Last chance: Transfer AMEX points to Hawaiian Airlines (and Alaska Airlines) on June 30
American Express membership rewards will end on June 30 and transfer to Hawaii Mills.
This means you only have a few days left to transfer membership reward points to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Program, one of the most valuable but difficult airline loyalty currencies.
Hawaiian Mills has been able to transfer to the mileage program since mid-last year, which provides Amex cardholders with an indirect way to transfer their membership reward points to Alaska Airlines. Alaska Airlines launched the feature after it acquired Hawaiian Airlines in Honolulu last year.
American Express publishes this news on the point transfer page of American Express website and mobile apps.
While we generally do not recommend moving from a credit card point program to a specific airline or hotel partner, this may be an exception for Alaska Airlines and OneWorld fans. This is because the Alaska Airlines Mileage Program offers some of the best reward rates, which are some of the best reward rates on short domestic flights from the East Coast and on transatlantic commercial flights.
For example, economic flights for American Airlines that are less than 700 miles apart usually only take 4,500 miles, while transatlantic commercial-class flights are only 45,000 miles apart from 1,501 to 3,500 miles, namely partner airlines such as Aer Lingus. In many cases, these prices are significantly lower than competing OneWorld loyalty programs, such as American Airlines Aadvantage.
Related: How to book domestic air flights with points and miles
How to transfer membership awards index to Hawaiian Airlines (and Alaska Airlines)
Transferring AMEX membership reward points to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Program is a two-step process.
First, you need to transfer member reward points to the Rewards & Benefits page of your American Express account. You can transfer up to 999,000 member reward points to Hawaiian every day. In our experience, membership reward points are transferred immediately to Hawaiians, although Amex says it can take up to two days.
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If you plan to transfer points from membership rewards to Hawaiians by June 30, please note that you will pay a 0.06 cents per mile to offset your spending, up to $99 per transfer. You can charge this fee to the US Express Card or cover it with membership bonus points. However, we do not recommend redemption points paying fees, as your value is only 0.5 cents.
Once the member reward points are transferred to Hawaiians, you can use the airline’s point transfer tool to move points between Hawaii and Alaska accounts. In most cases, these transfers are also processed immediately.
Bottom line
Before June 30, you only have a few days left to transfer membership reward points to Hawaiian Airlines (and agents, Alaska Airlines).
That said, BILT points are also transferred to Alaska Airlines’ mileage program, so travelers still have a way to earn Alaska mileage with transferable points cards.
If you plan to fly with Alaska and its partners as soon as possible, you might consider transferring some membership reward points to Hawaiian Mill (and then the mileage program) before it’s too late. Alaska Miles is most valuable in points and mileage space, largely due to the program’s low reward prices and extensive list of non-contract partners. However, if you do, you will give up some flexibility, which could devalue your Alaska mileage if you don’t redeem them quickly.
