Sweet Spot Sunday: How to fly to Hawaii for 20,000 miles and $11.20 round-trip

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.

As one of the most popular beach destinations in the world, getting to Hawaii can be expensive. Even award tickets can be costly due to demand, dynamic pricing and the fact that they are often priced higher than other domestic flights.

Back in 2019, Frequent Miler found and wrote about a Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles sweet spot for one-way domestic flights. The sweet spot increased in price during the recent Miles&Smiles devaluation; however, you only need to redeem 10,000 miles in economy or 15,000 miles in business for one-way domestic flights — including flights operated by United to and from Hawaii — with the new award chart.

It’s almost impossible to find business-class award flights you can book between the U.S. and Hawaii for 15,000 Turkish miles each way. However, if you have some flexibility in your travel dates, you can find economy award flights bookable for 10,000 Turkish miles each way. Here’s what you need to know.

Why this award flight option to Hawaii is special

Compared to what most domestic carriers charge for an award ticket to Hawaii, 20,000 Turkish miles plus minimal taxes and fees for a round-trip economy award flight is a downright bargain. And — if you can find Saver award availability — you’ll almost always redeem fewer Turkish miles than United miles for the same flight.

For example, we searched for the least expensive United economy award ticket to or from Kona in the next 60 days using Seats.aero. The result was a flight from San Francisco for 11,200 United miles plus $5.60.

Redeem United miles for Hawaii flight — UNITED.COM

But we could book this same award flight for 10,000 Turkish miles plus $5.60.

Redeem Turkish miles for Hawaii flight — TURKISHAIRLINES.COM

The award rates will differ more significantly in some cases. For example, consider this United award flight from Chicago to Kona for 25,000 miles plus $5.60.

We could book this flight for 10,000 Turkish miles and $5.60 in taxes and fees.

You’ll sometimes even find award flights from Newark to Honolulu that cost 10,000 Turkish miles plus $5.60 in taxes and fees.

Booked through United, this same award flight would cost 25,000 United miles plus $5.60.

How to book award flights to Hawaii through Turkish

It’s relatively easy to book award flights to Hawaii through Turkish Miles&Smiles. However, we recommend using Seats.aero or United MileagePlus to find award space first.

Step 1: Find United Saver award space

The first step to booking these award flights through Turkish Miles&Smiles is to find United Saver award space on your desired route. You can search for Saver award space on the United website. Saver award flights are marked with “Saver Award” in the search results.

If you have flexible dates, another way to search is by using Seats.aero. With the free version, you can see award flights across the next 60 days. If you have a paid Pro version, you can see award availability for further out dates.

Start on the Seats.aero page for United awards within North America, sort by economy award pricing, scroll to the bottom and enter your desired origin or destination.

Searching for award flights with seats.aero — SEATS.AERO

You’re seeing cached data with Seats.aero, so the award flights you see may not be available anymore. Not all of the award flights you see will be at Saver pricing, although economy award flights of 25,000 United miles or less each way are often Saver awards. So, once you find an award flight you’re interested in, head to Turkish Miles&Smiles to see if it’s bookable.

Step 2: Sign in to your Turkish Miles&Smiles account

Head to the Turkish Airlines homepage and sign in to your Miles&Smiles account. If you don’t already have a Miles&Smiles account, you can sign up for a free account from the homepage. You’ll need to sign in to your Miles&Smiles account before you can search for award flights.

Step 3: Enter your trip information and select your flight

Once you’re logged in to your Miles&Smiles account, click on your name in the upper right corner. Then click on “Miles Transactions” and “Book now” under “Star Alliance award ticket.” On the Star Alliance award page, you must enter your trip information and the number of travelers.

You’ll (hopefully) see flight options and mileage costs on the results page.

Select an available award flight and then click “Select this flight” to go to a page that displays the total cost of your award, including taxes and fees. The taxes on domestic award flights are low, so you can expect to pay $5.60 each way per person unless you have a long layover.

From this point, you can continue to book your award flight if you have enough Turkish miles in your account. Otherwise, you’ll need to earn Turkish miles before you can book.

How to earn Turkish miles for this award

Turkish Miles&Smiles is a transfer partner of several programs, so earning enough miles to book this sweet spot award is fairly easy. Here’s a look at the current programs for which Turkish Miles&Smiles is a transfer partner:

Bilt Rewards points transfer to Miles&Smiles at a 1:1 ratio
Capital One miles transfer to Miles&Smiles at a 1:1 ratio
Citi ThankYou points transfer to Miles&Smiles at a 1:1 ratio
Marriott Bonvoy points transfer to Miles&Smiles at a 3:1 ratio

If you have any of these currencies, you could transfer rewards to Turkish Miles&Smiles to book an award flight to Hawaii.

Bottom line

The recent Turkish Miles&Smiles devaluation was disappointing, as it’s never nice to see beloved award sweet spots increase in cost. Although travelers could previously book economy domestic award flights through Turkish Miles&Smiles for 7,500 miles each way, this sweet spot is still pretty great at 10,000 miles each way.