At the beginning of August, the Amex Membership Rewards program in the United States introduced a new transfer bonus. I wanted to post a reminder of this offer, as it’s due to expire today, and I think it’s one that may interest many, especially in light of recent developments.
20% transfer bonus from Amex to Hawaiian
Through Saturday, August 31, 2024, the US Amex Membership Rewards program is offering a 20% bonus when you transfer points to Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles.
Points ordinarily transfer at a 1:1 ratio, so during this promotion they transfer at a 1:1.2 ratio. Since the bonus is hardcoded into the transfer ratio, you can take advantage of this promotion multiple times. Transfers between the programs are generally instant.
- Access to Amex Offers
- Redeem Amex Points Towards Airfare
- $375
- Earn 5x points on flights purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel (up to $500k/year)
- $200 Annual Uber Credit
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $895
- Earn 2x on purchases of $5,000 or more in a single transaction on up to $2MM per calendar year
- Redeem Points For Over 1.5 Cents Each Towards Airfare
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $895
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
When you transfer Amex points to the frequent flyer program of a US airline, there’s a fee of 0.06 cents per point, up to a maximum fee of $99. This is for Amex to offset the federal excise tax paid on such conversions.
Should you earn miles with Hawaiian Airlines?
Let me cut to the case — overall I don’t consider HawaiianMiles to be a very lucrative program, at least in its current form.
Yes, you can redeem miles for travel on Hawaiian Airlines. While award pricing is fine, availability isn’t necessarily great, and often premium fares to and from Hawaii in cash aren’t that bad. Pricing is broken up into many different zones, and you can find the award pricing here.
HawaiianMiles also offers redemptions on select partner airlines, including Japan Airlines, JetBlue, Korean Air, and Virgin Australia, and you can find the award pricing here. In all situations, award pricing just isn’t much to get excited about, even with a 20% bonus.
So that brings me to the one unique twist with this promotion. Alaska is in the process of trying to buy Hawaiian. It looks like the merger is going to be approved, in which case Hawaiian is expected to adapt the Alaska Mileage Plan program, and of course there are lots of great uses of Mileage Plan miles. So not only would this be a way to convert Amex points into Alaska miles, but you could even get a 20% bonus.
Now, of course there are still some risks, and we don’t know with what timeline it’ll be possible to convert Hawaiian’s mileage currency into Alaska Mileage Plan miles. But still, many may find this to be worth a speculative transfer, and I’ve written a separate post with my thoughts on that.
Bottom line
Through August 31, 2024, you can receive a 20% bonus when you transfer Amex points to HawaiianMiles. We haven’t seen this promotion in quite some time, and it’s not something I’d generally consider to be a good value. The only interesting angle here is that Alaska intends to acquire Hawaiian, so it’s highly likely that this is an opportunity to acquire Alaska Mileage Plan miles in a way that represents a good value.
Do you plan on transferring Amex points to Hawaiian with a 20% bonus?
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