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With the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) concessions agreed to and in motion, the acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines by Alaska Airlines has been completed. The two brands will remain independent while offering some exciting opportunities for frequent flyers of both airlines. Here are five things to be excited about with this merger.
5. A New Travel Program Just for Hawaiian Residents
Called Huakai by Hawaiian, meaning voyage, the program will include unique discounts and benefits exclusively for Hawaii residents. Huakai members will enjoy exclusive benefits when traveling interisland, including 10% off one booking per quarter and a free checked bag. Huakai members who are Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard cardmembers will receive 20% off one interisland booking per quarter and their existing credit card benefit of two free checked bags.
4. Expanded Route Network Including International Destinations
The combined airlines will offer 141 destinations directly, including 29 international cities and more than 1,200 destinations globally through the oneworld® Alliance and global partners.
3. Free 1:1 Mileage Transfers Between the Two Programs
HawaiianMiles members and Mileage Plan members will soon have the ability to transfer miles between accounts free of charge. Miles are also not to be devalued.
2. Status Matches
Elite members of Alaska or Hawaiian will be able to link their accounts to automatically enjoy the equivalent status on the other airline. If a flyer has elite-qualifying miles (EQMs) in both programs, their status will be based on the highest tier they qualify for based on their combined EQM total.
1. A New Combined Loyalty Program is Coming in 2025
Alaska’s Mileage Plan offers redemption opportunities with both oneworld® airlines and many other carriers. Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles will combine into a new unified loyalty program next year.
Anthony’s Take: The Alaska and Hawaiian combination is great news for flyers of both airlines. We’ll see what the new loyalty program brings, but the agreed-upon concessions are already positive.
(Image Credits: Alaska Airlines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
