How to Decide Where to Stay in Hawaii Using Hotel Points

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Million Mile Secrets reader Brian commented:

I’m totally new to miles.  My wife and I would like to go to Hawaii.  I have enough American Airlines miles to get us there, but need help with hotels.

Where should I start?  What’s a good chain or card to collect miles on for Hawaii?

Planning a trip to Hawaii is very exciting, Brian!  Congratulations on earning the American Airlines miles to get there!

Let’s see what strategies Brian can use to get Big Hotels with Small Money in Hawaii!

1.   Where Do You Want to Go?

Before you decide on a hotel or chain, you’ll have to figure out which islands you want to visit!

Many folks who visit Hawaii for the 1st time choose to stay in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu.  There are a lot of popular tourist attractions there, including Pearl Harbor, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and Waikiki beach.

But Honolulu is also big and crowded, so some folks prefer staying on quieter neighbor islands like Hawaii (The Big Island), Kauai, or Maui.

Emily and I have traveled to Maui and Kauai, and they’re both amazing!

Wherever you decide to go, there are plenty of hotel options!

2.   Use Online Tools to Narrow Down Hotel Choices

I like using Hotel Hustle to find hotels that can be booked using points.  It’s a great tool, because it shows you how many points you’ll need for your specific travel dates, and show you if award nights are available!

Another option is AwardMapper.  It shows similar information, but it’s not specific to travel dates and won’t search for available award rooms.

And whenever Emily and I are deciding on a hotel, we always check TripAdvisor for reviews and suggestions from other travelers!

You should also consider whether you want to make your points last longer by staying in lower-category hotels, or if you want a luxury stay at 1 of Hawaii’s top resorts.

The next step is earning the points for your stay.

3.   Where Will You Get the Points?

After deciding on a hotel or chain, you’ll have to figure out how you’ll earn the points!

There are many credit cards which earn hotel points directly.  And some of them have very substantial sign-up bonuses!

But remember, you can also transfer points from Citi ThankYou, American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards to several hotel chains!  So you might consider signing-up for cards that earn points in these programs.

I prefer transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt because you can often get an excellent value!  We used Hyatt points to stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai.

Here are some ways to earn points from each major hotel chain:

Best Western

• Transfer American Express Membership Rewards points (ends December 31, 2015)
• Buy Best Western points (call or email)

Choice Hotels

• Transfer American Express Membership Rewards points
• Sign-up bonus from the Barclaycard Choice Privileges card (but choose your Barclaycards wisely!)
• Choice Points Plus Cash trick
• Buy Choice Hotel points

Hilton

• Transfer American Express Membership Rewards points
• Transfer Citi ThankYou points
• Sign-up bonuses from the American Express Hilton HHonors, American Express Hilton HHonors Surpass,  Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card, or Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card
• Transfer airline miles like Hawaiian Airlines or Virgin Atlantic
• Buy Hilton points

Hyatt

• Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points
• Sign-up bonus from the Chase Hyatt card
• Buy Hyatt points

IHG

• IHG Cash & Points Trick (cheapest option)
• Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points
• Buy IHG points
• Sign-up bonus from the Chase IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card

Marriott / Ritz-Carlton

• Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points
• Buy Marriott points
• Sign-up bonus from the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card
• Sign-up bonus from the Chase Marriott Rewards Credit Card
• Sign-up bonus from the Chase Ritz-Carlton Rewards card

Starwood

• Transfer American Express Membership Rewards points
• Bonus from the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest card
• Buy Starwood points

Wyndham

• Sign-up bonus from Barclaycard Wyndham Rewards card (and Wyndham recently announced some great changes to their award chart!)
• Buy Wyndham points

You can read about all the ways to earn Hilton points and Hyatt points for more ideas!

And don’t forget, our Beginner’s Guide to Miles & Points has lots of great tips for folks who are just starting out!

Bottom Line

If you’re planning a trip to Hawaii but don’t know where to stay using points, there are lots of great tools that can help, like Hotel Hustle, AwardMapper, and TripAdvisor.

Once you’ve decided which hotels you’re interested in, you can earn lots of hotel points by applying for hotel credit cards with big sign-up bonuses.

Or you can transfer points from programs like American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou.

Emily and I hope you and your wife have a wonderful trip to Hawaii, Brian!  Please let us know where you decide to stay!