Hawaii is one of the top bucket list destinations for our Travel Freely members (and, lots of other people out there), but air travel to the Hawaiian islands can be outlandishly expensive.
If you haven’t been to Hawaii, it can often be seen as a pipe dream of sorts—with the high cost of flights and hotels at top of mind. But, thanks to credit card points and miles, it’s actually a much more attainable trip than you might think! Check out some of our Hawaii articles and member success stories to see for yourself!
With the use of points, you can book free air travel to Hawaii a number of different ways. We break down exactly how to use the top rewards programs to book your free trip to Hawaii! Keep reading to see the different types of points and miles that can be used to book flights to Hawaii.
Before we begin, our favorite way to get to Hawaii is through the use of transferable points (like, Chase Ultimate Rewards), as this gives you the most options. Transferable point programs let you transfer your points to any number of airline programs. If you’re not familiar with transferable points programs, please check out our guides:
The 3 Easiest Ways to Get to Hawaii Southwest doesn’t have any relevant partners, but their own points are useful especially since they’re fully refundable. Additionally, if you have earned a Southwest Companion Pass, you can fly two people for the price of one! See: Complete guide to the Southwest Companion Pass .
The short story: Southwest points are typically only worth about 1.5c towards the cost of a flight, but award bookings are totally flexible since they can be changed or canceled with no fee up until shortly before departure.Miles required : Varies by route but can be less than other options when cash prices are low.How to find awards:  Search for available space at Southwest.com How to book awards : Book online at Southwest.com Key warnings: Keep in mind that if you pay for Early Bird Check-In and then later cancel or change your flight, you will lose the benefit without a refund.Transfer from: Chase
Log into your Southwest Rapid Rewards account and search for your flight route by selecting “points.”
Once you hit, “search” you’ll see a list of all possible award flights and the total number of points you’ll need to book your free flight to Hawaii.
If you have Chase Points, be sure to check flight prices in the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal before you transfer your points to an airline. It’s often worth checking to see how many points a flight would cost (especially if you find a reasonable cash price directly with the airlines). Keep in mind that you may not always find the best deal this way—so, it’s always a good idea to compare the points cost before making a decision.
For more information on how to book a flight via the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, check out this article .
Capital One Miles are very valuable when it comes to booking travel because they’re super easy to redeem. You can use your card to book a flight directly with your preferred airline and use your miles to reimburse that charge. While you can transfer your points to various transfer programs, the easiest way to use Capital One Miles is through this feature that, when applied, covers any travel expense coded as such on your credit card statement. Put simply, you can reimburse yourself for your travel expenses by redeeming your points as cash back, which makes it very easy to redeem your miles.
Check out these Capital One articles for more information:
Capital One Miles Guide
Is the New Capital One Venture X Worth It?
How to Get the Miles With “Wildcards,” like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Citi Strata Premierâ„ Card you can transfer your points from your credit card directly to an airline to book a flight using points. You can read more about Wildcards in our blog post, Rewards Cards 101: Get to know the Best Rewards Cards for Free Travel .
The following chart shows the available transferable points programs for each of the above airline frequent flyer programs:
Rewards Program
Amex Transfer Ratio
Chase Transfer Ratio
Citi Transfer Ratio
Capital One Transfer Ratio
Air France KLM Flying Blue
1 to 1
1 to 1
1 to 1
1 to 1
British Airways Avios
1 to 1
1 to 1
Â
1 to 1
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
1 to 1
1 to 1
1 to 1
1 to 1
Southwest Rapid Rewards
Â
1 to 1
Â
Â
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
Â
Â
1 to 1
1 to 1
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
1 to 1
1 to 1
1 to 1
Â
Additional Ways to Get to Hawaii on Points and Miles Fly United using Turkish Miles & Smiles Turkish offers the best deal to Hawaii, hands down. 7.5K one-way in economy may still be possible (unconfirmed: 10K one-way coming soon) or 12.5K one-way in business class is insane (unconfirmed: 15K one-way coming soon. Still insane).
The short story: Turkish offers the same pricing on flights to Hawaii as for other domestic US awards, making them an unbelievable value for flights to Hawaii.Miles required : 7,500 miles each way in economy class or 12,500 miles each way in business class (can include connections for the same price) Update 2/15/24: According to multiple miles and points sources like Frequent Miler , these fares are likely to increase to 10,000 miles each way in economy class and 15,000 miles each way in business class in the near future. Still an incredible value. How to find awards:  Search for available award space at United.com . Important: make sure that the results indicate that the award is a “saver award”, otherwise it won’t be bookable.How to book awards : While it’s theoretically possible to book online, you’ll likely have much better luck via phone (1-800-874-8875). Even then, it may take several calls to get an agent who can see that the award space is available. Be sure to have all the details (origin and destination airports, flight numbers and all relevant passenger details for everyone on your itinerary) prepped and ready before you make your call.Key warnings: Turkish appears to have a max connect time of 4 hours on a domestic itinerary, so itineraries with a longer connection would require 2 awards. Also, for an unknown reason, Turkish agents often can’t see award space that other partner airlines can see. You may have to call several times to get an award booked. Keep in mind that transfers to Turkish are not instant; it will take 1-2 days for the miles to show up in your Turkish Miles & Smiles account. As a result, we highly recommend calling to put an award on hold before you transfer points to Turkish miles.Transfer From: Capital One or Citi
Log into your United MileagePlus account, and search for your itinerary by selecting “Book with Miles”
Look for the flights that are listed as “Saver Award.” Once you have an itinerary in mind, call Turkish Airlines to book the award flight.
Singapore offers excellent award prices to fly Alaska Airlines economy class to Hawaii.
The short story: Singapore KrisFlyer charges fewer miles for domestic flights to Hawaii than United does for the same flights. Additionally, they have a great chart for Alaska Airlines for those originating in parts of the US other than the East Coast.Miles required : For United flights: 19,500 miles each way in economy or 39,000 in business (as compared to 22.5K / 40K through United). For Alaska Airlines flights: award prices are zone-based and as low as 11.5k one-way in economy class.How to find awards:  Search for available United Airlines space at United.com  (Note: Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or SingaporeAir.com. For Alaska Airlines award space, search at AA.com How to book awards : Book online at SingaporeAir.com or over the phone with Singapore KrisFlyer. Alaska awards must be booked over the phone (1-833-727-0118).Key warnings: Singapore allows a maximum connection time of 4 hours on a domestic itinerary and will not allow a stopover on a one-way domestic award. Be aware that United.com and AA.com will show availability for flights with longer/overnight connections that are not available with Singapore KrisFlyer miles, so be sure to double check availability at SingaporeAir.com or with a phone agent before booking. Also note that transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer are not instant. Transfers typically take 12-24 hours (from all major transferable currencies) and Singapore does not hold award tickets.Transfer from: Amex , Capital One , Chase , or Citi
Avios are great for the shortest distance AA and/or Alaska Airlines non-stop economy flights to Hawaii.
The short story: British Airways offers a distance-based award chart, so flights from the West Coast of the US on Alaska Airlines or American Airlines can be a great value with Avios.Miles required : 13k miles each way plus $5.60 for economy-class segments between west coast cities and Hawaii.How to find awards:  Search for available space at britishairways.com  for AA or aa.com  for Alaska flights.How to book awards : Book American flights online at britishairways.com or Alaska flights over the phone at 1-800-452-1201.Key warnings: British Airways charges for each segment separately, so multi-segment trips can get expensive quickly. Furthermore, the British Airways site sometimes shows phantom award space for AA. You may want to double-check Qantas.com for availability before transferring to British Airways Executive Club for American flights.Transfer from: Amex , Capital One , or Chase
Air France is one of the cheapest options for booking Delta flights to Hawaii. Unfortunately, Delta’s partner award space is extremely hard to find, especially for first-class awards.
The short story: Air France charges far fewer miles than Delta for Delta flights to Hawaii, but finding award availability can be a huge challenge.Miles required : 17.5K one-way in economy, or 43K one-way in business class for Delta flights from the US mainland to Hawaii.How to find awards:  Use the Virgin Atlantic 5 week award search to find availability (see this post for details on how to use the 5 week award search). Next, confirm your findings at AirFrance.us  (you’ll need to create a free Flying Blue frequent flyer account to search)How to book awards : Book online at AirFrance.com . Can also book via phone when the website returns errors (1-800-237-2747).Key warnings: Air France’s website is buggy and will often return errors when trying to complete a booking. If that happens, try calling (1-800-237-2747).Transfer from : Amex , Capital One , Chase , or Citi
While Air France is usually cheaper, Virgin Atlantic sometimes sees award space that other Delta partners cannot see.
The short story: Virgin Atlantic often offers Delta flights to Hawaii for many fewer miles than Delta would charge for the same itineraries. This can be a particularly good value for Delta’s life-flat routes to Hawaii.Miles required : 20,000 miles each way in economy class or 37,500 miles each way in business class (for non-stop  flights)How to find awards:  Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com How to book awards : Book online at VirginAtlantic.com . See: How to book Delta flights with Virgin Atlantic miles .Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so they are not a good choice for connecting itineraries.Transfer from: Amex , Chase , or Citi
With some strategic planning and careful cultivation of your favorite points and miles currency, flights to Hawaii can be affordable. Use the tips outlined above to start planning your trip today!
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60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.
Our #1 personal card we recommend most often. Hands down the single best "starter card" for beginners and the MVP card for free travel.
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60,000 American Express Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in the first 6 months.
A must-have for anyone who loves Amex points. Some of the highest returns (4x!) for spending at U.S. supermarkets and restaurants worldwide (plus takeout and delivery in the U.S). Definitely worth a spot in your wallet.
Terms apply.
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75,000 Capital One® Miles after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.
Great "ultra-premium" card. Despite the big annual fee, the overall first year value is worth it for most people. This is due to the large signup bonus, extra benefits like Priority Pass, up to $300 annual travel credit and Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit.
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Earn a $400 statement credit + 40,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in 4 months
For a limited time - now with an updated offer valued at $950! Offer ends 12/16/24. This has the lowest annual fee of all Southwest personal cards, and comes with two EarlyBird passes per year.
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75,000 Citi ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.
Formerly the Citi Premier® Card, this is a new excellent rewards credit card with a solid signup bonus and 3x spending categories. This card is comparable to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, but with different transfer partners. Read the application rule carefully regarding "48 months."
(Some of this content originally appeared on The Frequent Miler and has been posted with permission.)
