After TD booked two China Airlines business class tickets from Hong Kong to Honolulu for LD’s parents, we decided to also visit Maui and then return to Columbus from there. So we still needed two tickets from Maui’s OGG airport back to Columbus, with one connection. Business class award space was too hard to find, so economy was acceptable too. If suitable business class space opens up later, we can consider changing the ticket then.

What’s the best-value way to book Hawaii-to-mainland US flights?

Generally speaking, award tickets with one connection between Hawaii and Columbus are not that common. For UA flights, use Singapore Airlines miles; for one-way Delta flights, use Air France; for round-trip Delta flights, use Korean Air miles. If you live on the West Coast, you can also use British Airways Avios for nonstop AA or Alaska Airlines flights. Since the only option available on the UA website during my travel dates was a UA itinerary connecting in Chicago, I decided to book with Singapore Airlines miles:

Find the Maui-to-Columbus award ticket on the UA website first

Before calling Singapore Airlines to issue the ticket, there are two things you need to do:

  • Check the Aeroplan website as well, to confirm that partner award space is visible there too.
    Confirm on the Air Canada website that the same award is available
  • Add your redemption nominee(s) on the Singapore Airlines website. If you don’t add them online and instead do it by phone, the fee is $25 or 2,500 miles. Adding a nominee is easy: log in to your account and follow the steps below:
Under Profile, choose "Redemption Nominees"
Then choose "Add Nominees" to enter the nominee information

Why use Singapore Airlines miles for this redemption?

  • Cheaper: UA and Air Canada both charge 22,500 miles one-way, while Singapore Airlines charges only 17,500 miles. If you book business class, UA and Air Canada both charge 40,000 miles one-way, while Singapore Airlines charges only 30,000 miles.
  • Easy mileage sources: As we mentioned in this introduction to Singapore Airlines miles, Singapore Airlines is a transfer partner of all four major transferable points programs—UR points, MR points, TYP points, and SPG points. So you can accumulate a large balance fairly quickly through credit card welcome bonuses. Most people usually transfer TYP points to Singapore Airlines. By comparison, UA miles (transferable from UR points and SPG points) and Air Canada miles (transferable from MR points and SPG points) require using relatively more valuable UR and MR points, so the opportunity cost is higher.
  • Easier changes: As mentioned earlier, booking economy now is not necessarily the ideal option. If suitable business class award space opens up, we can upgrade by paying the difference (12,500 miles per person). Singapore Airlines charges only $20 for a ticket change. By comparison, UA charges $100 and Air Canada charges 90 CAD ($69). UA Hawaii routes with lie-flat seats include Newark EWR, Washington, DC IAD, Chicago ORD, Denver DEN, and Houston IAH. Hopefully business class space on OGG-ORD opens up before departure. TD is already monitoring it with ExpertFlyer and will get an email notification if award space appears.

How to book by phone

Since Singapore Airlines still could not book UA tickets on its website at the time, you have to call to issue the ticket. The phone number is 800-742-3333.

  • Call in, and once connected, tell the agent you want to redeem my miles for partner flights. Then provide the date and origin/destination airports, and the agent will search the system for award space and tell you what itineraries are available.
  • After you choose the flights you want, the agent will email the itinerary to you, so it’s best to have a computer nearby to review it.
  • After confirming, the agent told me the cost was 17,500 SQ miles + 7.6 SGD (about $5.6) per person. I entered my credit card information on my phone, and the ticket was issued. Remember to ask for both the Singapore Airlines and UA six-character PNRs so you can select seats.

Note: International connections are limited to within 24 hours, and domestic connections (including mainland US-Hawaii) are limited to within 4 hours. If you exceed that, each ticket will incur a $100 charge, because it is treated as adding a stopover.

How much value did we get from the award ticket?

If we hadn’t used miles, the same ticket would have cost $1,300+:

I definitely wouldn’t pay cash for a one-way ticket costing $1,300+ haha

I already know what some clickbait writers would do with this: “Don’t miss it! How to get 7.5 cpm in value from Singapore Airlines miles!!!” But that doesn’t really fit 101’s understated, practical style, so never mind, haha.