Honolulu is two vacation destinations in one — a vibrant, cosmopolitan city on the shores of one of the most beautiful islands on earth. Plus, your visit there doesn't have to break the bank. If you participate in travel loyalty programs or earn rewards through a travel credit card, you can find cheap and simple ways to get to Honolulu using points and miles.

From flights to hotel bookings, here’s our go-to advice on how to travel to Honolulu with points and miles.

When to visit Honolulu

The most expensive times to travel to Hawaii are when kids are out of school: winter, summer and spring breaks. It’s easier to find points redemption deals in Honolulu for the rest of the year. Chances are you’ll get plenty of sunshine no matter when you go, but the risk that rain will ruin your vacation is greater if you travel between November and March.

For the lowest rates, the most beautiful weather and the warmest ocean temperatures, the best times to visit Honolulu are around May and October.

Getting to Honolulu

Nearest airports

When you’re planning your trip to Honolulu with points and miles, there’s only one airport on the island of Oahu that can be reached nonstop from the U.S. mainland: Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. This airport is on the southern coast of Oahu, about nine miles from Honolulu’s main tourist area, Waikiki. You can also get there nonstop from other Hawaiian islands, including Maui, Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii.

Major airlines flying into Honolulu

Nearly two dozen airlines fly into Honolulu from the Americas, Asia and the South Pacific. The major U.S.-based carriers flying into Honolulu are:

American Airlines.

United Airlines.

Delta Air Lines.

Southwest Airlines.

Alaska Airlines.

Hawaiian Airlines.

With so many major airlines flying so many routes to Honolulu, it’s easy to use miles from one frequent flyer program for your inbound flight and a different airline for your flight home. For travelers who don’t have enough miles in any one program for a round-trip award flight, these one-way redemptions can get you a Hawaii trip even sooner.

Here are the best points and miles for cheap flights to Honolulu.

Flying to Honolulu on points and miles

American Airlines AAdvantage miles

American Airlines AAdvantage members can find one-way economy class flights for 20,000 miles if you stumble on an off-peak MileSAAver seat, though seats at the 22,500-mile MileSAAver rate are much easier to find. AAnytime rates cost 40,000 or 50,000 miles each way in economy.

American recently announced the discontinuation of MileSAAver and AAnytime fares along with updates to its elite status program for 2023.See what's changing.

Business class seats on American Airlines to Honolulu from the U.S. mainland cost anywhere from 55,000 to 110,000 AAdvantage miles each way.

American is an especially good choice for East Coast- and Midwest-based travelers since these travelers pay the same number of miles as those from the West Coast.

United MileagePlus miles

United Airlines MileagePlus is another good option for East Coast and Midwest travelers headed to Oahu. A one-way United economy class ticket often costs 22,500 MileagePlus miles whether you’re traveling from New York or San Francisco. East Coast travelers may have a harder time finding award seat availability, but travelers with certain United-branded credit cards will have more flights to choose from; the airline makes some award flights available only to cardmembers.

Business class flights to Honolulu usually range from 40,000 to 95,000 United miles each way.

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles

Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t serve as many mainland airports as the big carriers. Historically, most of their routes to Honolulu have been from western cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix. But Hawaiian keeps rolling out new routes reaching farther inland: You can now fly nonstop to Honolulu from New York; Boston; Austin, Texas; and even Orlando, Florida.

Departing from the West will cost fewer HawaiianMiles than you’ll need if you’re departing from somewhere farther east. Nonstops in economy from the West Coast start at just 17,500 miles. In first class, you could pay as little as 40,000 miles.

Central and Eastern U.S. flights have separate award prices, which you can see on the handy chart on Hawaiian Airlines’ website. The lowest-cost East Coast flights start at 26,250 HawaiianMiles, while Central zone travelers can book economy flights starting at 22,000 miles.