Say Mahalo to the good life. There’s a reason everyone wants to visit Hawaii and now you can get there in total style, thanks to an amazing trick. Grab the beach shorts, sunglasses and just about as much luggage as you want, we’re about to show you how to fly first class to Hawaii for just 45,000 miles and $11. Leave the champagne at home though, it’s all free on the plane…
Hawaii First Class Round Trip For Just 45,000 Miles? Seriously?!
Totally! One savvy travel trick worth knowing is that the airline you want to fly on sometimes charges more miles than one of their partners may charge for the same exact flights. Crazy right? In this instance, we’re going to use Korean Airlines SkyPass miles, which you can create instantly without having ever flown on them, to fly on Delta. For the same exact flights Delta would charge you double the miles! Why pay extra?! We wont!
Ok, Before I Get Too Excited How Do I Create Korean SkyPass Miles?
There are a couple ways to create these miles, some are even instant! You can create Korean miles instantly by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which you can earn from the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink cards. You can also transfer your Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points into Korean miles, receiving a 5,000 point bonus for every 20,000 you transfer. Yep, you can use hotel points to make this happen! Other than those two gem options, you can fly on Delta, Air France, Korean, KLM and others, crediting all the frequent flyer miles from all those airlines to Korean. Yep, you can earn miles on one airline even when flying many!
I’m Liking This… Where Can We Fly To And From?!
Yet another reason that booking your Delta flights through Korean is amazing is that you’ll be able to add in a stopover in each direction and you can start anywhere in the US for the same price! Let’s say I want to fly from New York, where I live, I could fly to LA, relax for a few days, then fly to Hawaii, fly back from Hawaii to San Francisco, hang for a few days and then make my way home! Basically, you can start anywhere in the US and go anywhere in Hawaii that Delta flies, with an allowed stopover anywhere in the US or Hawaii in each direction! Love it!
We’re In! How Do We Book This Thing?
So the first thing you need to do is find space on Delta.com, even though you’re NOT using Delta miles. When you find space at Delta’s “saver” lowest level, which you’ll know you’ve found because it will appear in orange instead of blue, that space is bookable by Korean. Basically, first, find space on Delta.com by selecting “Show Price In Miles” at the home page, ignore the price they quote. Once that’s done, you’ll call Korean at 1(800)-438-500 to put the award on hold or book it immediately and now you can even try to book online. You can place your ticket on hold without the miles and then immediately transfer Chase points once you know it’s good to go. In fact, I suggest that in most cases.
Any Expert Tips?
Absolutely! For starters, confirm that Korean can hold the award for you before you transfer miles over, unless you’re absolutely sure you’ll find use for Korean miles no matter what. Once you transfer from Chase or Starwood you can’t transfer them back. Second, pay attention to the little icons on Delta.com. Some flights will feature fully flat beds and fine dining, whereas others will just have one of those lazy boy style chairs and a pretty basic experience. You’ll want to find routings on wide body planes such as the A330, 767, 777 or special 757’s to get your beds in! Enjoy!
