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Despite being a legacy carrier, Honolulu-based Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t have a huge footprint in North America. Nor is it a member of an airline alliance. However, if you fly Hawaiian Airlines on a regular basis, elite status might be worthwhile.
Additionally, Hawaiian Airlines has several airline partners including Japan Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, China Airlines, jetBlue, Virgin Australia, and Korean Air that allow you to credit miles earned on their flights to Hawaiian. All of the above makes collecting Hawaiian miles relatively easy. Unfortunately, all elite benefits are limited to flights on Hawaiian Airlines, and it doesn’t appear that there are any reciprocal elite benefits between Hawaiian Airlines and its partners.
Get bonus miles when you fly on Hawaiian Airlines
Earning Status
Hawaiian Airlines Pualani has two elite levels: Gold and Platinum.
Gold and Platinum: Upgrade to Extra Comfort or Preferred Seat
Platinum:
Same day upgrade on a flight to the Neighbor Islands
Two first class domestic and business class international one-way upgrades
Six one-way systemwide upgrades upon reaching 75,000 miles
One additional upgrade for every 10,000 miles earned after that
Hawaiian Airlines Pualani Bonus Miles
Gold: 50% bonus miles
Platinum: 100% bonus miles
Fee Waivers
Gold: First two bags
Gold and Platinum: In-flight Unlimited TV & More Pack on A330 flights
Platinum:
First three bags
Preferred Seat on Hawaiian Airlines-operated flights to the Neighbor Islands
Airport Services
Gold and Platinum:
Access to the first class check-in line and express security line
More seats are available for selection at time of booking
Discounted E-Awards at HawaiianAirlines.com
Priority routing and handling when calling Exclusive Reservations Line
Hold a fare on a flight reservation for 1-2 days
Priority boarding
Neighbor Islands same-day standby
Priority security lines at select airports
Priority baggage handling
Priority pre-boarding
Platinum:
Neighbor Island Economy Class SEAT guaranteed up until 72 hours prior to departure with a revenue e-ticket.
Complimentary Lounge Access
Gold and Platinum:
Premier Club Access – Honolulu, Hilo, Kona, Kahului and Lihue
Complimentary access to The Plumeria Lounge
Notable Additional Rewards for Gold and Platinum Members
Special invitations to events hosted by Hawaiian Airlines throughout
the U.S.
$100 annual statement credit toward in-flight purchases for Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard cardholders ($10 maximum per day)
Premier Club Benefits
Some of the elite benefits are available to anyone willing to pay for them. The Premier Club membership costs $299 or 40,000 Hawaiian miles and covers many Gold and Platinum benefits except:
Upgrades
Hold a Fare
Guaranteed seat
Bonus miles
Neighbor Islands standby
Invitations to special events
Other Ways to Earn Status
None
Status Match/Status Challenge
Not official, but there are some reports of status-matching on a case-to-case basis.
Earning Elite Miles on Partner Airlines
None
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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Like the regional carrier for the other U.S. noncontiguous state–Alaska Airlines–Hawaiian Airlines and its frequent flyer program have made themselves valuable to travelers looking for more than just a vacation to Hawaii.
HawaiianMiles has close relationships with all of the Virgin Airlines, including better rates on Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America flights than you’ll get with the airlines themselves, and a new bond with American Airlines, after severing ties with longtime partner Delta.
Those who live in Hawaii or travel there often will find enormous value with this program, as it provides great redemption rates and several perks especially for inter-island travel which can be unduly expensive to book out of pocket. If you travel elsewhere frequently with Hawaiians partners you may find that it suits your needs better to credit your miles from other programs directly to Hawaiian as the miles can be very valuable for frequent travelers to and within the Aloha state.
Hubs:
Honolulu International Airport
Kahalui Airport (Maui)
How Can You Use Hawaiian Airline Miles?
Booking HawaiianMiles flights to fly Hawaiian Airlines is a straightforward online process. But you really need to watch the mileage rates, because there are five different award categories:
Coach Super Saver
Coach Saver
Coach Flex
First/Business Saver
First/Business Flex
When you use HawaiianMiles to book flights between Hawaii and the mainland, the lowest tier on the zone-based award system(i.e. Coach SuperSaver) results in a flat 40,000 miles round-trip, or 35,000 miles with their co-branded credit card. That is not a significant improvement on the redemption rates offered by major U.S. carriers. However, using HawaiianMiles to book both these flights and inter-island flights (7,500 miles one-way) can be a bargain compared to paying in cash.
Hawaiian Airlines award chart
With partners, though, Hawaiian has a complex system with different charts for different partners, some zone-based, some value-based and some distance-based. ANA, Korean Air, JetBlue, Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia are all booked according to zone-based award charts. There is great value on Virgin America however, which uses a value-based redemption system for its own flights, but can be booked on a distance-based chart through Hawaiian.
Program perks:
Premium flights on partner airlines credit 125-200 percent of miles flown
One-way awards available
Low taxes and fees on partner flights
Bookings quirks:
Miles expire after 18 months with no activity on the account
Partner award flights cannot be booked online
One-way awards not available through partners
Partner awards cannot be priced out unless you have the required miles in your account
Best value awards:
Upper class cabins with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America give you the greatest value for your Hawaiian miles, and a far better value than you’ll find booking directly through either program.
Paying for Virgin Americas first class cabin with miles can get quite expensive, as the airline pegs their redemptions to the cash value of the ticket. For their popular New York-to-Los Angeles route, it’s common for these seats to price out at more than 175,000 miles, but you can get them for 90,000 booking through Hawaiian.
Awards on flights operated by Virgin America
On Virgin Atlantic, the value isn’t as clear immediately, because Hawaiian charges more miles (125,00 from the East Coast and 160,000 from the West Coast) for Virgins sleek Upper Class, and Virgin charges 80,000-100,000, depending on the exact departure point. The savings here comes in the fees and surcharges, which can easily run up to $1,200 on a reward in Upper Class when booked through Virgin, but are only a couple hundred dollars through Hawaiian.
Awards on flights operated by Virgin Atlantic
Worst value awards:
The worst values with HawaiianMiles come when using those miles to book partners with disadvantageous award charts, such as ANA, American Airlines and Korean Air, which charge significantly more miles for the same routes than Hawaiian does.
One of the worst ways to use your Hawaiian miles is with Jet Blue, which operates its own award program on a value-based redemption system that pegs the price in TrueBlue points to the current value of the ticket. Hawaiian does the same; however, the cents-per-mile value of their chart is significantly below JetBlues own, to the tune of a loss of 0.5-0.7 cents per mile. Since value-based awards are often only a good value when you are getting the ticket at a time when the price is already discounted, this makes average-priced JetBlue tickets bought outside sale periods a truly bad deal with HawaiianMiles.
The Good Stuff: Upgrades and Elite Status
Flights booked with cash can be upgraded online up to 26 hours before departure. Upgrade rates are no longer included in the Hawaiian Airlines award chart, but cost roughly 25,000 miles for flights when First Class Saver awards are available and 50,000 when only Flex awards remain.
You can also upgrade for less than the advance rate at the airport during check-in.
HawaiianMiles Elite Levels and Perks
Each subsequent level includes the perks of the previous level unless stated otherwise.
Pualani Gold: 50 percent bonus miles, first two checked bags free, complimentary extra comfort or preferred seats on all domestic and international flights subject to availability, first class check-in, expedited security screening, Premier Club Lounge access for member and two guests, priority boarding, complimentary in-flight entertainment, additional award options and discounts, $100 annual credit toward in-flight purchases
Pualani Platinum: 100 percent bonus miles, first three checked bags free, no changes fees on inter-island flights
HawaiianMiles Membership Levels
Associated Credit Cards
Hawaiian Airlines has switched its co-branded credit card affiliations in recent years and upgraded the card since as well.
Previously, Bank of America offered the Hawaiian Airlines Visa Signature, and the Bank of Hawaii also offered a card with the same name and benefits, but both cards converted to Barclays in April 2014.
Barclays originally offered two versions of the personal card, a Visa Signature card with a $79 annual fee and a Platinum card with a $50 annual fee, which some cardholders may still have. But now it is issuing one card, The Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard, in both business and personal versions, with a $89 annual fee.
The World Elite MasterCard, which carries no foreign transaction fees, comes with a sign-on bonus of 35,000 miles after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days of holding the card and earns double miles on Hawaiian Airlines purchases and one mile per dollar on everything else.
The card really shines in terms of flight discounts, offering:
Award flights between Hawaii and the mainland that typically cost 20,000 miles each way for 17,500
A one-time 50 percent off companion discount coupon for a flight between Hawaii and the mainland
$100 off a companion ticket for a round-trip ticket between Hawaii and the mainland each year as an anniversary gift
Andy Shuman 
January 23, 2024 
