the same. Do you have any experience with this?
Thank you.
Karen
Jarrod West
December 26, 2019
Hi Karen,
The number of Hawaiian miles needed to book a Jetblue flight is tied to the cash price of the Jetblue ticket. You can read more about this on the Hawaiian Airlines website: https://hawaiianair.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/528/~/redeem-hawaiianmiles-on-partner-airlines
DaveS
May 05, 2019
My takeaway from this comprehensive and helpful article is that HA miles are just not very useful to me. As you say, a couple of potential sweet spots, but mostly values are inferior to other programs across the board. I have a decent balance and have been trying to find worthwhile redemptions, so this will help, but pretty much I’m at the point of taking what I can get and letting the program go.
Kim
September 28, 2019
How do I avoid paying the $89 Annual Fee for the Hawaiian Airlines credit card? I want to save my 62,000 miles from expiring. Could I save them for 18 months by simply using my chase credit card and buying something for $5 thru the Hawaiian Airlines shopping portal? With each small purchase do I extend the expiration clock by 18 months?
Jarrod West
September 29, 2019
Hi Kim,
Yes, purchasing something through the Hawaiian Airlines Shopping Portal will keep your miles from expiring and re-set the 18-month clock.
Thanks for reading!
Charles
June 28, 2020
Any update on the best (ie, cheapest) way to extend miles now that the shopping portal has been discontinued? Thank you for your services!
“Effective 6/2/20, the HawaiianMiles Online Mall program will be discontinued.” https://partners.hawaiianairlines.com/OnlineMall.aspx
Jarrod West
June 29, 2020
Hi Charles,
Do you have the Hawaiian Airlines credit card? If so, making a purchase on the card will extend the clock. If not, the only remaining option would be to use some of the miles or earn some additional ones by booking a flight.
Thanks for reading!
mary lazzara
December 23, 2019
I just returned from a trip to Hawaii on Hawaiian Airlines last month where they offered all passengers the opportunity to apply for their Credit Card through Barclays (60,000 miles and no minimum spend – just one purchase). Since Hawaiian is partners with JetBlue I applied and received the card. The bad news is that the only way to book a JetBlue award ticket with Hawaiian Miles is by telephoning Hawaiian Air. Looking to book a one-way ticket on a popular route (NY-LAX) was 90,000 miles -outrageous. I asked the agent to try several dates at different times of the year and it seems that a $150 JetBlue flight costs 90,000 Hawaiian miles. I was wondering if anyone else has more information – I cannot understand this valuation and hope that the agent I spoke to was incorrect. Thanks for your help.
Jarrod West
December 26, 2019
Hi Mary,
According to the Hawaiian Airlines website, what you were told does not seem accurate. The Hawaiian Airlines website states that a flight that costs $150 should cost somewhere between 15,000 to 20,000 miles. Here are the details on the Hawaiian site: The number of Hawaiian miles needed to book a Jetblue flight is tied to the cash price of the Jetblue ticket. You can read more about this on the Hawaiian Airlines website: https://hawaiianair.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/528/~/redeem-hawaiianmiles-on-partner-airlines
Bob Pruitt
January 03, 2020
I have a friend who lives in Hanoi, Vietnam, who I taught English with last year, in Hanoi. He has been on heart meds for a while, but now needs heart surgery sometime in the near future. He needs to go to Vancouver, British Columbia for this surgery, sometime in February. I have about 120,000 Hawaiian Air Miles. Is there a way we can use my miles to get him to Vancouver, and back to Hanoi again after the surgery and some time for recovery?
Stephen Au
January 04, 2020
Yes. You can book either Japan Airlines or Korean Air.
Japan Airlines:
To get from Hanoi to Japan, you’ll pay 30,000 Hawaiian miles one-way in economy. To then get from Japan to North America, you must pay 45,000 Hawaiian miles one-way in economy. So, the round-trip will cost 150,000 miles, which is more than the 120,000 miles you have.
Korean Air:
To get from Vietnam to Korea, you’ll pay 30,000 Hawaiian miles round-trip in economy. Then, from Korea to the U.S., you must pay 100,000 Hawaiian miles. They don’t offer awards to Canada, so you’ll then have to fly from Seattle, for example, to Vancouver.
Susan Leu
January 08, 2020
Is there a better time (month) to book from west coast to Kauai? Last year I booked for 35K miles and right now it would be 50-60K. My trip is in Nov. so I’m wondering if there is a timeframe when the miles required might be less? I’m booking for 8 so I really want to maximize what I have to use. Having said that I don’t want to wait to long and not be able to get us all on the same flight. Thanks’
Stephen Au
January 10, 2020
Hi Susan,
The short answer is that it’s very difficult to predict definitively. Airline revenue management algorithms are getting more and more convoluted. Plus, the “variable award pricing” that airlines like Hawaiian Airlines or United Airlines use introduces yet another layer that complicates everything. As a general rule of thumb, you’ll want to plan as far in advance as possible.
jediw
January 20, 2020
For Virgin Atlantic redemption, do you have to call or can you book online? How is the awards availability compared to using VA or Delta miles?
Stephen Au
January 22, 2020
Hi jediw,
You’ll need to call to book these awards. Award availability is reduced compared to Virgin Australia and Delta SkyMiles.
Sharon
December 12, 2020
Can I use my miles to book a good friend a flight to Hawaii? They are not a Hawaiian Credit cardholder and don’t have Hawaiian miles.
I wanted to give them the gift of a trip if I can.
Jarrod West
December 14, 2020
Hi Sharon,
Yes, you can book a ticket with your miles for anyone. You just need to input their name and travel details when you book the ticket.
Biz Caino
June 04, 2021
Just so you know, and as a public service, when you attempt to book a flight on Virgin Atlantic using Hawaiian Airlines Award Miles, what you will find is that there are ZERO available award fares. Just got off an incredibly frustrating LONG phone call with three levels of award travel booking at Hawaiian Airlines trying to book seats from Los Angeles to London with Hawaiian miles on Virgin Atlantic only to find that there is not one single ticket, in any fare class, made available to Hawaiian by VA from August 2021 through October 2021. Not. One. Single. Seat. So you may want to amend this entry above to reflect the reality that this is currently not an airline partnership, it is a simple bait-and-switch false advertising scheme to get people to continue to accrue Hawaiian miles, which are virtually useless for air travel other than to and from Hawaii. Hate to be a killjoy, but these are the facts as I find them today.
Peter
November 30, 2021
You write “it is a simple bait-and-switch false advertising scheme to get people to continue to accrue Hawaiian miles, which are virtually useless for air travel other than to and from Hawaii.”
Thats pretty much how I see it.
A scheme to keep you paying for a credit card that I already have from my bank, for free.
I’m finding their advertising super deceptive.
“gift your miles” sure but you have to pay to do that.
We’ll get you flying in no time” BS. more lime months. maybe you can use your miles next year of you pay another 99 bucks to stay in the program.
“Miles dont expire” Ah, the twisted tongue, If you opt out of paying for your card, the miles can “no longer be redeemed” is how i read the fine print.
Marcia McGee
October 13, 2022
Can you redeem Hawaiian Airlines mikes for rental cars?
Jarrod West
October 14, 2022
Hi Marcia,
Hawaiian Airlines currently does not offer that option.
Chris
April 24, 2023
It is virtually impossible to book anything on Virgin Atlantic with Hawaiian Miles, and only certain routes are bookable. LAX to LHR is NOT one of them. In fact you can’t book anything from the US to LHR. And, you can’t book any flights from the West Coast to anywhere. What you can allegedly book is from certain East Coast cities to Manchester, but that’s only if there is availability. The Hawaiian Airlines rep readily admitted to me that they often don’t get any seats allocated on the flights, or, at most get one or two. But they don’t have a calendar view to check, so even if your dates are flexible you will have to give them individual dates and they will check each one. Get used to hearing no. I finally gave up.
Any thoughts or questions? Comment below!
Email needed if you'd like comment updates. It will NOT be published.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.