Big news: You can now transfer Hawaiian miles (and by extension, Amex points) to Alaska Airlines

There's been a major development in the merger of Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines, as the two carriers just launched the ability to transfer miles between their respective loyalty programs. While post-merger plans call for a single, combined loyalty program, this is an important first step — and opens up a lucrative new avenue for those with American Express Membership Rewards points.

That's because Amex points transfer to Hawaiian miles at a 1:1 ratio (though they are subject to a federal excise tax offset fee of 120 points or 60 cents per 1,000 points transferred). Thus, you can now transfer Amex points to Hawaiian and then transfer them to Alaska miles, one of the most valuable airline currencies out there.

Related: American Express Membership Rewards transfer partners: Maximize your points

Even better? These transfers process instantly, even though the FAQs indicate they could take up to 72 hours.

Here's what you need to know about this new option.

How to transfer miles between Alaska and Hawaiian

If you're sitting on a balance of Hawaiian miles (or recently transferred Amex points to the airline) and want to convert them to Alaska miles, start by visiting this Points.com page. Start by selecting the program to which you want to transfer miles, which in my case was Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.

From there, follow the prompts to sign in to both your Alaska and Hawaiian accounts.

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You'll then be taken to a screen to confirm the number of miles you want to transfer. There's a handy slider to use, though note that transfers must be in increments of 50 miles.

I opted to transfer my entire balance of 1,200 Hawaiian miles, and after I clicked Continue, I was asked to confirm the transfer amount.

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You'll then see a confirmation page, indicating that the transfer was successful.

As noted above, these transfers process instantly, as I was able to immediately see the 1,200 miles in my Alaska Mileage Plan account.

Just note that your profile information in your two accounts must match, so double check that if you run into any issues.

This is an exciting new development for members, and it comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Transportation codifying important consumer protections as a condition of the merger. Alaska Mileage Plan has a ton of terrific sweet spots, and prior to this, the only transferable currency that offered transfers to Alaska Airlines was Bilt Rewards. Now, holders of select American Express cards have the ability to effectively earn Alaska miles by first transferring to Hawaiian Airlines and then moving them to Mileage Plan.

This also makes Hawaiian's cobranded cards even more appealing, as the welcome offers on those cards are now effectively Alaska miles. In addition, cardmembers can transfer (and receive) Hawaiian miles from any other member of the program, with no limits and no fees. This offers valuable flexibility in sharing miles among friends and family members.

Read more: A gamble on Alaska miles — why I applied for 2 Hawaiian Airlines cards on the same day

Bottom line

You can now transfer miles between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, which effectively means you can convert American Express Membership Rewards points into Alaska Mileage Plan miles. As a full member of the Oneworld alliance, Alaska offers some fantastic redemptions at attractive prices — especially in light of recent changes to British Airways award rates (a long-timer Amex transfer partner).

While we usually don't recommend making speculative transfers from credit card programs to airline currencies, this new development may be enough to do so.