The Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard: Your Reimagined Ticket to Paradise

The Welcome Mat: Deconstructing the 70,000-Mile Bonus

Big Bonus, Low Spend: Earn 70,000 HawaiianMiles after spending just $2,000 in the first 90 days—a value of about $700. That’s enough for a round-trip to Hawaii. With a low spend requirement, it’s one of the easiest and most valuable travel bonuses around.

Who Is This Card Really For?

A card's true value is never one-size-fits-all. It’s a function of your lifestyle, spending, and travel goals. (If you're new to travel rewards, our Travel Credit Card Basics: Beginner’s Guide can help you get started.) This card serves a few specific traveler profiles best:

• The 'Ohana Vacationer (The Family): Perfect for families making an annual pilgrimage to the islands. The two free checked bags can immediately save up to $140 on a round-trip flight. Source: Cardmember Benefits The companion discounts slash the cost of buying multiple tickets, and the fee-free Share Miles feature lets you pool points from different accounts to book award tickets faster—an incredibly valuable family-friendly perk.
• The West Coast Weekender (The Couple): For a couple in a hub like Los Angeles or Seattle, the annual $100 companion discount effectively cancels out the $99 annual fee each year, making the card essentially free to hold. Their dining and grocery spending will constantly accelerate mileage earnings for the next trip.
• The Aspiring Alaska MVP (The Points Strategist): For the savvy points enthusiast, this card becomes a "Trojan horse." Its 2X earning on dining and groceries is superior to the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® card's earning structure, making it a more efficient tool for accumulating miles that are ultimately destined for an Alaska Mileage Plan account via the 1:1 transfer.

The Earning Engine: Maximizing Miles on Every Dollar

A travel card’s long-term value comes from turning everyday spending into future trips. The Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard’s rewards structure is surprisingly robust.

The earning rates are tiered to reward both travel and daily life:

• 3X miles per dollar on eligible Hawaiian Airlines purchases. This is a generous rate that applies to airfare, seat upgrades, and in-flight purchases.
• 2X miles per dollar on gas, dining, and eligible grocery store purchases. This is the card's power alley, turning three of the largest household spending categories into a steady stream of miles.
• 1X mile per dollar on all other purchases. Source: Cardmember Agreement

The inclusion of groceries as a 2X category is a significant competitive advantage. When compared to its rival, the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® card, the difference is stark. The Alaska card lacks a bonus for dining or groceries. For any family whose budget is heavily weighted toward grocery spending, the Hawaiian Airlines card is unequivocally a more efficient vehicle for earning miles—even if those miles are ultimately destined for an Alaska Airlines account.

The Value of a HawaiianMile: A New Era with Alaska Airlines

The currency of this card, the HawaiianMile, now has a compelling dual identity. When used for flights on Hawaiian Airlines, a mile has a baseline value of about 1.0 cent. Cardholders get access to discounted award flights, with redemptions starting at just 7,500 miles for inter-island flights and 20,000 miles for one-way flights from the West Coast.

The most significant evolution, however, is the ability to transfer miles to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan at a 1:1 ratio with no fees. Source: Airline Partners Program This is a fundamental strategic shift. It unlocks a vast new world of redemption possibilities on Alaska Airlines and its impressive roster of global partners, including high-value carriers in the oneworld Alliance like Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific. This provides a sense of long-term stability and direction for the program, making the card a more secure and strategic investment.

Real-World Example: Taylor’s Family Trip to Maui

Let's see how "Taylor, a family traveler," gets real value. Imagine their family of four from Los Angeles gets the card, starting with zero miles.

Year 1 Earnings

• Welcome Bonus: Taylor spends $2,000 in 90 days, earning the 70,000-mile bonus.
• Everyday Spending: Their monthly budget is $800 on groceries, $400 on dining, and $200 on gas. At 2X miles, this $1,400 in monthly spending generates 2,800 miles per month, totaling 33,600 miles for the year.
• Total Miles After Year 1: The family accumulates a grand total of 103,600 HawaiianMiles.

Redeeming for the Trip

• Booking Flights: A Main Cabin saver award from LAX to Maui is 40,000 miles round-trip. They use 80,000 miles to book two tickets.
• Companion Perk: They buy the other two tickets and apply the one-time 50%-off companion discount to one. On a $600 fare, this is a $300 cash saving.
• Baggage Perk: As the primary cardmember, Taylor gets two free checked bags. At about $70 per bag round-trip, this saves another $140.

The Bottom Line

For a $99 annual fee, Taylor's family received:

• $800 in free flights (80,000 miles x 1.0 cent/mile)
• $440 in direct cash savings ($300 from the companion fare + $140 from bag fees)

That’s a total first-year value of over $1,240.

The Companion Ticket Duo: 50% & $100 Discounts

The card offers a powerful one-two punch of companion discounts. First is the one-time 50%-off companion discount for a round-trip coach ticket between North America and Hawaii. This perk alone can be worth several hundred dollars, easily dwarfing the annual fee.

Second is the annual $100 companion discount, an ongoing benefit received after each account anniversary. Source: Companion Discount Terms This discount also applies to a round-trip coach ticket between North America and Hawaii. This perk is the key to the card's long-term value, as it effectively neutralizes the $99 annual fee every year it is used.

However, a "real talk" warning: online travel forums suggest booking these discounts can be cumbersome and may require a phone call with the airline. Patience is key to unlocking their full potential.

Checking In: Two Free Checked Bags Explained

Airline baggage fees are a persistent annoyance. This card addresses that head-on by offering the primary cardmember their first two checked bags free on eligible flights. At current rates, this can save up to $140 on a single round-trip flight—more than justifying the annual fee on its own. (See how this stacks up against other options in our guide to the best Cards with Free Checked Bags 2025.)

Keep these rules in mind:

• The "Must Use Card" Rule: You must purchase the flight directly from Hawaiian Airlines using your Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard to get the waiver.
• Cardholder Only: The free bag allowance applies only to the primary cardmember, not companions.
• Eligible Routes: The benefit is valid for travel between North America and Hawaii and for inter-island flights. It now also extends to flights operated by Alaska Airlines.

Sharing the Aloha: The Fee-Free Share Miles Perk

One of the card's most unique features is Share Miles, which lets cardholders receive miles from any other HawaiianMiles member online without a transaction fee. Source: Share Miles Rules While many airlines charge exorbitant fees for transfers, this fee-free model is a standout, family-friendly benefit.

The obvious use case is for families to pool their miles to reach an award ticket threshold much faster. A more nuanced strategy is "topping off." If you're just 2,000 miles short of a 40,000-mile award ticket, another family member can instantly transfer the exact amount needed for free. This simple feature prevents miles from being stranded in separate accounts.

World Elite Advantage: Hidden Mastercard Benefits

Beyond the airline perks, this card carries the World Elite Mastercard designation, providing a "second wallet" of valuable, often-overlooked benefits from the Mastercard network, which you can explore fully in our World Elite Mastercard perks guide.

Key protections include: Source: Mastercard Guide to Benefits

• Trip Cancellation & Interruption Insurance
• Trip Delay & Baggage Delay Reimbursement
• Primary Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver (a rare and high-value perk)
• Lyft and Instacart credits
• 24/7 Concierge Service & Mastercard ID Theft Protection™

The Full Spectrum of Rates & Fees

Transparency about costs is paramount. Here’s what you need to know: Source: Pricing and Terms

• Annual Fee: $99, not waived the first year.
• Purchase APR: A variable rate from 20.24% to 29.99% variable. As with any rewards card, you should plan to pay your balance in full each month to avoid interest charges that negate your rewards.
• Foreign Transaction Fees: $0. This saves you around 3% on all purchases made abroad compared to many other cards.

Pros & Cons: A Balanced Scorecard

Head-to-Head: Hawaiian vs. The Competition

To assess its place in the market, here’s how the Hawaiian Airlines card compares against key competitors.

This comparison reveals a clear choice: no-fee cashback cards offer incredible flexibility and high earning rates in specific categories. However, for a traveler focused on trips to Hawaii, the Hawaiian Airlines card's built-in perks provide direct, outsized value that cash back alone can't match. The companion fare and free checked bags can save hundreds of dollars on a single trip, far outpacing the rewards from a cashback card for that specific travel goal. For a broader look at how this card stacks up, see our Best Airline Credit Cards 2025 guide.

Five Real User Testimonials

Data tells one story; real experiences tell another. Here are five testimonials curated from public travel forums.

For the Kamaʻāina: Boosting the Huakaʻi Program

For residents of Hawaii, this card's value is amplified through the Huakaʻi by Hawaiian program, a free loyalty initiative for locals. Holding the card unlocks a superior tier of benefits. Specifically, the standard quarterly 10% discount on a Neighbor Island booking is boosted to 20% for cardholders, effectively doubling the savings on inter-island flights. Source: Huakaʻi Program Details This demonstrates a commitment to the home market, making the card an even more compelling choice for those who travel frequently within the state.

Business Traveler’s Angle: The Business Version

For business owners, the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Business Mastercard® offers a different flavor of rewards. It shares the $99 annual fee but swaps the personal card's 2X grocery bonus for a 2X bonus on office supply store purchases. Instead of the $100 companion discount, it offers up to 40,000 bonus miles annually for meeting high spending thresholds (starting at $50,000/year). For most individuals and small business owners, the personal card's immediately tangible companion discount is the more practical choice.

The Final Verdict: Should It Be in Your Wallet?

After a comprehensive analysis, the verdict is clear. This is not a card for everyone, but for its intended audience, it is an exceptionally valuable tool that is absolutely worth its modest annual fee.

• For the 'Ohana Vacationer and the West Coast Weekender: Yes, unequivocally. The companion and bag perks provide direct savings that more than offset the fee with just one trip per year.
• For the Aspiring Alaska MVP: Yes, it's a strategic choice. It's a more effective daily driver for earning miles destined for Alaska's program than the Alaska card itself.
• For the Solo Traveler or Luxury Seeker: No, there are better options. A general travel rewards card would provide more aligned value.

Ultimately, the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard has successfully evolved. It retains its identity as the best-in-class card for dedicated Hawaiian Airlines flyers while becoming a compelling asset for a new generation of points enthusiasts. For the right traveler, it is a key ready to unlock the next adventure.