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How we flew to Hawaii on one Credit Card Sign Up Bonus and had 20,000 miles to spare

March 14, 2024

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I'm amber

A mom of six through birth and adoption, family travel specialist, self-proclaimed chocolate chip cookie connoisseur, Disney lover, and, I hope to be, your new best friend.

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Flying to Hawaii is wonderful no matter what seat you have because, heck you are going to Hawaii. Whether it’s Oahu, Kauai, or the Big Island or Maui, they are all magical places. That being said, flying to Hawaii is so much nicer when you are using your miles instead of your hard earned cash.

How to get to Hawaii on Credit Card Miles

Every travel credit card has its different programs to help you earn points. However, some programs are far more powerful with the use of transfer partners to some of the top airlines. My two personal favorite programs are the American Express Membership Rewards® Program and Chase Ultimate Rewards® program.

Step 1: I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is, in my opinion, the best card in terms of bang for the buck. When I signed up, the bonus was that you earn 75,000 Bonus Points if you spend $4,000 within the first 3 months of signing up. After hitting the 75,000 bonus points and spending $4,000, we had a little over 64,000 miles. My next step was looking to transfer my points to British Airways.

Keep in mind, the specifics of the sign-up bonuses change so it’s important to keep tabs on cards you are considering signing up for and waiting for exceptional bonus offers.

Step 2: Why I transferred points to British Airways

If you live on the West Coast, British Airways has the most affordable flights with miles to Hawaii, even though you won’t actually be flying on British Airways.

British Airways partners with American and Alaska for U.S. based flights, so even though you are booking on British Airways, you will actually be flying on American or Alaska.

Screen Shot 2022 10 08 at 7.48.20 AM

That being said, if you book your flights to Hawaii on British Airways it is far fewer miles than any other airline including if you book directly with Alaska or American.

The flights we booked were 13,000 miles each way, so a total of 52,000 miles for Mike and I to fly to Hawaii. The same flight on Alaska would have cost us 150,000 miles if we booked through Alaska, but wait… we didn’t even use that many miles!

Step 3: Be on the Lookout for Bonus Transfer Offers

At the time, we wanted to travel there happened to be a 20% transfer bonus to British Airways. So, typically we would have to transfer 52,000 points to get 52,000 miles. However, since there was a 20% transfer bonus we only had to transfer 44,000 points with the 20% bonus offered.

Since flights cost $480 each, we received $960 worth of flights for only 44,000 points.

Value: 2.1 cents per point!

Step 4: What did we do with the Left Over Miles?

We had 20,000 miles left over and I also had a little over 45,000 miles on my Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card. With Chase Ultimate rewards you can combine those miles! So, we looked for some hotel rooms with our miles.

There is one hotel program I especially love to use my rewards, Hyatt Hotels.

IMG 6008
Grand Hyatt Kauai

Hyatt Hotels has the best value when using Chase points out of any program. We were taking an island hopper flight to Kauai for a few nights so we used our points at the Grand Hyatt Kauai.

Rooms were running $683 per night but the same room was only 21,000 points. We were able to score 3 nights and enjoy paradise on points alone. Not too shabby!

This site does not include all available offers. Reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Michael Mamian

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