Earn 60k Miles With the Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard
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Editor’s note: This post was originally published on Oct 12, 2018.
Official application link: Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard with a 60,000-mile sign-up bonus.
If you’ve been thinking about adding the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard to your wallet, now may be a good time to do it, thanks to a limited-time offer of 60,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 on the card in the first 90 days.
That’s enough HawaiianMiles loyalty program miles for a round-trip flight or upgrade between the East or West Coast and Hawaii on Hawaiian Airlines. Miles can also be used for flights on Hawaiian Airlines partners Japan Airlines, JetBlue, Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia.
The previous offer was 50,000 miles after you spend $2,000 in the first 90 days. The card’s $2,000 spend isn’t too much of a burden, especially when compared to a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which requires double the spend — $4,000 in the first 3 months — for a 60,000-point bonus.
The card has a $99 annual fee that’s waived the first year (with no foreign transaction fees). Earn 3x miles on Hawaiian Airlines purchases, 2x miles on gas, dining and grocery stores and 1x on everything else. Get a free checked bag when you use the card for Hawaiian Airlines flights, saving you $15 on inter-island and $30 for North American flights.
If you travel with a companion, this card is ideal, since it comes with both a one-time 50% off companion discount and $100 off a companion flight every account anniversary on round-trip coach flights between Hawaii and North America.
Hawaiian Airlines cardmembers earn miles on partner carriers, along with hotels (Aqua-Astin, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott and Wyndam), rental cars (Avis, Budget and Payless), Hawaiian Airlines Cruise Vacations, shopping and surveys.
Redeem miles for hotel stays, hotel and car rental gift certificates, grocery, shopping, and dining gift cards, magazines and newspapers. Miles can also be transferred to Hilton Honors, Caesar’s Total Rewards loyalty program and at Points.com.
The Hawaiian Airlines credit card offers higher miles on airline-related purchases and three of the four top spending categories (but minus non-airline travel), which is more generous than other US airline credit cards.
Cardmembers receive a discount on Hawaiian Airlines award travel and can share their HawaiianMiles with friends and family for free. Pualani elite platinum and gold members are eligible to receive an inflight purchase credit of $10 a day, up to $100 a year. It can be use to cover onboard entertainment, beverages and premium meals.
While the companion discounts and the free checked bag are welcome, it would be nice to see more airline perks such as priority check-in and boarding, which is offered by other carriers’ credit cards. Unlike the Hawaiian Airlines card, other carriers offer credits to cover Global Entry and TSA PreCheck enrollment fees, such as the United Explorer Card (up to $100).
Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t belong to a global airline alliance, so you’re stuck redeeming HawaiianMiles on its limited number of partners. Those partners offer restricted seat availability and limited options for flights to Europe, South America, India, the Middle East and Africa. And when you’re ready to book a flight on any of them, you can’t do it online. Instead, you must call Hawaiian Airlines’ customer service at 877-426-4537.
Finally, the HawaiianMiles card doesn’t come with perks offered by competing credit cards, including trip delay/cancellation insurance, baggage delay/lost baggage insurance, extended warranty or return/purchase protection.
Bottom Line
The card’s 60,000 bonus miles are worth $540 based on TPG’s valuations, which peg Hawaiian miles at 0.9 cents apiece. This is on the lower end compared to other airlines. But taking advantage of this offer will give you a miles boost that can be used for flights once the required spending is reached and the miles are deposited.
If you fly between Hawaii and North America or Asia regularly, this card is an option worth considering, although there are others on the market that offer higher miles, more redemption opportunities and better perks.
Featured image courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines.
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