You can fly to Hawaii for about $12 by opening a single credit card
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- Hawaiian Airlines' frequent flyer program might not be of interest to you unless you live in Hawaii.
- However, if you have any interest in a tropical Hawaiian vacation, you might want to look into signing up for an account and opening the airline's credit card, the Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard, from Barclays.
- That's because the card offers new members 60,000 bonus miles when they spend $2,000 in the first 90 days - enough for a free round-trip ticket from anywhere in the US.
- By opening the credit card and meeting that spending requirement, you can fly to Hawaii for just $12 in taxes.
Hawaiian Airlines' frequent flyer program - and its credit card - are, naturally, a bit niche. Unless you're one of the Aloha State's 1.4 million residents, or you travel to the islands frequently for work or to visit friends or family, getting a Hawaiian Airlines credit card might seem totally pointless.
However, if you're hoping to take a trip to the Hawaiian islands anytime soon, you might want to consider opening that card - even if you don't plan to keep it for very long.
That's because, starting Thursday, but only for a limited time, Hawaiian Airlines' credit card is offering a massive 60,000 miles when you open a new card and spend $2,000 in the first 90 days.
To put that in perspective, Hawaiian's award chart lays out how many miles a particular flight would cost. Flights between the US East Coast and Hawaii start at 26,250 each way at the bottom range, although they can increase significantly depending on availability and at peak times.
In practice, sample searches show plentiful availability on flights from New York for 30,000 miles one-way, or 60,000 miles round-trip.
Flights from the West Coast are even cheaper, routinely going for just 40,000 miles round-trip.
That means that opening the Hawaiian card and spending $1,000 on it could get you a free round-trip flight for a Hawaiian vacation (you'll have to pay about $12 in taxes and fees). That's an excellent way to cut down on expenses for a trip - especially if your travel companion also opens the card, earns the bonus, and uses the points to book their ticket.
This is an especially good value considering that the card's $99 annual fee is waived for the first year.
From there, you'll just need to focus on paying for a hotel or an Airbnb. Fortunately, there are a few fantastic points-accepting hotels and resorts on the islands, and using a hotel credit card can help get at least a few of your nights for free. Check out our guide to planning a (mostly) free Hawaiian vacation for more.