Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® review

Best credit card for frequent Hawaiian Airlines flyers

• Rewards rate: Earn 3X miles per $1 on eligible Hawaiian Airlines purchases and 2X miles per $1 on grocery store (excluding Target and Walmart purchases), gas and dining transactions; 1X mile per $1 on all other transactions.
• Welcome offer: Earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 within the first 90 days.
• Annual fee: $99
• Purchase intro APR: None
• Balance transfer intro APR: None
• Regular APR: 15.99 percent, 19.99 percent or 24.99 percent variable

The Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard is a Barclays credit card that earns rewards for the Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles loyalty program. If you fly frequently with Hawaiian Airlines, you may also be interested in this credit card because of the extra airline perks. If you find yourself flying with Hawaiian at least a few times per year, see if the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard makes sense in your wallet.

Current sign-up bonus

Currently, new Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard cardholders can earn 50,000 bonus miles after making $2,000 worth of transactions in the first 90 days of account opening. Generally, HawaiianMiles are valued at 0.9 cents per point, or just under 1 cent each. At that valuation, the welcome bonus would be worth approximately $450 when redeemed for travel.

Rewards

Every dollar spent with the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard earns miles automatically and, unlike some other co-branded airline credit cards, you’ll earn bonus points on other categories—not just Hawaiian Airlines purchases—such as gas, dining and grocery store expenses.

Earning rewards

Cardholders earn 3X miles per dollar spent on eligible purchases with Hawaiian Airlines and 2X miles per dollar on grocery store, gas and dining transactions (excluding Target and Walmart purchases). All other transactions earn 1 mile per dollar spent.

Get additional bonus points by shopping with participating partners (as many as 5X miles with FreshDirect) through the HawaiianMiles Marketplace

You can also earn HawaiianMiles through partner airline flights and stays at partner hotels.

Redeeming rewards

To redeem miles for flights on Hawaiian Airlines, log into your HawaiianMiles Account at HawaiianAirlines.com. You can also call 877-426-4537 to redeem miles for a flight booking.

You can also redeem your miles for flights on Hawaiian’s partner airlines (JetBlue, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia).

HawaiianMiles may also be redeemed with partners for car rental gift certificates, magazines and more, but these will rarely help you get the maximum value out of your miles.

How much are points worth?

HawaiianMiles are valued at around 0.9 cents per point, or just under 1 cent each. With that valuation, the welcome bonus would be worth approximately $450 when redeemed for travel.

A one-way trip for travel within Hawaii, for example, costs about as low as 7,500 miles. A one-way flight between the West Coast and Hawaii costs as low as 20,000 miles, so you may be able to create a round-trip itinerary and still have miles left over from your welcome offer. A flight from San Diego to Honolulu could cost just over $300 in economy, so be smart about when it makes more sense to pay with cash. Partner airlines can also sometimes help you get more value from your miles.

Benefits

The main benefit of having the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard is how card membership improves your experience with Hawaiian Airlines. In addition to using miles earned to pay for flights with no blackout dates, there are some other Hawaiian Airlines-specific perks that come with the card.

Free checked bag

Cardholders get their first checked bag free on eligible bags when using the card to purchases domestic Hawaiian Airlines flights directly through the airline.

Save on companion tickets and more

Get a one-time, 50 percent-off companion discount for round-trip travel between North America and Hawaii on Hawaiian Airlines. Every year, cardholders also get a $100 companion discount for round-trip travel between North America and Hawaii on Hawaiian Airlines.

Cardholders could also be eligible for discounted award flights on Hawaiian Airlines.

Free miles transfers

Cardholders can send and receive miles from friends and family through HawaiianAirlines.com without a fee.

No foreign transaction fees

When you fly abroad, you can use this card to make purchases without being hit by foreign transaction fees.

Rates and fees

The variable APR for both purchases and balance transfers with the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard is between 15.99 percent, 19.99 percent and 24.99 percent, based on creditworthiness. The APR for cash advances is a 25.24 percent variable.

The card comes with an annual fee of $99. The balance transfer fee is either 3 percent of the transfer amount or $5, whichever is more. Similarly, the cash advance fee is either 5 percent of the cash advance amount or $10, whichever is greater. Penalty fees are up to $39 for a late payment or returned payment.

There are no foreign transaction fees with this card.

How the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard compares to other airline credit cards

If you enjoy traveling, you may be better off considering different travel credit cards or airline credit cards.

The Capital One Venture Rewards credit card, for example, offers transferrable miles you can redeem with a wider array of airlines, as well as a few hotel partners. For an annual fee of $95, you earn unlimited 2X miles on every dollar spent. You can earn 100,000 bonus miles when you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months from account opening, or still earn 50,000 miles if you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.

Or, for no annual fee, there’s the Capital One VentureOne Rewards credit card that earns miles at a rate of 1.25 miles per dollar spent. This card has a modest welcome offer of 20,000 bonus miles after spending $500 within the first three months of having the card.

Neither of these cards has foreign transaction fees. Depending on what you’re after—no annual fee, flexibility with how you can redeem your miles, a 0 percent introductory purchase APR offer—you may want to consider different travel credit cards.

Best cards to pair with the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard

If you’re a frequent flyer, you may want to pair your Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard with a no-annual-fee travel card such as the VentureOne credit card. You could use the miles you’ve accumulated with a general travel credit card to fly with a much larger array of airlines.

If you predominantly fly Hawaiian Airlines but not too often, you might consider a cash back card to balance out the rewards you’re getting for your purchases. The Chase Freedom Unlimited® card has no annual fee and offers 5 percent cash back on Lyft purchases (through March 2022) and travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards, as well as 3 percent cash back on dining and drugstore purchases and 1.5 percent cash back on everything else.

Bankrate’s Take—Is the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard worth it?

The Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard is only worth it if you fly Hawaiian Airlines at least once a year, maybe more. Since it charges an annual fee, you’ll only see a return if you’re consistently taking advantage of the savings from the checked bag credit and companion discount, or are redeeming enough flights to benefit from this card’s miles rewards structure.

If you don’t fly on Hawaiian Airlines frequently, typically fly alone and can’t take advantage of the companion discounts or simply want more flexibility with who you fly, you may be better off with a general travel credit card. If you’re not a frequent traveler at all, a cash-back credit card may be more rewarding.

Pros

• Bonus HawaiianMiles welcome offer
• Earn extra miles for booking flights with the airlines, as well as gas, grocery and dining purchases
• Valuable Hawaiian Airlines benefits, especially if you frequently fly with a companion

Cons

• Annual fee
• HawaiianMiles are not the most flexible currency
• No welcome purchase APR or balance transfer offer
• Most of the travel benefits require you to fly with a companion

All information about the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® credit card has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.