Residents of Hawaii are largely loyal to Hawaiian Airlines. It comes as no surprise, then, that the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard is one of the most common cards in the island. But even if you insist on flying Hawaiian, there are other ways to earn Award Travel on Hawaiian Airlines.
Hawaiian Airlines is Hawaii’s favorite carrier. While it’s not my favorite, it’s easy to see why the airline is so popular locally. Until recent years, Hawaiian offered the most direct flights to destinations on the Continental US. The most popular destination locally, is of course, Las Vegas. And currently, Hawaiian is one of only two options for direct flights to the “ninth island.” But being loyal to Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t mean you have to be a slave to their cobranded credit card.
Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard
The Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard is issued by Barclays, and locally, by Bank of Hawaii. The card currently offers a 35,000 mile signup bonus for spending $1,000 in the first 90 days of account opening. You’ll also get a one-time 50% companion certificate for travel between Hawaii and the US Mainland upon account opening. The card also offers the following benefits:
- 2x HawaiianMiles on Hawaiian Airlines purchases
- 5,000 HawaiianMiles annual bonus when you spend at least $10,000 by your account anniversary
- Annual $100 companion discount certificate for travel between Hawaii and the US Mainland
- First checked bag free for the cardholder only
- ShareMiles allowing the free mile transfers from friends and family for the cardholder
- Discounted award travel rates (beginning at 35,000 miles for roundtrip award travel between Hawaii and the Continental US)
- No foreign transaction fee
The card currently carries an $89 annual fee. The card does not offer any priority boarding, priority check-in, or young access either.
While not the worst card out there, the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard isn’t that great either. It is a no-branier to hold onto if you travel enough to earn back the $89 annual fee in baggage fee waivers. But if you don’t travel on Hawaiian that much, then the card may not be the right one for you. So let’s take a look at what other options are available for earning award travel on Hawaiian Airlines.
American Express EveryDay Preferred
American Express Membership Rewards are among the most valuable award points around. Membership Rewards has a large number of transfer partners, one of which is Hawaiian Airlines. Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio, regardless of which card you carry with them. However, in my opinion, the EveryDay Preferred card is probably the best for most people.
The Amex EveryDay Preferred isn’t the best travel card around, as its the only one in this post that doesn’t offer fee free foreign transactions. It also doesn’t have any VIP benefits. However, it is a points earning power card. With this card, you’ll earn;
- 3x points at supermarkets, up to $6,000 a year
- 2x points at gat station
- 1x points on everything else
- 50% bonus on all of the above when you make at least 30 purchases during a billing cycle
- 2x points on travel purchases made through amextravel.com
So if you maximize your spend on the Amex EveryDay Preferred, you’ll earn 4.5x points on groceries, 3x points on gas, and 1.5x points on everything else. That’s up to 27,000 points on groceries alone!
The card does carry a $95 annual fee, but Amex cardholder does also come with ShopRunner membership, free. That’s a $100 value itself, and if you shop at ShopRunner merchants already, this alone could save you a bunch of money.
I personally use this card often, and have had it for a little over a year now. The signup bonus at the time was 20,000 points. I now have about 56,000 points, so even with the relatively small spend I make, I’ve earned 36,000 points in that time. That means in just over a year, I’ve earned enough Membership Rewards points to redeem for a roundtrip award ticket between Hawaii and the West Coast via HawaiianMiles.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase Ultimate Rewards are among the most valuable award currencies around. And while they don’t transfer to HawaiianMiles, you can transfer them to Korean Airlines for award travel on Hawaiian Airlines. This may even be the best option, as Hawaiian Airlines award flights are much cheaper with Korean miles. For example, here are the redemption rates for coach travel on Hawaiian Air between Hawaii and the Continental US:
- 40,000 to 80,000 HawaiianMiles
- 35,000+ HawaiianMiles with the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard
- 30,000 Korean Air SkyPass miles
The differences is even greater when you look at first class award travel on Hawaiian Airlines:
- 80,000 to 160,000 HawaiianMiles
- 60,000 Korean Air SkyPass miles
And it gets even better! For flights to Oceania and Asia, award flights on Hawaiian Air are priced as follows:
- 80,000 to 160,000 HawaiianMiles in economy
- 130,000 to 260,000 HawaiianMiles in first class
- 70,000 Korean SkyPass miles in economy
- 140,000 Korean SkyPass miles in first class
Hawaiian Air award flights between Hawaii and Tahiti or Samoa or priced as such:
- 55,000 to 110,000 HawaiianMiles in economy
- 95,000 to 190,000 HawaiianMiles in first class
- 60,000 Korean SkyPass miles in economy
- 90,000 Korean SkyPass miles in first class
There are some better deals via HawaiianMiles if you’re able to snag a SuperSaver economy award flight. Saver first class award flights between Hawaii and Oceania or Asia are cheaper than SkyPass awards too. But for all other flights, Korean SkyPass awards are a better deal. And if you can’t get SuperSaver awards, SkyPass awards are better. Period.
Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserve
There are many ways to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points. The best cards for doing this, of course, are the Chase Sapphire cards. The darling of the points and miles world, the Sapphire cards are the cards you need to maximize your Ultimate Rewards points. Both of these cards allow you to transfer points 1:1 to a plethora of loyalty programs, including Korean Air SkPass.
The Sapphire Preferred caries a $95 annual fee, and gives cardholders:
- 2x points on dining & travel purchases
- 1x points on everything else
- Primary rental collision damage waiver
- No foreign transaction fee
- Additional point earnings through the Ultimate Rewards mall
The Sapphire Reserve, for a $450 annual fee, gives cardholders:
- 3x points on dining & travel
- 1x points on everything else
- $300 annual travel credit (reducing the annual fee to $150)
- No foreign transaction fee
- Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check credit every 4 years (up to $100 value)
- PriorityPass Select with complimentary access for cardholder and guest
- Elite Status and/or discounts with National Car Rental, Avis, and Silvercar
- Special benefits with Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
- Additional point earnings through the Ultimate Rewards mall
Which card you select really depends on your personal preference. On the surface, the Sapphire Reserve does seem shocking with its $450 annual fee. However, if you’re able to take advantage of the $300 annual travel credit, the annual fee is only $55 more than the Preferred. And that annual travel credit applies to Uber, taxis, parking, etc. in addition to hotels, trains, airlines, etc.
Chase Freedom and Freedom Unlimited
Because we’re not all constantly traveling and dining out, you need to pickup one or both of Chase’s Freedom cards to maximize your Ultimate Rewards earning potential. Both card carry NO annual fee or any of the niceties of the Sapphires, but that’s not the point.
The Chase Freedom, the original card, earns 5x Ultimate Rewards on a specific merchant category that changes quarterly. For example, this quarter the Freedom earns 5x points on gas stations and local commuter transportation. Next quarter? Grocery stores and drug stores. These quarterly 5x points earnings are good on up to $1,500 in spend per quarter, for a maximum of 30,000 points. Once you exceed the $1,500 limit, or make a purchase outside of the bonus category, you’ll earn 1x points per dollar spent. Oh, and you have to activate each bonus category quarterly.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited, on the other hand, earns 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points on all spend. Period. It’s as simple as that. No quarterly bonus categories, no need to activate.
Of course, both of these cards really only earn cash back awards. You must have a Sapphire card in order to transfer your Freedom points to other loyalty programs. And in order to do this, you’ll actually need to transfer points from your Freedom card(s) to your Sapphire card in the Ultimate Rewards site.
Award Travel on Hawaiian Airlines Final Thoughts
With an signup bonus of 50,000 points, the Chase Sapphire Reserve will get you about 90% to a Hawaiian Air first class award between Hawaii and the Continental US. That is, of course, taking into account the points earned for the minimum spend of $5,000 to earn the signup bonus. And if you combine a Sapphire Card with the Freedom Cards, you can really rack-up Ultimate Rewards points quickly.
But if you really want to maximize your earnings, you should accumulate both Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards points. This is my current strategy, and I simply use the card that’s currently earning the most on a given merchants category. So most of the year I use the EveryDay Preferred for grocery and gas purchases, while I use the Sapphire Preferred for my travel and dining spend. The Freedom gets used for whatever that quarter’s bonus is, while the Freedom Unlimited is used for any non-bonus spend. In this way, I’m almost always earning at least 1.5x points on all spend. Could I earn more Ultimate Rewards or Membership Rewards by simply sticking with the respective program? Yes, but I wouldn’t be maximizing my spend either.
Ultimately what you decide to do is up to you and what works best for you. If you can handle having the annual fees of both the EveryDay Preferred and the Sapphire Reserve/Preferred, I highly recommend you carry both. And best of all, with both of these cards, should you decide not to fly Hawaiian, you don’t have to. Because the points you earn are agnostic, you could transfer points to a number of different programs. This increases your options and mitigates your risk of devaluations too. So put down the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard and pick up one, two or four of the above cards instead!