Here’s how to transfer Hawaiian miles to Alaska Mileage Plan (step-by-step)

Two weeks ago Alaska Airlines announced its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines. While airline mergers are usually detrimental for customers (I’ll be waiting for that hammer to drop in the next 18 months), something good has come of it at the moment: You can now transfer Hawaiian miles to Alaska Mileage Plan. Furthermore, transfers don’t incur any fees and are instant.

You might be wondering why this matters. After all, most of us don’t fly Hawaiian Airlines (except for the odd trip to Hawaii or Australia). Plus, the lucrative Hawaiian MileFinder tool is long gone, so it’s not like we’re exactly swimming in Hawaiian miles.

The ability to transfer Hawaiian miles to Alaska Mileage Plan is significant because HawaiianMiles is a 1:1 Amex Membership Rewards transfer partner. This means you can now indirectly transfer Amex points to Alaska Mileage Plan. 

Whether you’re ready to swap out your Hawaiian miles or looking for a place to park some Membership Rewards points, here’s everything you need  to know about transferring Hawaiian Miles to Alaska miles:

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Before you transfer Hawaiian miles to Alaska

Alaska Miles are undoubtedly more valuable that Hawaiian miles. But that doesn’t mean you should go ahead and transfer your points speculatively. Here are a few things to keep in mind before converting your mileage balance:

• You can only transfer miles to your own Alaska Mileage Plan account. The information you provide for both accounts must match exactly.
• Hawaiian miles accrued from Amex Membership Rewards are eligible for transfers to Alaska Mileage Plan.
• The minimum transfer amount is 50 miles per transaction, while the maximum is 500,000.
• Transfers from Hawaiian miles to Alaska can take up to 72 hours, but they’re usually instant.

While it may be tempting to transfer all of your Amex Membership Rewards points to Hawaiian Airlines, there’s a caveat: Both HawaiianMiles and Alaska Mileage Plan programs could devalue without notice. The cost of award tickets could increase unexpectedly and then suddenly you wish you’d had those Amex points for a cheaper award redemption.

The moral of the story? Don’t transfer Amex points to Hawaiian unless you have an immediate redemption in mind. Speculative point transfers can end in massive devaluations and heartache. Don’t do it.

Why you should transfer Hawaiian miles to Alaska

You should transfer Hawaiian miles to Alaska Mileage Plan if you want to take advantage of cheaper award redemption rates. Alaska Mileage Plan is one of the few frequent flyer programs that still publishes an award chart. Not only that, the redemption rates are much lower for most awards than other programs.

Unfortunately, direct transfers between Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan were not possible until now and earning Alaska Miles was difficult. So the ability to transfer Hawaiian miles to Alaska Mileage Plan (after acquiring them via Amex Membership Rewards), makes Alaska miles more accessible. So being able to convert your rewards instantly is a big deal. 

Here’s a closer look at why you should transfer Hawaiian miles to Alaska:

1. Alaska Mileage Plan has cheaper award flights to more destinations 

Not only does Alaska Mileage Plan have several sweet spots and free stopovers on one-way awards, it has cheaper redemption rates than Hawaiian Airlines.

For example, a one-way economy class ticket between the West Coast and Hawaii costs 20,000 Hawaiian miles or 17,500 for a discounted award. Meanwhile, Alaska Airlines award flights start at just 12,500 miles on this route. You’ll save at least 5,000 miles each way by redeeming Alaska miles instead of Hawaiian.

Alaska also has more airline partnerships than Hawaiian Airlines. Some of these partnerships are within the Oneworld Alliance, but others expand beyond. For example, Singapore Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance but you can redeem your Alaska miles for flights on this award-winning airline.

Alaska’s vast partner network and premium flight options makes it a great place to move your Hawaiian miles, allowing you to redeem them for travel to virtually anywhere in the world. 

2. Alaska Airlines has limited 1:1 transfer partnerships

Alaska miles are considered one of the most valuable airline currencies, but they are notoriously hard to come by. Alaska only has two co-branded credit cards and one 1:1 transfer partnership with Bilt Rewards. Beyond earning miles via shopping portals, dining rewards programs and a few credit cards, your options for accruing miles are limited.

Alaska’s acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines has opened up an indirect path to transfer Amex Membership Rewards points to Alaska Mileage Plan: Transferring Amex Membership Rewards to HawaiianMiles first.

Hawaiian Airlines is a 1:1 transfer partner of Amex Membership Rewards. So you can transfer Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines. You can then transfer those Hawaiian miles to Alaska Mileage Plan. All transfers are pretty much instant, meaning you don’t have to wait long before redeeming your miles for a flight.

This new option presents an excellent opportunity to top off your Mileage Plan balance quickly and put your Amex points to good use.

3. You can get even more value from your Amex Membership Rewards

Amex Membership Rewards have taken a slight hit recently, with the devaluation of All Nippon Airways (ANA). Those popular 88,000-mile round-trip business class tickets to Europe cost six figures now and even the 70,000-mile bargain business class tickets to Asia cost more.

The the program has definitely rebounding in value now that members can (indirectly) transfer Amex points to Alaska Mileage Plan.

Keep in mind that American Express imposes a $0.60 excise tax fee on every 1,000 points transfers to HawaiianMiles. You can opt to redeem 120 points instead of the $0.60, but that’s not a good value for your rewards.

The Amex excise fee isn’t massive and definitely worth it if you’re able to book a premium cabin flight for a fraction of the cost. Furthermore, it’s capped at $99 per transfer.

You can keep your costs low by transferring more than 165,000 points per transaction. At that rate, you’ll hit the $99 limit and no longer incur additional taxes for transfering points.

How to transfer Hawaiian miles to Alaska Mileage Plan

Earlier this week, some Mileage Plan members reported errors during the transfer process. Some speculated that Amex points transferred to HawaiianMiles were not eligible for subsequent transfers to Alaska Mileage Plan. But that’s not the case and the error seems to have been a one-off glitch.

If you’re ready to transfer your Hawaiian miles to Alaska Mileage Plan, the process is straightforward. Furthermore, transfers are instant. Here’s how to transfer Hawaiian miles to your Alaska Mileage Plan account:

• Head to the mileage transfer page.
• You’ll see a prompt to “Select the program you want to transfer miles into.” Select “Mileage Plan” and click “sign in to your account.”
• Login with your Alaska Mileage Plan credentials.
• On the next page, you’ll see the number of miles available for transfer. Enter the number of miles you want to transfer from your HawaiianMiles account to Alaska Mileage Plan and hit “continue.”
• A box will appear, showing the number of miles you’re transferring. Review this information, accept the terms and click the “transfer” button.
• You’ll be directed to a page confirming the transferring is processing.

While transfers can take up to 72 hours, most reports (and my own experience) indicate they’re instant. I logged into my Mileage Plan account immediately after submitting a transfer request and the balance was up to date. 

Why you shouldn’t transfer Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines speculatively

We don’t know when this Hawaiian-Alaska miles transfer option will end. This uncertainty, paired with the fact that Alaska miles don’t expire might tempt you to transfer Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines speculatively. I would personally advise against it. Unless you have a plan to redeem your miles in the next few months (the sooner the better), you risk the chance of Alaska overhauling its Mileage Plan award chart. 

Most mergers and acquisitions are followed by an award devaluation. While historically, it doesn’t happen until after the merger is complete, it could happen at any time. So be prepared, don’t transfer points you don’t plan on redeeming. And if you already have a sizeable Hawaiian miles or Alaska mileage balance, try to redeem those miles sooner rather than later.

Bottom line

Alaska Airlines acquiring Hawaiian and allowing mileage transfers is great news for the moment. For a limited time you can swap out your less valuable Hawaiian miles for one of the best airline currencies on the market.

The ability to transfer Amex Membership Rewards points to Alaska miles (indirectly) is icing on the cake. However, keep in mind this is temporary and could end quickly.

More importantly, brace yourself for an inevitable devaluation and avoid transferring Amex points to Hawaiian unless you have a redemption in mind. The last thing you want is to have a bunch of devalued points in your Alaska Mileage Plan account with no plans to use them.

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