In September 2024, we saw Alaska Airlines’ takeover of Hawaiian Airlines close. It has been an absolutely fascinating several months for Alaska Air Group, given the direction the company is headed. We’re seeing the airline turn Seattle into a global gateway (with Seattle to Tokyo being the first route, followed by Seattle to Seoul Incheon), new lounges will open, and more.
We’re increasingly learning more about what we can expect from the future of Alaska Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles, so let’s cover the details, as there are lots of developments.
In this post:
New Alaska loyalty program launching August 2025
Alaska Air Group intends to maintain both Alaska and Hawaiian branding, as this is an important commitment that the company has made to the state of Hawaii. However, we do know that the company plans to launch a combined loyalty program, and the plan is for this to be live around August 2025. Note that this will be a gradual process that happens over several months, so that doesn’t mean HawaiianMiles will be discontinued immediately.
Now, we don’t know exactly how this will work in practice, in terms of branding. I suspect that the loyalty program may still have elements of both Alaska and Hawaiian branding — maybe there will both be an Alaska Mileage Plan and Hawaiian Mileage Plan program, with the only difference being the branding (much like how Miles & More has both Lufthansa and SWISS branding).
1:1 mileage transfers between the two programs are already possible online at no cost, so at least this gives you the flexibility to transfer miles. Furthermore, the two airlines are already offering status matches and reciprocal perks. Just keep in mind that Hawaiian doesn’t plan to join the oneworld alliance until 2026, so if you want to earn or redeem other oneworld miles, or take advantage of oneworld elite benefits, you’d have to wait until 2026 to do that on Hawaiian operated flights.
When the new loyalty program launches, I’d expect it to basically be along the lines of the current Mileage Plan program, so don’t expect many surprises. There are of course lots of great ways to redeem Mileage Plan miles. On top of that, Mileage Plan has already made major program changes for 2025, including being able to earn elite miles for award flights.
The Bank of America credit card portfolio will survive
When it comes to credit cards, Alaska Mileage Plan has co-branded credit cards issued by Bank of America, while HawaiianMiles has co-branded credit cards issued by Barclays.
Once a single loyalty program is formed, the expectation is that the Alaska Mileage Plan partnership with Bank of America will continue. Not only that, but it will actually be expanded. In addition to the existing Alaska co-branded credit cards, we’ll see the launch of a new premium credit card.
The expectation is that Hawaiian’s co-branded credit cards with Barclays will be discontinued, though we don’t have the exact timeline for that yet. At that point, members will be given the option to switch to a Bank of America card. Of course not having access to as many sign-up bonuses isn’t great, but I think that’s ultimately a logical development.
Bilt transfers will stay, Amex transfers won’t
When it comes to transferable points currencies, Alaska Mileage Plan exclusively partners with Bilt Rewards, while HawaiianMiles partners with Amex Membership Rewards.
The expectation is that the Alaska Mileage Plan partnership with Bilt will continue, given that this is part of a larger tie-up, and seemingly Bank of America doesn’t have an issue with it (or at least doesn’t have a say).
Meanwhile as of June 30, 2025, HawaiianMiles will be eliminated as an Amex Membership Rewards partner. So if you want to make those transfers, you’ll want to do so in the near future.
Loyalty was a major motivation for the Hawaiian takeover
Nowadays US carriers — even the most successful ones — make a large percentage of their profits from their loyalty programs, and in particular, from their lucrative co-branded credit card agreements. For an airline of its size, Alaska is really good at making money off its loyalty program.
It’s interesting to note that for Alaska Air Group, the upside with the loyalty program was a major motivator for acquiring Hawaiian. As a percentage of total revenue, Alaska does much better with its loyalty program than Hawaiian. That seems like a major opportunity, since Hawaiian is based in a place that many people love to vacation, and that’s a major motivator for consumers to pick up a credit card.
So from being able to better monetize Hawaiian’s customer base in Hawaii, to being able to offer reward flights to Alaska loyalists, there’s so much upside here, and untapped potential. To drive home this point, below are some slides from Alaska’s Investor Day 2024 presentation, showing how the company sees this playing out.
Bottom line
With Alaska’s takeover of Hawaiian having closed last year, we’re increasingly seeing the two brands cooperate more closely. It’s already possible to transfer miles at a 1:1 ratio, to status match, and to take advantage of select reciprocal elite perks.
As of August 2025, we should see a new unified loyalty program launch, which will be a major development. That’s not to say that HawaiianMiles will be discontinued immediately, but rather, it’ll be a process of several months.
Prior to that, we’ll see Hawaiian removed as an Amex transfer partner. Meanwhile the exact timeline for Hawaiian’s Barclays cards being discontinued remains to be seen. Alaska Mileage Plan is way more lucrative than HawaiianMiles, so I’m excited about a single program being formed, as I feel like there’s upside all-around.
What’s your take on the future of Alaska & Hawaiian miles, and the forming of a single program?
Introducing Atmos Rewards. Confirmed with multiple AS folks.
Is it too late to sign up for the Alaska biz card and meet the sub?
AS companion pass work on HA metal flight? thank you
Any early thoughts on devaluation, ben?
As a condition of the merger AS agreed that "The combined airline must not take any actions that would devalue HawaiianMiles miles, must maintain the value of each unredeemed HawaiianMiles mile earned prior to the merger closing, must honor all active HawaiianMiles promotions from prior to the merger closing, and must continue to award HawaiianMiles miles at the same or greater value. "
They also agree that "The combined airline must maintain a minimum dollar...
As a condition of the merger AS agreed that "The combined airline must not take any actions that would devalue HawaiianMiles miles, must maintain the value of each unredeemed HawaiianMiles mile earned prior to the merger closing, must honor all active HawaiianMiles promotions from prior to the merger closing, and must continue to award HawaiianMiles miles at the same or greater value. "
They also agree that "The combined airline must maintain a minimum dollar value for all miles in the new loyalty program, measured by the guest-facing value of miles redeemed for carrier-operated flights."
I've yet to figure out what that second part means. But for anyone who will have both HA and AS miles in the new program if there is any devaluation relative to the value of what HI miles were worth that would appear to violate the first section. So unless the new program identifies and keeps legacy HI miles separate one would expect the value of miles in new program is required at least as much as they were under HI.
Whether they could be less that the miles are worth under the current AS program isn't clear, at least to me since the first part doesn't address that and the meaning of the second part is clear as mud.
I would like Alaska to have some kind of mileage pooling / family accounts. Always make it easier in a program with limited transfer opportunities.
But don't make it like United, who only lets you used pooled miles for United flights and not across Star Alliance.
You can indirectly do this by transferring the miles to your Hawaiian account and then combining them with the Hawaiian account of your friends/family members here: https://www.hawaiianairlines.com/hawaiianmiles2/share
Indeed, but will be gone post 6/30.
I just love how they graphically depict the "affluent, next generation traveler."
@ Dick Bupkiss -- Lol. I mean, it does feel very Pacific Northwest, I will say...