Attention, points and miles enthusiasts: Hawaiian Airlines is currently offering 100% bonus miles when you buy HawaiianMiles through November 15. Although we don’t often recommend buying points and miles, it may be worth considering following the Alaska Airlines acquisition. Following the carrier merger, loyalty program members can transfer HawaiianMiles to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
But miles are purchased indeed A good investment? Here’s what you need to know about the sale and how to decide if buying miles is right for you.
Related: Buy bonus points and miles with these promotions
Buy up to 100% HawaiianMiles with this promo and transfer to an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
From now until November 15, you can redeem HawaiianMiles with up to 100% bonus — effectively cutting the cost per mile in half. However, the discount depends on how many miles you purchase and may vary from member to member.
Here are the bonus mile deal details I received in my personal HawaiianMiles account:
- If you purchase less than 3,000 miles, you’ll get a standard rate of 2.54 cents per mile (this includes a 1.6% tax collection fee).
- If you buy at least 3,000 miles, you’ll get an 80% bonus, reducing the price to 1.41 cents each.
- If you buy 10,000 miles or more, you’ll get an impressive 100% bonus, dropping the price to 1.27 cents.
You must purchase miles in 1,000-mile increments. There is a limit of 100,000 miles per transaction (before bonus) but no limit on the total number of miles you can purchase each year. So, in theory, you can buy as many miles as you want in multiple transactions during this sale.
Note that HawaiianMiles transactions can take up to 72 hours to process.
This may not seem like a big deal considering HawaiianMiles cost 1.2 cents per TPG as of November 2024. Evaluation However, thanks to the recent merger between Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines, you can now transfer miles between the carriers’ loyalty programs at a 1:1 ratio.
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With Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles valued at 1.4 cents apiece, according to TPG’s November 2024 valuation, buying miles during Hawaiian’s sale and transferring them to Alaska can yield solid savings. Alaska is part of the OneWorld Alliance, which opens up a variety of partner rewards opportunities, and it still uses an award chart, which can result in some high-value redemptions.
RELATED: Alaska Airlines overhauls mileage plan with milestone benefits, new status-earning options and upgrade updates
Are HawaiianMiles worth buying and transferring to Alaska?
This sale certainly makes buying HawaiianMiles a better value proposition than usual. However, we generally recommend purchasing miles only when you have specific redemptions. Stocking up on miles – even when they’re on sale – Not a great strategy because points and miles can be devalued at any time.
This is especially true in the case of Hawaiian and Alaska miles. Since the merger, the airlines have finally announced plans to operate under a single loyalty program. This could mean overhauling current programs — and potentially eliminating Alaska’s prized award chart and switching to dynamic pricing. This can suddenly devalue any miles you have stashed away.
However, we won’t know much about how the new combined loyalty program will work until mid-2025, according to the airlines’ statements. That means you have several months to use your Alaska and/or Hawaiian miles. If you’re eyeing one of Alaska’s award chart sweet spots, buying HawaiianMiles at a discount and transferring them to a mileage plan may be the best way to get you closer to that redemption.
For example, you can book a nonstop economy ticket from New York to London on American Airlines for travel in March 2025 for just 22,500 Alaska miles plus $19 in taxes and fees.
But don’t forget that HawaiianMiles are valuable in their own right. If you’ve been dreaming of a tropical vacation this winter, you can score nonstop award availability from Los Angeles to Honolulu in March for just 40,000 miles and $6 in taxes and fees for a lie-flat first-class seat — and it could be worth it. Buy the miles you need to get there.
Related: Save Money: How You Can Book Flights to Hawaii Using Points and Miles
The bottom line
The Alaska Airlines-Hawaiian Airlines merger has created a lot of uncertainty for loyalists of both programs heading into 2025 — but it’s also created some valuable opportunities. Some TPG employees decided to apply rather than one Two Hawaiian Airlines credit cards with hopes of using welcome bonuses toward Alaska redemptions. Also, keep in mind that you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to HawaiianMiles and Bilt Points to Alaska Miles, both at a 1:1 ratio, giving you even more ways to earn miles with these programs.