Attention, points and miles enthusiasts: You’re probably keeping up with the latest aviation news regarding Alaska Airlines’ acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines. On Tuesday, the merger was finalized, and details of how the two airlines will continue to operate while retaining their separate brands were announced.
Details cited in the document outlining the agreement between the airlines say they will eventually use a loyalty program, with more details to come in mid-2025. For now, Alaska Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles members will keep their current miles and, later this month, will be able to transfer their miles between accounts at a 1:1 ratio.
This is big news for members of both loyalty programs, as you can plan to maximize your miles between the two airlines to book award tickets. Hawaiian Airlines is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards. Alaska Airlines is part of the OneWorld Alliance. Now there will also be status matches offered by carriers. This opens up all sorts of interesting possibilities.
Here are some steps you can take to strategize how you can potentially capitalize on the Alaska-Hawaiian merger.
Open a cobranded Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines credit card
In August, the Department of Justice decided not to block a proposed merger between the airlines. Prior to the announcement that miles would transfer at a 1:1 ratio between loyalty programs, TPG’s managing editor Clint Henderson took a gamble and decided to open not one Two Hawaiian Airlines Cobranded Credit Cards.
Related: Hawaiian Airlines-Alaska Airlines merger: Loyalty program details revealed
Hawaiian Airlines Cobranded Credit Cards:
With the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®, you can earn 70,000 bonus HawaiianMiles after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. The card includes two free checked bags on eligible flights, a $100 companion discount for round-trip travel between Hawaii and North America on Hawaiian Airlines after each account anniversary, a one-time 50% discount on companion tickets, discounted award flights and more. .
With the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Business Mastercard®, you can earn 50,000 bonus HawaiianMiles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 90 days; Plus, earn an additional 20,000 bonus miles if you spend $50,000 to $99,999 — or 40,000 bonus miles if you spend $100,000 or more — in annual purchases.
Information for the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard and Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Business Mastercard is independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
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Related: Why I Applied for 2 Hawaiian Airlines Cards on the Same Day
Alaska Airlines Cobranded Credit Cards:
Alaska Airlines also offers two cobranded credit cards Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card And Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card.
The Personal Alaska Credit Card offers 50,000 bonus miles plus buy one ticket and get one for just taxes and fees ($0 fares plus taxes and fees from $23) after spending $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.
The Business Alaska Card offers 50,000 bonus miles and Alaska companion fare ($99 fare plus $23 in taxes and fees) after you make $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.
Benefits for both the personal and business cards include a free checked bag, 20% back on inflight purchases and the chance to earn an annual Alaska companion fare. You can earn this rent each year on your account anniversary if you spent $6,000 or more within the previous anniversary.
Should you open an Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines credit card?
Whether you want to open a credit card with any airline, what you choose is ultimately your personal choice. Both card issuers offer various benefits that you may find more useful, such as the opportunity to earn an annual Alaska companion fare. However, if you don’t find yourself regularly flying on Hawaiian- or Alaska-operated flights, we suggest choosing the credit card with the highest welcome offer, which is currently the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard.
Your HawaiianMiles can be transferred 1:1 to the Alaska Mileage Plan (starting at the end of the month), so the value of the miles is equal. Plus, since Alaska is part of the OneWorld Alliance, you’ll be able to book not only flights to Alaska but partner award tickets, such as American Airlines flights, using your Hawaiian miles.
But there are a few things to keep in mind. According to the merger announcement, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines will eventually operate using a joint loyalty program. Your miles from both accounts will then be transferred 1:1 to this new loyalty program. The carriers did not provide further details on whether the airlines will operate using Alaska’s current award chart or go to a more extreme route and use a dynamic pricing system. If the airline goes with the latter, this will devalue the program and your miles. Therefore, we don’t recommend storing tons of Hawaiian or Alaska miles unless you plan to use them in the near future.
Related: Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card Review: Earn hard-to-get miles with a valuable welcome offer
Transfer your Amex Membership Rewards points to HawaiianMiles
Opening a new credit card is not always a feasible strategy for everyone. However, you may already have a transferable rewards card in your pocket that you can use to capitalize on the Hawaii and Alaska merger.
If you currently earn American Express Membership Rewards points, you’ll be able to book not only Hawaiian Airlines flights, but Alaska-operated flights as well as flights from the carrier’s OneWorld partners, especially American Airlines.
Since I currently have Platinum Card® from American ExpressI will soon be able to transfer my Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines — they transfer at a 1:1 ratio — and then transfer those Hawaiian miles to my Alaska Mileage Plan account.
This transfer strategy can help me save thousands of dollars and tons of points and miles on my next vacation flights. Since Alaska is the only transfer partner of Built Rewards and American Airlines is not a partner of any transferable rewards credit card program, I have had to rely on booking domestic AA flights through partners like British Airways, Qatar or Iberia.
Three airlines currently use Avios as their reward currency. However, award availability does not exist for holiday flights; Also, the British Airways Executive Club (once again) devalued American and Alaska awards in July. While Finnair Plus can be used to book domestic American flights — you can transfer Avios between accounts 1:1 — you have to call to book.
Related: How to transfer your Avios between British Airways, Qatar Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Aer Lingus accounts
Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points
I personally prefer earning transferable rewards because it gives me flexibility in how I use my points. Here are some of TPG’s favorite Amex cards with strong welcome offers:
- Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 80,000 points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership.
- American Express® Gold Card: Earn 60,000 points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases on the card in your first six months of card membership. Plus, earn 20% back in statement credit (up to $100 back) on eligible purchases made at restaurants worldwide within the first six months of card membership.
- American Express® Business Gold Card: Earn 100,000 points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases in the first three months of card membership.
So, if you have an Amex card that earns Membership Rewards points, should you transfer your points to HawaiianMiles? While some can roll the dice and transfer Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines, we recommend doing so with caution. As always, the programs depreciate over the years, so you don’t want to transfer your life’s savings of Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines with no redemption in mind and then be stuck with a ton of leftover miles that once potentially depreciate. A new loyalty program will be implemented.
However, if you regularly fly on Alaska- or American Airlines-operated flights or are in the process of planning a trip where you can redeem Alaska miles for the flight, transferring your Amex points to HawaiianMiles may be a good option for you. . At this time, Amex has not announced the loss of HawaiianMiles as a transfer partner, but that could be a change that takes effect in 2025. Is it worth the gamble? You have to decide.
RELATED: How (and Why) You Should Earn Transferable Credit Card Points
Earn elite status benefits with Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines
If you’re an Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines elite status member, be sure to link your accounts to receive benefits with both airlines. Before the programs are consolidated into one loyalty program, frequent flyers can match their current status with another program.
| If you have: | You will be matched with: |
|---|---|
| Alaska Mileage Plan MVP status | HawaiianMiles Pualani Gold status |
| Alaska Mileage Plan MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75K or MVP Gold 100K status | HawaiianMiles Pualani Platinum status |
| HawaiianMiles Pualani Gold Status | Alaska Mileage Plan MVP status |
| HawaiianMiles Pualani Platinum status | Alaska Mileage Plan MVP Gold Status |
If you don’t have status with either airline, linking your accounts allows you to combine your elite qualifying miles to snag elite status with both carriers.
| Combined EQM Balance: | Status with Alaska Mileage Plan: | Status with HawaiianMiles: |
|---|---|---|
| 20,000 EQM | MVP | Pulani Gold |
| 40,000 EQM | MVP Gold | Pualani Platinum |
| 75,000 EQM | MVP Gold 75K | Pualani Platinum |
| 100,000 EQM | MVP Gold 100K | Pualani Platinum |
Since Alaska is already part of the Oneworld alliance, your elite status tier with the airline will also correspond to Oneworld status.
- MVP = Oneworld Ruby
- MVP Gold = Oneworld Sapphire
- MVP Gold 75K = Oneworld Emerald
- MVP Gold 100K = Oneworld Emerald
Be sure to check out our in-depth guides on Oneworld and Alaska Airlines elite status perks and benefits.
Related: How to Get Airline Elite Status
The bottom line
The merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines is an exciting new venture in the world of points and miles. For the foreseeable future, miles will transfer between the two programs at a 1:1 ratio, opening up new award flight possibilities.
Are you looking to make a roundabout transfer to get a great deal on an American Airlines flight through Alaska’s Mileage Plan, Redeem miles on Saver Award fares with Alaska or Status Match and earn additional airline benefits and perks, strategies you can use to take advantage of this joint program.
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