Updated
Feb 28, 2022 Some offers mentioned on this page may be outdated. To confirm offers and credit card details, check the issuer’s website.
Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard
What we like:
Receive 50% companion discounts and free checked bags
| Sign-Up Bonus | Earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending just $2,000 within three months of account opening |
| Rewards Rate | 3x miles per $1 spent on Hawaiian Airlines purchases 2x miles per $1 spent on gas, dining, or on grocery store purchases 1x miles per $1 spent on everything else |
| Regular APR | 18.24% – 27.24% (variable) |
| Annual Fee | $99 ($0 first year) |
Card Details
Pros
- Great rewards for people who travel to Hawaii each year or live near a Hawaii Airlines hub
- The sign-up bonus is usually enough for a round trip flight from the continental US to Hawaii
- You get a one-time 50% discount on a companion ticket
- Your first checked bag is free
- You can share HawaiianMiles with your friends and family
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Not a great card if you don’t travel to Hawaii every year
- High annual fee with no waiver for the first year
- High regular APRs
Recommended Credit Score
Good to excellent
The Barclays Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard: Who Is It Good For?
Unsurprisingly, the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard is great for people who travel to Hawaii every year. You can save on tickets, get free checked bas, and if you don’t have quite enough miles to redeem a free flight, you can pool your rewards with miles earned by friends or family.
However, if you don’t travel to Hawaii every year, or if you aren’t loyal to Hawaiian Airlines, it is likely not a good card for you.
In this review:
- Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card Benefits
- Downsides of the Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card
- Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card Login and Customer Service
- How it Compares to Similar Cards
Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card Benefits
If you’re dreaming of traveling to Hawaii, this card has a lot of great benefits to take advantage of.
Sign-Up Bonus
The sign-up bonus for this card is fantastic. You can earn 60,000 miles just for spending $2,000 in the first three months of owning the card—most airline credit cards would require you to spend at least $3,000 for a bonus that large.
Rewards Rates
The Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard offers a generous rewards program with three tiers of earning potential.
You earn 3 miles for every dollar spent on Hawaii Airlines, 2 miles for every dollar spent on gas, dining, and groceries, and 1 mile for every dollar spent on everything else.
Once you’ve earned the miles, you can use them to book travel on Hawaiian Airlines or via one of their partners’ loyalty programs, which include:
- American Airlines’ AAdvantage
- Delta SkyMiles
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Korean Airlines Skypass
- United Airlines MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer
However, transferring your miles might involve accepting flight restrictions, and your miles might not be worth as much on partner airlines.
At their lowest price point, you can get a one-way ticket from North America to Hawaii for as low as 20,000 points on Hawaiian airlines, so you’re probably better off sticking with the card’s namesake brand. However, Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t have very many options for travel within the continental US, so you’re only going to be able to fully use your rewards if you regularly travel to Hawaii. Fortunately, there are no blackout dates, so you can travel when you want—if you’ve got the miles to pay for it.
Share Your Miles with Friends and Family
Hawaiian Airlines offers the ShareMiles program, which allows you to pool points with family and friends. You can transfer and receive miles up to 10 times per year. This helps you pool your rewards points to maximize your redemption benefits. If you don’t have enough points to buy a ticket, a friend or family member might be able to help you make up the difference.
Hawaiian Airlines Companion Fare
On top of the sign-up bonus, the Hawaiian Air credit card offers new cardholders a one-time 50% discount on a ticket for a companion when you fly with the airline. This could easily make up for the first year’s annual fee and then some. Just be sure to use it quickly, as it expires 13 months after you open your account.
Free Checked Bag
It usually costs $25 to check your first bag on Hawaiian Airlines flights. However, with the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard you’ll get to check your first bag for free on all Hawaiian Airlines flights.
Other benefits
Other benefits that you’ll get from the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard include no foreign transaction fees and exclusive discounts on award flights to help you maximize your miles.
Downsides of the Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card
Limited Flexibility
Unfortunately, the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard isn’t a great card if you don’t travel to Hawaii every year since you can’t always get a full 1:1 point transfer to other airlines. If you’d like more flexibility in how you redeem your rewards, you would likely be better off with a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or another travel credit card that’s not tied to a single airline (more on this below).
Fees
The card also has a relatively high annual fee of $99. The Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard also comes with a high APR. Finally, there is a balance transfer fee of 3% of the amount of the transfer and no intro APR—so this isn’t an ideal card for transferring a balance to.
Miles Expire
Although the Hawaiian Airlines credit card offers some pretty solid rewards rates, the rewards don’t last forever. In fact, your miles can expire if you don’t use your credit card for 18 consecutive months.
Hawaiian Airlines Credit Card Login and Customer Service
In order to login to your account or make payments, you can do so via Barclays’ website. To call customer service, you can do so at this number: 1-877-426-4537.
How it Compares to Similar Cards
The Barclays Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard is a good card if you travel on Hawaiian Airlines at least once per year. However, if you don’t, there might be other rewards credit cards that offer more generous rewards and more flexibility when it comes to redeeming your points.
Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard vs Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card
When it comes to airline credit cards, it’s best to compare them directly. Alaska Airlines flies to more destinations than Hawaiian Airlines, including to Hawaii itself.
You get 40,000 sign-up bonus miles with the Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card after you spend $2,000 within the first 90 days. However, you also get a better companion fair offer: a $121 companion flight in your first year and every year after your account anniversary. Grabbing a flight for $121 could easily save you more than the one-time 50% discount you’d get with Hawaii Airlines, depending on where you choose to fly.
You get 3 miles for every $1 spent on Alaska Airlines, and 1 mile per $1 spent elsewhere. Miles never expire. You also get a free checked bag for you and up to 6 other people on the same reservation. Finally, the Alaska Airline card comes with a modest annual fee of $75.
For these reasons, the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card might be a better deal for you.
Bottom Line: Is the Hawaii Airlines Credit Card Right for You?
The Hawaii Airlines credit card offers a generous welcome bonus and decent rewards rates, but it lacks the flexibility of some travel credit cards. For this reason, it’s a solid option for those who love to travel to Hawaii every year, but it falls short for people who want flexibility in where and how they travel. If you’ve got your sights set on somewhere other than the islands, you’re better off getting a travel rewards card with more flexible redemption options.