Hawaiian Airlines First Class, Up To 7 People
My trip to the Middle East is coming to an end but, before I fly home, I had to flag this option for lie-flat seats to Hawaii. Since saver level award space in business/first class to Hawaii is so sparse, I didn't want to wait to send!
Even better, many dates have space for up to 7 people. That's right, 7 people in lie-flat seats booked with points. I'll even share a little trick to use only 20,000 points for a one-way award ticket.
Please note that space on the return from Honolulu is basically nonexistent so you'll need to find another option for the flight back. Or, you could see if ANA has space to Tokyo, fly their A380, and visit Japan before flying home.
Now, let's get into the details!
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: AUS-HNL
Operating airline: Hawaiian Airlines
Class of service: First class (really, a business class product)
Dates: October 2023 - December 2023
Seats available: 2-7
Cabin layout: 2-2-2
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles: 40,000 miles
- 100% Bilt transfer bonus on February 1
- *Korean Air SkyPass: 60,000 (round-trip only)
- *JetBlue TrueBlue: 70,000 miles
- *Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: 65,000 points
*No Surcharges
Bilt's Rent Day Promos: On the first of every month, Bilt runs a double-earning promo which means you can earn 6x dining, 4x on flights, hotels, car rentals, & cruises, and 2x on all other spend (except for rent). Occasionally, Bilt also runs big transfer bonuses like this one to Hawaiian Airlines.
Learn more about the card here.
Taxes/fees (per person):
- One-way: $5.60
- Round-trip: $11.20
Bank transfer partners:
- Hawaiian Airlines: Amex, Bilt, Marriott
- Korean Air: Marriott
- JetBlue: Amex, Brex, Chase, Citi, Marriott
- Virgin Atlantic: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
Don't forget to let me know if you book and how you did it!
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Flight Experience
Hawaiian Airlines operates an Airbus A330-200 on the Austin-Honolulu route. While it's listed as "first class", you should expect a business class experience.
There's nothing wrong with that, though! The first class cabin is arranged in a 2-2-2 layout with lie-flat seats. Compared to many options to Hawaii, this will be a big upgrade from the recliners you'll find in domestic first class.
You can expect friendly service and good food on the 8 hour flight to Honolulu (7.5 hours on the return). Please note that these tickets don't come with lounge access and Austin's airport doesn't have Priority Pass options currently.
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Available Dates
The following dates have award space for two people. Some dates will have space for four people, or even seven people.
AUS-HNL
September: 4, 6, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 27, 29
October: 2,4, 9, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27 ,30
November: 1, 3, 6, 8, 13, 15, 24, 27, 29
December: 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 22, 25
HNL-AUS
September: 3, 24
October: 1, 22
November: 5
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Yes, that's right, 7 seats available!
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Best Ways To Book
Please keep in mind that partners don't always see the same award space. You'll want to book a separate positioning flight for this one. In many cases, I'd recommend flying into Austin the night before.
HawaiianMiles: Best Rate + A 100% Bilt Transfer Bonus
HawaiianMiles is my go-to option. You can transfer Amex, Bilt, and Marriott points to Hawaiian and the one-way rate of 40,000 miles is a great way to book.
Even better, if you transfer Bilt points on February 1, Bilt is running Rent Day promo in which you can get a 100% transfer bonus on points transferred to HawaiianMiles. You must transfer points that day to get the bonus.
Korean SkyPass: Great Round-Trip Rate, Tough To Earn
In theory, Korean SkyPass is a great way to book a round-trip award at 60,000 miles. However, Korean miles are tough to earn and I haven't seen space show up consistently. Might be worth a call to check if you already have Korean miles or a bunch of Marriott points.
Virgin Atlantic: Solid Option With Chase, Capital One, & Citi Points
Similarly, you'll need to call Virgin Atlantic if you want to try booking with Virgin points. While it requires more miles at 65,000 one-way, you have the advantage of also being able to transfer Chase, Capital One, and Citi points.
JetBlue TrueBlue: Solid If You're Trying To Burn TrueBlue Points
The least attractive option of the bunch but, if you have TrueBlue points, it might be worth burning them on this one.
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How To Book
To run a search with Hawaiian Airlines, follow these steps:
- Log into your HawaiianMiles account
- Select Book Travel
- Select one-way or roundtrip
- Enter your origin/destination cities
- Enter your date(s)
- Select number of passengers
- Select to Show Fare as Miles
- Click Search Flights
Airline Phone Numbers
If you want to try booking with Korean SkyPass miles or Virgin Red points, you can use these phone numbers:
Korean Air: 800-438-5000
Virgin Atlantic: 800-862-8621
JetBlue: 800-538-2583
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Bottom Line
Finding premium cabin award space to Hawaii can be quite the challenge, especially if you want a life-flat seat and want to book a saver level award. While this isn't a round-trip option, you can still lock in business/first class for the flight to Hawaii.
Happy booking!
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