If Hawaii’s tropical paradise is on your mind, you probably want to know how to get there with miles and points. Alaska, AA, Delta, Hawaiian, Southwest, and United Airlines all have flights from the mainland US to Hawaii. However, you can sometimes save points by booking these flights with foreign airline programs — perhaps paying as few as 10,000 miles one-way from as far as New York or Boston to Honolulu.
Awards to Hawaii can be difficult to find, especially during peak season. For this reason, we’ve included a few tricks for booking cheaper paid flights, in addition to the usual reward-program sweet spots.
This guide has been updated for 2026 with award chart changes, surcharge information, and cancellation policies.
How to save on paid flights to Hawaii
Alaska Airlines Companion Fare
This is a great trick for getting cheap flights to Hawaii. As long as Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines flights are available and you travel in pairs, this option can save a bundle.
Qualifying cards: Atmos Ascent Visa Signature and the Atmos Rewards Visa Business.
How to get it: Atmos Rewards credit cardholders can get one discount code each year when they spend at least $6,000 on their cards (accounts opened prior to 1/18/23 receive an annual companion fare code as a standard anniversary benefit with no spending required).
Flight requirement: It must be a round-trip or one-way, paid published coach airfare on Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines.
Companion benefit: Pay “from $121” ($99 base fare plus applicable taxes and fees from $22 depending on your Alaska Airlines flight itinerary).
Southwest Companion Pass
If you have earned a Southwest Companion Pass, you can fly two people for the price of one! This is true whether you pay cash or points for your flight.
Vacation Packages
Bundled air + hotel vacation packages sometimes offer far better flight prices than those available directly from the airlines, unbundled. If you don’t need the hotel portion, you may be able to book the cheapest hotel option for just one night (and throw it away) even if you plan to stay at the destination far longer. Alternatively, you may be able to bundle a car rental instead of a hotel. As an example, we’ve saved tons of money in the past booking Delta Vacation flights + car rentals to Hawaii. In many instances, the price of the car rental has been significantly lower than the cost of airfare alone.
What are transferable currencies?
If you want to use airline miles, it’s great to have transferable points. Transferable point programs let you transfer your points to any of several airline programs. This is appealing because it gives you the freedom to book many different flights through many different methods, some of which are strikingly cheaper than others.
The following chart shows the available transferable points programs for each of the airline frequent flyer programs mentioned in this post:
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Chase Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Citi Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Capital One Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Bilt Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| Alaska Atmos Rewards | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||||
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1 to 1 (12-24 hours) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (~1 day) | 1 to 1 (12-24 hrs) | ||
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (~12 hours) | ||||
| Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles | 1 to 1 (12-24 hours) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | |||
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Instant) | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
Best ways to get to Hawaii using points and miles
Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines using Altmos Rewards
- The short story: Alaska offers variable award pricing for American Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and Alaska Airlines. Normal "saver" pricing is very competitive, and economy award sales can be some of the best deals around.
- Miles required: Starts at 17,500 miles each way in economy, 22,500 in premium economy, or 35,000 miles in business. During Atmos Reward's regular award sales, we've seen rates as low as 7,500 miles each way to/from West Coast gateways. Additionally, some flights occasionally price at 15k in economy for some reason. See full award charts here.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AlaskaAir.com or HawaiianAirlines.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at AlaskaAir.com or HawaiianAirlines.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets. There is a non-refundable $12.50 partner booking fee if booking partner awards (waived for Atmos Summit Visa cardholders)
- Key warnings: Transfers from Marriott can take 7 days or more.
- Transfer from: Bilt, Marriott
American Airlines, Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines using Finnair Avios
- The short story: Finnair offers a zone-based award chart, so flights from anywhere in the USA on American Airlines can be an excellent value. Rates for Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines are slightly higher, but can still be a good value if departing from the East Coast
- Miles required: 15K on AA or 19,500 Avios each way on Alaska/Hawaiian (+$5.60) for economy class between North America (including east coast cities) and Hawaii. 38K Avios each way in business class on American Airlines or 48.5K each way in first class on Alaska/Hawaiian.
- How to find awards: Search for available Alaska space at britishairways.com.
- How to book awards: Book via chat at finnair.com or over the phone at 929-474-6049 or 323-694-7646 (Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Sat–Sun 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Eastern Time)
- Key warnings: The British Airways site sometimes shows phantom award space for AA (see: Phantom menace: an award search time suck). You may want to double-check Qantas.com for availability before transferring points.
- Transfer from: Capital One. Also transfer to BA and then to Finnair with Amex, Bilt, Chase, Wells Fargo, or to Qatar and then to Finnair with Citi.
American Airlines, Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines from the West Coast using Qatar Avios
- The short story: Qatar Airways Privilege Club offers a distance-based chart that offers one of the best deals for economy class flights between the West Coast of the US and Hawaii.
- Miles required: 16,000K Avios in economy class or 43,000 each way in business class on Alaska, Hawaiian, or American Airlines.
- How to find awards: Search and book at QatarAirways.com or use Qantas.com to see an availability calendar.
- How to book awards: Book online at QatarAirways.com
- Change and cancellation fees: $25 more than 24 hours in advance, $100 between 3-24 hours in advance, Nonrefundable within 3 hours or after departure
- Key warnings: Awards become expensive or nonrefundable to cancel close to departure, so this is not a good option for booking backup flights.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi. Also transfer to BA and then to Qatar with: Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo
United Airlines using Singapore KrisFlyer miles
- The short story: Singapore KrisFlyer charges fewer miles for domestic flights to Hawaii than United does for the same flights.
- Miles required: 20,500 miles each way in economy or 43,000 in business.
- How to find awards: Search for available United Airlines space at United.com (Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or SingaporeAir.com (See: Book United flights online with Singapore miles).
- How to book awards: Book online at SingaporeAir.com or over the phone with Singapore KrisFlyer.
- Change and cancellation fees:
- Change of date/route/class: $50.
- Cancellation: $75.
- No-show: $100-$200.
- Key warnings: Transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer are usually instant from Amex Membership Rewards and typically take around 8-12 hours from Capital One and Chase (slightly longer from Citi). Waitlisted itineraries that do not clear by 14 days prior to departure will be cancelled. Be aware that United.com will show availability for flights with longer/overnight connections that are not available with Singapore KrisFlyer miles, so be sure to double-check availability at SingaporeAir.com or with a phone agent before booking.
- Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
Delta using Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles
Air France is one of the cheapest options for booking Delta flights to Hawaii. Delta first-class award space is extremely hard to find.
- The short story: Air France charges far fewer miles than Delta for Delta flights to Hawaii, but finding award availability can be a huge challenge.
- Miles required: Starting at 17.5K one-way in economy, or 30K one-way in business class for Delta flights from the US mainland to Hawaii.
- How to find awards: Search on AirFrance.us (you’ll need to create a free Flying Blue frequent flyer account to search)
- How to book awards: Book online at AirFrance.us. You can also try KLM's website.
- Change and cancellation fees: €70.
- Key warnings: Air France's website is buggy and will often return errors when trying to complete a booking. If that happens, try calling or using the app.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou, Marriott Bonvoy, Wells Fargo.
Delta using Virgin Atlantic points
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic often offers Delta flights to Hawaii for fewer miles than Delta would charge for the same itinerary, and it can be an even better deal through Virgin Atlantic if you catch a transfer bonus.
- Miles required: Varies by distance. See the full award chart here. Nonstop routes are 22K in economy from the West Coast, 35K from the Midwest, and 44K from the East Coast. Business class starts at 70k one-way and is usually poor value.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com
- How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com.
- Change/Cancellation fees: $100. If your original taxes were less than $100, Virgin Atlantic will allow you to simply forfeit the taxes.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges for each segment separately, so it is not a good choice for connecting itineraries.
- Transfer from: Amex, Chase, Capital One, Citi, Bilt, Wells Fargo
Southwest using Southwest points
Southwest doesn’t have any relevant partners, but its own points are useful, especially since they’re fully refundable. Additionally, if you have earned a Southwest Companion Pass, you can fly two people for the price of one!
United using Turkish Miles & Smiles
- The short story: Turkish no longer offers the same pricing on flights to Hawaii as it does for other domestic US awards, but some routes might still be more attractive than United's own pricing.
- Miles required: 25,000 miles each way in economy class or 40,000 miles each way in business class (can include connections for the same price)
- How to find awards: Search and book awards at TurkishAirlines.com. Note that you can also try searching AirCanada.com for additional space that should be bookable via email.
- How to book awards: Some awards can be booked online at TurkishAirlines.com (click "Award Ticket" on the home page, then log in and choose the "Star Alliance" tab on the award search tool). If you see an award on AirCanada.com that is not available at the Turkish website, you can try an email booking. Once an email agent sets up the reservation, you can call to pay the taxes and ticket rather than emailing back with the requested screenshots of your credit card and ID.
- Change and cancellation fees: The fee to change or cancel is $70 per passenger, though we've been unable to find agents who know how to change a partner award. Thus, cancelling for $70 is your best bet.
- Key warnings: Turkish appears to have a max connection time of 4 hours on domestic itineraries, so itineraries with longer connections would require 2 awards. Also, for unknown reasons, Turkish phone agents often can't see award space that other partner airlines can. Booking over the phone can be very challenging. We recommend calling to put an award on hold before you transfer points to Turkish miles.
- Transfer from: Bilt, Citi Thank You, Capital One, Marriott Bonvoy
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You need to add the 25K Companion Award reduction with the Atmos Summit credit card.
Also, when Air France kept erroring out I went to the KLM website and booked it without trouble. YMMV but for me it’s faster and easier than calling.
I would note that UA almost never has First class awards made available to Krisflyer redemptions. Regular economy is a different story. I’m also pretty sure that UA does the same with Turkish. So only use those options if you don’t mind flying coach to Hawaii, IMO.
How much does it typically cost to fly Southwest? You include a target price for all the others. Why not Southwest for comparison?
wn’s points price is basically the cash price but denominated in points.
From the West Coast, I have seen Southwest as low as 12,000 point per flight, but it can also be much higher (points price varies by cash price and popularity). From other locations, it varies, but I currently have a flight booked from STL->OGG for 15,000 points. With Companion Pass, this is impossible to beat.
Still debating whether I want to spend the AA miles or Avios to fly in Business if it opens up given that I am happy in economy on return flights from Europe, and the flight to Maui from the west coast is shorter than our last flight from Venice.
Except almost all returns from Hawaii to the Mainland are red eyes. One has to take an 8am departure from Hawaii and will get into LAX/SFO in the late afternoon or early evening. I try for at least premium economy…because everywhere else they’re a redeye.
Problem is it’s southworst. It’s cheap because the demand is not there. I’m sure you could be paying about the same with the Alaska Companion pass with a much better product.
Don’t forget the Delta companion passes for paid fares!
Very easy to get 2 RT tickets for $700-800.
The Finnair section is missing change/cancel info. I think it’s supposed to be €50 or taxes paid ($5.60), whichever is lower.
It’s not that easy to book First or business class to Hawaii . I have been going every year for last 3 years and book year in advance look everyday and NEVER seen award First/Business. I pay cash best price United Airlines 787 1300-1600 each way and that can jump to 4500 each way. I use my platinum Amex card to book. I’m talking Widebody routes it’s extremely difficult to book on points.
It appears the 13.5k sweet spot with Finnair is dead
https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/1ro05rg/news_and_updates_thread_march_08_2026/o9byymn/
https://frequentmiler.com/finnair-sours-hawaii-sweet-spot-raising-alaska-hawaiian-awards-by-up-to-100/
sorry if I’m missing something- and I have searched for the answer, but Aeroplan will NOT show me UA toHawaii0 I get an error saying that Aeroplan cannot book Domestic flights on UA???
thx all
Need to toggle on “use points”. They can’t book domestic UA revenue (cash) fares, you have to be searching for an award ticket.
I do see that in the app which I just downloaded this evening, but the web based page gave me an
error (likely my Mozilla browser) this afternoon when I posted
Thanks Nick and all the others here for great help always
Any thoughts on best use of miles/pts for First Class tickets? Want to send my parents to Hawaii for their 55th anniversary. Have like 175k United and 500k Chase already but open to other avenues to work toward
My goal was to use points to get our family to Hawaii as many times as we could so that we got sick of it. After we got home from Spring Break, I think we’re close! I’ve lost track but I think it’s seven times in the past five years.
Mahalo Frequent Miler!
Turkish seems to have removed the “star alliance” option on the Award Search tool/page.
It briefly flashes and then disappears. Tried with both Firefox and Chrome
If you keep your eyes peeled (using an award tool) you can get to HI for half the points in F.
I’m doing LAX-HNL-LIH on Hawaiians new 787 in F for only 40,000 pts. Normally they go for twice that.
that’s a great deal! i paid 50K to upgrade our economy fare tickets from BOS to LIH to first in 2023
If Delta actually releases space to their partners (like Air France and Virgin), there is a good chance the price with SkyMiles may be competitive. The last time I flew from SEA-HNL, it cost 17k SkyMiles (lower than the AF & VS prices above). With SkyMiles there are better cancellation policies, ability to rebook if prices drop, earn MQDs & counts towards Million Miler status, ability to get late bag compensation, etc–it was a no brainer to book directly with Delta. Also, why not include Delta Amex companion tickets, when you include Alaska (and the Southwest Companion Pass)?
Anyone able to book AA flights to Hawaii with Finnair Avios? I see availability on AA awards on Quantas and BA. Finnair chat and call center indicate no award availability.
[…] Well, since we are in this mode, how about all the Best ways to fly to Hawaii using miles from the mainland. […]