Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles Loyalty Program Review

Hawaiian Airlines Overview

HawaiianMiles is one of the few remaining mileage programs that is not revenue-based. With HawaiianMiles, a mile flown is a mile earned.

Joining HawaiianMiles

To join, simply enroll online for free. You’ll immediately be eligible to earn miles in the future as well as retroactively.

You start off at the basic membership level. Rather than wait to earn elite status, you can gain travel benefits quickly by purchasing a Premier Club membership.

How to Sign in to Your HawaiianMiles Account

Sign in on the HawaiianMiles homepage. You’ll need to enter your account number, username, or email address along with your password.

Viewing Your Account Activity

View your HawaiianMiles account activity on the Mileage Statement page.

Points Expiration

As of February 12, 2021, HawaiianMiles no longer expire.

HawaiianMiles Mileage Program

HawaiianMiles Elite Status

HawaiianMiles has 2 elites status levels plus the Premier Club, which you can buy without prior travel. Image Credit: Hawaiian Airlines

Current Pualani Elite members will have their statuses extended through February 2022. Additionally, requirements for achieving 2022 Pualani Gold or Platinum status have been reduced by 50%.

The updated qualifications for 2022 are:

All miles must be flown on Hawaiian Airlines flights to qualify. Partner flights do not count for elite qualification.

Pualani Gold:

• Discounted award ticket offers
• Discounted upgrades 24 hours before departure
• Neighbor island flights: free same-day change to earlier flight
• 1-2 day fare holds on paid tickets
• Priority check-in and security
• 2 free checked bags
• Premier Club access
• 50% mileage bonus

Pualani Platinum:

• All the benefits of Pualani Gold, plus:
• 3 free checked bags
• 100% mileage bonus
• Complimentary upgrades

See the full HawaiianMiles elite benefits for details and terms.

Premier Club

For $299 or 40,000 miles, you can enroll in Premier Club without ever having flown a Hawaiian Airlines flight.

With Premier Club you get a number of travel benefits:

• Discounted award ticket offers
• 2 free checked bags
• Priority check-in and security
• Premier Club access

After your first year, annual renewal is $249 or 35,000 miles

Value of Hawaiian Airlines Elite Status

If you are earning Hawaiian Airlines Elite status, it’s because you travel heavily on Hawaiian Airlines. Their route network can’t be beaten for frequent travel in Hawaii, particularly to neighbor island and Pacific island destinations.

Pualani Gold generously offers Premier Club access, but not complimentary upgrades.

Pualani Platinum adds prized complimentary upgrades.

The ability to earn miles based on actual miles flown for JetBlue and Virgin America is attractive, especially if that partnership continues when Alaska absorbs Virgin America.

Occasional fliers on partner airlines such as All Nippon Airways and Korean Air may find it useful to pool their miles in HawaiianMiles.

How to Earn HawaiianMiles

HawaiianMiles can be earned through the traditional methods of flying, credit card spending, and an online shopping mall. However, Hawaiian Airlines has distinguished itself with a way to earn bonus miles on in-store purchases.

These options provide you with plenty of opportunities to earn HawaiianMiles for your next vacation.

Earn Miles Through Flying

HawaiianMiles can be earned on all Hawaiian Airlines marketed flights.

All Hawaiian Airlines flights earn miles by distance flown. There is no mileage bonus for business class flights.

Earning varies by member status:

• Base member – actual miles flown
• Pualani Gold – actual miles flown + 50% mileage bonus, with 500-mile minimum on neighbor island flights
• Pualani Platinum – actual miles flown + 100% mileage bonus, with 500-mile minimum on neighbor island flights

Miles can also be earned retroactively for flights taken up to 120 days before signing up with HawaiianMiles.

HawaiianMiles can also be earned on partner airlines.

Earning varies by fare class, with some fare classes excluded.

Earn Miles With Credit Cards

Hawaiian Airlines has 2 credit cards that allow you to earn HawaiianMiles directly: the Hawaiian Airlines^® WorldElite MasterCard^® and Hawaiian Airlines^® Business MasterCard^®, both offered through Barclaycard.

Both of these cards earn 2X miles per dollar on purchases with Hawaiian Airlines and 1X mile per dollar on all other purchases.

You can also transfer miles from your Alaska Mileage Plan account at a 1:1 ratio.

Branded and Partnered Credit Cards

There are a few credit cards that can help you collect HawaiianMiles which can be redeemed for some amazing flights.

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles Credit Cards

You can earn HawaiianMiles directly with two co-branded cards from Barclaycard:

• Hawaiian Airlines^® World Elite MasterCard^®
• Hawaiian Airlines^® Business MasterCard^®

Earn Bonus Miles In Other Ways

You can earn miles through everyday shopping using the HawaiianMiles Online Mall. Chrome users can install HawaiianMiles MileFinder to automatically earn miles in their shopping.

Register any major credit card at the HawaiianMiles Marketplace to earn miles in-store at participating merchants.

Additional earning opportunities are available with HawaiianMiles partner airlines, rental cars, hotels, cruises, and more.

To top off for an award, HawaiinMiles can be purchased for $14.58 per 500-mile block.

How to Redeem HawaiianMiles

HawaiianMiles can be used to book award travel on any Hawaiian Airlines flight and certain partner airline flights.

HawaiianMiles has replaced its former 6 types of fixed price awards with a range of prices for economy, first, and upgrades.

Here is the neighbor island and North America award chart:

For other destinations, consult the HawaiianMiles award chart.

Miles are redeemed one-way, and therefore you can combine award levels including Super Saver, Saver, and Flex Awards.

Miles/Dollars awards may show in searches. These awards can be purchased for fewer miles and higher cash prices.

Partner airline awards are limited to round-trip travel. One-way, multi-city, and stopovers are not permitted.

JetBlue awards are based on the price of a JetBlue revenue ticket, but they’re not a great value at less than 1 cent per point.

Other partners use traditional distance-based award charts and have some good values. Korean Air business class within Asia for 60,000 miles round-trip is an example.

You must call HawaiianMiles to check for partner award availability. Searches on the HawaiianMiles website only show Hawaiian Airlines flights.