In addition to the current American Express Membership Rewards transfer bonus to Air France’s Flying Blue (and the Citi ThankYou bonus to Asia Miles), Amex has launched a 25% transfer bonus to Hawaiian Airlines.

You may not be very familiar with Hawaiian Airlines. There are a few solid uses for Hawaiian Miles. One is a longhaul flight from the mainland US to Hawaii in Business Class. While you will likely be on quite a hunt for availability (full disclosure: I couldn’t find a 40k seat through end-of-schedule), a one way at the lowest level from NYC to Hawaii (a ~12 hour flight) prices at just 40,000 miles each way. If you are inclined to fly that far in coach, they offer a fantastic value at just 20,000 miles (16,000 Membership Rewards) each way. (No surcharges!)

Another way to use Hawaiian Miles is to get from the mainland or from HNL down to Sydney. It’s a nice lie flat product and is a solid option if you can’t get a 1st or Business award on Qantas. That said, most days are pricing at 210,000 Hawaiian Miles from LAX one-way right now.  It would be 105,000 each way, lowest.

Unfortunately, I must note their award availability is more dynamic (less low level) than ever and even in a Live Chat, the agent kept telling me that like Delta “it costs what it costs.”  That’s not quite true – they still have low level awards – just not many.

They do also have a partner award chart. I haven’t been able to figure out a way to really get great value out of that.

Taking advantage of this?  Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.

New to all of this? My new “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available now.

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