Alaska-Hawaiian Merger: How to Maximize Miles Before Changes Hit
This merger is reshaping loyalty perks, mileage redemptions, and global routes. Here’s what travelers need to know now
Photo: Courtesy of Alaska Airlines
One of the biggest aviation news stories of 2024 was the merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, which was finalized back in mid-September after formal clearance by the US Department of Transportation (DOT).
This merger gives us a lot to be excited about heading into 2025 as the dust begins to settle and a new element to the points and miles landscape takes shape.
Combined Program Ahead
While the two brands announced their intention to launch a single, combined loyalty program, details on what that program will look like are not expected to be released until mid-2025, with the program likely not launching until at least 2026.
Photo: Courtesy of Alaska Airlines
Until then, both airlines will continue operating their loyalty programs separately, albeit with various integrated changes that have already taken place and can be taken advantage of in the interim.
Maximizing Redemption
Since joining Oneworld in 2021, Alaska Airlines has gained a reputation for offering some of the most valuable redemption options available. Although they recently transitioned to a distance-based dynamic award chart that has devalued some of these redemptions, there are still excellent values to be found when award availability is favorable.
This includes a variety of lucrative business class sweet spots from the U.S. with their Oneworld partners. For example, Japan Airlines (JAL) flights to Tokyo can be booked for as low as 60,000 miles, and the renowned Qatar Airways QSuites to Doha can be redeemed for as little as 70,000 miles.
Photo: Courtesy of Oneworld
The downside, though, has always been the relative difficulty in accruing Alaska miles. Aside from the conventional means of accruing miles by flying Alaska or its Oneworld partners, Alaska only partners with one of the major transferable points credit card issuers (BILT) and only offers two co-branded credit cards themselves.
Enhanced Accrual
However, their merger with Hawaiian has opened other avenues to accrue these coveted miles.
One of the major announcements that came from the merger is the ability for customers to freely transfer Hawaiian and Alaska miles between both programs at a 1:1 ratio.
Photo: Courtesy of Alaska Airlines
Effectively, Hawaiian miles can now be converted to Alaska miles at no charge, making them incredibly more valuable than they used to be, given Hawaiian’s much smaller partnership network and global connectivity capabilities, which were not part of any alliance.
American Express cardholders might recognize Hawaiian Airlines as one of their airline transfer partners, meaning those who hold AMEX Membership Rewards points now have the ability to convert those points to Alaska miles by means of first transferring them to Hawaiian and then over to Alaska.
However, Alaska has already stated that they intend to close this transfer avenue from AMEX at some point in the future, so we do not anticipate this being an indefinite option.
This ability to freely convert Hawaiian miles to Alaska miles also boosts the value of Hawaiian’s two co-branded credit cards (issued by Barclays) and their lucrative sign-up bonuses, which now can be viewed as earning de facto Alaska miles.
Photo: Courtesy of Alaska Airlines
Additionally, Alaska has announced its plans for a brand new premium-level credit card, which will be launched this summer.
While the full details have yet to be released, we know that there will be a unique 3x bonus spending category on all eligible foreign transactions and 3x on dining. This is a clear step up from the rather meager bonus spending categories offered on the current Alaska Visa Signature card.
In the coming months, frequent flyers can look forward to elite status reciprocity between both programs and enhanced global connectivity.
Global Expansion Ahead
Customers will soon have the ability to combine Hawaiian flight segments with those of Alaska or Oneworld partner airlines when redeeming their miles. Additionally, Alaska has announced that Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) will serve as its new global gateway.
Photo: Sea-Tac Airport. Courtesy of The Port of Seattle.
New nonstop routes from Seattle to Tokyo (NRT) and Seoul (ICN) on Hawaiian widebody aircraft are scheduled to launch in May and October, respectively.
By 2030, the airline plans to serve a total of 12 nonstop international destinations from its Seattle hub with its widebody fleet. This investment in routes from Seattle is expected to expand redemption options for travelers to the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Summary
New Combined Loyalty Program
- Expected launch: 2026
- Details to be announced: Mid-2025
| Current Changes | Future Changes |
|---|---|
| Freely transfer miles between Alaska & Hawaiian | Earn either currency when flying Alaska or Hawaiian |
| Boosts Hawaiian co-branded card value & SUBs | Reciprocal elite status benefits |
| Alaska’s strong redemption options remain available | Combine Hawaiian flight segments with Alaska & Oneworld partners for award travel |
| Temporarily transfer AMEX points to Alaska via Hawaiian (for now) | New SEA international routes on Hawaiian widebodies |
Mileage Plan Benefits
- Distance-based award chart with valuable sweet spots
- Dynamic pricing, but strong saver award availability
- Free stopover on international award tickets
- Unique non-Oneworld partners: Singapore Airlines and LATAM Airlines
Redemption Sweet Spots
| Route | Via | Award Cost |
|---|---|---|
| SFO or LAX → Fiji | Fiji Airways | 75k miles (+10k to Australia/NZ) - Business Class |
| Short-haul Americas (<700 miles) | Alaska Airlines | 4.5k miles - Economy Class |
| East Coast USA → Madrid | Iberia | 55k miles - Business Class |
| USA → Doha | Qatar Airways | 70k (East/Central), 85k (West Coast) - Business Class |
| USA → Japan | Japan Air Lines (JAL) | 60k (West Coast), 75k (Rest of US) - Business Class |
