Whether you want to book a business class seat to Europe for as low as 45,000 miles or fly all the way to Australia in a lie-flat seat for just 10,000 miles more, 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 this week opens a pathway to send your Amex points to Hawaiian, then kick them over to Alaska afterward. Alaska has said the ability to transfer miles over to Hawaiian (on a 1:1 basis) is coming “later this month.”
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 … and 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 merger is official, and the days of transferring Amex points to Hawaiian could be numbered. And while you can't yet transfer miles between Alaska, that functionality is expected to come online in a matter of days.
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 like 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.