Why the Bilt 1:2 Transfer Promo to Hawaiian is Actually Viable if You Use it On Partners
Images above courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines, Virgin Australia, Jet Blue, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, & Virgin Atlantic.
If you had options for 90k Bilt Rewards for round trip business class from the US to Japan on Japan Airlines or 100k Bilt Rewards for Korean Air Business class from the US to Korea, with economy options at half those prices, would you take them? Tomorrow, 2/1, only, a transfer to make that & some other options a reality is possible when Bilt is offering a 1:2 transfer promo to Hawaiian Airlines, far surpassing any previous transfer promo to Hawaiian Airlines from any transfer partner in recent history.
Normally I wouldn't give much consideration to Hawaiian Miles due to the relatively poor typical pricing of transfer options and other acquisition methods even when you factor into the equation small transfer promos of 25%. I've never transferred to them. Whenever you're looking at a higher-than-ever transfer promo opportunity or lower-than-ever points purchasing opportunity, it's best to check the #s to see if it's viable even if you don't have any points in the program like me as long as you have the method to acquire the points.
This 1:2 transfer promo is much better than any previous transfer promo to Hawaiian from any points currency that I could find. Here's where I like to go to check, with all of the below being 1:1.25 transfer ratios:
Above image courtesy Frequent Miler
Unless you're island hopping in Hawaii, I'd generally recommend that you use Hawaiian miles on partners, not on Hawaiian itself, to get the best value per point.
Pricing below is per Bilt Reward in the titles when assuming a 1:2 ratio:
Japan Airlines optimal pricing from North America (especially E Coast), i.e. Japan to North America in economy for 45k round trip, 60k in Premium economy RT, & 90k in business class RT
As a point of comparison, let's compare that to business class pricing on British Airways Avios & on American Airlines Miles:
Below you have 1 way pricing inferior to 90k, and even if you're factoring in a 40% promo transfer to British Air Avios, you're still spending far more on Avios than you would on this promo:
Image courtesy British Airways
While typically much more difficult to acquire than Bilt Rewards (unless you were like Lucky and bought over a million in one day during the best points purchase deal of the decade), AA has better pricing, but you'd still be paying much more than you would with this promo:
Image courtesy American Airlines
For reference, here is the full Japan Air chart using Hawaiian Miles
Image courtesy Hawaiian Air
Image courtesy Hawaiian Air
Why not to get bent out of shape if you don't have the option to transfer to Hawaiian from Bilt for the Japan Air Award Pricing
Before you get bent out of shape for not having a viable option for a similar booking, keep in mind the joys of using Amex Rewards to transfer to ANA in low season for 40k round-trip pricing from North America to Japan including in some locations (i.e. DC) that Japan Air doesn't fly into for an economy booking, 62k for low season ANA only premium economy RT, and 75k for ANA only low season business class round trips to Japan, with higher pricing available (i.e. 50k if 2 leg economy) to include partners even if you're nowhere near anywhere that Japan Airlines or ANA fly to but have United close to you.
Using Virgin Atlantic Points, especially after a 30% transfer from a partner, is also still an excellent option for flying on ANA even if you don't have Amex Membership Rewards, and the first-class option available on there is fantastic.
Jet Blue - 1.33- 1.98 cents per point
1.98 cents per point is relatively good for Jet Blue. That said, you can do better than that on any one of the other partners I'm mentioning.
Image Courtesy Hawaiian Air
Korean Air optimal round trip pricing from Korea to the US for 50k in coach or 100k in business class, & why not to get bent out of shape due to alternatives via transfers from Amex to ANA miles if you can't make the transfer from Bilt to Hawaiian
Korean Air award are pretty limited, and I'm glad this option is available. I can't think of a superior or comparable option to fly on Korean Air directly that's easily accessible (i.e. not too high of acquisition cost), though let me know in the comments if you can. That said, ANA comes to the rescue again if considering alternatives, with pricing at 45k in economy from North America to Korea round trip in low season, 66k in premium economy, and 80k in business class as long as you're flying on ANA only, with higher pricing if including partners or not flying in low season. That said, ANA partner business pricing is still 95k round trip, lower than Korean Air pricing via this 1:2 promo, though I'd like to see how the taxes & fees compared between the 2 when you're getting close like that.
Here's the Korean Air pricing chart when using Hawaiian Air Miles:
Virgin Atlantic round trip to the UK decent but not too noteworthy pricing on the surface without more digging into upper class' taxes/fees unless flying from the West Coast in peak season
Here's the Virgin Atlantic pricing:
Image courtesy Hawaiian Air
On the surface, the upper-class pricing of effectively 62.5k round trip from the East Coast to the UK would appear an improvement vs Virgin Atlantic, even if you factored in a 30% transfer bonus below to bring the cost down to 36.5k per 1 way (73k RT). That said, without knowing the taxes/fees comparison, it's not possible to say which one would actually be superior. Conversely, with premium economy or economy, you'd likely be better off using Virgin Atlantic miles as long as booking in standard season like I am below.
Image courtesy Virgin Atlantic
Also, I'm not comparing to peak pricing on Virgin above.
Here's how peak pricing looks for the same itinerary:
Image courtesy Virgin Atlantic
Here's some off-peak West Coast pricing when using Virgin Atlantic miles 1 way:
Image courtesy Virgin Atlantic
Here's some peak West Coast peak 1-way pricing where you're better off with Hawaiian Miles if transferring to Virgin at a 1:1 ratio as long as the taxes/fees are comparable:
Image courtesy Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Australia is not currently flying to the US, but helpful if you're around Australia
There are options with Virgin Australia, but some of them may not be applicable at the moment since Virgin Australia isn't currently flying to the US, but can be viable if you're in Australia or nearby.
Image courtesy Hawaiian Air
I generally wouldn't recommend using Hawaiian Airlines miles to actually fly to Hawaii from the mainland US as long as you can get there instead with either:
1. Flights on United from most US United destinations (i.e. East Coast) for 7500 points each way in economy or 12500 in business class using Turkish Air Miles & Smiles (a transfer partner of Bilt, Capital One, & Citi) including direct or indirect flights on United.
2. West Coast direct flights using 13000 British Airways to fly American (in 1 way economy) after a 40% transfer promo to British Air (taking it down to 9.3k 1 way) or another form of Avios and then convert to British Air Avios at a 1:1 ratio.