Hawaiian flights on points just got up to 50% more expensive. On October 1, Atmos Rewards erased Hawaii as a distinct award category and folded it into a generic North America chart. For hundreds of thousands of former HawaiianMiles members, that means economy awards that were 15,000 miles now start at 20,000 or more, while first class awards that were 40,000 now begin at 60,000 and can run far higher.
Yesterday, we reported on how Hawaiian’s co-branded cards disappeared from Barclays. Before that, we detailed the HawaiianMiles Freeze, where account access was blocked in preparation for the combined Alaska/Hawaiian Rewards program. Yesterday, the final piece dropped (read below):
Atmos just deleted Hawaii from its award map.
HawaiianMiles once treated Hawaii differently, with distinct pricing for interisland and mainland flights. Atmos has replaced that with a simplified, single distance-based chart for all of North America. Hawaii is now lumped together with Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
That erasure isn’t just symbolic. It also changes what travelers actually pay in points, depending on route and distance.
The “starting at” prices nobody actually pays:
The new distance bands look straightforward on paper:
- Under 700 miles: economy from 4,500, first class from 15,000 (Hawaii interisland)
- 701–1,400 miles: economy from 7,500, first class from 25,000
- 1,401–2,100 miles: economy from 10,000, first class from 25,000
- 2,101–3,500 miles: economy from 12,500, first class from 30,000 (West Coast–Hawaii)
- 3,501+ miles: economy from 20,000, first class from 60,000 (East Coast–Hawaii)
We tested actual availability this week by searching dozens of routes directly on Alaska Airlines’ booking system.
Those numbers above are advertised as “starting at.” In practice, they’re more like best-hope thinking. Our searches found interisland flights mostly pricing 6,500–13,750, Los Angeles to Honolulu running 17,500–35,000, and New York to Honolulu ranging from 26,500 to 58,750. The reality is that “starting at” prices rarely appear when travelers actually need them.
Interisland flights: 4,500 points or mostly a mirage?
Atmos advertises interisland flights from 4,500 points, but in practice those seats are rare. As we reported in Atmos Rewards Just Gutted Hawaii Flyers, the true prices are far higher. Our searches this week showed October flights running 6,500–13,750 in economy and up to 15,000 in first class.
For residents counting on lower-cost interisland awards, the promise of 4,500 points may prove to be more illusion than reality.
West Coast to Hawaii: starting at 12,500, but not for most travel.
Flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland to Hawaii fall into the 2,101–3,500 mile distance. The airline says these flights now start at 12,500 points in economy and 30,000 points in first class.
That looks like a discount, but in real-world searches, we’ve already seen seat awards closer to 17,500 points on average, with a range of 13,750 to 23,250 points for economy seats on October flights between Los Angeles and Honolulu.
At the end of the year holidays, economy will be as high as 35,000 points while first class will rise to as high as 90,000 each way. The promise of better pricing is there, but most travelers may not notice it. What are you finding for your Hawaii travel dates?
East Coast flyers face 50% award price increases.
The toughest hit is for long-haul Hawaii travelers. Flights like New York to Honolulu are all in the new 3,501 distance band. Economy awards now start at 20,000 and first class at 60,000. From New York to Honolulu in October, the actual range today was 26,500 to 41,250 each way. The first class on the same route started at 85,000 and increased to 150,000 each way. At the end of the year holidays, prices in economy go as high as 58,750 one way while first class reaches as much as 117,500 one way.
That’s a significant jump overnight. For East Coast families who saved HawaiianMiles for a once-a-year trip to Hawaii, the value of loyalty has dropped dramatically. And again, those “starting at” prices will often be higher in practice, as we found, especially as the peak seasons roll around.
Availability: the fine print says it all.
Atmos now warns: “Redemption levels are subject to limited availability and may not be offered on all flights or dates.” Our test results today confirm this. Even when the chart shows 12,500 or 20,000, the actual awards on key routes are almost always higher.
Readers have told us the same. As one put it: “There is no such thing as a 4,500-mile award. I’ve never seen one.” Another said, “I spent years saving for Maui trips. Overnight, the price jumped, and the value disappeared.
What Hawaii travelers should do now.
- If you have Atmos points, the best move is to test routes before making decisions. Some flights may still reflect occasional best-priced seats, but don’t count on them.
- Comparing cash fares against awards is now more critical than ever. In some cases, buying tickets outright will be cheaper than burning points.
- Travelers should also check competitors. Southwest often prices interisland flights lower than Alaska, and there is not always competitive pricing.
- Delta and United both offer low-season economy awards to Hawaii, around 17,500–22,500 each way, often similar to or cheaper than Atmos’ real-world pricing.
Loyalty shift and Hawaii’s future.
The removal of Hawaii as a separate category reveals just how deeply Alaska has folded Hawaiian into its system. It also highlights a shift away from Hawaii-first loyalty and toward one uniform program. For longtime HawaiianMiles members, this feels like a severing of long-term trust, even as the Atmos program is far more robust and diverse than HawaiianMiles ever was. For Alaska, it’s also an attempt at simplification, albeit one that risks losing loyalty from some of Hawaii’s most dedicated travelers.
Will you still play the Hawaii airline loyalty game?
We’d like to hear your thoughts. Have you also tried searching the Atmos awards this week, as we did? Did you see any 4,500 interisland seats, or 12,500 West Coast awards? Or are these numbers just window dressing while real costs have climbed?
Tell us what you’ve found and whether this increases or decreases your loyalty to Atmos Rewards for Hawaii travel.
Photo Credit: Beat of Hawaii at Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon at Waikiki.
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We are 20+ year miles members of Hawaiian. This morning I looked at booking a Hawaiian or Alaska flight from San Diego to Oahu. I also did the same research replacing Oahu with Maui (Our island of choice).
The bottom line: At this point both Hawaiian and Alaska are no longer on our list of to use for flights to Hawaii. Cost, flight times, non-stop vs direct routes to get there are ridiculous. Alaska must be proud regarding their plan of attack when acquiring Hawaiian during this take over!
As a longtime points and miles collector, know that with the birth of Atmos, there is simply no reason to collect and redeem travel awards. Alaska Was one of the last programs to have Some sweet spots. But now, ALL airlines have an algorithm that makes sure they come out ahead. Instead, opt for a cash back card so that you can see and calculate your true value in real dollars and simply apply those savings to your next trip, dollars to dollars. There is no value in points and miles given the airline can – without notice – raise redemption values. This makes it impossible to save for a dream trip unless you are a VERY high spender (and if you are a high spender, why wouldn’t you just pay cash for that ticket???). It’s now a rigged game and the airlines will ALWAYS win. There’s a reason that Very Low advertised redemption ticket is NEVER available . Go look for a 2% on everything cash back card and you’ll at least get a flat savings. That’s your best bet.
Can you still upgrade to FC using 25k/50k miles?
Hi, that upgrade option from what I understand has now been eliminated. Now you can only upgrade using points and cannot book economy then use miles to upgrade to first. And boy does it take a lot of miles/points now! However, I did read on the Atmos site that that option may come back in 2026. We shall see, have a trip to Tahiti via HNL, was able to score first upgrade from economy but couldn’t do so from HNL to PPT:( hopefully that option to boom economy and upgrade using points will come back, we shall see.
I started to look for an possible upcoming trip in May using points. Everything went smoothly until I went to get my seat and pay for the needed extra leg room as I have done so many times in the past. That is when the seat map would not come up but got a message to go to the Hawaiian Site to access the seat selection.
No help, same message. The seat map did come up when I went through the process of paying for the trip in cash.
I hope this is a glitch in the system, since I need that leg room and saved Miles for years to make these trips affordable for me.
Also during the two days of search the required points have changed at least twice. It looks like their applying a dynamic search pricing algorithm.
Hawaiian has lost my loyalty
Obviously, in this world, there is no such thing as “loyalty”.
Who is the idiot that would notcrun a local airline that had built in loyalty. He should never work again.
I’m very sad that Barclays will no longer be the bank. I’ve had difficulty with online banking with Bank of America and cancelled my Alaska card because of it.
I just got the Atmos Summit card and will continue spending on it so that I score the 105K bonus points. Now I’m thinking this card, and its’ $395 annual fee will be a ‘one and done’.
BTW…It has been my experience that the ” Famous Companion Fare” is not really $99 plus up to $23 in taxes and fees. I recently booked KOA to Costa Rica on a fairly expensive day and paid way more than $122 for the second seat. I saved less than $200 compared to buying the two seats without the discount.
We have been loyal Hawaiian Airlines members for over 35 years, utilizing their Hawaiian Airlines credit card to accrue miles for free flights for the family (Hawaii was one of my accounts where I work). We are disgusted and saddened with the merge and the ” Aloha Spirit” is gone. Very disappointing.
I just tried to cancel my Hawaiian Barclay’s Mastercard. I called and went through all the necessary hoops and finally when I said that I wanted to cancel my card, the automated voice said they would transfer me “to members of their team”, the line went immediately dead. Has anyone been successful canceling their card and how were you able to cancel?
I just cancelled my Barclays card and it went very smooth. I called the 800 # on my card. The person who helped me was very helpful and agreed with why I was cancelling. She totally understood and had cancelled many other card holders too.
BOH Guys;
I have finally caught on to what is going on with Hawaii tourism and it is ingenious.
It’s reverse psychology. The harder Hawaii tries to drive away tourists the more they want to go there.
The Hawaiian airlines take over has been a disaster for us. We have used both airlines in the past. We live in San Diego and Kauai. There are no direct flights anymore unless you take the red eye. We were so used to taking early morning flight from both airlines and arriving in Lihue around noon to 1 pm. Departure flights were 3-4pm arriving in San Diego 11-11:45 pm. I used to love Hawaiian and Alaska airlines. They have made it very difficult to redeem miles and have devalued loyalty programs.
We have been booking RT out of LA on American Airlines because of their direct flights. Flights are more convenient for us. Would love to have direct flights back out of San Diego without having to take the red eye for return. We have even tried going over on one airline and returning on the other still didn’t work.
That’s one way to disintegrate all the million mile card members with special perks and send them into a lower class bracket. The less status of a card the airlines can put you in the less freebies you acquire and more money they collect. I think the airlines are plainly cutting back on the free lunch program.
Pretty soon everyone will have to pay or charge and awards will become a thing of the past.
Maybe the points redemption will vary on economy plus,economy premium seat and all this variations of seat types. Certain flights cost more depending on the departing times versus red eye flights that depart after 5pm. Flights cost more if the airplane even has a lower CO2 cabin footprint listed in the flight details section of the flight. The cleaner the cabin air the more expensive the ticket costs.
Interesting info on the carbon footprint and pricing. I’ll have to check that out. I think that whole carbon thing is ridiculous when someone asks you to pay to reduce your footprint. They make it sound like you are actually getting something for your “donated” dollars.
I noticed this
I noticed in the details of the flights that depending on the airplane model a rating of like 94 air recirculation rating was indicated. Some were 92 and such. It explained that the lower the better and rated the air quality in the cabin. The lower the better as the higher ratings stated passengers may experience more headaches, feeling of more congested air and such. Seemed the more expensive flights had the better air quality rating. I found it in the flight details page and I think it stated the lower the better.
Its a shame that they are changing everything. I went through this when Continental was merged into United and 10+ years later still feeling the effects.
Oh yeah, I remember well “the proud bird with the golden tail,” the “pub” flights and the “Presidents Club,” especially the one in Honolulu. It had a wonderful South Pacific vibe with Continental’s Micronesia footprint. Sadly those days are long gone. The new merged Airline kept the Continental colors and “global jet tail, but unfortunately they stuck with the United name. Oh well, Continental got me to my million miler status that I now enjoy with United, so can’t complain!
Re: New Hawaiian Miles Requirements.
We’re done with Hawaiian. We’ll fly United exclusively to the Mainland. Wide body 777 jets and low miles. As Western Airlines slogan used to say “the only way to fly.”
So glad we used many of our points for our upcoming flight to Kona in November. We always book well ahead, and we followed your advice, and used as many points as possible. Thank you BOH!
Pualani Platinum members lose their access to the Premier lounge without any other free options!
Are you kidding me!? I’m Pualani Gold, and if I can’t get into the Premier Clubs next week, when I’m in Hawaii, I’m not going to be happy.
I haven’t been loyal to a program for a long time. Because of the routes we fly there isn’t one brand that makes sense to be loyal too. I book based on cash price and if I have enough points then I might look at award tickets. What’s more important to me is that points/miles don’t expire.
I feel for the HA workers being infused into Alaska’s system. Staying profitible is important but again it’s the decision of people who will be loyal to their bottom lines we (both HA employees and past loyal passengers) will unfortunately have to accept the outcome.
I have been travelling on SW more often and have noticed more local HI passsengers on my flights. The A-list category on SW has great flexability. You can make almost any type of change in the SW App and will get a credit for any difference in fare and your mileage reimbursed immediately.
Yes unheard of! it’s great.
Hope SW increases interisland flights soon.
I fly southwest at least one of the ways when I fly interisland. Seems more legroom. My credit card is also going to start giving us A-list status on Southwest among other things.