How to get to Hawaii on points
All trips are from Los Angeles (LAX) to Honolulu (HNL), for the sake of an apples-to-apples comparison (or pineapple-to-pineapple, if you will).
That said, if you’re flying from the Midwest or the East Coast, you can book flights to Honolulu on one itinerary. You’ll likely need to change planes, though.
And, if you’re flying from the West Coast, you also may have options to fly into other Hawaiian Island airports, such as Kona airport on Hawaii (KOA) or Kahuli airport on Maui (OGG).
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines is one of the best ways to get to Hawaii. The recent Alaska Airlines-Hawaiian Airlines merger also means that you can use Alaska miles to book a Hawaiian Airlines flight. This is advantageous because Alaska uses an award chart, and taxes and fees are quite low.
As a result of the merger, you can transfer MR points to HawaiianMiles, then transfer HawaiianMiles to Alaska miles. (At least for now!)
-
Roundtrip economy cost: 32K miles
-
Roundtrip business class cost: 80K miles
- Points to transfer:
- MR points → HawaiianMiles → Alaska Mileage Plan
- BR points → Alaska Mileage Plan
- Cards to get the points and miles:
Southwest Airlines
Southwest award tickets used to be tied to the cash price of the ticket, but the airline is shifting to demand-based redemption rates. (And that’s not even mentioning the new checked baggage fees!) That means that the points it will cost to get to Hawaii will likely go up. Below is a figure for a roundtrip, nonstop flight six months away.
-
Roundtrip economy cost: 38K points
-
Points to transfer: UR points → Southwest Rapid Rewards
- Cards to get the points and miles:
Although it’s not technically redeeming points, another great option would be to use the airline’s companion pass to get there. When you hold the companion pass, you can buy one cash-fare ticket and then a companion gets to fly with you for only the taxes and fees on the second ticket. That’s basically a buy-one-get-one ticket to Hawaii!
You can earn the companion pass from this airline’s co-branded card limited-time offer. This pass will be good through February 28, 2026, so if you want to get to Hawaii in the next 12 months, this could be a great way to get there.
British Airways
British Airways is a member of the oneworld airline alliance, which means you can use British Airways Avios to fly on Alaska Airlines or American Airlines flights since they are the domestic US members of oneworld.
This is not the lowest cost option, but you might consider this if you don’t have American AAdvantage miles or don’t have access to Alaska Miles through transfer partners.
-
Roundtrip economy cost: 40K roundtrip
- Points to transfer:
- Any type of credit card point → British Airways Avios
- Cards to get the points and miles:
- As of March 2025, all credit card points will transfer to British Airways Avios
-
This card is running a limited-time offer for 75k bonus miles, plus a $250 travel credit.
-
This card is also running a limited-time offer for 75k bonus points.
Turkish Airlines
Warning: Advanced points and miles strategy follows.
You might be able to use Turkish miles to book a United flight for Hawaii. Prices are insanely low—I’m talking 20k roundtrip in economy or 30k in business class. That’s basically the definition of a points deal.
But the process to do this is a bit more involved.
If you’re game to attempt this, I walk you through the steps in our guide.
Or you can save yourself the trouble: We’ve sent this exact deal to Premium and Elite members in the past year!
What about Delta, United, and American?
All three big US carriers fly to Hawaii, and yes, you can use their miles. But many of these airlines price flights dynamically, so it may cost more than the options above. That said, if you have a stash of miles with one of these airlines, using them to fly to Hawaii is certainly doable.
|
