Thanks to the merger of Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines, a unique opportunity has emerged for Australian frequent flyers who earn Amex Membership Rewards.
That’s because Hawaiian and Alaska have just launched a new feature that lets you transfer miles between their programmes. Historically, it has been almost impossible for Australians to earn Alaska Mileage Plan miles without buying them during mileage sales, which can offer excellent value.
Since HawaiianMiles was added to Amex Membership Rewards last year as a transfer partner, Australian Amex cardholders now have an additional transfer partner by proxy—that being Alaska Mileage Plan, which is, of course, a Oneworld alliance member.
HawaiianMiles can be transferred to Alaska Mileage Plan at a 1:1 ratio, which means 2 Membership Rewards points will turn into 1 Alaska Mileage Plan mile.
Pro Tip: take advantage of the latest Amex Explorer Offer with 100,000 Bonus Points when you sign up before October 3rd, 2024!
In this post:
How to Transfer Miles Between Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines
Transferring your miles from one programme to the other is relatively straightforward. Follow these simple steps and rules to get started:
- Visit the Exchange Page: Go to this page.
- Select Your Preferred Programme: Choose which programme you want to transfer miles into.
- Sign In: Log into your frequent flyer account.
- Redirect and Log In Again: The page will then redirect you to log in to the frequent flyer programme where you want to transfer the miles into.
- Transfer Miles: Transfer a minimum of 50 miles.
How Long Does It Take to Get Your Miles?
According to the transfer page, it can take up to 72 hours for your miles to be transferred. Keep this in mind if you’re trying to line up an award booking!
Why Would You Want to Transfer Miles to Alaska Mileage Plan?
Put simply, Alaska Mileage Plan can, from time to time, offer exceptional value! I recently flew from Bangkok to San Francisco onboard STARLUX via Taipei in business class (exceptional!) for just 85,000 Alaska Miles; best of all, the taxes and fees were only $65.
But that’s not all. Alaska being a Oneworld partner airline also means we can redeem Alaska Miles for Qantas. As we all know, Qantas Classic Rewards pricing can often be rather expensive.
For example, you can redeem Qantas Frequent Flyer points on a Classic Reward from Sydney to Los Angeles in business for 108,400 Qantas Points plus taxes and fees, whereas Alaska Mileage Plan (which devalued earlier this year) will “only” charge you 85,000 Alaska Miles plus taxes and fees for the same redemption!
The same redemption in first class would cost 162,800 Qantas Points vs. 130,000 Alaska Miles.
On routes like Perth to Singapore, Qantas is asking 57,000 points while Alaska will only charge 50,000 miles.
Summing Up
This new transfer possibility offers a boost of value for American Express members who earn flexible rewards (the best kind!) in the Membership Rewards programme. Not only is Alaska a viable Oneworld alternative, but they also have unique partnerships such as STARLUX, which opens the door to opportunities for those who like to experience the pointy end of the plane for less.
