Attention, points and miles enthusiasts: Hawaiian Airlines is currently offering up to 100% bonus miles when you purchase HawaiianMiles through Nov. 15. Though we don’t often recommend buying points and miles, it may be worth considering following Alaska Airlines’ acquisition of the carrier. Following the merger, loyalty program members can transfer HawaiianMiles to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
But is purchasing miles really a good investment? Here’s everything 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 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
From now through Nov. 15, you can purchase HawaiianMiles with up to a 100% bonus — effectively cutting the cost per mile in half. However, the discount depends on how many miles you buy, and it may vary from one member to another.
Here are the details on the bonus miles deal I found in my personal HawaiianMiles account:
- If you purchase fewer than 3,000 miles, you’ll get the standard price of 2.54 cents per mile (this includes a 1.6% tax recovery fee).
- If you purchase 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 apiece.
You must purchase miles in 1,000-mile increments. There’s a limit of 100,000 miles per transaction (before the bonus) but no cap on the total number of miles you can buy per year. Therefore, in theory, you could purchase as many miles as you want in multiple transactions during this sale.
Note that HawaiianMiles transactions may take up to 72 hours to process.
This may not seem like a great deal, considering that HawaiianMiles are worth 1.2 cents each per TPG’s November 2024 valuations. 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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Since Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles are valued at 1.4 cents apiece, according to TPG’s November 2024 valuations, buying miles during Hawaiian’s sale and transferring them to Alaska could provide solid savings. Alaska is part of the Oneworld alliance, opening a variety of partner award opportunities, and it still uses an award chart, which can result in some high-value redemptions.
Is it worth it to buy HawaiianMiles and transfer to Alaska?
This sale definitely makes buying HawaiianMiles a better value proposition than usual. However, we generally recommend buying miles only when you have a specific redemption in mind. Stocking up on miles — even when they’re on sale — isn’t 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 right now. Since the merger, the airlines have announced plans to eventually operate under a single loyalty program. This could mean overhauling the current programs — and potentially doing away with Alaska’s valuable award chart and switching to dynamic pricing. This could cause any miles you have stashed to be devalued suddenly.
However, according to the airlines’ statements, we won’t know more about how the new combined loyalty program will work until mid-2025. That means you have several months to use your Alaska and/or Hawaiian miles. If you’ve been eyeing one of Alaska’s award chart sweet spots, buying HawaiianMiles at a discount and transferring them to Mileage Plan could be a great way to get you closer to that redemption.
For instance, you could book a nonstop economy ticket from New York to London on American Airlines for travel in March 2025 for only 22,500 Alaska miles plus $19 in taxes and fees.
But don’t forget that HawaiianMiles are valuable in their own right. If you’re dreaming of a tropical getaway this winter, you can find nonstop award availability from Los Angeles to Honolulu in March for only 40,000 miles and $6 in taxes and fees for a lie-flat first-class seat — and it may be worth buying the miles you need to get there.
Related: Save money: How you can book flights to Hawaii using points and miles
Bottom line
The Alaska Airlines-Hawaiian Airlines merger has created a lot of uncertainty for loyalists of both programs as we head into 2025 — but it’s also created some valuable opportunities. Some TPG staffers even decided to apply for not one but two Hawaiian Airlines credit cards with the hopes of using the 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.
