Aloha! A few days ago Southwest announced that they will begin service to Hawaii from the mainland United States some time in 2018. Specific routes and when they begin have not been announced as Southwest is still awaiting government approval.

This is fantastic news as the flight market to Hawaii can be quite expensive. The introduction of a low cost airline like Southwest will surely increase competition and drive prices down.

I tweeted this deal first from @MileValueAlerts. Follow @MileValueAlerts on Twitter and follow these directions to get a text message every time I tweet from that account. I tweet from @MileValueAlerts only a few times a month because it is designed to be used only for the best and most limited-time deals–like mistake fares–so that you aren’t bombarded by text messages.

United Airlines is offering roundtrip economy flights starting at $362 from various cities on the west coast to Honolulu, Maui, and Kona. Available travel dates span all the way from September through May of 2018.

I am updating and re-posting this series on redeeming American Airlines miles in light of the fact that right now it’s super easy to earn 146,000 American Airlines miles.

For a limited time, the Citi /AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard and the CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard are both offering 50k bonus miles for spending $3,000 on each card within three months of opening it. The new Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite MasterCard is offering 40k bonus American Airlines miles after just one purchase and paying the annual fee of $95.

I just booked myself a one way award from Honolulu, Hawaii to Charlottesville, Virginia for 17,500 Singapore miles and $6.

United partners with both Hawaiian Airlines and Island Air to offer codeshares within Hawaii.

You can redeem United miles for interisland flights on either airline. The cost is 6,000 miles + $5.60 one way.

You can also include Hawaiian or Island Air flights as part of a larger award, like Newark to Honolulu on United, connecting to Molokai on Hawaiian. Until very recently, though, United would price this as two separate awards.

Delta will operate a nonstop flight between New York (JFK) and Honolulu from December 17, 2016 to March 25, 2017 five day a week (not Tuesday or Wednesday.)

Delta doesn't publish its award chart, but it still has a secret award chart. The cheapest awards from the mainland United States to Hawaii are 22,500 Delta miles one way. But we can do a lot better than that.

Every day that Delta offers award space on this route for 22,500 miles one way, we can book it for 25,000 Korean miles roundtrip.

I just booked myself a $1,233 economy flight from Hawaii to Chicago for 17,500 Singapore miles and $5.

You probably already have the miles I used, so you're only a 10 minute phone call away from a trip to Hawaii that costs thousands of miles fewer than it "should."

The basic idea is that you don't want to use United, American Airlines, or Delta miles to fly to Hawaii. You want to use their planes, but you want to book those flights with miles issued by foreign airlines, which for whatever reason, offer far cheaper award prices to

United is offering a 20% discount on roundtrip Saver economy awards booked to Hawaii by November 5, 2015 and flown October 19, 2015 to March 3, 2016. The total cost of a roundtrip is 36,000 miles during the sale. There are blackout dates from November 20, 2015 to December 3, 2015 and December 16, 2015, to January 5, 2016.

Don’t Book This Promotion
If you have United miles, this may be a good deal. If you have Ultimate Rewards, do not transfer them to United miles to book this deal.

United is offering a 20% discount on roundtrip Saver economy awards booked to Hawaii by April 19 and flown Mondays through Thursdays from April 14 to May 19. The total cost of a roundtrip is 36,000 miles.

Don't Book This Promotion
If you have United miles, this may be a good deal. If you have Ultimate Rewards, do not transfer them to United miles to book this deal.