Nearly 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), so it’s not like we’re 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 your Membership Rewards points to valuable Alaska Mileage Plan miles.
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 converting Hawaiian Miles to Alaska miles:
Key points to remember
- You can only transfer miles to your own Alaska Mileage Plan account. The account information you provide 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.
Why you should transfer Hawaiian miles to Alaska
Unfortunately, direct transfers between Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan were not possible until now. Alaska miles are more valuable than Hawaiian miles. So being able to convert your rewards instantly is a big deal.
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 hass cheaper redemption rates than Hawaiian Airlines does.
Alaska also has more airline partnerships than Hawaiian Airlines. Some of these partnerships are within the Oneworld Alliance, but others are not. Alaska’s vast partner network makes it a great place to move your Hawaiian miles, allowing you to redeem them for travel to virtually anywhere in the world.
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 are limited.
Alaska’s acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines has opened up an indirect path to transfer Amex Membership Rewards points to Alaska Mileage Plan. How? By 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.
This new option presents an excellent opportunity to top off your Mileage Plan balance quickly and put your Amex points to good use.
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). However, with the ability to transfer Amex points to Alaska Mileage Plan (indirectly), the program is definitely rebounding in value.
Keep in mind that American Express imposes a $0.60 excise tax fee on every 1,000 points transfers to HawaiianMiles. This fee is capped at $99.
How to transfer Hawaiian miles to Alaska Mileage Plan
Earlier this week, some Mileage Plan members reported errors during the transfer process. There was some speculation 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 was most likely just a one-off glitch.
If you’re ready to transfer your Hawaiian miles to Alaska Mileage Plan, the process is straightforward and transfers are instant. Here’s how to redeem Alaska Mileage Plan miles for Hawaiian Airlines flights:
- 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 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.
More importantly, brace yourself for an inevitable devaluation.
