Update: On March 11, 2025, Southwest announced that two bags will no longer fly free for flights booked on or after May 28, 2025, ending a longstanding and popular policy that had defined the airline. The first checked bag will cost $35 and the second checked bag will cost $45. However, select Southwest flyers — including those with elite status, Business Select flyers and Rapid Rewards credit cardholders — will still get at least one free bag. Other changes of note for flights booked on or after May 28, 2025: Southwest will replace its Wanna Get Away fares with a new Basic fare that earns only 2 points per dollar and implement dynamic pricing for award redemptions.

Flight credits will now carry a one-year expiration date, or six months for Basic tickets. The airline also plans to begin operating flights with seat assignments and extra-legroom seats in 2026, ending its open-seating policy. Read NerdWallet’s story on Southwest’s changes for details.

Does Southwest fly to Hawaii? Yes — true to its name, Southwest will fly you to the most southwestern state in the U.S.

The low-cost air carrier launched flights to Hawaii from the West Coast in 2019, and service to the tropical island state has only expanded since then, including variou routes from California, Nevada and Arizona of March 2024.

Whether you’re a snowbird seeking Hawaii’s seemingly eternal summer, or the kids are out of school and you need vacation plans, you’re in luck: Southwest flies to Hawaii year-round.

Here’s what you need to know about Southwest Airlines’ Hawaii flights.

Does Southwest fly direct to Hawaii?

Southwest serves five airports in Hawaii:

Hilo (ITO), island of Hawaii.

Honolulu (HNL), Oahu.

Kahului (OGG), Maui.

Kona (KOA), island of Hawaii.

Lihue (LIH), Kauai.

Getting to Hawaii from the U.S. mainland on Southwest

Southwest has direct flights to Hawaii out of the following California airports:

Long Beach (LGB).

Los Angeles (LAX).

Oakland (OAK).

Sacramento (SMF).

San Diego (SAN).

San Jose (SJC).

Outside of California, Southwest also offers flights to Hawaii from:

Las Vegas (LAS).

Phoenix (PHX).

Flight times vary based on the route, but tend to run between five and six hours.

Southwest interisland flights in Hawaii

You don’t need to pick just one island to fly to; Southwest offers interisland flights, so you can easily skip from the quaint town of Hilo to the bustling nightlife of Honolulu in under an hour.

Here are some sample Southwest interisland routes, and their average flight times:

Kahului to Kona: 40 minutes.

Lihue to Honolulu: 42 minutes.

Honolulu to Hilo: 58 minutes.

Photo courtesy of Southwest.

What the flight is like

Since the five-to-six-hour flight to Hawaii is more than double the average Southwest flight length, expect some changes to service.

In-flight refreshments

Drinks: A typical Southwest flight includes a complimentary nonalcoholic drink. On flights to Hawaii, you’ll also have the choice to sip Minute Maid Pineapple Orange Juice Blend. Alcoholic beverages are also available for purchase. In addition to the usual beers, wines and spirits, Southwest brings the tropical vibes with the option to purchase a Kona Longboard Island Lager or a Blue Chair Bay Coconut Spiced Rum for $7 each.

Prepare for an onslaught of prepackaged carbs on your Southwest flight to Hawaii. (Photo by Sally French)

Snacks: The snacks get a slightly-tropical boost too. Many of us are familiar with the small bag of snacks (think pretzels, a snack mix or Brownie Brittle) typical of Southwest flights. Flights to Hawaii usually feature a full snack box consisting of all of the aforementioned prepackaged items, as well as additional items such as tropical fruit snacks and spreadable cheese.

In-flight entertainment

On all Southwest flights movies and TV shows are free to stream, and there are even some live TV channels — just bring your own device. There aren’t any seatback screens, so you’ll have to stream movies and shows from your own phone, tablet or laptop. Annoyingly, there isn’t even a handy spot built into the seat to mount your phone or laptop, but a water bottle as a backstop might do the trick.

Seats are pretty basic, with no built-in screen, no in-seat power (on most flights) and no good place to mount your phone or tablet. (Photo by Sally French)

To access entertainment from your device, open www.southwestwifi.com and navigate to the Inflight Entertainment & Connectivity tab to start streaming.

In-flight Wi-Fi

Southwest-provided entertainment is free to stream online. But pretty much everything else you want to access via Wi-Fi will cost you — albeit not very much. All other internet access can be purchased for $8 a flight per device on Wi-Fi-enabled aircraft.

🤓 Nerdy Tip If you bring your own electronics, hopefully your battery is strong. Southwest planes are sorely lacking in one area: seatback chargers. Southwest doesn’t have standard or USB plugs on board, so charge up before boarding or consider packing a portable charger.

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That said, in-flight Wi-Fi is free for A-List Preferred Members, which is the highest tier of Southwest elite status. Free Wi-Fi is also a benefit for customers who hold the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card.

How to find cheap Southwest flights to Hawaii

Southwest flights generally don’t appear in third-party travel agencies and flight aggregators like Expedia, Orbitz or Kayak. So if you’re using those tools to search for flights to Hawaii, don’t be dismayed if no Southwest flights show up. Though as of May 22, 2024, Southwest flights now appear on Google Flights. Of course, you can always go directly to Southwest’s website to book.

Figuring out how to book Southwest flights to Hawaii is easy if you’re already familiar with the platform. As usual, you can book your flights using cash or Rapid Rewards points.

No matter which currency you use to book, Southwest fares to Hawaii can vary based on where you’re departing from, what island you’re traveling to and your travel dates. Here are some tips for ensuring you get the best deal on your flight.

Be flexible about travel dates using the Southwest Low Fare Calendar

Even the same flight one day apart could be a massively different price. Use the Southwest Low Fare Calendar on the desktop site to see a monthly view of all airfares. If you can be flexible about when you travel, you could sometimes save hundreds of dollars.

Earn the Southwest Companion Pass

The Southwest Companion Pass is essentially a buy-one-get-one-free pass that enables you to fly a companion of your choice for nearly free whenever you fly. Just pay the taxes and fees (often only $5.60 each way for domestic flights) and add your companion to your itinerary, and they will join you to Hawaii.

Especially if you find yourself having to book one of those $400 one-way flights, holding the Companion Pass could theoretically save you $800 on your Hawaii trip alone, depending on the original airfare.

While earning the Southwest Companion Pass can be a challenge (unless it’s included with a sign-up bonus), it might be worth pursuing if you know a Hawaii trip is on your travel horizon. To qualify for a traditional Companion Pass, you’ll need to do one of the following:

Fly 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year.

Earn 135,000 Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year. Qualifying points include those that you earn through revenue flights booked via Southwest, those that you earn on Southwest credit cards and base points you earn from Rapid Rewards partners.

Look beyond Southwest

Outside of Southwest, fares from the West Coast to Oahu could easily run $600 round trip. But as low-cost competitor Southwest entered the market, other airlines lowered their prices to remain competitive. Use tools to shop for flights (we recommend Google Flights).

In fact, shortly after Southwest announced service to Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines began offering low-cost main cabin basic fares. But unlike Hawaiian’s basic fare, Southwest flights include perks that could still net more in savings, such as up to two free checked bags, no change fees and more.

You might also find great deals on other airlines, such as the United flights to Hawaii.

» Learn more: Advanced tips for optimizing your Southwest Rapid Rewards

Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards to help get you to Hawaii

Southwest credit cards can help you quickly rack up Rapid Rewards points for your spending; plus, if you meet the welcome offer requirements, you can get a huge windfall of points at once.

Southwest offers several ways to help you rack up points toward free flights on purchases. Credit card options include three personal and two business cards from Chase.

Southwest personal credit cards

Southwest business credit cards

Beyond earning points to use toward more flights, Southwest credit cards come with other benefits that will improve any flight — but especially one to Hawaii. Here are a few standouts:

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4 upgraded boardings per year with the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

Hold the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card, and you’ll receive four upgraded boardings per year, when available.

First off, given how long the flight to Hawaii is, you don’t want to get stuck in the middle seat for five hours. But secondly, even if you check in early enough to nab a B group over the dreaded C, you still could end up with a middle seat. That’s because the Southwest boarding process allows families with a child age 6 or younger to board as part of family boarding, which occurs before the B group.

Given Hawaii’s popularity as a family vacation destination, there likely will be more families boarding than your average Southwest flight. Even if those people were assigned C group, they’ll board ahead of you with a tot in tow, leaving you with the middle seat in front of the bathroom.

Don’t tempt fate on this one; pull out your Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card and use your upgraded boarding credit. You don’t even have to wait in line at the gate to upgrade — you can now upgrade your boarding position online via Southwest’s upgraded boarding page.

Free Wi-Fi with the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card

Maybe you’re headed to Hawaii to take advantage of remote work or you just need to be connected during your flight. Don’t miss a minute, even on the plane, thanks to Southwest’s in-flight Wi-Fi. It normally costs $8 per flight, per device, but is free for A-List Preferred Members. If you don’t have Southwest elite status, you can also get free Wi-Fi if you hold the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card, which offers 365 $8 credits per year.

Photo courtesy of Southwest.

Important Southwest policies to be aware of

On flights to Hawaii, most of the usual policies still apply, though there are some minor changes specific to Hawaii.

Change policy: As is the case with all Southwest flights, tickets to Hawaii can be changed with no fees. That said, if you’re changing to a more expensive flight, then the fare difference may apply.

Pet restrictions: As far as animals go, only fully trained service dogs assisting customers with disabilities are permitted on flights between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii. Even still, those animals must comply with Hawaii’s import requirements, such as proof of a current rabies vaccination. They’re also subject to any State of Hawaii Quarantine Program fees.

Additionally, plan on flying into Honolulu International Airport if you’re bringing a service animal on your Hawaii trip, as that airport is the only point of entry for dogs entering Hawaii unless a valid Neighbor Island Inspection Permit has been issued by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.

Luggage restrictions: Not only can you not bring your pet, but you probably can’t bring your pet plant. Per U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations, certain plants, plant products, animals and animal products are not permitted on flights to Hawaii. That’s the U.S. government’s rule — not Southwest’s.

Upon your return, there are some souvenirs you can’t take along with you back to California, or wherever your final destination may be. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service prohibits or restricts bringing many types of agricultural products from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland, including most fresh fruits and vegetables and certain types of plants and flowers.

Here are some common items from Hawaii not allowed into the U.S. mainland or Alaska:

Most fresh fruits and vegetables.

Berries of any kind, including fresh coffee berries.

Cactus plants.

Citrus or citrus-related flowers and leaves, and no jade vine or Mauna Loa.

Live insects.

Soil, including any plants in soil.

Sugarcane.

However, here are some common items from Hawaii that are allowed into the U.S. mainland or Alaska:

Beach sand and seashells.

Coconuts.

Coffee.

Processed fruits and vegetables, such as dried fruit.

Fresh pineapple.

Fresh flowers, leis and foliage (except no citrus or citrus-related flowers and leaves, and no jade vine or Mauna Loa).

Photo courtesy of Southwest.

Which Hawaiian island should you choose?

So you’re ready to jump on a Southwest flight to Hawaii — but now you’re struggling to pick an island destination. Each Hawaiian island is unique, so pick one that suits your vacation style. All of the islands offer beautiful beaches, excellent snorkeling and breathtaking hikes.

There are a total of eight main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, though only six are accessible to tourists. Of those, Southwest flies to four islands. Here are some differences:

On Oahu, you might visit Iolani Palace. Pictured here is the Throne Room. The two thrones were for King Kalakaua and Queen Kapiolani. (Photo by Sally French)

Oahu: You’ll fly into Honolulu. Head to this cosmopolitan capital city if you want not just the beaches, but also to experience historical sites like Pearl Harbor and Iolani Palace, which is the only official state residence of royalty in the U.S. Plus you’ll have a more active nightlife and social scene compared with the other islands. Maui: Upon landing in Kahului, you’ll likely drive off to a resort, where you can relax on long stretches of golden sand beach. Major resort areas include Kaanapali and Wailea. After you’ve recovered from the flight, take a waterfall-lined car trip called the Road to Hana — just beware if you’re prone to car sickness. Hawaii: The Big Island, as it’s commonly referred to, is where you go to see the volcano Kilauea, which is part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. True to its name, the island is big — which means Southwest operates flights out of two separate airports. Hilo is on the east side of the island, while Kona is on the west. Kauai: This island is referred to as the Garden Island, a fitting name as you’ll find lush tropical foliage and the beautiful Napali Coast, best viewed by boat or helicopter tour. NerdWallet considers Kauai to be the best Hawaiian island for first-timers. To visit Kauai via Southwest, you’ll fly into Lihue.

Several American Express cards offer annual airline fee reimbursements. These reimbursements can go a long way towards easing the sting of the high annual fees charged by personal Amex Platinum and Business Platinum cards. Readers often wonder which types of charges will trigger these credits and/or which methods still work. When purchases work to trigger credits, those credits typically appear automatically within 2 to 21 days from purchase. Don’t panic if you made a purchase a week or two ago and haven’t yet seen any credits yet — the data points in this post provide a solid guideline for what is likely to work. If something is listed as working, it very likely still works; we’ll be sure to change it as soon as we have verified negative datapoints. On that note, reader input is always appreciated. Please share your data points in the comments.

What’s new? We’ve added numerous data points from the comments here and Flyertalk and are republishing as a reminder to use your credits before the end of the year. Note that if there aren’t negative data points for a particular type of charge, it most likely still works even if data points are older. Final two notes: don’t forget to choose your airline at least one calendar day before you make a qualifying purchase and be patient — credits have been a bit slow to post lately.

Amex airline fee credits are offered by calendar year. For example, Platinum cardholders can get up to $200 in fee credits for charges made up until December of this year, and $200 more for charges made next calendar year.

Step 1 is to make sure that you’ve selected a preferred airline here. Officially, you can change this selection once per year in January (if you don’t change it, your previous selection remains in place). Anecdotally, chat agents are usually willing to help you change your selected airline if you need to do so during the year.

Step 2 is to make qualifying purchases with your airline of choice in order to get reimbursed.

Things you need to know about Amex airline fee credits

A few helpful notes for airline incidental credits:

Be sure to select your chosen airline at least one calendar day before attempting to use the credit. We sometimes see a lag before eligible charges are credited. Waiting for the email confirming that you’ve selected an airline is not always enough. Wait at least 2 weeks before assuming failure. While credits often post within a few days and/or the benefit counter typically moves before the credits post, there are frequently periods where things post more slowly than usual. Wait at least two weeks before attempting a different charge, contacting Amex, or reporting a negative data point. Charges are reimbursed based on the date of charge and count toward the allotment for the year in which the charge is dated. For example, a charge that posts to your statement dated December 29, 2024 will count against your 2024 airline incidental credit even if the charge itself doesn’t reimburse until early 2025. However, don’t wait until the very last minute — Nick once charged United club passes late at night on 12/31 and the charge posted with a 1/1 date and he missed using the airline incidental credits for the intended year. While Amex officially says that you can change your airline once each year in January, chat agents are often willing to change it for you if you ask nicely, even mid-year (and sometimes even if you’ve used part of the credit already).

What purchases count… officially?

Eligible incidental fees include:

Checked baggage fees (including overweight/oversize)

Itinerary change fees

Phone reservation fees

Pet flight fees

Seat assignment fees

In-flight amenity fees (beverages, food, pillows/blankets, headphones)

In-flight entertainment fees (excluding wireless internet because it’s not charged by the airline)

Airport lounge day passes & annual memberships

And, officially, the following purchases are not deemed to be incidental fees:

Airline tickets

Upgrades

Mileage points purchases

Mileage points transfer fees

Gift cards

Duty free purchases

Award tickets

What purchases count… unofficially?

Sometimes purchases of upgrades, award fees, or even low-cost airfare are reimbursed even though they shouldn’t be. In some cases there seem to be maximum dollar limits. The things that work or don’t work vary by airline and over time. Something that worked in the past won’t necessarily work today.

Summary Table

The following table shows a summary of the major unofficial stuff that works or doesn’t work with each airline that can be chosen as your preferred airline. Cells are blank where we don’t have enough data to indicate one way or the other.

AA Alaska1 Delta Hawaiian JetBlue Southwest Spirit United Cheap Airfare Mixed No Yes, under $50 Yes, under $150 Yes, under $109 No Airfare + Airline Credit or Gift Card Mixed Results Yes Yes, max ~$2502,3 Yes, max $502 Yes, max $1002 Yes No Award Fees Mixed Results Yes, under $200 Yes Yes Yes Yes Paid Upgrade Yes Mixed Results Yes Yes Mixed Results Mixed Results Buy Airline Gift Card or Airline Credit No No No No No No Yes, via TravelBank

1) Sometimes Alaska purchases do not credit automatically. After 2 weeks, you may have success requesting credit from Amex (try the online chat function).

2) By splitting the cost of a ticket between airline travel credits or airline gift cards and a small cash component, the cash component sometimes is treated as a reimbursable fee. In these cases there is often a maximum amount for the cash component to be treated this way.

3) Paying part of a ticket with miles no longer works.

For additional data with each airline, see below…

Alaska Airlines

**Note** Since 2022, there have been many reports of Alaska charges not being reimbursed automatically. It seems that many have had success getting charges for premium seat selection and things that ordinarily should be included (like lounge access, onboard purchases, etc) manually credited via the chat function, but only after 2 weeks has passed since the transaction date. Historical Alaska data included below, but beware that you may need to chat and hope for a friendly agent. See more data in this Flyertalk thread.

What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Alaska Airlines?

Purchase type Recent Reports Award redeposit fee $125 (x 2 passengers) 6/19. Had to call as it did not post automatically (via Flyertalk) Fare difference Price increase if $9 and $50. 12/20 (ykz1991) Seat selection • $65 PC seat selection (automatic) 12/20 (safari ari)

• $45 & $49 seat upgrade 12/20 (Grant)

• $149 PC seat selection (via chat). 12/20 (bbmatt)

• $99 PC seat selection (via chat) 12/20 (EddyRoad) Club Membership 7/19. Had to call to get it to post (Randy) Split Airfare Purchase 7/2023: Wallet funds + $29.90 charged to Platinum card. (Kyle)

9/6/22: $250 airfare paid with $101 in wallet funds and $149 charged to Aspire card (Summit).

$149 ticket paid with $50 gift card and $99 charged to card (Camilla ) Airfare purchase $58.10 & $78.10 saver fares (note previous failure reports below; YMMV) 12/20 (Grant) Upgrade 11/2023: Four $38.99 upgrades from saver to main, but note that the credit wasn’t automatic. Chat rep credited manually. (Anu)

11/2023: Four $40 seat upgrades from row 9 to row 3 (first). Not automatic – manually credited by chat representative. (Anu) Change fee 12/2023: $330 in change fees split over two transactions. Manually credited via chat. (Flyertalk)

What fails?

Purchase type Recent Reports Airfare under $100

• 8/3/19: $63.30, reimbursed 8/7

• 8/9/19: $54.30, not reimbursed

• 8/19/19: $63.30, not reimbursed

• 9/12/19: $68.80, not reimbursed

• 6/22/20: $49, not reimbursed ( Via BK250 • 8/9/19: $54.30, not reimbursed• 8/19/19: $63.30, not reimbursed• 9/12/19: $68.80, not reimbursed• 6/22/20: $49, not reimbursed ( PeterSFO E-gift card • Gift card purchases stopped working summer 2017

• $50 10/28/17

• $25 8/6/17 Split Airfare

• $138 two tickets for $69 each on card + $25 Alasksa gift card not reimbursed 1/22 ( Lrdx • 1/22 (Victor) In-flight snacks 1/22 ( Victor

American

What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on American Airlines?

Purchase type Recent Reports Split airfare purchase $107.60 ticket purchased with $60 flight credit + $47.60 on Platinum card 7/22 (redtop43 on flyertalk) but see negative data point in “What fails” section below also In-flight food & beverage $18 in drinks 8/22 (FallenPlat on flyertalk) Seat selection • Main Cabin Extra purchased online ($138). 8/22 (Nick)

• Main Cabin Extra purchased at kiosk. 12/20 (durial)

• First Class upgrade purchased at kiosk 12/20 (durial) Admirals Club • Day pass 12/20 (durial)

• Food / bar tab 12/20 (durial) Physical Gift card $50 or less 12/9/17: Note that we are doubtful this still works , but did not uncover a direct data point. 5 Star Service $325 3/21/17 Mileage Multiplier 12/31/23: $200 (via Flyertalk)

6/2023: $160.66 for 5K miles (Paul Davis)

7/4/19 Unaccompanied minor fee 8/2022 (John) Award taxes** **Note that award taxes and fees are not consistently reimbursed. See “What fails” for negative data points.

9/2022: $11.20 x 2 (Robert) Status Buyback Buyback for Gold status triggered credit (reader report on Youtube)

AA What fails?

Purchase type Recent Reports Split airfare $200 ticket using $140 trip credit and $60 on Platinum card 9/22 (lowkeyflyer on flyertalk) E-gift card Gift card purchases stopped working for many around February / March 2019. It just depends on how AA codes the purchase (coded as a gift certificate will not trigger the credit) and we have not been able to determine a way to predict how it will code. We had some positive reports in February, but most data points from mid-February onward have been negative. $75 close-in fee 7/15/19 (Dan P) Award taxes Reports here are inconsistent. Most fail, but there are some reports of fees being reimbursed (see this 5/22 report from merlin90 on flyertalk)

September to December 2023: Several charges not credited (Vito)

8/2022: $64 did not credit (Nick)

6/2022: $5.60 did not credit (Mark) Paid Upgrade February 2024: Upgrade to first class not credited (Saul)

December 2023: Upgrade to Premium Economy not credited (Vito )

December 2023: Unspecified upgrade (Hans)

Delta

What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Delta Air Lines?

Delta What fails?

Purchase type Recent Reports Cheap airfare 12/6/22: $78.60. Note that the cost to change to a more expensive ticket type did get reimbursed. ( Greg Airfare over $250 split with gift card 10/6/24: Gift card + $410 on Platinum card did not trigger ( Greg Split airfare with pay with miles 9/28/23: eticket and $258 ( Captain Greg

3/24/23: $418.6 ticket: 5000 miles for $50 credit plus $368.90 charged to card did not trigger the credit (Cameron )

4/3/23: split ticket: $252.80 + 5000 miles didn’t work (Greg ) Award fees over $200 eGift cards As per many reports at Flyertalk , this likely died around 6/22/19 Economy Plus Upgrade

3/20/24: Upgrade to Comfort+ (Tim)

(Tim)

7/12/19 ( Arlington Traveler

Frontier

Frontier is no longer an option to select for Amex airline fee credits.

Hawaiian

What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Hawaiian Airlines?

Hawaiian What fails?

JetBlue

What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on JetBlue?

JetBlue what fails?

Purchase type Recent Reports Award fees over $300 7/24 ( via Flyertalk Airfare over $150

• $250 1/11/17 ( • $151.10 9/20 ( Earthgoeshard • $250 1/11/17 ( via Flyertalk Gift cards They don’t sell them

Southwest

Note: Starting in 2023, credits for Southwest charges have been posting slowly, with some data points stretching as long as 3 weeks from the charge date. If you’re nervous about whether a charge is going to post, you could always consider making another charge for a fully refundable “anytime” fare under $109. Then, if your originally-intended use of the credit works, cancel your backup anytime fare for a refund. If your originally intended use fails, the sub-$109 airfare purchase will likely work. Inter-island Hawaii flights are a good place to look for those types of prices.

What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Southwest Airlines?

Southwest what fails?

Spirit

What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on Spirit Airlines?

Purchase type Recent Reports Savers Club 4/2023: SaversClub fee reimbursed (via Flyertalk) Big Front Seat 11/2023: Confirmed via Flyertalk

5/11/22: Confirmed Big Front Seat package works (Vincent)

1/2020: $41 x2 (optimilez2016) Partial Airfare $6 (Rest using airline credit) 12/20 (Joe Y) Checked bag & seat selection 8/3/24: $104 Added checked back & seat selection direct with Spirit *after* booking. (Nick)

Spirit what fails?

Purchase type Recent Reports Ticket purchase $52.80 1/20 ( optimilez2016 Bags bundled with ticket purchase 1/20 (and a couple previous DPs) ( s.k.d Big Front Seat via Upgrade Bid 6/24 (Brian)

(Brian) 7/2023: Report from Flyertalk

United

**Note that you may need to wait until the next business day after selecting United as your qualifying airline. Since TravelBank works, most of the other uses are less interesting.

What works to trigger Amex airline incidental credits on United Airlines?

United what fails?

Purchase type Recent Reports United Travel Bank *when gifted* Fails since 9/24. Note that it is still possible to fund someone else’s Travel Bank by paying directly in their Travel Bank account with your card, but “gifting” to someone else’s travel bank now fails. Upgrade from economy to first class

$175 charge on 12/27/2018 may have been too large to look like a fee Split payment with GC and airfare under $100 $50.19 partial ticket payment did not trigger credit 3/26/22 ( Captain Greg MileagePlus X App Purchases United Gift Registry This doesn’t really fail — it’s just no longer available Award Fees This appears to have stopped working according to a DP from JB in San Diego from October 2019. Gift Card $99 Upgrade Fee 2016 In-Flight Wifi United WiFi purchase on flight operated by SKYWEST DBA UNITED EXPRESS did not result in credit as purchase description was not “United Airlines”, but was “UAL INFLT WIFIONBOAR…” 12/2023 ( Steve

Please report your results!

If you try any unofficial options, please let us know via the comments whether it worked. Tell us the date of purchase, what you purchased, the dollar amount, and whether or not you were reimbursed. Please do not report purchases that are officially reimbursed unless you do not get the credit.

What to do if you’re not reimbursed?

First, double check that you picked the airline in question as your preferred airline. If you did not, then Amex won’t reimburse you (but they have been known to make an exception if you call and say that you forgot to set your preferred airline).

If you do not get reimbursed for things that are officially allowed (checked bags, change fees, lounge fees, etc.), then contact Amex for help. If you do not get reimbursed for things that are not officially allowed (gift cards, award fees, airfare, etc.) do not contact Amex. You weren’t really supposed to get reimbursed for those anyway.

Other cards that offer fee reimbursements

Quite a few other cards offer airline fee reimbursements. And, in most cases, the things that work for Amex cards as listed above will work with other cards too.

There are a few that are very different though, so we have dedicated posts for these:

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Kyle Potter is the executive editor of Thrifty Traveler, covering everything from aviation news to travel deals to in-depth guides on using airline miles. A professional journalist, he joined the comp…

Terms apply to Amex benefits and offers – and enrollment may be required. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Terms apply to Amex benefits and offers – and enrollment may be required. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

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Whether you want to book a business class seat to Europe for as low as 45,000 miles or elsewhere, Alaska Airlines miles could be the most valuable on the planet. So go figure, they’re far harder to earn than the likes of Delta or United miles: There’s no way to transfer points from the major banks like Amex, Chase, or Capital One to Alaska … at least not directly.

But Hawaiian Airlines is, in fact, an Amex transfer partner. And Alaska’s merger with Hawaiian opened up a pathway to send your Amex points to Hawaiian and then kick them over to Alaska afterward. That ability is now live!

If you’ve got points from cards like the *amex gold* or *amex platinum*, you’re set. This is a golden opportunity, arguably the best way to easily get ultra-valuable Alaska miles … but it may not last long.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see American Express cut the option to transfer points to Hawaiian in the not-too-distant future. That’s exactly what Bilt Rewards did last month – without a word of warning, to boot – citing the looming merger.

Now that the merger is official, the days of transferring Amex points to Hawaiian could be numbered. So it’s worth taking advantage of while you can.

That means you could transfer 45,000 Amex points to Hawaiian, kick them over to Alaska eventually, and book this flight to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) in Aer Lingus business class.

Or transfer 75,000 Membership Rewards points and book the fancy Starlux business class seats between the U.S. and Taipei (TPE). Alaska miles are one of the only ways to book these luxe seats to Southeast Asia right now.

Read next: How to Find & Book the Best Alaska Airlines Miles Deals

The one hitch with these transfers is that you get hit with a pesky fee when transferring Amex points to Hawaiian – or any other U.S. airline, for that matter. Amex tacks on a small fee of .06 cents per point, up to a maximum of $99. This means a transfer of 75,000 Membership Rewards points would cost you $45.

If you ask us, that’s a small price to pay to easily earn Alaska miles.

Should you transfer your entire balance of Amex Membership Rewards points to Hawaiian right now? No – we still wouldn’t recommend speculatively transferring a ton of points to Hawaiian. You’d be wise to scope out your options beforehand and leave yourself plenty of points in your Amex account.

But you shouldn’t have a hard time finding a rock-solid way to redeem those points through Alaska once that comes online. We could go on and on about why we love Alaska miles so much – and why you should, too:

While some of its best sweet spots have taken a hit under a new award chart, Alaska often charges far fewer miles than many other airline programs

You’ll rarely pay more than $20 or so in taxes and fees

You can book flights with more than two dozen partner carriers – and not just fellow Oneworld airlines but some unusual options like Starlux, Condor, Air Tahiti Nui, and LATAM

You can add a free stopover to any award ticket, squeezing in two destinations for the price of one. And yes, that includes even one-way award tickets

Alaska miles are so valuable, we’re even giving the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® a hard look for the first time … ever. With the current publicly available welcome bonus offer, you can earn 70,000 miles after spending $2,000 within 90 days. You could earn those miles even faster by applying through this link (and entering any six-digit promo code): Make a single purchase – whether it’s a pack of gum, cup of coffee, or something else – and pay the card’s $99 annual fee, and you’ll earn the same 70,000-mile signup bonus.

That bonus of 70,000 miles might not do much with Hawaiian itself. But by sending those miles over to your Alaska account, they’ll go a long way.

Get this: A handful of Thrifty Traveler team members applied for this card within hours of the merger clearing. That oughta tell you something.

Bottom Line

If you’ve got some Amex points and a good way to redeem some Alaska miles (trust me: you do), this is a golden opportunity.

Alaska miles are both incredibly valuable and incredibly hard to earn. This chance to transfer Amex points to Hawaiian and then over to Alaska is too good to pass up.

But consider yourself warned: Odds are, this is a limited-time opportunity. You’d be wise to make a plan to take advantage while this pathway to earn Alaska miles still exists … because it might not last long.

Time to stock up on reef-safe sunscreen and get your swim gear in order. Alaska Airlines is having a two-day sale on flights between California and Hawaii with one-way fares starting as low as $99. It may not be as cheap as those $49 fares Southwest had last year when it launched its Hawaii service, but $200 round-trip flights to Hawaii are nothing to scoff at (especially for a highly rated airline like Alaska).

You’ll have to act quickly—this flight deal can only be booked between March 3 at 12 a.m. PT through March 5 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Thankfully, the window for traveling is quite a bit wider. Travel dates are available for flights to and from Hawaii on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only between April 21 and May 20, 2020.

Here are a few routes that those $99 one-way fares can be found on, if you need destination inspiration:

Los Angeles to Maui

San Diego to Kauai/Kona

San Jose to Kona/Honolulu/Maui/Kauai

Keep in mind that those $99 fares are for Saver fares, Alaska’s version of Basic Economy. If you’d like to be able to pick your seat when you book and not board last, fares for its main cabin service are still pretty dang cheap (just $129 one-way). Sale fares can be found by booking directly through alaskaair.com.

Worried about booking flights in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak? As of March 2, 2020, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hawaii, according to the CDC. But if that scenario changes, Alaska is offering a “peace of mind waiver” and suspending its change and cancellation fees for all new tickets purchased now through March 12, 2020, for travel dates through June 1, 2020. For more details on this policy, visit alaskaairlines.com.

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