How to get an upgrade on Hawaiian Airlines with Amex Membership Rewards

You probably already know that Hawaiian Airlines flights can be booked using Velocity Points. And perhaps, that you can reserve Hawaiian flights using HawaiianMiles as well. But there’s a third option that’s particularly beneficial for those with American Express Membership Rewards points. That’s using MR points to upgrade with Hawaiian Airlines.

Sure, many people prefer to book their preferred cabin outright. If you have the points to do that – and you can find reward seats to suit – we’d still say that’s the best option. But being able to upgrade opens a few doors.

For one thing, you might be able to upgrade on a flight that doesn’t otherwise have reward seats open for outright booking. You might also be required to buy a cash fare in Economy when travelling for work – making a points-based upgrade the only way to secure a flatbed on a company ticket. Add to that, maybe you have enough points for an upgrade, but not quite enough for an outright redemption.

Whatever your circumstances, here’s how to turn Amex Membership Rewards points into a flatbed on Hawaiian Airlines: and how I did just that on a recent Hawaiian Airlines flight from Sydney to Honolulu.

Finding available Hawaiian Airlines upgrades

Subscribers to ExpertFlyer are in the best position to pounce on upgrades with Hawaiian Airlines. That’s because you can use ExpertFlyer to search for upgrade availability on any given flight – even before you’ve bought a ticket.

Start by visiting the ‘Awards & Upgrades’ tab and searching for your preferred route. For instance, from Sydney to Honolulu. Enter your date and select Hawaiian Airlines from the list. Finally, tick ‘First – Saver Upgrade (A)’. Note that Hawaiian Airlines just uses the term First Class for its premium cabin. On flights from Australia, it’s really just Business Class by international standards – but it’s called First Class here all the same.

On the next screen, keep your eyes peeled for a non-stop option on the route you’ve requested. In this sample search, I also ticked the other First reward options to illustrate.

On this ExpertFlyer result, we can see that ‘First – Saver Upgrade’ has 4 seats available. This means that Hawaiian Airlines can process and confirm four points-based upgrades to Business/First Class on this flight.

It’s worth noting that Hawaiian Airlines has two different upgrade rates. Saver is the best option and requires the fewest miles. There’s also Flex, which requires significantly more miles but has more available seats. In the example above, we can see that the Flex option has seven upgrades available – but there are four upgrades available at the best-value Saver rate, which is what we’d recommend.

Out of curiosity, I’ve also used this search to check for partner awards in the premium cabin. This indicates whether seats up front can be booked through programs like Velocity. On this specific flight, we can see that Velocity (and HawaiianMiles) could book two reward seats in Business/First Class outright. But upgrades are only open to HawaiianMiles members – and there were four available.

Transfer points for your Hawaiian Airlines upgrade

Here’s where things get interesting for Australian travellers. If you’re chasing an upgrade on Hawaiian Airlines, don’t forget that Amex Membership Rewards points can now be transferred to HawaiianMiles at a 2:1 rate. While you might have a surplus of Velocity Points to book a Hawaiian Airlines flight, only HawaiianMiles can be used for an upgrade.

Transferring points from Amex to HawaiianMiles is quick and easy online. After logging into your account, browse to the Membership Rewards section of the Amex website. Navigate to Hawaiian Airlines, select how many points to transfer, and you’re done.

If you haven’t transferred to Hawaiian Airlines previously, you’ll first need to link your HawaiianMiles account. This takes a moment, but it’s usually very quick to confirm.

To determine how many HawaiianMiles you’d need, check the reward charts on Hawaiian’s website. Sydney-Honolulu comes under the ‘Hawaii to Australia’ category. Here, there are two rates listed. ‘Upgrade 1’ means a Saver upgrade (A class on ExpertFlyer), and ‘Upgrade 2’ means a Flex upgrade (P class on ExpertFlyer).

Per that table, a Saver upgrade (Upgrade 1) sets you back 45,000 HawaiianMiles. A Flex upgrade (Upgrade 2) is double that, at 90,000 miles. Transfers from Amex to HawaiianMiles are normally instantaneous, but may take up to 24 hours. In my experience, even a first-time transfer went through straight away.

Use your HawaiianMiles for a Hawaiian Airlines upgrade

When I did this for the first time, I wanted to double-check everything before committing to a transfer. Especially so, because Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t process points-based upgrades through its website: you have to do it over the phone.

So, I called Hawaiian Airlines (1800 955 912), provided my reservation details, and I ask them to double check my eligibility for an upgrade. And of course, what the rate would be. I’d already found upgrade availability through ExpertFlyer – and already checked the reward table – but it always pays to check.

The agent confirmed the above – that ‘A’ class availability means I can upgrade at the ‘Upgrade 1’ rate. And that there was an A class seat available on my flight. Very quickly, and while still on the phone with the agent, I transferred points into HawaiianMiles. Within about a minute, the agent could see those miles in my account and promptly confirmed my upgrade.

While having to call is less convenient than upgrading online, I still appreciate that upgrades on Hawaiian Airlines are confirmed at the time of request, if availability permits. It’s not like on some other airlines where your upgrade request is waitlisted for consideration closer to departure. On Hawaiian, if there’s an upgrade showing as available, it’s yours to lock in.

By following the process above, I’d put my miles to work – and had my upgrade confirmed within minutes of making a points transfer from Amex. By my book, 45,000 miles is quite affordable to secure a flatbed on a 10-hour overnight flight. I knew I’d need to sleep well, and sleep well I did!

For context, I was booked on a Hawaiian Airlines fare akin to discount Economy. By comparison, Qantas doesn’t allow points-based upgrades on its international flights on Economy Sale fares. You have to buy the pricier Economy Saver tickets. From Sydney to Honolulu, Qantas charges 65,400 Qantas Points for a comparable upgrade to Business. Hawaiian Airlines’ upgrade rate – and instant confirmation policy – is very competitive.

The experience from Sydney to Honolulu

We’ve previously reviewed Hawaiian Airlines Business Class from an outright booking from Sydney to Honolulu. But here are a few notes for those upgrading.

For starters, on flights from Australia, using miles to switch from Economy to Business Class gets you into the lounge. That’s handy to note because Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t offer lounge access to Velocity elites booked in Economy. But if you’re flying Hawaiian Airlines Business Class – even on a points-based upgrade – you’re covered.

My upgrade was confirmed straight away over the phone and I was able to pick my preferred seat. At the airport, as a Business Class passenger, I can then use priority check-in. And when it comes to the lounge (The House at Sydney Airport), Hawaiian Airlines passengers can enjoy complimentary à la carte dining, too.

This pre-flight menu beats the old buffet.

Pre-flight dining allows a choice of two courses from the menu provided. This salad is a nice, light start.

Pumpkin ravioli is delicious for the main course.

Hawaiian Airlines uses the Airbus A330 on its flights from Sydney to Honolulu. [Image courtesy of Rae Huo for Hawaiian Airlines]

I put priority boarding to good use and get my bed as ready as can be before departure.

Having already eaten, I skip the inflight dinner, but still make time for a cocktail before leaving Australia.

I sleep right through to breakfast and enjoy French toast, fruit salad, coffee and a pastry. It’s enough to last me until dinner on my connecting flight.

This wasn’t the case when I took the same flight in 2023, and it’s a great addition to the overall offering. Given the late evening departure time from Sydney, you can dine on the ground and go straight to sleep after take-off to maximise rest. Of course, there’s still breakfast to enjoy before landing.

Summing up

You can use HawaiianMiles to upgrade on any Hawaiian Airlines flight with availability to match. This includes domestic and international sectors. While booking outright using points generally remains the best-value choice, it won’t always suit everybody or every circumstance. That’s where it pays to keep this upgrade trick in your back pocket.

Speaking of outright bookings though, you’ll want to note this as well. From Sydney to Honolulu, it costs 65,000 HawaiianMiles to reserve an outright reward seat in Business Class. At least, that’s the case when ‘D’ class shows as available in ExpertFlyer. By comparison, Velocity charges 78,000 Velocity Points for the same flight – and requires that same fare class to be available. (Taxes are also payable, and these are generally the same through either program, and are without any additional carrier-imposed charges).

American Express Membership Rewards uses the same 2:1 conversion rate for both Velocity and HawaiianMiles. So on a ‘normal day’, it’s better value to use HawaiianMiles to book this Hawaiian Airlines route compared to Velocity Points. Having said that, Velocity Points are generally much easier to earn in Australia from a multitude of sources. Velocity also routinely runs bonus points deals when transferring points, which may tip the scales to Velocity’s favour.

But when it comes to upgrades on Hawaiian Airlines, you can only do that with HawaiianMiles. It’s times like this that flexible points programs such as American Express Membership Rewards can prove particularly valuable.

Also read: Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 787 Leihōkū Suites review (Honolulu – Phoenix)

Feature image courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines. Other photography by Chris Chamberlin. Chris had an Economy Class booking as a guest of Hawaiian Airlines, but used his own points for a Business Class upgrade.