Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles Loyalty Program Review
Full Disclosure: We may receive financial compensation when you click on links and are approved for credit card products from our advertising partners. Opinions and product recommendations on this site are ours alone, and have not been influenced, reviewed or approved by the issuer. See our Advertiser Disclosure for more details. We appreciate your support!
Hawaiian Airlines Summary Table
- Home Country U.S.
- Airline Website HawaiianAirlines.com
- Loyalty Program HawaiianMiles
- Major Hubs Honolulu, Kahului, Kailua-Kona, Lihue
- Airline Alliance None
- Points Are Worth ~1.1 cents/point
- Signature Lounge Premier Club, Plumeria Lounge
- Earn Points/Miles
- Redeem Points/Miles
- Airline Review
- Airline Fees
- Award Chart Link
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®
American Express Membership Rewards Credit Cards
Earning Membership Rewards is probably the best way to earn lots of HawaiianMiles with numerous cards with bonus categories.
Recommended Amex Cards (Personal)
| The Platinum Card® from American Express - There's currently a welcome bonus of 60,000 points after spending $5,000 in your first 3 months, worth up to $600 towards travel. However — you may be eligible for a (much) higher offer by using the CardMatch Tool. (There's no pull on your credit to check for personalized offers.) This is our #1 card for accessing 1,200+ airport lounges worldwide (including Priority Pass). We leverage ~$2,700+ in value from the card every year. For rates & fees of the Platinum Card, click here. |
| American Express® Gold Card - We love using this card as it earns 4x points at restaurants worldwide and 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year; then 1x). There's no better card in our opinion if you eat out and/or shop at supermarkets regularly. With a welcome bonus of 35,000 points after you spend $4,000 in your first 3 months and up to $100 airfare fee credit per year, it's a strong choice. For rates & fees of the Gold Card, click here. |
Recommended Amex Cards (Business)
| The Business Platinum Card® from American Express - Right now, there's a welcome bonus of up to 75,000 points after you spend $15,000 within the first 3 months. See how we get ~$5,525+ in value per year by leveraging many of the benefits & perks, including access to 1,200+ airport lounges worldwide. For rates & fees of the Business Platinum, click here. |
| American Express® Business Gold Card - probably our favorite Amex business card because we earn 4x points across the top 2 select categories that we spend the most money in each month, such as Facebook or Google ads. The 4x points applies to the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these 2 categories each calendar year. After that, you earn 1x. For rates & fees of the Business Gold Card, click here. |
| The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express - A super simple, no annual fee card that earns you 2x points on any business purchase, up to $50,000 annually (then 1x). That makes for an easy 100,000 points per year. For rates & fees of the Blue Business Plus, click here. |
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 that 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
HawaiianMiless expire after 18 months of inactivity. Any time you earn or redeem miles, the 18-month clock resets.
HawaiianMiles Mileage Program
HawaiianMiles Elite Status
HawaiianMiles has 2 elites status levels plus the Premier Club, which you can buy without prior travel.
| Elite Status | Status Qualifications (per calendar year) |
|---|---|
| Pualani Gold | Fly 20,000 miles or 30 segments |
| Pualani Platinum | Fly 40,000 miles or 60 segments |
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 Hawaiian Miles
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.
| Earn Miles with Partner Airlines | |
| All Nippon Airways (ANA) | Korean Air |
| China Airlines | Virgin Atlantic |
| Japan Airlines (JAL) | Virgin Australia |
| JetBlue | |
Earning varies by fare class, with some fare classes excluded.
Earn Miles With Credit Cards
Hawaiian Airlines has 2 credit cards which 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 earn miles by transferring American Express Membership Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio. Many cards that earn Membership Rewards have multiple bonus categories so you can actually get more Hawaiian Miles by using these cards.
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 Hawaiian Miles
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:
| One Way Flight Awards | Economy | First |
|---|---|---|
| Neighbor Island | ||
| Neighbor Island | 7,500-20,000 | 15,000-30,000 |
| Neighbor Island Upgrade | 7,500-15,000 | |
| North America To/From Hawaii | ||
| North America (West Coast)-Hawaii | 20,000-90,000 | 40,000-80,000 |
| North America (West Coast)-Hawaii Upgrade | 25,000-50,000 | |
| North America (East Coast)-Hawaii | 30,000-130,000 | 40,000-130,000 |
| North America (East Coast)-Hawaii Upgrade | 25,000-50,000 | |
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.
| Redeem Miles With Partner Airlines | |
| All Nippon Airways (ANA) | Korean Air |
| China Airlines | Virgin Atlantic |
| Japan Airlines (JAL) | Virgin Australia |
| JetBlue | |
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.
Frequently asked questions
What is Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles? Is it worth it?
HawaiianMiles is the Hawaiian Airlines frequent flyer or loyalty program. By signing up to this free program, you get access to a range of additional benefits for flying with them as well as the ability to earn points and redeem awards.
We always find signing up to free programs worth it, because you’ll get some benefits at no cost!
What are the HawaiianMiles benefits? What are the elite status levels?
Benefits are based on your elite status level; you can be a basic member, Gold, or Platinum. Being a Premier Club member also offers some status benefits.
While Gold and Platinum levels are free (but earned), a Premier Club account costs $299 or 40,000 miles per year.
Benefits include no blackout dates on rewards travel, extra seat availability, discounted awards, priority services, fare holds, free bags, discounted upgrades, standby, and more.
Where is my HawaiianMiles account login? What is my HawaiianMiles number?
You can log in to your account here. If you’ve forgotten your number, you can find it by signing in to your account. If you can’t remember your account information, you can use the “forgot my password” tool or call customer service.
Are Hawaiian Airlines miles transferable? How do I transfer HawaiianMiles?
Yes, you can transfer HawaiianMiles to other HawaiianMiles members for free. You can also use miles on other partner airlines (Virgin, JetBlue, and more) or with travel partners such as Hilton Honors, Alamo, and Avis.
How do I use Hawaiian Airlines miles? What does a reward flight cost?
You can use your miles to purchase free flights on Hawaiian or any of their partner airlines. Awards start at 7,500 and go up to 200k+ miles, depending on the destination. The HawaiianMiles award chart can be seen here.
Is there a Hawaiian Airlines credit card?
Yes, you can use the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard®. Other credit cards that can earn miles and transfer to HawaiianMiles include the American Express® Gold Card.
I have very few Hawaiian miles, yet you refuse to allow me to view my miles so I obviously will never be able to use them. I tried to use the auto information feature the same as always yet I get a message that it is the wrong password. I then enter it manually and I am still told that it is incorrect. Then I change it only to be told again that word is incorrect.
No matter what I do you find a reason to deny me entry. There was a time when my family and I flew your airlines on a regular basis. Now that I fly less I feel that I am being cheated out of a few (less than 10,000) miles.
How difficult could it be to allow me entry to the few miles that I have earned? This is not acceptable for a reputable company.
Hello Truston. Sorry you are having difficulty accessing your HawaiianMiles account. First, please be advised that we are not Hawaiian Airlines. We are Upgraded Points, a website providing travel-related content and information on how to use points/miles and maximize credit card rewards. Hawaiian Airline’s web support center may be able to help you. You can reach them at 1-866-586-9419.
If I am not using my Hawaiian miles card will my miles go away? Do the miles stay in my account regardless of using them anytime soon?
Hi Peggy. Your Hawaiian miles expire after 18 months of no activity in your frequent flyer account. Earning, redeeming, and purchasing miles will keep the points from expiring, including earning on a Hawaiian Airlines credit card. You can also make a purchase through the Hawaiian Airlines shopping portal on their website.
Is anyone able to get the Chrome HawaainMiles browser extension to install? I have logged into their site on two separate browsers (Chrome and Edge) and after logging in, I try to launch the “Install” but nothing happens. Is this browser extension still something that is still available?
Hi Chris,
It seems that the browser extension is still being offered and available to be downloaded. If you’re having difficulties I would suggest contacting the Hawaiian Airlines customer service team. Thanks for reading!
I have quite a few frequent flyer miles and am wondering if I can book at flight for my nephew and his wife as a gift or are they only good for booking a flight for myself?
Hi Darlene,
You can use your miles to book a flight for whomever you’d like!
Thanks for reading!
I was looking at getting the Hawaiian Airlines Elite Master Card, but since miles expire. I don’t think I will get it now and just keep my United card as my miles there do not expire and it grants me admission to the United Clubs.