Hawaiian Airlines is a U.S.-based airline, but don’t let its name fool you. The airline offers flights that span the globe, including destinations in North America, the South Pacific, Asia and, naturally, the major islands of Hawaii.
The loyalty program of Hawaiian Airlines is HawaiianMiles. Members earn HawaiianMiles and redeem them for award travel and more. There are pros and cons you should be aware of so you can maximize your earnings and redemptions when the time comes. Here is everything you need to know about Hawaiian Airlines and the HawaiianMiles loyalty program.
History
Hawaiian Airlines’ humble beginning dates all the way back to 1929. At first, the airline only offered $5 sightseeing tours in a tiny monoplane. But by the end of the year, two eight-passenger aircraft had been added to the fleet, and the airline began flying between the Hawaiian Islands.
The following years were a time of growth for the airline, and the world watched it set new records in aviation firsts. In 1979, for example, an all-female crew made history when they operated a certified scheduled U.S. air carrier flight—the first time a crew of only women had done such a thing.
Today, Hawaiian Airlines is a flourishing enterprise that flies approximately 260 flights per day and serves millions of customers each year.
How To Earn HawaiianMiles
To earn HawaiianMiles, first you’ll need to set up a free loyalty account. Joining is simple, only requires some basic information (name, address, birthday and phone number) and takes just a minute or two to complete.
Once you have finished registration, you’ll receive your loyalty number and you can begin earning HawaiianMiles immediately.
HawaiianMiles, like most loyalty program miles, can be earned through activities other than actually flying with the airline. With Hawaiian Airlines, those activities range from flying (of course) to spending with a co-branded credit card and more—truly a pu pu platter of options. Read on to learn all the ways to earn HawaiianMiles.
Flying Hawaiian Airlines
Each flight you take with Hawaiian Airlines opens up the opportunity to earn HawaiianMiles. How many you earn will depend on a few factors—namely, the distance flown, the cabin class and the level of elite status you’ve achieved in the loyalty program.
Earn With Status Miles
Holding elite status with Hawaiian Airlines will allow you to earn even more miles each time you fly. Hawaiian Airlines offers two tiers of elite status: Pualani Gold and Pualani Platinum. There’s also a paid membership that comes with certain elite benefits: Premier Club.
Each elite status tier earns bonus miles for flights at the following rates:
- Pualani Gold: Earn 50% bonus miles. Members will also earn a flat 500 HawaiianMiles each way for Neighbor Island flights (flights within the islands of Hawaii).
- Pualani Platinum: Earn 100% bonus miles. Pualani Platinums also earn a flat rate of 500 HawaiianMiles each way for Neighbor Island flights.
- Premier Club: Earn a flat 500 miles each way for Neighbor Island flights.
Earning Status With Hawaiian Airlines
Reaching elite status with Hawaiian Airlines not only lets you earn bonus miles when flying, but also provides exclusive perks and benefits that can make your experience more enjoyable and potentially save you loads of money, too. But first, you’ll need to qualify.
Here are the elite status tiers, the requirements for each and the best perks:
Pualani Gold: Fly 30 segments or earn 20,000 miles
- Zone 2 priority boarding on flights for the member plus two guests
- Complimentary upgrades
- Priority TSA security lines where available
- Complimentary access to preferred seats for the member and up to six travel companions
Pualani Platinum: Fly 60 segments or earn 40,000 miles
- Zone 1 priority boarding on flights for the member plus two guests
- Complimentary upgrades
- Priority TSA security lines where available
- Access to select international partner lounges for the member plus one guest
- Complimentary access to preferred seats for the member and up to six travel companions
Premier Club: $299 or 40,000 HawaiianMiles for new memberships. $249 or 35,000 HawaiianMiles to renew each year
- Two passes to The Plumeria Lounge each year
- 25% Pau Hana cart discount in-flight
- Discount on flight awards when booking on HawaiianAirlines.com
- Zone 2 priority boarding on Hawaiian Airlines flights
When it comes to qualifying segments and miles for status, only flights scheduled and operated by Hawaiian Airlines are eligible. That means that activities like flying with partner airlines or using a co-branded HawaiianMiles credit card will not count towards elite status requirements.
Flights on Partner Airlines
For such a large entity, it may come as a surprise that Hawaiian Airlines is not a part of any major airline alliance. This doesn’t mean Hawaiian Airlines has no partners, however. In fact, Hawaiian Airlines has codeshare agreements with several of the major airlines of the world:
- Hawaiian Airlines’ Codeshare Partners:
- China Airlines (CI)
- Japan Airlines (JL)
- JetBlue Airways (B6)
- Korean Air (KE)
- Virgin Australia (VA)
Additionally, Hawaiian Airlines markets with the following airlines:
- Air China (CA)
- American Airlines (AA)
- China Airlines (CI)
- Delta Air Lines (DL)
- Japan Airlines (JL)
- JetBlue Airways (B6)
- Korean Air (KE)
- Philippine Airlines (PR)
- Turkish Airlines (TK)
- United Airlines (UA)
How many HawaiianMiles you earn when flying with partners will depend on which partners you fly with. Each partner airline has its own earning rate and stipulations.
Let’s take a look at JetBlue Airlines to get an idea of the earning potential when flying with this Hawaiian Airlines partner.
A flight on JetBlue that is credited to your HawaiianMiles account will earn at the above rates. This means that if you fly in JetBlue’s premium cabin, Mint, in one of the booking classes included, you will earn 125% bonus miles. For a flight that is 500 miles in distance, you would earn 625 bonus miles for a total of 1,125 HawaiianMiles.
Credit Cards
Grabbing a co-branded Hawaiian Airlines credit card is one of the best ways to quickly load up on HawaiianMiles. There are two credit cards that earn HawaiianMiles—one business option and one personal card. Both are issued by Barclays:
- Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Business Mastercard®*: Earn . You’ll also earn . The annual fee is $99.
- Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®*: Earn . The card earns with an annual fee of $99.
Transfer Partners
Hawaiian Airlines’ co-branded credit cards are not the only option for earning HawaiianMiles through card spending. Using a flexible-currency credit card can allow you to earn points and then convert them to HawaiianMiles.
American Express Membership Rewards points transfer to HawaiianMiles at a rate of 1-to-1.
Amex has loads of cards that earn Membership Rewards points and allows transfers to Hawaiian Airlines. Here are some of our favorites:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express: You’ll earn . You’ll also get . The annual fee is $695. (Terms apply. See rates & fees.)
- American Express® Gold Card: This card comes with . You’ll earn and the annual fee runs $250. (Terms apply. See rates & fees.)
- The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express: Earn . The card also earns with an annual fee of No annual fee. (Terms apply. See rates & fees.)
Marriott Bonvoy, while not a credit card program, allows its Bonvoy points to be converted to airline miles for loads of loyalty programs—Hawaiian Airlines being one of them. You’ll get 1 HawaiianMile for every 3 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.
Here are some the best Marriott Bonvoy credit cards that allow you to convert your points to HawaiianMiles:
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Earn . You’ll also earn . The annual fee is $650. (Terms apply. See rates & fees.)
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card: This card comes with . You can earn with an annual fee of $95.
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card: The $0 annual fee card comes with . It also earns .
Hawaiian Airlines Marketplace
The Hawaiian Airlines Marketplace is a one-stop shop for earning bonus miles on purchases from Hawaii-based companies—and some partners in the U.S. mainland, too—and includes activities like dining and shopping. You can find the entire list of merchants on the Hawaiian Airlines app.
To be eligible to earn bonus HawaiianMiles, you’ll need to use your co-branded Hawaiian Airlines credit card to pay at an eligible partner.
Buying HawaiianMiles
Buying HawaiianMiles is a simple way to stock up, but the odds are that it will not result in a particularly optimal value. Generally speaking, only consider purchasing miles when you need to top off your account for an award flight redemption.
HawaiianMiles members can purchase a maximum of 30,000 HawaiianMiles in 500-mile increments. Unlike purchasing miles with many other frequent flyer programs, Hawaiian Airlines processes its own transactions. This allows members who hold a co-branded Hawaiian Airlines credit card to earn bonus miles on a purchase of miles.
Other Ways To Earn HawaiianMiles
Rental Cars
If you need to rent a car, make sure to check out Hawaiian Airlines’ partner rental companies to see what kind of deals are available. Currently, HawaiianMiles members can earn 250 bonus miles for each car rental at the following agencies:
- Avis
- Budget
- Payless Car Rental
If you hold elite status with Hawaiian Airlines, you can earn even more. Pualani Gold elites get 500 bonus miles while Pualani Platinums can earn 750.
How To Redeem HawaiianMiles
Just like earning miles, you’ll find that there are several ways to redeem your HawaiianMiles beyond just flying, and some of these options will result in better value than others. Here are all the ways you can redeem HawaiianMiles:
On Hawaiian Airlines Flights
Award charts essentially have become a relic of the past, especially for U.S.-based carriers. Airlines including United, American Airlines and Delta have either already switched or are in the process of switching to a dynamic-pricing model. Hawaiian Airlines is one of the few that still publishes an award chart and it’s simple to use.
Hawaiian’s award chart is organized into a region-based map. Those regions have set price points that vary according to season—busier seasons means a redemption will cost more miles compared to slower seasons (Discounted Award Amount), which will cost fewer. Rates are further divided by flight class—a flight in economy will cost fewer miles than a seat in first class.
The following is an example from the HawaiianMiles award chart. Specifically, it includes flights from Hawaii to the West Coast region of North America. These awards start at just 17,500 HawaiianMiles and jump up from there.
On Flights With Partners
HawaiianMiles can be redeemed for flights on partner airlines. Each partner has its own redemption rates, so you’ll need to check the award chart for the airline you are interested in using your miles for. Note that when redeeming your HawaiianMiles for flights on partner airlines, you can only do so for roundtrip flights, not for one-way or multi-city travel.
While each partner has unique redemptions, there is one point of continuity among each—all award charts will have you pay less for economy class and the rates will go up as you upgrade cabins. For example, the following chart is for partner Virgin Atlantic. Economy class is the cheapest option and prices jump significantly from there.
Fees
Infant Fees
Hawaiian Airlines’ child fee policies are relatively generous compared to some airlines. Children under 2 years old flying as a lap infant will not pay any additional fees when flying throughout Hawaii (neighboring islands) and the rest of North America. For international flights, 10% of the adult fare plus taxes and fees will need to be paid.
For children under the age of 2 flying in their own seat, you can expect to pay the following fees:
Baggage Fees
One way airlines love to make money is through charging customers exorbitant fees for their baggage. Fortunately, there are a few ways to reduce or avoid these fees:
- Become a member of HawaiianMiles: Merely opening a HawaiianMiles loyalty account will save you money on checked baggage fees. For flights to Neighbor Islands, you’ll pay $15 instead of $25 on the first checked bag and $20 instead of $35 for the second.
- Hold a Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard: The primary cardmember is eligible to earn one complimentary checked bag on Hawaiian Airlines-operated flights. International flights are excluded. Note that the business version of this card does not give any free or discounted checked baggage allowance.
- Have elite status: Pualani Gold elite status holders and Premier Club members get their first two checked bags free when flying on Hawaiian Airlines flights. Pualani Platinums get three free checked bags on Hawaiian Airlines operated flights. Additionally, elite status holders and Premier Club members who hold the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard get one complimentary checked bag in addition to their membership baggage allowance. This applies to domestic or Neighbor Island tickets directly from Hawaiian Airlines purchased using the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard.
- Show military travel orders: Get up to five checked bags for no fee when traveling on official military orders.
Family Pooling
If you’d like to pool your HawaiianMiles for free with family members, you’ll need to hold one of the following: Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard, Hawaiian Airlines Business Mastercard, Hawaiian Airlines Visa credit card-Japan or check card holder (primary cardholders only).
Non-cardholders can also pool HawaiianMiles, but for a price. You’ll pay a $25 service fee and a 1 cent per mile transfer fee. There is a minimum of 2,000 HawaiianMiles shared at a time.
Other Ways To Redeem HawaiianMiles
Gift Cards
HawaiianMiles can be used to redeem gift certificates for use at travel partners and more. You won’t find outsized value when redeeming your miles for these options—however, if you have extra miles and you don’t have any other use for them, these can be a solid backup plan.
- Outrigger Hotels and Resorts
- $50 reservation credit for 10,000 HawaiianMiles
- Foodland
- $25 gift card for 5,000 HawaiianMiles
- Hele
- $25 gift card for 5,000 HawaiianMiles
- The Alley Restaurant
- $25 gift card for 5,000 HawaiianMiles
- 76
- $25 gift card for 5,000 HawaiianMiles
Quirks
Expiration
HawaiianMiles never expire. As long as your account remains open, your miles will live on.
Bottom Line
Hawaiian Airlines is a pretty standard loyalty program that doesn’t offer outsized value like you can get from some competitor airlines. If you already are flying with the airline, make sure to sign up to maximize your earnings. But if you are seeking an airline to give your loyalty too, you may be better off with a different program.
To view rates and fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for the American Express® Gold Card please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card please visit this page.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
