Best Frequent Flyer Award Redemptions to Hawaii (2019)

  Award Ticket Strategies

Usually, when there is regular ("saver") award space available on a flight, you can book your ticket using many different types of frequent flyer points. For example, if you want to book a frequent flyer ticket on American airlines, you use any of two dozen different Oneworld frequent flyer programs.

Each frequent flyer program has a it's own award chart, and may require a different number of miles to book the exact same trip. They also have different rules about stopovers, fees, and fuel surcharges. That means that, for any given trip, some programs are less expensive than others.

If you have Ultimate Rewards, ThankYou Points, Membership Rewards, Marriott Points, or Diners Club points you can transfer them to many different frequent flyer programs. As a result, you can take advantage of each program's sweet spots, and book your trip for less than the normal number of points. 2. Choose the Least Expensive Frequent Flyer Program for Your Ticket

Periodically, Membership Rewards, ThankYou Rewards, Venture Points and Marriott Rewards offer transfer bonuses that give you extra miles when you transfer your points to a specific frequent flyer program. This temporarily reduces the number of points you need to make a redemption, potentially changing which program is your best option for booking an award. See Take Advantage of Transfer Bonuses to Get More Value from Your Reward Points for more information or visit Frequent Miler’s Current Transfer Bonuses page for a list of current promotions. TravelStrategies:*Best Hawaii Frequent Flyer Award Options/Box

Jump to

• Good options
• No good options for some airline / credit card point combinations
• Lie-flat seats from the East Coast

Good options to Hawaii

Normal round trip awards to Hawaii require 45,000 miles in coach, and 80,000 miles in business class. However, much better deals are available with the right program. As usual, you'll need to pick the best option, based on the airlines that have award space, and the type of points that you have.

Program	Transfer From	Economy	Business	Fly On
Turkish	MR UR TY C1 Mar	20	30	United
As long as its a direct flight, you can take advantage of a special "within a single region" award from the Turkish Airlines program. While prices are incredible, it is a little bit of a hassle to book your tickets. Once you've called to book your tickets, you'll need to send various forms and copies of IDs by email to finalize the transaction.
Singapore	MR UR TY C1 Mar	23-25	84-93	Alaska
As long as you can fly nonstop, using Singapore Airline miles for Alaska Airline flights is the cheapest way to get to fly Alaska to Hawaii. Depending on the state you are leaving from, you will pay between 23,000 and 25,000 miles round trip.
Korean	MR UR TY C1 Mar	25	45	Delta
For Delta flights, Korean Airlines requires the fewest miles in both economy and business class. 45,000 miles for business class seats is far lower than any of the other options. Only round trip awards are available, but you get a free stopover. Delta flies nonstop from Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle.
British Airways	MR UR TY C1 Mar	26-50+	78-120+	American, Alaska
British Airways only requires 26,000 miles round trip for nonstop flights on American and Alaskan Airlines from the entire Western part of the United States (any trip less than 3,000 miles each way), making it the lowest cost option for these flights. If your trip is longer, or you need to make a connection, you'll pay 50,000 points or more. For business class, Jet, Etihad, or JAL offer cheaper rewards, even from the West Coast. But, BA remains your best option with Ultimate Rewards points.
Flying Blue	MR UR TY C1 Mar	???	???	Delta
If you can't take advantage of Korean's awards on Delta, Flying Blue might be a good option for Delta flights in both economy and business class. They participate in all of the transferable point programs and give you a free stopover on round trip flights. However, they have a dynamic award pricing scheme, rather than an award chart, so the mileage requirement varies widely.
Korean	MR UR TY C1 Mar	30	60	Alaska, Hawaiian
Korean airlines requires more miles, when you fly on Alaska or Hawaiian, than when you fly Delta. Round trip only. They are the most affordable option on Hawaiian Airlines.
Jet	MR UR TY C1 Mar	30-48	60-96	American, Delta
Award prices depend on which of four zones you are leaving from. This is usually the best option on American, unless you are flying on a shorter nonstop flight, and can get good prices from British Airways.
Singapore	MR UR TY C1 Mar	35	60	United
If you can't get Thai miles (through Citibank or Marriott), Singapore is usually the the next best option for United. They participate in all of the transferable point programs, charge the same amount of points regardless of your routing, offer one-way awards, and give you a free stopover on round trip flights.
Etihad	MR UR TY C1 Mar	35	75	American
The best option for flying American from anywhere but the West Coast. In Business class, JAL is usually a better option.
Alaska	MR UR TY C1 Mar	35	80	Alaska
Unless you have Alaska miles, or need two stopovers, you are better off using Flying Blue or Singapore.
JAL	MR UR TY C1 Mar	37-50	60-80	American
JAL's distance-based award areoften your best business class option on American, but you need Marriott points. Unlike British Airways, connections are fine. You can easily tack on additional flights in Hawaii or on the mainland, without increasing the number of miles needed.
ANA	MR UR TY C1 Mar	40	68	Hawaiian, United
The best option on Hawaiian Airlines if you can't use Korean miles. Thai and Singapore are better options for United flights.
Virgin Atlantic	MR UR TY C1 Mar	40	75	Delta
Slightly better rates for Delta flights, if you can't take advantage of any of the options above.
Hawaiian	MR UR TY C1 Mar	40-260	80-260	Hawaiian
Can be useful if you have Hawaiian miles you want to use. Prices are more expensive from the eastern half of the US.
American (Off Peak)	MR UR TY C1 Mar	40	80	American
Unless you have American Airlines miles you want to use, you are better off using British Airways, Jet, or Etihad.
American	MR UR TY C1 Mar	45	80	American, Alaska, Hawaiian
Same as above, but you don’t “save” 5,000 miles on economy tickets.
United	MR UR TY C1 Mar	45	80	United, Hawaiian
Unless you have United miles you want to use, you are better off using Thai or Singapore.
Delta	MR UR TY C1 Mar	45	80	Delta
Unless you have Delta miles you want to use, you are better off using Korean or Flying Blue.
Alaska	MR UR TY C1 Mar	45	95	American
Unless you have Alaska miles you want to use, you are better off with Singapore, British Airways, or Flying Blue. There are no good options for some airline / credit card point combinations Depending on the type of points you have, it can be expensive to book award flights on American and Hawaiian Airlines. There are no good options for booking Hawaiian with ThankYou points. You could transfer to Jet Blue, but you will only get 500 miles for every 1000 points. And the mileage rates for award tickets are variable and expensive. If you only have Ultimate Rewards points, your only options for award tickets on American are distance based programs. If you are flying from the West Coast, the pricing for these awards can be reasonable. But, if you are travelling from further east, they start getting very expensive, especially if you’re using a program like British Airways, that charges for each flight, when you need to make a connection. Lie-flat seats from the East Coast Getting to Hawaii from the East Coast is a long flight. On some of these routes, there are options for real lie-flat business class seats. United. United operates lie flat seats on may different routes, but not on every plane. Delta. Delta operates lie flat seats between JFK, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles and Honolulu. American. American operates lie flat seats between Dallas Ft Worth and Honolulu, Maui, and Kona; and Chicago and Honolulu. However, it is often not possible to find award availability unless you are connecting to their hubs from another city. Hawaiian. Hawaiian operates lie flat seats from many airports to Honolulu or Maui. Award Tickets 101: The Basics 2. Choose the Least Expensive Frequent Flyer Program for Your Ticket Stretch Your Frequent Flyer Miles by Taking Advantage of Great Award Redemption Options TravelStrategies:*Best Hawaii Frequent Flyer Award Options/Page