Mainland to Hawaii in Economy? No.
When using points, I use a criteria that if the flight is over three hours, I really don't want to be in economy. Booking Hawaii from my hometown on the West Coast means about six hours in the air so I truly, deeply do not want to be in a 17" wide seat no matter what the legroom is. This is where ATMOS points come in. ATMOS is the points currency of Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines that can get you there for a reasonable amount of points in 1st class.
First step is to get ATMOS points.
Bank of America is handling the new ATMOS cards (Hawaiian's provider, Barclays, is getting kicked to the curb due to the two airlines merging their operations). Current credit card sign up bonuses are as follows:
- ATMOS™ REWARDS ASCENT VISA SIGNATURE® CARD
- $95 annual fee
- Current bonus is 60,000 ATMOS points with $3,000 spend within 90 days of account opening (not the best offer as 80,000 points has been available in the past)
- Receive a 30% global flight discount code for a qualifying future flight after opening your new account.
- ATMOS™ REWARDS SUMMIT VISA INFINITE® CARD
- $395 annual fee
- Earn 80,000 bonus points and a 25,000-point Global Companion Award after spending $4,000 or more on purchases within the first 90 days after account opening.
- Eight Alaska Lounge Passes
- ATMOS™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business Card
- Annual fee is $70 per company and $25 per card
- 60,000 bonus points and a $99 Companion Fare (plus taxes and fees from $23) with this offer. To qualify, make $4,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.
- Dun and Bradstreet business credit score
Other than the sign up bonuses, unless you are a regular on either airline, I would drop the card(s) after the first year as the ongoing benefits are not very interesting.
Booking flights can either be done on Hawaiian's or Alaska's website but there has been inconsistency between the two sites. Also, you can book American Airlines flights with these points, however, American flights typically are slightly more points and may have an additional stopover (or not).
Recliner Seat or Lay Flat
Alaska and American Airlines mainly fly narrow body planes to and from Hawaii with only recliner seats. The 1st class recliners are pretty wide (approximately 20") so it is not bad at all. To try to get a true "lay flat" experience, look for Hawaiian Airlines flights on Airbus A330's (with the merger, these planes could get re-designated as Alaska Airlines iron). The Hawaiian flight number usually begins with an "8" (wide body) vs a "9" (narrow body). Searching in advance, the point requirements go as low as 40k points for 1st class in each direction. I like to book whatever flight that is available in the morning that gets me to Hawaii in the most direct fashion whether or not it is lay flat. Coming back, there is often "red eye" availability from Honolulu on A330's allowing me to spend the day in Hawaii and sleeping on the way back. A330 availability from Maui to the mainland can run significantly more points.
Lounge Access
Flying first class on Hawaiian gets you into the Hawaiian lounges. . . which mostly are not very good. Depending on your origination airport, your first class ticket may get you into a decent lounge, but Hawaii itself is slim pickings. The exception is the Hawaiian Airlines Plumeria Lounge in Honolulu where the food is pretty good and the amenities, while definitely not world class, beats the "soda pop and trail mix" at the Hawaiian Airlines Premier Clubs on the other islands.
The good news is that flights over 2000 miles get first class passengers into the Alaska Airlines lounges, which are really nice. Also, Hawaiian will be joining One World alliance in April, 2026, so lounge availability will significantly increase.
How to Book
First, you have to find award availability. I use a seats.aero paid subscription service to look for award space as it covers United, American Airlines, Alaska and Hawaiian. That said, you can go to the carrier's website for free and manually search or use pointsyeah.com in the free mode. AAdvantage points can be used for Alaska/Hawaiian and American Airlines flights, though it typically runs 50k+ points and there appears to be less availability on Alaska/Hawaiian using this redemption.
In conclusion, I find ATMOS points the most valuable currency for getting to Hawaii. AAdvantage points are still good for booking and are not to be overlooked. United redemptions are workable, but, generally speaking, the point requirements can be a bit high (though United does offer lay flat first class on some flights). Southwest points will, as of this writing, only get you an economy seat with the possibility of getting extra legroom.
