The Guide to Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles

For many living in the 50th state, Hawaiian Airlines is an excellent and practical choice: With hubs in Honolulu and Maui, it’s one of just two airlines that offer inter-island flights in Hawaii. It also offers top-notch amenities, such as spacious lie-flat seats in first class and complimentary meals for all passengers on long flights.

If you fly frequently on Hawaiian Airlines, participating in its loyalty program, HawaiianMiles, is a no-brainer. You'll rack up miles each time you fly, which can help you cover free flights in the future. Here's how it works.

Before you can start earning miles with Hawaiian, you’ll need to sign up for a HawaiianMiles frequent flyer account. It’s free to join, and you can register here.

Based on our most recent analysis, NerdWallet values HawaiianMiles at 1 cent apiece.

This is a baseline value for HawaiianMiles, based on real-world data collected from hundreds of economy routes, not a maximized value. In other words, you should aim for award redemptions that offer 1 cent or more in value from your HawaiianMiles.

» Learn more: The current value of Hawaiian Airlines miles

Hawaiian came in fifth place out of nine airlines in our most recent analysis on the best airline loyalty programs.

In terms of individual rankings, Hawaiian was all over the place. It came in first in operations, meaning it has impressively high rates of on-time performance, coupled with low rates of cancellations, passenger rebookings and baggage mishandling. It also has relatively low fees. However, it’s not great if you’re flying with a pet. It had among the highest rates of pet deaths and injuries of all the airlines we reviewed. 

It’s also not great in terms of the human in-flight experience. There are no seat back screens, so bring your own tablet, computer or smartphone to stay entertained on the long flight to Hawaii. And there’s no in-flight WiFi, though Hawaiian says it’s coming eventually.

Here's a closer look at how HawaiianMiles competed across categories:

• Third in rewards (mile) value.

• First in operations.

• Second in elite status benefits.

• Tied for second in terms of total fees.

• Tied for second in best basic economy ticket.

• Seventh in in-flight experience.

• Tied for second worst in most pet-friendly airlines.

Unlike most major U.S. airlines, Hawaiian awards miles based on how far you fly, not how much you spend on tickets. Its frequent-flyer miles, in other words, really are miles. That makes the process of earning miles a lot simpler. HawaiianMiles do not expire, so you don’t have to worry about keeping your account active.

Earning HawaiianMiles when you fly

Hawaiian Airlines’ distance-based rewards system is fairly straightforward: When you fly 1 mile, you earn 1 mile. You can also get a 50% bonus on your miles if you fly business or first class. And if you have elite status (see below), you could earn additional bonuses.

Earning HawaiianMiles with a credit card

The easiest way to rack up HawaiianMiles quickly is to sign up for Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®, the airline’s consumer credit card. It comes with a good welcome bonus that's enough to cover certain round-trip flights.

The card also comes with other solid benefits:

• 3 HawaiianMiles per dollar spent on Hawaiian Airlines purchases.

• 2 miles per dollar spent on gas, dining and grocery store purchases.

• 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.

• One-time 50% off companion discount.

• A $100 discount for a companion’s ticket each year.

• Two free checked backs.

The card's annual fee is $99.

» MORE: Best credit cards for Hawaii travel

Buying additional miles and status

Hawaiian Airlines sells miles for about 3 cents each — a relatively high price. We generally recommend avoiding purchasing Hawaiian miles directly.

However, if you need just a handful of miles to purchase a valuable award ticket, it could be worth it. These standard purchased miles don’t count toward elite status, but you can pay to qualify for elite status separately if you want.

Buying up to elite status is less costly if you’re already close to qualifying, and more expensive if you’re not. If the value you’d get out of elite benefits outweigh the cost of leveling up, paying for this status could be a decent option.

» Learn more: Dozens of ways to earn Hawaiian Airlines miles

When you earn enough miles, you can redeem them for flights on Hawaiian Airlines. Here are the different award seat fares the airline offers, from least to most expensive:

• Coach SuperSaver.

• Coach Saver.

• Coach Flex.

• First/Business Saver.

• First/Business Flex.

The Saver and Flex fares for each class offer identical benefits. The only difference is the cost. When demand for a certain flight is high, you may have to pay the Flex fare, which is more expensive. Depending on the cost of a cash ticket, this may not end up being a good use of miles, so always compare before you book. You can also purchase upgrades to first and business class with miles, if you choose.

If you carry the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®, you qualify for discounts on flight awards through the airline. You’ll have to log on to your account — the one linked to your card — to see these fares.

» Learn more: The best Hawaiian island to visit for first-timers

Good redemption options

You'll get the most value for your HawaiianMiles by redeeming them for first or business-class tickets on select partner airlines.

This isn't the easiest option, to be sure. Unlike with other airlines, you need to make reservations by phone when booking partner award travel through Hawaiian Airlines, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Sometimes, it can also be difficult to find available award seats. But if you can manage it, redeeming this way is usually a great method to get an insanely good value out of each mile. You can read more about which award flights are available on Hawaiian Airlines' website. Here are some solid options:

Bad redemption options

When you’re getting less than 1 cent per mile of value, take it as a sign: That redemption option just isn’t that good. Here are a couple you should watch out for.

• Some Hawaiian Airlines flights. On some Hawaiian Airlines flights, it’s hard to get more than 1 cent per mile. Say, for example, you were booking a round trip from San Francisco to Kona, Hawaii, in mid-March 2018 for travel at the end of May. That would have cost about $590 in cash. If you paid with miles, it would cost 60,000 miles, plus $11.20 in taxes and fees, with a Coach Saver award. With that redemption, you get a little less than 1 cent per mile — not terrible, but not great, either. You can do better.

• JetBlue. Among all of Hawaiian Airlines’ partners, JetBlue is the only one with consistently poor redemption options. While the airline doesn’t limit award seat availability, it’s nearly impossible to get more than 1 cent per mile when booking through it. A $300 flight booked with JetBlue would cost 40,000 miles, for example. Taxes and fees aside, that gets you less than 0.8 cent out of each mile. Thumbs down.

» Learn more: The complete guide to redeeming Hawaiian Airlines miles

When you fly frequently with Hawaiian Airlines, you can qualify for more benefits and bonuses through its "Pualani" statuses. The airline offers two tiers of elite status:

• Pualani Gold.

• Pualani Platinum.

Elite status becomes active about 48 hours after the miles that qualify you for it post to your account. That status lasts for the remainder of the calendar year and the full calendar year following that. So, if you earn status in June of 2023, your status will remain valid for the rest of 2023 and the entirety of 2024.

Because some Pualani membership benefits are Hawaii-specific, this status is most valuable to people living in Hawaii. For example, the status comes with access to Premier Club lounges in Hawaii as well as simpler access to flights to neighboring islands, both of which are benefits that are easier to make use of when you're based in the state of Hawaii.

(Pualani, by the way, is the name of the airline's mascot, the woman who appears on the tails of its airplanes. The word means "heavenly flower," and the airline refers to her as Pualani, Flower of the Sky.)

Pualani Elite benefits

Each tier of elite membership qualifies for different levels of benefits. Here are just some of the goodies included, but you can see the full list on the Hawaiian Airlines website here.

How to earn Hawaiian Airlines elite status

You can attain Pualani status by earning "elite-qualifying miles" or flying a certain number of segments in a calendar year, or by paying to uplevel your status.

Elite-qualifying miles include:

• Miles earned by flying on Hawaiian Airlines.

Elite-qualifying miles do not include:

• Purchased miles

• Miles earned on a co-branded credit card.

• Bonus miles earned through elite status or fare class bonuses.

Here’s what you need to earn elite status.

» Learn more: Better get to know Hawaiian Airlines Pualani elite status

Hawaiian Airlines isn’t part of one of the three major airline alliances (Star Alliance, Oneworld and SkyTeam), but it has a valuable network of airline transfer partners.

You can earn HawaiianMiles with select airline partners by using your membership ID when flying on these carriers:

• All Nippon Airways (select flights).

• China Airlines.

• JetBlue.

• Korean Air (select flights).

• Virgin Atlantic.

• Virgin Australia.

Unlike some major airlines, Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t allow you to book award flights with partners online. Instead, you need to call the reservation line and have your membership number ready. Check the airline’s award chart to see how much these seats will cost in miles. You can book award travel through these partner airlines:

• All Nippon Airways.

• JetBlue.

• Korean Air.

• Virgin Atlantic.

• Virgin Australia.

The airline keeps partner award travel simple: It offers only round-trip award tickets for these airlines, not one-way, multicity or stopover flights. Except for JetBlue, these airlines also limit the availability of award seats on each flight, so it might be tricky to nab one. But if you can find a flight that’s worthwhile, redeeming for partner travel can be quite valuable.

» Learn more: The complete guide to Hawaiian Airlines partners

Hawaiian Airlines offers two co-branded cards, one for consumers and one for businesses. Both help you earn miles through the airline's loyalty program.

Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®

• 3 HawaiianMiles per dollar spent on Hawaiian Airlines purchases

• 2 miles per dollar spent on gas, dining and grocery store purchases

• 1 mile per dollar spent on everything else.

• Annual fee: $99.

Hawaiian Airlines® Business Mastercard®

• 3 HawaiianMiles per dollar spent on Hawaiian Airlines purchases

• 2 miles per dollar spent on gas, office supply stores and dining purchases

• 1 mile per dollar spent on everything else.

• Annual fee: $99.