How To Spend Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles

Hawaii Airlines loyalty program HawaiianMiles is aimed mainly at frequent Hawaiian Airlines flyers. When redeeming miles, however, there are several options other than just using them for Hawaiian Airlines flights. Using miles with partner airlines flights can be good value, if you can find availability, plus there are other possibilities.

Using miles for Hawaiian Airlines flights

HawaiianMiles is different from other US airline loyalty programs, with mileage earning and redemption still using fixed distance-based methods. Many other airlines, including American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, have now moved to revenue-based earning and redemption for their own flights at least.

Photo: christopheronglv | Shutterstock

With HawaiianMiles, using miles for Hawaiian Airlines flights is based on the flight length and the availability/popularity of the flight. There are a series of fixed redemption rates which change based on availability. This is not directly tied to the price that tickets are selling for, but you would expect the mileage rate to increase as the price increases.

This method may appear confusing, but it is easy to get used to. To see what redemption rates are likely to be for your flight, it is a good idea to make some sample searches for future dates.

Photo: MC MEDIASTUDIO | Shutterstock

The starting rates for each one-way flight in each region are as follows. There is then a series of up to eight levels of increasing price options for main cabin, and two options for first or business class.

To further confuse the pricing, there are small discounts on main cabin prices for Hawaiian Airlines credit card holders and for HawaiianMiles Pualani elite level members. This reduces the starting price, for example, for US West Coast flights to 17,500 miles and East Coast to 26,250 miles.

The table below shows an example of all price levels for the US west coast.

Image: Hawaiian Airlines

Using miles for partner airline flights

As Hawaiian Airlines is not part of any of the three main airline alliances, there is no ability to use miles generally for all members of a particular alliance (as is the case, for example, with including American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Alaska Airlines). Instead, Hawaiian Airlines has partnerships with a select number of airlines (largely based on its routes and connections).

This is something that will change if the proposed merger with Alaska Airlines goes ahead. The airline will then be part of the oneworld alliance, opening up the spending (and earning) options will all member airlines.

Miles can currently be redeemed on the following airlines:

Photo: Osugi | Shutterstock

Redemption rates for all airlines except JetBlue are fixed based on the airline and the route, with limited availability controlled by the airline. HawaiianMiles publishes an award chart for each airline showing the number of miles required for a return flight (Japan Airlines also offers one-way flights).

As examples, the following table shows the rates for Japan Airlines redemption:

Image: Hawaiian Airlines

And for Virgin Atlantic redemption:

Image: Hawaiian Airlines

Redemptions for JetBlue flights are handled differently and are based on the cash price of the ticket. The rates range from 10,000 to 50,000 miles. In general, this will offer less value than other partners. But, as always, you will need to compare the mileage price to the available cash price to determine the value with any airline.

Image: Hawaiian Airlines
 

There are some important things to keep in mind with partner airline redemption:

• For all airlines except Japan Airlines, awards are only issued as a round trip – there is no reduced rate for a one-way ticket.
• Each award is just for one airline – there is no ability to combine airlines on the same ticket.
• To book any partner award, you need to call HawaiianMiles customer service. There is no online booking for these awards as there is for Hawaiian Airlines flights. Unfortunately, this means you also have to call to check award availability. You can get an idea by searching availability with the airline’s own loyalty scheme, but this will not necessarily match.
• There are no peak or off-peak dates, or any blackout periods, as there are with some other loyalty programs.

Using miles to upgrade on Hawaiian Airlines

Miles can be used to upgrade a paid main cabin ticket to domestic first or international business class. This can only be done for Hawaiian Airlines flights, and for tickets issued by the airline.

The published mileage tables show two upgrade mileage amounts for each of the regions. Which one is charged depends on availability. These rates are:

• For internal flights: 7,500 or 15,000 miles.
• Hawaii to/from US west coast: 25,000 or 50,000 miles.
• Hawaii to/from central US: 25,000 or 50,000 miles.
• Hawaii to/from US east coast: 25,000 or 50,000 miles.
• Hawaii to/from Papeete and Pago Pago: 30,000 or 60,000 miles.
• Hawaii to/from Asia, Australia, and New Zealand: 45,000 or 90,000 miles.

Photo: Hawaiian Airlines

Other ways to use miles

There are a few options besides using miles for flights or upgrades. These generally are not such good value but can be useful if you have spare miles.

Use miles for hotels. HawaiianMiles has an associated hotel bookings platform where you can use miles for stays at over 300,000 hotels worldwide. Value varies, and you should always compare the rate against available cash prices. There is also an additional partnership with Hawaii-based Outrigger Hotels, where 10,000 miles will get you $50 toward a reservation.

Use miles for car hire. Miles can be used towards the rental cost with partners Avis, Budget, and Payless. As with hotels, check the value you are getting against the total cash price.

Gift miles. If you hold a Hawaiian Airlines credit card, you can transfer HawaiianMiles for free to another cardholder. This is useful if you can’t use miles, or you want to combine miles in the same account for a specific award. You can also transfer miles if you don’t hold a credit card, but there is a fee of one cent per mile plus a service fee.

Changes to spending with the Alaska Airlines merger

In late 2023, Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines announced a merger. Alaska Air Group, the managing body of Alaska Airlines, will acquire Hawaiian Airlines. As of mid-2024, this remains under consideration by the US Department of Justice.

Related

In Focus: Why The Alaska-Hawaiian Merger Could Be Good For The US Airline Market

Hawaiian Airlines shareholders have overwhelmingly approved the merger.

If the merger goes ahead, it will bring big changes to airline operations – and to loyalty. The new program will be part of the oneworld alliance, so miles will be earned and spent on all oneworld airlines. These 13 airlines are:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair, Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• SriLankan Airlines

This will make a big difference to global coverage, with much better options in Europe, Africa, and Asia, especially. Use with JetBlue will undoubtedly be dropped and replaced with Alaska Airlines and American Airlines.

Photo: christianthiel.net | Shutterstock

All of the details regarding spending rates are, of course, still to be announced. HawaiianMiles and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan are two of the best value loyalty programs around (the financial website NerdWallet currently ranks them second and first in the US for rebate rate), so there is hope that the new program will be equally rewarding.

Do you use HawaiianMiles and collect miles? What are your preferred ways to redeem miles? How do you think it compares with other airlines’ loyalty programs? Feel free to discuss this in the comments.