How you can reap the rewards—even if you don’t belong to any mileage program or have any miles
With First Class fares to Hawaii as high as $4,000 and flight times ranging from five to twelve hours one-way, you’d think cashing in miles for an upgrade was the smart move.
Not so fast.
Using miles for upgrades depends on the mileage program and the departure city. Mileage upgrade effectiveness to Hawaii varies greatly because more major airlines are now imposing surcharges while First Class published fares on smaller airlines have dropped. (On one route we tested, the upgrade fare was higher than the published First Class fare and required 30,000 miles in addition.)
Here is our report card on four major and two smaller U.S. carriers. The marks are for flights to Honolulu and only for upgrades from the lowest economy fare to First Class, which is where you want to be.
Ground Rules for Calculating the Grade
The marks are based on the follow-ing criteria: low economy upgrade-able fares (gets extra points, since it’s the basis for this report card); ease of earning/getting miles without flying the carrier; number of credit-card-transfer partners; frequency of flight schedule; and the return on miles.
Alaska Airlines: B+
One of the better mileage upgrade programs to Hawaii because the miles required are low (30,000) and upgradeable fares (booking codes S, B, M, or H) are within reason: $900 to $1,000 for peak season and $700 to $850 for low season.
In the peak season on Dallas-Honolulu, the upgrade saves 43% over Alaska’s published First Class fare.
Getting the miles: Transfer 25,000 points from Starwood, and with the 20% bonus you’ve got the 30,000 miles. Anyone can buy these miles directly and instantly from Alaska Airlines here.
The only downside is that Alaska mainly flies from the West Coast, limiting easy connections from the East Coast at times.
American Airlines: B-
Requires 30,000 miles round-trip for an upgrade and imposes a $350 round-trip surcharge on any published economy fare. The last surcharge increase was in December 2009, so an-other one may be imminent.
Upgradeable fares to Honolulu during peak season (June to August) start at about $1,200 from the West Coast and about $1,300 from the East Coast (including the $350 surcharge for an upgrade). During the rest of the year fares can drop to $700 to $900 (including surcharge).
In the peak season the upgrade comes in at 57% less than the published First Class fare on New York-Honolulu.
Getting the miles: Transfer 25,000 points from Starwood and with the bonus, you’ve got the 30,000 miles. Anyone can also buy these miles directly from American here.
One advantage of the AAdvantage program is that the upgrade and lowest First Class inventory are the same. So if American is offer-ing First Class saver fares (booking code A), it means that upgrade space is there. (See page 10 for more on this.)
Hawaiian Airlines: B
Requires 50,000 miles, imposes no surcharge, and it allows an upgrade with any economy fare ($600 to $900 in high season and $350 to $600 in low); but requires 50,000 miles, which is steep.
On New York-Honolulu, the upgrade clocks in at $2,045, 64% less than the published First Class fare. One downside: only one route from the East Coast (from JFK) and none from the middle of the country.
Getting the miles: Transfer 40,000 points from Starwood or 50,000 from Amex Rewards. Again anyone can buy these miles directly from Hawaiian here.
US Airways: C
Requires 30,000 miles round-trip and imposes a surcharge of $300 round-trip with any published economy fare. The downside: US Airways only flies to Hawaii from Phoenix, which means upgrade award space is very scarce.
Getting the miles: Transfer 25,000 Starwood points. Anyone can also buy these miles directly from US Airways here.
Delta: D
The program is great on some routes, awful on others. In the past we’ve found upgradable fares that are more expensive than the published First Class fare, so always compare before going for the upgrade. One place it does work is Houston-Honolulu, where the upgradable fare is $1,212 (62%) less than the published First Class fare. (United members take note because your carrier’s new mileage upgrade program is really bad in this regard.) The basics: 30,000 miles, no surcharge, upgrades on M and B fares only, which range from $1,300 to $2,700.
Getting the miles: Transfer 25,000 points from Starwood or 30,000 from Amex Rewards. Again anyone can buy these miles directly from Delta here.
United: D-
Grieve, United MileagePlus members. Remember when you could upgrade from a $350 fare for 30,000 miles from Los Angeles. Now the mileage cost depends on the fare paid: as low as 35,000 on M, E, and U fares and up to 60,000 on S, T, K, L, G, and N fares. Oh, and there’s a surcharge (waived for elites; except on the four routes listed below), which also varies by departure city. It ranges from $250 round-trip to $1,000 from Denver, Houston, Newark, and Washington, DC—a good reason for those of you who fly from these four cities to consider changing your mileage program.
Getting the miles: Via credit-card point partner Chase Sapphire Preferred. Again anyone can buy these miles directly from United if needed here.
Evaluation of Lowest Economy Upgradeable Fares to Honolulu
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