Bilt Rewards loses Hawaiian Airlines as transfer partner, keeps Alaska Airlines
Bilt Rewards points can no longer be transferred to Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles. According to Bilt Vice President Richard Kerr,
- They had a three-year contract with Hawaiian that was coming to an end
- Since Hawaiian is expected to be integrated into Alaska Airlines – also a transfer partner – it did not make sense to go to the trouble of extending its contract.
The legal and human effort required to conclude a new agreement with HA seemed pointless to both of us, as we were convinced that the partnership would be restored shortly.
— Richard Kerr (@KerrPoints) 20 August 2024
This leaves the following Bilt Rewards transfer partners:
- Star Alliance: Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish Miles & Smiles, United Airlines MileagePlus, Avianca LifeMiles
- one world: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- SkyTeam: Air France – KLM Flying Blue
- No alliance: Emirates Skywards, Virgin Atlantic flying club
- Hotels: Hyatt, IHG Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors
Bilt offers 1:1 transfers to Alaska Airlines and HawaiianMiles should be integrated into Alaska’s mileage plan. Despite itIn the meantime, American Express Membership Rewards points can be transferred to Hawaiian, the should be a temporary backdoor to finally get 1:1 Amex points to Alaska.
Hawaiian’s program isn’t great overall, but it does offer fairly good award availability on its own flights and, uniquely, two upgrade tiers, so being willing to spend extra miles means an upgrade can be confirmed in most cases.
Certainly, transfers from Bilt to Hawaiian were a great deal when they were offered with a 100% bonus last year.
No date has been announced for when Hawaiian Airlines will be integrated into Alaska or when the miles (presumably 1:1, but also undisclosed) will be transferred to Alaska’s mileage plan. The Justice Department has approved the deal on antitrust grounds. It will give the department approval before the transaction closes.
