How to Redeem Hawaiian Airlines Miles

The best way to redeem miles from Hawaiian Airlines is perhaps, unsurprisingly, on a flight to Hawaii. But flights to the Aloha State aren't the only way to use HawaiianMiles.

Whether you want to use miles to secure a first class Hawaiian upgrade, you want a free economy seat, you'd rather put them toward a hotel room and a rental car, or you just want to spend them on stuff, you have options.

Here are all the ways you can redeem your HawaiianMiles, sorted from best to worst redemptions.

The best, most straightforward way to redeem your HawaiianMiles is to use them to pay for Hawaiian Airlines flights.

Hawaiian offers an award chart to show you exactly how many miles you need for flights. But what can be annoying about this is that award amounts are broken down into various fare categories, and the number of miles needed for a particular route is based on supply and demand.

If you’re flying on a slow day, that’s good — you’ll enjoy a lower point requirement. But it also means that you likely won’t score a killer deal by using points to book on a busy travel day. Plan to do some comparison shopping if you really want to save.

Here’s the starting price for points fares on one-way Hawaiian Airlines flights:

Flights within Hawaii start at 7,500 miles each way, and first class fares from the mainland start at 40,000 miles each way. NerdWallet values Hawaiian miles at 1 cent each.

» Learn more: The best island to visit in Hawaii for the first time

Flying Hawaiian with elite status

If you need an incentive to try to earn Hawaiian Airlines Pualani elite status, this might be it: Pualani Platinum, Pualani Gold and Premier Club Members can access discounted main cabin flight awards on Hawaiian Airlines.

Exact discounts vary by flight, but they’re typically in the 15% range. So, a Main Cabin 2 fare that might normally cost 10,000 miles would cost elite status holders 8,500 miles.

Beyond discounts for booking on miles, elite status members get benefits like free checked bags on Hawaiian Airlines-operated flights, priority security lines, airport lounge access and more.

» Learn more: How Hawaiian baggage fees work

Flying Hawaiian as a Hawaiian credit card holder

Last note on using miles while flying with Hawaiian: The airline also offers exclusive discounts when redeeming miles to those with a Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®.

The discounted points rate is the same as the discount offered to elite status holders (typically around 15%).

» Learn more: Guide to booking award flights with Hawaiian Airlines

Can I use HawaiianMiles on other airlines? Yes. HawaiianMiles can also be redeemed for flights with Hawaiian's partner airlines, including China Airlines, Japan Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia. Hawaiian Airlines also provides an award chart for their partner airlines that you can consult while planning your trip.

And, you’ll still be on the hook for paying taxes and fees in cash, which are $5.60 for domestic flights, but can be far higher for international flights.

» Learn more: How to earn HawaiianMiles

If you don’t see yourself flying on Hawaiian Airlines anytime soon and don’t want to book flights with any of Hawaiian’s partner airlines, your next best option is to use them on hotel stays.

The HawaiianMiles Hotel Awards platform lets you redeem HawaiianMiles for room reservations at more than 300,000 hotels, resorts and independent boutiques. And no worries if you’re not in Hawaii — most of those hotels are spread all around the world, so you’re likely to redeem miles on a hotel stay no matter where you’re traveling to.

Rates are just OK when redeeming for points. NerdWallet calculations found that points lose nearly 40% of their value by choosing to redeem Hawaiian miles versus paying in cash.

But if you won’t otherwise book a Hawaiian flight with miles, then losing 40% of your HawaiianMiles' value is better than losing 100% of their value had you let your points sit idle and collect virtual dust.

You can use your HawaiianMiles on rental cars with Avis, Budget or Payless.

If this is the year you ditch flying for road trips, then the mediocre conversion rate might be a worthwhile way to redeem Hawaiian Airlines miles.

» Learn more: The cheapest rental car companies

Hawaiian Airlines has partnerships with a few other grocery, dining and fuel companies where you can exchange miles for gift cards. Gift cards typically take four to six weeks to arrive, so plan ahead if you need your gift card by a certain date.

Partners sometimes vary, but they tend to include Hawaii-based supermarket Foodland, 76 Gas, Hele Gas and The Alley Restaurant at Aiea Bowl, a restaurant on Oahu.

With these retail partners, 5,000 miles can be exchanged for a $25 gift card. You can also exchange 40,000 miles for a pair of sunglasses from Maui Jim Sunglasses.

Hawaiian Airlines makes it relatively easy to transfer your HawaiianMiles to another person’s HawaiianMiles account — but it’s not always cheap.

If you have a Hawaiian Airlines credit card

The process of transferring HawaiianMiles to friends or family is easy and free if you hold certain Hawaiian-branded credit cards, including the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®.

There is no minimum or maximum number of miles you can transfer at one time — though you’re capped at receiving 10 transactions in a calendar year. As long as you hold a Hawaiian credit card and your buddy does too, this exchange comes at no cost to either of you.

If you don’t have a Hawaiian Airlines credit card

If your buddy doesn’t have a Hawaiian Airlines credit card, then things get real annoying and expensive.

Each transfer will entail a $25 service fee. On top of that, there’s a $0.01 per mile transfer fee. Considering NerdWallet values a mile at just 1 cent, there’s basically no scenario where this transfer makes sense.

Oh, and there’s a minimum requirement of 2,000 Hawaiian Miles transferred at one time.

Hawaiian has a few partner charities including the American Red Cross of Hawaii and The Coral Reef Alliance, to which you can send your miles.

What’s more, Hawaiian Airlines will match up to a half-million miles to each participating charity at the end of the year.

The best value for your HawaiianMiles is almost always by booking flights on Hawaiian Airlines. And when you do book award flights on Hawaiian, there are some advanced tricks to maximize your redemptions.

But if you’re not flying anytime soon, then using miles for hotels, rental cars and gift cards can sometimes make sense. And if you’re not going to use them, period, then donating or gifting them to someone else might be your very best bet in sharing the Aloha.