How to earn HawaiianMiles

Hawaiian Airlines’ status as a small, relatively niche airline allows it to offer a unique feature with its loyalty program: a mile flown is a mile earned. On top of this simple earning structure, you also have a few additional ways to earn even more miles. Here’s how to start building your miles for this island-hopping airline.

7 ways to earn HawaiianMiles

Earn miles with credit cards

Making purchases using eligible credit cards is one of the fastest ways to build HawaiianMiles. You’ll get bonus miles when you spend in bonus categories and these cards typically come with a welcome offer that’ll jumpstart your collection of miles.

Earn miles directly to your HawaiianMiles account by making purchases with a Hawaiian Airlines cobranded credit card. Aside from bonus miles on Hawaiian Airlines purchases, you’ll also earn on other eligible categories and get a nice mileage bonus for completing the card’s welcome offer.

If you prefer to have flexible credit card earning potential, there are a few other cards that can help you earn HawaiianMiles.

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Name	Product	Welcome offer	Rewards	Annual fee	Filter values
American Express® Gold Card		60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months	3x points on directly-booked flights; 4x at restaurants; 4x at US supermarkets on up to $25,000 annually (then 1x points)	$250		Earn up to 4x points on select purchases, a bevy of travel perks, and a welcome offer worth up to $600 with this upper-mid tier travel card. Rates & fees	Apply now View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card		100,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months, plus earn 25,000 after the first anniversary of card membership (offer expires 1/13/2021)	6x points at Marriott Bonvoy hotels, 3x at US restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines and 2x for all other purchases	$450		Earn 100,000 bonus points when you spend $5,000 or more within your first 3 months, plus earn 25,000 after the first anniversary of card membership (offer expires 1/13/2021). Rates & fees	Apply now View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Hilton Honors American Express Card		80,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months	7x points on Hilton Honors purchases, 5x at US restaurants, US supermarkets and US gas stations, 3x on all other purchases	$0		With a massive welcome offer for a no-annual-fee card and up to 7x points at Hilton, this is a solid pick for Hilton fans and occasional travelers. Rates & fees	Apply now View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card		130,000 points after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months	12x points on Hilton Portfolio spending, 6x at US restaurants, US supermarkets and US gas stations, 3x on all other purchases	$95		With a big welcome offer worth up to $650, up to 12x points on spending, and free Gold status, this is an upgrade from the entry Hilton card. Rates & fees	Apply now View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
CardMatch™ from creditcards.com		See terms	See terms	See terms		Use the CardMatch tool to find cards you're likely to qualify for with your credit score, without a hard pull on your credit.	See offer View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®		60,000 miles after spending $2,000 in the first 90 days	3x miles on Hawaiian Airlines, 2x miles on gas, dining and groceries and 1x miles on all other purchases	$99		Earn 60,000 miles after spending $2,000 in the first 90 days.	View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Hawaiian Airlines® Business Mastercard®		Earn 60,000 after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days, and earn an additional 10,000 miles when a purchase is made on an employee card.	3x miles on Hawaiian Airlines, 2x on gas, dining and office supplies and 1x on everything else	$99		Receive 60,000 total bonus miles after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days and after a purchase is made on an employee card.	View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...

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How many HawaiianMiles can I earn with credit cards?

Your options are fairly slim when it comes to earning HawaiianMiles with a credit card. Let’s compare your two primary options: the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard®, and the American Express® Green Card. In the table below, we’ll assume you’re spending $800 a month with this card: $600 on flights and $200 on dining.

Data obtained October 2020. Values are subject to change and should be used only as a general guide.

Based on our results, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card is the least preferable option for earning HawaiianMiles. That’s because the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless doesn’t earn an accelerated rate on flights, the card no longer earns points on the signup bonus, and any points you do earn are converted at a 3 to 1 ratio.

The Amex Green Card and Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® are both excellent options. The one you choose will come down to your spending preferences. The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite comes with some solid perks tailored to Hawaiian Airlines flights, including a free first checked bag, companion discounts and annual bonus miles.

The Amex Green Card costs a little more but has a wider variety of earning categories, making the card far more flexible than the Hawaiian Airlines card. The welcome offer is smaller, but you’ll still enjoy a few travel perks, including a LoungeBuddy and CLEAR statement credit.

Flying with Hawaiian Airlines

You earn 1 mile for each mile flown with Hawaiian Airlines. This is a nice, clean method of earning miles and probably your next most important method of earning miles. There are a few variables to keep in mind: You’ll get a 50% bonus on this base earning rate if you book a Hawaiian Airlines flight in first class and enrollment in the Pualani Elite program can also earn you bonus miles.

Here are a few example charts to give you an idea of how earning miles on Hawaiian Airlines flights works.

North America

Neighbor Islands

International

Pualani elite status

Earning Pualani Gold or Platinum status will earn you an additional 50% and 100% respectively on revenue flights. And as mentioned above, all Pualani members will earn at least 500 miles to their account when booking a Neighbor Island flight.

Flying with Hawaiian Airlines partners

You can earn HawaiianMiles when flying with Hawaiian Airlines’s airline partners, though miles accrued will differ depending on airline and class. Below is a sample of potential mileage accrual. Check the Hawaiian Airlines site for full details.
China Airlines

International flights on Japan Airlines

Data obtained August 2020. Values are subject to change and should be used only as a general guide.

Book with partnered hotels.

You’ll earn bonus miles when you book eligible stays at any of these eligible partnered hotels.

Data obtained August 2020. Values are subject to change and should be used only as a general guide.

Renting a car

You can earn bonus miles when you rent a vehicle with Avis, Budget or Payless Car Rental. The maximum points you can earn per rental depends on your Pualani Elite level.

Data obtained August 2020. Values are subject to change and should be used only as a general guide.

Hawaiian Airlines Marketplace

Using your Hawaiian Airlines cobranded card to shop at HawaiianMiles Marketplace partnered locations will earn you bonus miles on each purchase. Base miles earned depends on the partner. Currently, the offer is up to 5x miles per dollar depending on the location.

Hawaiian Airlines also holds special shopping events at local Hawaiian malls. Shopping during this event can earn you even more miles to your account. Participating malls and retailers change frequently, so check out the HawaiianMiles site for an up-to-date list before you venture out. Here are just a few retailers to give you an idea of what’s available.

Data obtained August 2020. Values are subject to change and should be used only as a general guide.

Foodland bonuses

Hawaiian Airlines has a partnership with grocery store Foodland that can earn you up to 200 miles for every $250 you spend. This program isn’t directly tied to your HawaiianMiles account. Instead, you’ll need to register for the Foodland Maika’i rewards program and link your HawaiianMiles number to the account.

You’ll earn 1 Maika’i point for every dollar you spend at Foodland. After 250 points, Foodland will send you a certificate that you can redeem for either 5% off your next Foodland purchase, a free “product of the week,” or 200 HawaiianMiles. You can simply check the box and turn in the certificate to a cashier to redeem. You should see the miles on your account within 6 to 8 weeks. And if you redeem your certificate on miles while also making a purchase of at least $100 and you’ll receive a bonus 100 miles.

Special services

Finally, you have a medley of specialty retailers that can earn you bonus miles on your purchases. These range from small purchases, like flowers, to enormous investments, like signing off on a construction project.

Data obtained August 2020. Values are subject to change and should be used only as a general guide.

Purchase HawaiianMiles

If you ever need a few more miles for that next flight, you can purchase up to 10,000 miles in a year at 500-mile increments. At the time of this writing, a 500-mile increment costs $15. That’s a little over 3 cents a mile, making it a poor value play to purchase miles. However, purchasing miles could be useful if you need just a few more miles to hit your award flight.

Consider a credit card from another airline

United℠ Explorer Card

• $0 first-year intro annual fee, then $95.
• Signup bonus: 40,000 miles after you make $2,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
• 2x miles on United purchases, hotel stays and restaurant purchases.
• Credit every four years for your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee.
• 25% back as statement credit on United inflight purchases. Plus, priority boarding and your first checked bag free on United-operated flights.
• 2 United Club one-time passes each card anniversary.

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Bottom line

With several great credit card options available for transferring points and a solid cobranded card, the Hawaiian Miles program makes it easy to earn enough miles to visit our 50th state. Regular travelers to Hawaii might want to consider the cobranded card for the perks and boosted miles on flights. Once you’ve built your miles, find out how to put them to best use.

Looking for more ways to get to Hawaii? Compare your travel credit card options to find a program that suits your needs.

Frequently asked questions

• Can I share or transfer miles to another account?

  Yes. You can transfer a minimum of 2,000 miles for a fee of $25 plus $0.01 per mile. The transfer comes at no cost if the recipient is a Hawaiian Airlines cardholder.

• How do I check my HawaiianMiles?

  Log in to your HawaiianMiles account and click on “Mileage Statement” under the navigation bar to view your accumulated miles.

• Do HawaiianMiles expire?

  Yes. HawaiianMiles will expire if you haven’t earned or redeemed points within 18 months.