How I Booked a Virtually Free Trip to Hawaii With Miles
December is my favorite time of year to go to Hawaii. At the end of the year one can take stock, reflecting on the year that has just passed and look forward to the year ahead. And what better place to do that than Hawaii?
I also like the convenience. From LA it’s a relatively short 5+ hour, non-stop flight to paradise. If I take an early enough flight, I can be on the beach drinking an ice-cold lava flow by 2:00 in the afternoon. And unlike some of the more exotic places I’ve traveled to, there are none of the standard worries in Hawaii: malaria & yellow fever vaccinations, unclean water, safety, political instability.
Don’t get me wrong, my trips to more exotic, developing nations have been some of my most treasured travel experiences. But sometimes you just want to relax worry free. Hawaii is perfect for that.
And what could be better than flying there and staying for virtually no money? Here’s how I did it.
Travel Card Welcome Bonus
Barclays Bank Aviator Red Master Card for American Airlines had a welcome bonus of 40,000 miles. What made this offer particularly enticing is there was no minimum spend requirement. Just make a transaction and pay the $95 annual fee. That’s right, by just buying lunch and paying the $95 fee I received 40,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles!
That’s enough miles for one flight to Hawaii. In cash value 40,000 miles are worth approximately $400. All for just $95.
Incidentally, as of October 2018, Barclays bank has sweetened the welcome bonus, increasing it to 60,000 AAdvantage miles! That’s more than enough for a free flight to Europe. That’s just insane.
I Needed More Than One Welcome Bonus
Since I needed two tickets to Hawaii, I needed another bonus. Luckily Citibank was happy to oblige. The Citi AAdvantage Platinum card had a welcome bonus of 60,000 miles after $3,000 in purchases on the card in the first three months. To make the offer even sweeter, the $99 annual fee is waived for the first 12 months.
Thanks to the Barclays Aviator Red card not requiring thousands of dollars in purchases during the first three months, I could also apply for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum without fear of overlapping spend requirements.
For three months I shifted my credit card activity to the Citi AAdvantage Platinum card. Once the spend requirement was met and the miles were in my account I was free to book my flights to Hawaii.
100,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles for a total of $95 and shifting my credit card purchases for $3,000 of transactions I would be making anyway. That is what this is all about.
Additional Points Savings
My good luck didn’t stop there. The flights I was able to book to Hawaii in December were going to be 42,500 miles each for a total of 85,000 AAdvantage miles. Normally the flights are 40,000 miles round trip but because one leg was on Alaskan Airlines, American charged a premium. This was not a problem thanks to the 100,000 I had just earned. But after I booked, I was only charged 76,500 miles.
One of the many benefits of having the Citi AAdvantage Platinum card is a 10% discount on mileage redemptions so I was refunded 8,500 AAdvantage miles for a total of 76,500 for the two tickets to Hawaii.
Booking the Hotel
When booking hotels using hotel loyalty program points, you’re limited to hotels within that loyalty network. When booking hotels using United airline miles, their booking tool is powered by Hotels.com which means you’re offered up a variety of hotels, not just ones affiliated with a particular loyalty program.
This means you are using miles like money and the miles required for redemption are flexible based on the going rate of the hotel, rather than based on set tiers as they are in hotel loyalty programs.
What does all of that mean? It means that you can book virtually any property you want. We booked a hotel right on the beach that was not affiliated with any of the major hotel loyalty programs that I had miles for.
I must add that you usually get better value from airline miles by booking flights, not hotel rooms. And you get the absolute best value from airline miles by booking premium flights like business class and first class. But sometimes you want to stay where you want to stay and not be restricted to a specific chain.
In this case my priority was to ensure the whole trip was free, not necessarily squeezing the most value out of every airline mile by doing something like booking business or first class on our flights.
Total Cost
All in all, this three-night trip to Hawaii will cost us the following.
Flight:
- LA to Honolulu for two in December: 76,500 American Airlines miles
- Taxes and fees: $22.40
Hotel:
- Three nights at a Waikiki beachfront hotel: 116,960 United Airlines miles
- Taxes and fees: included in total miles paid
Total:
- Airline miles: 193,460
- Dollars: $22.40
How You Can Do This
Right now you can earn enough miles and points for your own free trip to Hawaii. How many points and miles you require will depend on a number of factors, most importantly, how many people are traveling, and if you prefer premium travel.
For the purposes of this example, I’ll show you one way to earn enough points and miles for two coach tickets on American and points for a hotel in Waikiki. Beachfront hotels require a substantial number of miles, but we’ll get you within Waikiki where most hotels are just a block or two from the beach. My goal is to get you to Hawaii in as few steps as possible.
There are many ways to cobble together enough points and miles for a trip like this. I’m just laying out one way. Here’s how.
Paying For Your Flight With Miles
As I mentioned above, the Barclays Bank Aviator Red Master Card for American Airlines is the fastest way I know to earn a lucrative welcome bonus. Once approved for the card, you just have to pay the $95 annual fee and make a purchase in order to get a welcome bonus of up to 60,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles. That’s enough to cover one and one-half tickets to Hawaii.
The Citi AAdvantage Platinum card should then be your next target. As of October, the card offered a welcome bonus of 50,000 miles after just $2,500 of spend within the first three months of opening the card. And as an additional bonus, the $99 annual fee is waived for the first year, allowing you to have the card for a year, risk free before you need to decide if you want to keep it and pay the annual fee.
Combined, these welcome bonuses will provide you with 110,000 American Airlines miles in three months or less. This is more than enough miles for two tickets to Hawaii, with enough left over for a domestic US flight at another time.
Paying For Your Hotel With Miles
I do not recommend using airline miles for your hotel reservation. It does not yield the best value. Fortunately, the hotel loyalty programs are offering some very aggressive and lucrative welcome bonuses.
I’m going to be honest with you, as I alluded to above, beachfront hotels in Waikiki cost a substantial number of points to book. Most are anywhere from 60,000 to over 170,000 hotel loyalty points per night. No hotel credit card loyalty bonus that I’m aware of will come anywhere close to offering enough points for three nights at a beachfront hotel. But we can come close.
The Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki Beach has a redemption rate of 50,000 Hilton Honors points per night. As of October the Hilton Honors Amex Ascend card from American Express has a welcome bonus of 125,000 Hilton Honors points. With these points you can cover two nights at the Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki Beach.
Although the remaining 25,000 points are not enough to book your third night in paradise, your remaining American Airlines AAdvantage miles are. The Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki Beach can be booked for as few as 28,900 AAdvantage miles and since you should have over 33,000 left over after booking your flights (and getting the 10% redemption discount) you’re able to book your third night.
There are nearly endless combinations of airlines and hotels to build a vacation in Honolulu. Nearly endless hotel and airline combinations also means nearly endless ways to earn enough points and miles from travel rewards credit cards to cover the cost. What I’ve laid out for you is just one of many. However you end up doing it, I wish you success and hope you enjoy your trip.