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The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard® comes with 35,000 bonus Hawaiian Miles after spending $1,000 on the card in the first 90 days. That’s enough bonus miles for a roundtrip on Hawaiian Airlines from the mainland to anywhere in Hawaii.
The six main reasons I love this offer:
- Hawaiian Airlines has amazing award availability from the western United States to all the major Hawaiian islands.
- Cardholders receive a discount on Hawaiian Airlines awards, so instead of paying 20k miles each way between the mainland and Hawaii, cardholders pay only 17,500 miles each way. That means the sign up bonus is enough for a free roundtrip to Hawaii.
- Cardholders can receive miles freely from other Hawaiian Miles accounts, so combining miles is easy.
- One way awards are bookable for half the price of roundtrips, which adds tons of flexibility and chances for island hopping.
- Hawaiian Airlines is my favorite airline to fly between the mainland and Hawaii in economy.
- You get a free checked bag on Hawaiian Airlines flights purchased with the Hawaiian Airlines card. That’s $50 off if you want to fly to Hawaii with your golf clubs.
The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard® is a new product just released this month by Barclaycard. Even if you had a Hawaiian Airlines card from Bank of America or Bank of Hawaii, this is a new card. If you’ve canceled those cards, this one should be available to you with full bonus.
- Why is Hawaiian my favorite carrier between the mainland and Hawaii?
- How good is Hawaiian’s award space?
- How would I maximize a Hawaiian Airlines award to my home state?
- How does the free Share Miles program?
The Experience
Flying Hawaiian between the mainland and Hawaii is nicer than flying other carriers.
All of Hawaiian’s flights to the mainland are on 767s and A330s, which are widebody planes that feel less cramped than the narrow planes that Delta, American, and United mostly fly to Hawaii.
Hawaiian offers a free pasta meal in economy with a free glass of wine.

And the flight attendants sure seem friendlier to me, giving you an early taste of the aloha spirit before you even get to Hawaii.
The Award Space Picture
All the routes I checked had great award space in economy at the Saver level as long as you look at the right time of year. This even includes Hawaiian’s 10+ hour flights between New York-JFK and Honolulu.
All the calendar’s below show the cheapest award price for one person on the indicated route. Remember, though, that when the calendar says 20k, folks with The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard® will pay only 17,500 miles each way.
Las Vegas (the 9th Hawaiian Island) <-> Honolulu, October 2014
San Jose <-> Honolulu, September 2014
Phoenix <-> Honolulu, October 2014
Los Angeles <-> Lihue (Kauai), September 2014
New York <-> Honolulu, January 2015
It costs no extra miles if you need a connecting flight in the islands (and only $2.50 extra in taxes.) Los Angeles to Lihue via Honolulu is still only 20k miles each way or 17,500 miles each way for cardholders.
Share Miles
Most airline programs will only let you share miles between accounts for a steep fee of 1 cent or more per mile. That means that sharing miles kills most of their value.
But Hawaiian allows free transfers TO (not FROM) the Hawaiian Miles account of holders of The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard®.
I used this perk when I had another version of this card that was issued by Bank of America. Being able to pool Hawaiian Miles in one account makes family redemptions or First Class redemptions if you’re short a few miles quite a bit easier.
Don’t forget that Membership Rewards transfer 1:1 to Hawaiian Miles and Starpoints transfer 1:1 to Hawaiian Miles with a 5,000 mile bonus for every 20k Starpoints transferred.
My Strategy
Hawaii is made for island hopping. For all the similarities between the islands, there are big differences and unique things to do on each island. I would book an open jaw that flew from the mainland to one island and home from a different island.
Then I’d hop between the islands on cash tickets (usually about $80 per segment), with Arrival miles, or with 6k United miles on Hawaiian flights if cash prices are high.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
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Don’t forget about the $89 annual fee
Mea culpa. I always expect it to be in the marketing bullet points, and it isn’t with this cards. Sorry, I have added it to the post. Thanks for keeping me honest.
FC?
I’m not too big on Hawaiian First. It is nicer than the standard United, Delta, American domestic First. It costs 40k each way, which seems like a lot from the western US, and from NYC I’d rather fly United’s fully flat First.
What about Alaska first?
Alaska First is just like all the other domestic first class cabins.
Flying Hawaiian between the mainland and Hawaii is nicer than flying other carriers.
All of Hawaiian’s flights to the mainland are on 767s and A330s, which are widebody planes that feel less cramped than the narrow planes that Delta, American, and United mostly fly to Hawaii.
So coach is better but FC just the same?
First class on Hawaiian is 4 inches of extra leg room compared to other carriers. I just don’t think it’s a good deal to pay more than double economy price for first class on such a short flight.
LOL! That’s because you haven’t jumped out of an airplane 19 times, had a couple of bad landings and followed it with back surgery………To celebrate the arrivsal of TSA I travel half the time I used to and spend double the miles to sit up front……..it works for me……and they are always miles………
There is nothing FREE about this.
There is no disclosure of the mandatory annual fee on the card.
Better off with the AAdvantage 50 offer with no fee the first year.
Mea culpa. I always expect it to be in the marketing bullet points, and it isn’t with this cards. Sorry, I have added it to the post. Thanks for keeping me honest.
My award sweet spots chart says Avios and Korean are the programs you need to use miles to go Mainland to the Islands with…….I could be wrong and if so I would love to hear the alternatives from Bay area………
do they allow stop-overs on rewards?
it’d be nice to visit Oahu and one other island for the same price.
thanks.
Can I apply for HA Mastercard Elite card and get bonus again?
Have BOA HA card. Use to have HA Bank of Hawaii card, but canceled when the annual fee came due.
You have to cancel the BOA HA card quickly before it converts to a Barclaycard Hawaiian card. Then you can reapply.
I have had the BOA HA card and I’ve been charged the annual fee earlier this year. Is there anyway, I can get the new card and bonus signup?
You have to cancel the BOA HA card quickly before it converts to a Barclaycard Hawaiian card. Then you can reapply.
Scott,
If I cancel the BofA HA cards, will my miles in HA FF account be safe?
Yes, they will expire only after a period of inactivity in your Hawaiian Miles account. See https://milevalu.wpengine.com/the-complete-guide-to-miles-and-points-expiration/
If I have this card, can I book tickets for my whole family on the same itinerary for only 17,500 each?
You will have access to 17,500 mile flights on behalf of everyone as a cardmember.
This guy is copying your stuff verbatim, fyi.
http://awardtravelpoints.com/2014/04/01/tips-for-flying-to-hawaii-for-free/#more-850
How does the card 17,500 miles work? Does it change when you enter your credit card? Or is there a place to indicate you are a card member?
The site knows you are a Hawaiian Credit Card holder when you sign in and automatically displays the 17,500 price.
Is this a chip and pin card? Or chip and signature ? Trying to decide between this and Arrival +.
Chip and Signature
Is this advantageous for a family traveling between Hawaii and Chicago?
Probably not. Hawaiian doesn’t fly there. You can use 45k Hawaiian miles for one r/t on American Airlines flights, but the same flights cost 35k or 45k AA miles depending on dates.
For a family in Chicago, get this card: milevalue.com/TYPremier
Its points can be used on any airline at a fixed value of 1.25 cents per point OR transferred to Singapore miles to book United flights for 17,500 miles each way per person to Hawaii.
love Hawaiian. I just cancelled my card. Used miles for first class. Does anyone know how long you have to wait to reapply for card in order to receive bonus miles.