Deals News

Updated and Confirmed! Looks like we’ll be able to transfer Amex Membership Rewards to Alaska via Hawaiian

a man sitting on a desk with his legs raised

We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com and CardRatings. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.


  • Update 9/27/24. As of last night, you can transfer between Hawaiian and Alaska
    • We, at first, thought Amex to Hawaiian was shut down, but this is wrong. I’ve had a ton of people transfer Amex to Hawaiian to Alaska without issue. It seems there was a problem on the Hawaiian side and that has been resolved.
    • I updated the section down below to give you a link to transfer miles

Original Post 9/19/24

The Hawaiian and Alaska merger is approved and this is a great benefit of the approval you may not have thought about.

It’s sure looking like this backend run around transfer will work starting later this month or next month. We’ve been patiently waiting to see if Hawaiian and Alaska would be approved for a merger, it was of high liklihood after the DOJ cleared it. Then, we were waiting to see if the miles would transfer 1:1. I’ve been writing about my strategy in my newsletter ( transferring Amex to Hawaiian with a 20% bonus in August ) to take advantage of this speculative opportunity that appears to be coming to fruition, and lo and behold it was one of the DOT conditions for them to approve it.

What I didn’t think would happen would be the integration of a Hawaiian to Alaska mileage transfers this soon. I figured it would be next year. But no… it’s starting very soon. Let’s break down how you would accomplish this as well as why you would want to do it.

I’m going to also show you how you could move Alaska miles to another Alaska account.

*I will say this is not confirmed, and they could always dellineate between miles pre and post merger to prohibit this, but I think this will work. We will find out later this month tho once transfer are approved

One – Hawaiian is an Amex partner

You can transfer points 1:1 between the programs.

a group of logos

Two: Alaska announced you’ll be able to move Hawaiian and Alaska miles between accounts this month in their press statement

Later this month, September 2024, you’ll be able to move Hawaiian to Alaska and vice versa

a white background with black text

Three: Transfer Amex to Hawaiian to transfer to Alaska for more redemption opportunities

This means you’ll actually be able to do this Amex -> Hawaiian -> Alaska later this month…

a close-up of a logoYou can transfer between Hawaiian and Alaska by going here:

a screenshot of a sign in to a mileage plan

If you have the Hawaiian Airlines card you could even move between Hawaiian Accounts

You have even more options if you have the Hawaiian personal card…which I just got with a 70k offer after a single purchase.

70k offer

a card with surfboards in front of treesLook at the Share Miles benefit

Amex to Hawaiian account 1 to Hawaiian account 2 to Alaska

Alaska 1 to Hawaiian 1 to Hawaiian 2 to Alaska 2

a screenshot of a website

You can then access the share miles with other members benefit here:

a screenshot of a registration form

Why would you want to do this? Alaska has better redemption opportunities

First Off… the biggest Hawaiian Airlines sweet spot is first class in lie flat mainland US to Hawaii for 40k per person

This would be a very good reason to transfer Alaska to Hawaiian if you were sitting on a heap of Alaska miles. I’ve screencapped the East Coast rates since they are the highest and as you can see they are just 40k each way in first

a screenshot of a screena row of seats in an airplane

Alaska Airlines is a part of One World + Great List of Redemption Parnters

In 2020 Alaska Airlines announced that they were joining One World. This became official on March 31st, 2021. There is also improved benefits when flying domestically on American, including upgrades for Elites, lounge access, etc. In my opinion, it’s never been better to have Alaska Elite Status. Read the in depth break down here.a group of logos of airplanes a group of airplanes in blue circles

Alaska also allows you to book in a stopover on Award tickets.

I used the stopover to spend 3 nights in Hong Kong at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong – booked with Prive benefits.

a room with a view of water and boats

We flew on their A350 from BNE to HKG and then HKG to LAX aboard Cathay Pacific First Class. Cathay’s Business Class is a wonderful product featuring reverse herringbone, cirrus seating that is amongst the tops in the world.

a tv in the middle of an airplane

Alaska Airlines Sweet Spots

Americas

Short Haul is a great deal. I’ve used this between Indianapolis and JFK, and then flying to Central and South American in Business Class between 35k and 50k is amazing. Think of flying from the Southern States where the mileage is much less to take advantage of these prices.

  • Less than 700 miles
    • Econ for 4500 Miles
  • 2101 to 4000
    • Business for 35k
  • 4k to 6000
    • Business for 50k

a row of seats with monitors on the side

Europe/Middle East/Africa

London is a sweet spot for sure, but the flights that price between 55k and 70k aren’t to bad if you can bake in a free stopover. Think of flying into Helsinki on FinnAir business, spend a few days, then continue onward mainland Europe. The 85k rate is a screaming good deal into Africa or the Middle East with QSuites especially because you can bake in a stopover.

  • 1501 to 3500 miles
    • Business for 45k
    • London from NYC or BOS is priced this way. Great Deal
  • 5000 to 7000
    • Business for 70k
    • Look for the stopover perks here
  • 7000 to 10000
    • Business for 85k
    • Think of QSuites to the Maldives or Africa here

a teddy bear on a bed

Asia

Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines come to mind with these rates. Both are phenom products and these prices are great. Think of booking a flight into Japan, stopping over, and continuing onward into SouthEast Asia for just 85k in business class. That is a homerun deal imo.

  • 5000 to 7000
    • Business 75k
  • 7001 to 10k
    • Business 85k

a stuffed animal on a table

Here are the all Alaska Award Charts

 

a screenshot of a chart a screenshot of a graph a screenshot of a graph

 

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

a blue credit card with blue lines and white text

Learn More

Affiliate Link

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

$300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. 

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • $300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. 
    • That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel℠ purchases within your first year
  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
  • 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 2x on all other travel
  • 10% Anniversary Bonus
    • Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
  • Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
  • $95 Annual Fee

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.

If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex®  and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

9 Comments

  • richard October 4, 2024

    I have been saving my amex points for quite a while because I just don’t know how to use maximize their value. I wouldn’t mind tranferring all of them for this deal. Do you think that’s a good idea? i have about 230k amex points. I really have no other use for them other than trying to fly business on a discount.

  • Ken September 28, 2024

    Business Gold 100K offer + 0% APR 6 months, Business Platinum 150K offer, or apply for any American Express Personal Card (100K Platinum, 60K + 20% credit Gold, 80K DELTA GOLD, 90K DELTA PLATINUM, 100K DELTA RESERVE) with this link:
    https://americanexpress.com/en-us/referral/businessgold-card?ref=KENMXkNZ&XL=MIMNS
    Thank you.

  • Elisabeth September 25, 2024

    It asks for a promo code in order to get this deal. Do you have one you can share with us?

    • Miles September 25, 2024

      any 6 digit code works

      • Michelle September 28, 2024

        I’ve tried multiple 6 digit codes and none of them work.

      • Shay September 28, 2024

        When I enter any 6 digits It says I need a number on the back of flyer from flight attendant. Any 6 digits is not working.
        I would like to take advantage of this 1 purchase 70K miles to transfer to Alaska.
        Does anyone have a valid code?

  • Christian September 19, 2024

    I have a genuine question: You mention some (legitimate) sweet spots for use with Alaska miles. What would you suggest for using Alaska miles to fly in J/F to Asia for two people?

    From what I’ve seen the problem is finding two seats in business or first class USA to/from Asia or Africa with Alaska miles is pretty much impossible. A sweet spot with near zero availability doesn’t seem so sweet. I’ve gotten great value through MileagePlan in the past for first class tickets on Cathay and JAL but those aren’t around anymore. The one sweet spot I’ve found that doesn’t involve nasty surcharges (- cough – BA – cough -) is business class on Condor. Condor has pretty good availability if booking well in advance and the price for business class is pretty decent.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.