Everyone dreams of the beautiful islands of Hawaii, but for many, the high cost of airfare stands in the way. Round-trip flights can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, making a trip to paradise seems like a distant dream. But what if we told you there was a way to get to Hawaii using airline miles? And what if we said it’s really cheap and available for anyone? By using airline miles strategically, you can unlock the beauty of Hawaii without spending hundreds of dollars for tickets. In this article, we’ll show you how to turn your dream of an affordable Hawaiian vacation into a reality. So, get ready, it’s time to get to Hawaii using airline miles.
Nice and Simple
This hidden trick involves credit cards and airline miles, and before you dismiss it, hear us out – we promise it will be worth your time. We’ll do our best to keep it simple and hopefully keep your interest peaked.
Airlines have award programs that allow you to book flights with miles or points.
Most airlines also have partners that allow for cross-booking.
Turkish Airlines’ award program lets you get special pricing on Star Alliance flights such as United Airlines when using miles and points.
In this case, 20,000 Turkish miles can be used to book round-trip tickets on United to Hawaii. This is an extremely unique award redemption because it’s not only really low, but it’s also available across the U.S. and there are no deadlines or time frames. As long as there’s space available.
A rough 1 to 1 calculation of miles will show that 20,000 miles are equal to about $200! Check out our post on miles and points to better understand their value.
These 20,000 miles can come from Turkish Airlines, but also a few other places.
Capital One, Citi Bank, Marriott Bonvoy, or Bilt Rewards. All these programs can transfer their miles and points to Turkish Miles and Smiles, the award program for Turkish Airlines.
Of these, the Capital One Venture is our favorite and overall a great travel card for beginners.
(Check out why we love the Venture and Venture X cards and why you should too.)
With the Venture card, and most travel credit cards, they give you an opening bonus once you spend a certain amount. In the case of Capital One, they give you 75,000 miles after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.
(Before you panic, it’s not as crazy as you might think. There are lots of ways to do this without spending more than what you do every day. Here are 40 of them.)
Remember how I said you can fly roundtrip to Hawaii for 20,000 miles?
Do a little quick math, and with one opening bonus from the Capital One Venture card, you can fly roundtrip to Hawaii 4 times! (including the points you earn from spending on the $4,000)
4 TIMES! And all you have to do is open a new credit card.
There is a catch though. It’s always too good to be true, right? You have to pay the taxes. For us, it was $11. Hopefully, you don’t mind spending $11 to fly to Hawaii.
And there you have it. Open a card, earn the bonus, and get to Hawaii with airline miles. Did I mention you can do it 5 times from the bonus alone?
The Full Details.
But wait, why is there more? I thought it was supposed to be simple.
It’s a simple idea and they’re simple steps, but it’s more than just clicking buttons. It’s often stated as one of the toughest redemptions and “not for the faint of heart or for travelers just dipping their toes into points and miles.”
But, that doesn’t mean you can’t do it with a little help.
To understand the trick and to get to Hawaii, you’ve got to understand how miles and award charts work.
Airline Award Charts
Every Airline has some form of what’s called an awards chart. These award charts are the airline’s way of showing you how many miles are needed to book an award flight. Award charts fall into 3 different categories. Zone-based, distance-based, or dynamic pricing.
For this example, we’ll be looking at zone-based awards. These types of awards are set up exactly as the name implies, by zones. Airlines divide the world into zones. With this format, anything in zone A to anywhere in zone B will cost the same. As well as all flights within a specific zone. New York to Paris should cost the same as LA to Paris. And LA to Houston should cost the same as Miami to Portland. As long as there is space available of course.
These types of charts can make miles extremely valuable. A flight from Salt Lake to Miami may cost $400 but an award flight, using miles, will always be 20,000, or whatever the set price is.
Now, what does this have to do with Hawaii?
Bear with us. You’ve got to know what’s going on so you can know what you’re doing. And to potentially help you save on other future flights.
Almost every airline divides the U.S. into multiple zones. Typically the continental 48 as one, with Hawaii and Alaska each having their own. This is for obvious reasons as Hawaii and Alaska aren’t very close to the rest of the U.S.
Turkish Airlines is one of the rare zone-based exceptions. Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.V.I. are all included with the other 48.
This means that by transferring miles from Capital One, you can book Turkish Airline award flights from anywhere in the U.S. to Hawaii for 10,00 miles, or 20,000 miles roundtrip.
With this little gem, you can book roundtrip flights for 20,000 miles + $11.20.
Now it’s your turn to get to Hawaii.
The first step, open a credit card to get miles. We prefer the Venture card but to each their own. But really, get the Venture card. And if you’re really feeling nice we’d appreciate you using our link. We linked it earlier in the article.
Second, hit the opening bonus. It’s really not as hard as you think. Follow some of the steps from the referenced link earlier in the article.
Third, find your flights, transfer miles, and book that flight!
That third step can be a bit messy so I’m going to refer you to the Thrifty Traveler. They break down the steps much better than I could. (skip to step one)
We know it’s a lot and can seem overwhelming, but it’s possible and game-changing.
Still not sure about it?
Reach out and we’d love to help!
Tips and Tricks to get to Hawaii with airline miles.
A couple of thoughts as you get your cheap flights to Hawaii.
Be patient and don’t be afraid to call Turkish Airlines. We had to call to make our booking and they were great to work with. Plus the wait time for a representative was less than a minute.
If you want to book an award flight for more than one person you have to do it over the phone. It’s part of the difficulty. Their website has some issues.
If you’re not seeing anything on Turkish Airlines’ website or it’s giving you an error, it’s probably because of their glitchy website. We were having a hard time finding anything for Salt Lake, but after a quick phone call, they were able to tell us of some availability.
If you’d rather go somewhere cheaper, more culturally diverse, and just as beautiful, this deal works for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands! Both of which are incredible.
This same trick can be used in lots of different ways throughout the world.
Like always, the last thing you want to do is open a credit card and then get yourself into debt. Be smart, and never spend what you don’t have.