Hawaiian Airlines Cardholders Now Get 2 Free Checked Bags on Select Flights

Here’s a bit of good news for anyone who holds the Hawaiian Airlines^® World Elite Mastercard^® — you’ll now get 2 free checked bags on certain Hawaiian Airlines flights. 

This is an exciting development for cardholders, as checked bag fees can add significant cost to a trip, especially if you’re traveling with a family or in a group.

Here’s what you need to know!

Get 2 Free Checked Bags With the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Card

Barclays and Hawaiian Airlines are now offering 2 free checked bags on flights between Hawaii and North America, as well as interisland flights, for all Hawaiian Airlines World Elite cardholders.

“As we’ve seen a healthy return to travel and prepare to enter the busy holiday travel and shopping season, we are excited to reward our Hawaiian Airlines cardmembers with two free checked bags,” said Bryan Kapeckas, Managing Director, Loyalty & Travel Products, Hawaiian Airlines. “This enhanced benefit is another way of saying thank you to our cardmembers for their loyalty.”

We think this is a great addition for anyone who has a Hawaiian Airlines World Elite card. Hawaii is far away from the continental U.S., and flights see a lot of checked luggage from vacationers embarking on extended stays, family members visiting the mainland (and vice versa), and more.

For non-cardholders, the first checked bag on a flight between North America and Hawaii costs $30, and a second bag costs an additional $40 on top of that (our guide to Hawaiian’s baggage fees further details all of the expenses).

For anyone traveling with a lot of luggage, this perk can save them a lot of money. And for a card that carries a $99 annual fee, it’ll be easy to recoup that with just 1 round-trip journey on Hawaiian Airlines — either between neighboring islands or between the islands and the continental U.S.

About the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Card

The Hawaiian Airlines World Elite card, issued by Barclays, offers a nice variety of perks for cardholders, and it’s suitable not just for frequent Hawaiian Airlines flyers, but also for those who vacation in Hawaii with some regularity, thanks in large part to the savings you’ll receive on checked baggage fees.

The card earns HawaiianMiles according to the following structure:

• 3x miles per dollar spent on Hawaiian Airlines flights
• 2x miles per dollar spent on gas, dining, and eligible grocery store purchases
• 1x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases

The card also offers the aforementioned 2 free checked bags, a one-time 50% off companion discount, an annual $100 companion discount, discounts on award tickets, no-fee points sharing, and more.

And right now, the card is offering a public welcome bonus of 60,000 HawaiianMiles after spending $2,000 in purchases on the card within 90 days of account opening (we also have tips on how to secure a bonus of up to 70,000 HawaiianMiles!).

Hot Tip: Learn more about Hawaiian Airlines’ HawaiianMiles loyalty program in our complete guide!

Final Thoughts

This is a great development from Hawaiian Airlines and Barclays. Hawaii is a unique destination that sees a lot of checked bags from flyers, so the ability as a Hawaiian Airlines World Elite cardholder to check 2 of them for free represents pretty significant savings, and makes the card’s annual fee well worth it, even for relatively infrequent travelers.

We certainly hope that more carriers will follow Hawaiian’s lead and introduce a second free checked bag on their respective co-branded cards.