It’s been a few months since I’ve applied for a new credit card with a high welcome bonus to use towards miles and points travel. I’ve been thinking about my next move for a while now.
With the merger of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines likely moving forward, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and apply for the Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard. If all goes as planned, Hawaiian Airlines miles will convert to Alaska miles at a 1:1 ratio. Alaska miles are valuable to me due to their favorable award prices on American Airlines and Japan Airlines from my home airport.
Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard
The Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Mastercard (non-affiliate link) currently has a welcome bonus of 70,000 miles after spending $2000 in the first 90 days.
- One time 50% off companion discount
- $100 companion discount
- 3X miles on Hawaiian Airlines purchases
- 2X miles on gas, dining and grocery store purchases
- 1X miles on all other purchases
- Two free checked bags
- $99 annual fee
The spending requirement for the bonus is relatively low. Worst case scenario, if the Alaska-Hawaiian merger falls through, I’ll have Hawaiian miles for a future trip to Hawaii. Maui is on my list. Best case scenario is that I’ll have 72k Alaska Airlines miles.
Approved, or Not?
When I applied for the card, I was approved instantly. I then decided to have my husband apply. His application is still being reviewed. Barclays has an informal 6/24 rule (if you’ve opened 6 or more new cards in the last 24 months, you may not be approved). I am under 6/24, but my husband is at exactly 6./24. So, we will see how this plays out.
Other Considerations
I’m also considering applying for the business version of this credit card (non-affiliate link). However, I’m not quite sold on transferring Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines with a 20% bonus (ends 8/31/24). Some hobbyists are going all-in on this, but I’m just not ready yet.
Are you betting on the Alaska Airlines/Hawaiian Airlines merger by accumulating Hawaiian Airlines miles?
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Biz offer increased today, cool! Thanks Nancy
Can be any 6-digit code, I used 123456
I applied for the 70k miles with 1 purchase offer & went pending. Next morning, the new HA account showed up in my Barclays app (typical crappy Barclays “customer service”). Your hubs may want to check there as well?
I am with you, though, I am not parting with valuable MRs then tie them up for a year, or more, waiting on their use with Alaska/AA. A freebie 70k sock drawer card sits much better.
The biz card is only 50k with spend, not so great to me.
@Pam Glad you got approved! I checked my husband’s account this morning and it’s not in there. 🙁 The link I posted for the business card is 70k bonus if you add an employee card who makes a purchase within the first 90 days.
Hi Nancy, I believe you have a lot of options here. You don’t have to make an xfer right now, you can also wait until closer to the merge, say December/January, and then make a transfer if convinced. I was thinking of doing this myself, but have decided on the 20%, instead. I got the personal HA 70K miles card, even though I am at 9/24. My biz app went pending. Btw – there are links for the HA 70K with just one purchase.
@GBSanDiego Glad you got approved for the personal card! I’m hesitant to post a link to the one-purchase 70k app due to it requiring a code. Good point about waiting until later to transfer those Amex points (although without the bonus).