Top Methods for Redeeming Points and Miles on Hawaiian Airlines Flights

Hawaiian Airlines offers routes across North America, Asia, and the South Pacific from Hawaii. While a merger with Alaska Airlines would integrate Hawaiian into the Oneworld alliance, it currently does not belong to any major airline alliance. Instead, it has several partnerships that enable point and mile redemptions for Hawaiian Airlines flights.

In this guide, I will outline the most effective ways to redeem points and miles for flights operated by Hawaiian Airlines. If you don’t have points or miles with the discussed loyalty programs, don’t worry; I’ll also cover which transferable points can be exchanged to these programs.

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles Program

Starting with HawaiianMiles is essential when discussing how to book flights on Hawaiian Airlines using miles. HawaiianMiles provides award charts for different types of awards. Some of these charts feature discounted award rates, accessible only to Pualani Platinum and Pualani Gold elite members, Premier Club members, and select Hawaiian Airlines cardholders. Additionally, upgrade options are available solely for paid tickets.

As an example, here’s the one-way award chart for flights between the islands within Hawaii:

I discovered numerous dates available for flights from Honolulu to Maui at 7,500 miles for economy and 15,000 miles for business class. The associated taxes and fees are a nominal $6.

Here are the one-way award charts for flights from the continental U.S. to Hawaii:

I found several dates with Main Cabin 1 award pricing available for flights between the continental U.S. and Hawaii. First Class 1 award availability is more limited, but I did notice it on a few dates, especially if you’re open to a recliner seat instead of a lie-flat seat. The taxes and fees remain just $6 for these awards.

You can accumulate Hawaiian miles by transferring points from American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

JetBlue TrueBlue

You can redeem JetBlue points for flights operated by Hawaiian Airlines. While JetBlue TrueBlue does not provide an award chart for Hawaiian Airlines, my searches indicate that award rates are stable on specific nonstop routes.

For instance, you can anticipate redeeming 7,500 points for a one-way economy flight from Honolulu to Maui, or 14,000 points for a one-way business-class flight.

You can use 20,000 points for an economy class flight or 50,000 points for a business class flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu.

I was unable to find any dates with business class award availability from Boston to Honolulu. However, economy awards were regularly available for 37,900 points on this nonstop Hawaiian route.

You can redeem 20,000 JetBlue points for an economy class seat on the weekly Hawaiian-operated flight from Honolulu to Tahiti.

There are several ways to earn JetBlue points, including using JetBlue credit cards and transferring points from American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Rewards.

American Airlines AAdvantage

According to the standard AAdvantage partner award chart, you can redeem American Airlines miles for flights on Hawaiian Airlines that do not operate between the continental U.S. and Hawaii. AAdvantage awards that include segments operated by Hawaiian Airlines can also combine American Airlines flights and those from other AAdvantage partners.

You can use 7,500 miles and pay $5.60 in taxes and fees for a one-way economy flight within Hawaii on Hawaiian-operated flights.

Additionally, you can fly one-way in economy from Hawaii to any location in the contiguous 48 U.S. states and Canada for 22,500 miles plus $5.60 in taxes and fees. This award pricing is available only if your itinerary includes at least one flight operated by an AAdvantage partner, such as a Hawaiian Airlines flight within Hawaii.

You can redeem American miles for a one-way economy flight from Hawaii to Japan for 32,500 miles plus $5.60 in taxes and fees on Hawaiian Airlines.

On the weekly Hawaiian Airlines flight from Hawaii to French Polynesia, you can redeem 37,500 American miles along with $5.60 in taxes and fees for a one-way economy flight.

You can earn American miles through various means, including AAdvantage credit cards, Bask Bank, and transfers from Marriott Bonvoy.

Delta Air Lines SkyMiles

You can redeem Delta Air Lines miles for flights operated by Hawaiian Airlines within Hawaii. For instance, you could use 7,500 miles plus $6 for a one-way economy flight from Honolulu to Kona.

Additionally, you can redeem Delta miles for itineraries with multiple segments that include a Hawaiian-operated flight within Hawaii. For example, you could redeem 26,000 miles plus $6 for a one-way economy flight from Los Angeles to Lihue via Honolulu, with Delta operating the leg from Los Angeles to Honolulu and Hawaiian Airlines taking you from Honolulu to Lihue.

However, you won't be able to utilize the TakeOff 15 feature for this award booking because it includes a segment that is not operated by Delta. Also, you cannot redeem Delta miles for other Hawaiian Airlines flights, including those to Asia, the continental U.S., or the South Pacific.

You can earn Delta miles through various avenues, including Delta credit cards and transfers from American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

United Airlines MileagePlus

Similar to Delta SkyMiles, United MileagePlus allows members to redeem miles only for Hawaiian Airlines flights within Hawaii. For example, you could redeem United Airlines miles for a one-way economy flight within Hawaii for 12,500 miles and $5.60. Every intra-Hawaii route I checked that was available through United MileagePlus required 12,500 miles and $5.60, which is not as attractive compared to most other loyalty programs mentioned in this guide.

Award pricing becomes much less predictable when adding a Hawaiian-operated segment to an award ticket that includes United-operated flights. On one occasion I checked, I could redeem 27,500 miles for a two-stop saver award in economy from Houston to Maui or 70,000 miles for a one-stop award. In both scenarios, United would operate the flights from Houston to Honolulu, while Hawaiian Airlines would handle the leg from Honolulu to Maui.

You can earn United miles through various channels, including United credit cards and transfers from Chase Ultimate Rewards, Bilt Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

You can use Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points according to the program's award chart for Hawaiian Airlines. It's advisable to book nonstop flights, as you will need to pay separately for each segment.

Regrettably, you cannot use Virgin points to book Hawaiian-operated flights online. Instead, you'll need to call to verify award availability, calculate taxes and fees, and make your reservation.

You can accumulate Virgin points by transferring American Express Membership Rewards points, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, Citi ThankYou Rewards points, Bilt Rewards points, and Marriott Bonvoy points.

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank provides a distance-based award chart for Hawaiian Airlines flights.

For a one-way journey between Honolulu and Maui, the cost is 12,000 miles and 800 Japanese yen (approximately $5.50). However, since the direct flight distance is about 100 miles, a round-trip will only cost you 12,000 miles and 1,600 yen (around $11).

While a one-way flight from Honolulu to Tokyo costs 23,000 miles and 800 yen, a round-trip fare between these two cities is 45,000 miles plus 7,300 yen (approximately $50).

One of the main challenges with booking Hawaiian Airlines flights through Mileage Bank is that the only significant transferable currency accepted for Japan Airlines is Marriott Bonvoy points.

Velocity Frequent Flyer

You can also use Velocity Frequent Flyer points for flights with Hawaiian Airlines. However, not every flight offers reward seats, and you'll need to contact the Velocity membership center to check availability and make a booking.

To find the award cost for a particular nonstop route, you can visit the Velocity website. Here’s an overview of the Velocity award chart for flights operated by Hawaiian Airlines:

To understand the available routes and associated taxes and fees, check out the following three award redemption examples on the Hawaiian Airlines partner page on the Velocity website.

You can accumulate Velocity points by transferring points from Marriott Bonvoy.

Bottom line

You have plenty of options for booking Hawaiian Airlines flights using points or miles. Besides the methods outlined in this guide, you can redeem points or miles through various credit card travel portals. This may offer better value when booking intra-Hawaii flights, which tend to be quite affordable.

You can also book Hawaiian Airlines flights using Korean Air SkyPass and China Airlines Dynasty Flyer. However, these programs are not covered in this guide because they present challenges for most U.S.-based travelers in earning sufficient rewards, as neither is affiliated with any major U.S. transferable currencies.