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American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 25% bonus on points transferred to Hawaiian Miles. Saver availability can be almost nonexistent for flights to and from Hawaii, but if you’ve found some and you have Membership Rewards to transfer, it’ll cost you less through June 21st. There are also a couple of interesting partner opportunities if you can book them.
The Offer
- Get 25% more Hawaiian Miles when transferring from Membership Rewards
- Direct link to promotion
Key Terms
- Transfers must be in increments of 1000 (1000 Membership Rewards points = 1,250 Hawaiian Miles)
- Expires 6/21/17
Quick Thoughts
This transfer bonus sounds nice until you start trying to find availability at Hawaiian’s saver level. Earlier this year, I was helping a friend plan a trip to Hawaii. I couldn’t find a single day with saver business availability between New York and Hawaii through the end of the schedule. That said, inter-island flights start at just 7500 miles each way — with the transfer bonus, you’ll only need 6,000 Membership Rewards points. That’s not necessarily a great value as one-ways can often be booked for under $80, but I’ve also seen one-ways around $110 that were available for the same price, which is a better return on your points if not the most ideal redemption.
Hawaiian also has some partners — probably the best values out of these would be Korean Air Business Class completely within Asia at 60,000 miles round trip (48,000 Membership rewards + 25% bonus) or Virgin America to Hawaii in Main Cabin Select (flights over 2,000 miles are also 60,000 round trip — so, again, 48,000 Membership Rewards points). The trouble will be finding availability and booking as you can only do those things via phone and I’ve read that this can be a challenge. That said, for those that know what they are getting into, there could be a couple of good opportunities with partner awards.
Note that Doctor of Credit has pointed out that you can *not* transfer these points from MR–>Hawaiian–>Hilton based on this fine print found on Hawaiin’s website:
Note: Transfers will be made immediately, however, please allow up to 48 hours for the transfer to be complete. Points transferred into HawaiianMiles accounts may not be transferred to a third party loyalty program
If you plan to take advantage of this promo, how will you use the miles? Let us know in the comments.
H/T: Doctor of Credit
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[…] Transfer Bonus to Hawaiian Miles: While Hawaiian Miles aren’t the most valuable, they can work out well if you have he right use for them. Amex Membership Rewards is offering a 25% bonus through Wednesday. […]
Virgin America is one of their partners. I hope they continue some kind of partnership with Alaska airlines after the merger. I doubt it very much though since Alaska is a competitor and Hawaiian restricts itself and its partners when it comes to earning and redeeming miles.
I have about 5k orphaned Hawaiian mile, so I may trade in 4000 AMEX points to 5000 Hawaiian, then trade in 10k Hawaiian points to 15k Hilton points to add to my Hilton stash. It’s only a saving of 1k AMEX points though… Meh.
Just added a note from DoC — looks like the terms say you can’t do that. I have no idea how/if it’s enforced.
Thanks for the comment — it reminded me that I had forgotten to H/T Doctor of Credit. Certainly meant to!
How do I find this offer? Didn’t see it on my Amex anywhere…
Direct link added. Thanks!