The Best Credit Cards for Hawaii Travel in 2026

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Dreaming of palm trees and poke bowls without the price tag? The right credit card for Hawaii can help you get there for less, sometimes even for free. From earning points for flights and hotels to unlocking travel perks like free checked bags and upgrades, the right card can offset significant travel costs.

These are the credit cards we use to save on flights, hotel stays, and more when planning our trips to the islands.

We share all of our favorite travel cards below, based on the type of traveler you are or the trip to Hawaii you’re planning. Many of these cards offer a free night or flight (plus fees) as part of the sign-up bonus.

Here are the best credit cards for Hawaii travel for you:

• The Best Credit Card for a Hawaii Vacation! Best for earning points and for point transfers. This is a low annual fee credit card that allows you to transfer points directly to Hyatt Hotels in Hawaii.
• Want a free night at the Hilton Hawaiian Village? This card awards Hilton Honors members with a 100,000 sign-up bonus and 7X points on dollars spent at Hilton hotels.
• Best Credit Cards for Companion Flights: Sign up for the personal and business cards to earn a companion pass with Southwest. The airline-branded credit card makes getting a companion pass simple. We use the pass for trips from the mainland and when island-hopping in Hawaii. A huge savings on flights!
• The Best Card for Business Owners: If you travel a lot for work and you are able to book your hotels through the bank’s travel portals, you can get 10X points by using this card. You will quickly accrue points for your leisure vacation to Hawaii.
• The Card for Luxury Travelers: Large multiplier on travel purchases (5X on airlines), statement credits, rental car insurance, and lots of travel perks. If you travel frequently and want a luxury vacation to Hawaii for less, then this card is your best option.

I will share more credit cards for Hawaii below, but those are the top cards for earning points that are redeemable for a trip to Hawaii.

We lean heavily on reward programs to help offset the costs of our trips to Hawaii. We travel a lot (we even have travel guides to Europe!), so we maximize points. We strive to learn and share our experiences with travel rewards. Plus, Hawaii is our specialty.

See our Travel to Hawaii for (almost) Free: A Beginner’s Guide to Credit Card Points to get you started with a free trip (almost) to Hawaii.

Consider This When Choosing the Best Credit Card for Hawaii

Whether you click our links below to apply for a credit card for Hawaii, or continue to shop around for ideas, here are tips for selecting the best credit card.

• Sign-Up Bonus! Maximize your reward points with a high sign-up bonus. Understand the sign-up bonus points you receive after the initial spend.
• Recommended Credit is Excellent, Good (690 – 850): While having excellent or good credit is required, the best travel cards require a strong credit score.
• Find Those Benefits: Look in the “Additional Details” in our links below for benefits that you may not have thought about, like statement credits. Getting real money back for Five Guys, Dunkin Donuts, and booking travel is a sweet deal. 
• Does the Annual Fee Make Sense? Choose a card with an annual fee that makes sense for you. We share credit cards with low fees or those that can be offset with credits. In our wallet, we have cards with annual fees as the benefits, perks, and statement credits help offset our trips to Hawaii. 
• No Foreign Transaction Fees: While Hawaii was the 50th state, you may also like to travel abroad. It is convenient to have cards with no foreign transaction fees.

Hotels vs. Flights with Points to Hawaii

Hawaii is a popular destination to visit on points. Visitors save up, scour the internet for deals, transfer points, and do what they can to offset the cost of a trip to Hawaii. Due to the demand in Hawaii with points, flights and rooms booked with points can be hard to find.

As the largest line item on your Hawaii vacation budget will be your hotel, we recommend using points for hotel rooms. 

If you find a points deal for a flight, take it! But, most likely, your points will be better spent on a hotel room. 

See our Where to Stay in Hawaii with Points: 31 Top Hotels for points per night on our favorite Hawaii hotels.

Hyatt hotels are the best for points in Hawaii. Hyatt offers a good point redemption value, with a large selection of hotels. Additionally, you can transfer points from this credit card to World of Hyatt for a 1:1 redemption value.

Here is the full list of all the Hyatt Hotels in Hawaii (and how to book with points). I have a tutorial on Booking a Trip to Oahu with Points. It is a good example of choosing the right cards and booking a trip.

Travel Portals for Hawaii Travel

Book Early is one of our travel mottos that we discuss in my newsletter. A great place to book early is on a bank’s travel portal.

If you plan to pay for your accommodations instead of using points, booking through a travel portal is a great way to earn points to redeem for a future trip.

When choosing a credit card for Hawaii, browse their travel portal to look for point multipliers, deals on hotel rates, and perks. 

We book on credit card travel portals for three reasons. 

1. You can earn point multipliers by using your credit card to book hotels, rental cars, and flights. For example, this business card offers a huge point multiplier when booked on their travel portal. 
2. You can find good deals! I always check the travel portals for deals on hotels. Sometimes, they offer a great rate. 
3. Perks! Booking on a travel portal may offer additional benefits and credits to your statement. With this luxury travel card’s hotel portal, we were able to get an early check-in, late check-out, and $200 in resort credits. We could then make the video below comparing $1,300 vs $330 night hotels!

The Best Credit Card for Hawaii Trips

Our favorite credit card for booking Hawaii vacations is the one that is best for point transfers, specifically to the World of Hyatt. 

We like this card for Hawaii because its reward program’s points are transferable to frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs, so you aren’t tied down to a single brand with this card.

For a free, luxury night in Hawaii, grab this card and transfer your points to Hyatt. That is how we stayed at the Hana-Maui Resort after our venture across the Road to Hana.

Pros	Cons
The card has several travel partners, so there’s a lot of flexibility in how you’re able to redeem your rewards	While the welcome bonus is impressive, it might be hard for some cardholders to reach the spend threshold required to earn it.
Earns bonus points on all travel purchases, not just with a specific hotel or airline brand.	This card charges an annual fee, so if you’re just a casual spender or traveler, you might find it difficult to offset this.
Benefits include trip cancellation/interruption insurance, car rental collision damage waiver, lost luggage insurance, and more.

2nd Best Credit Card for Hawaii

The second-best credit card for Hawaii trips is this one. 

In the world of travel credit cards, our picks for #1 and #2 go back and forth. For Hawaii travel, this card does not provide point transfers to Hyatt, so it is in second place.

But, don’t brush this card off as there’s a ton of flexibility when it comes to redeeming miles earned. It has an excellent travel portal for Hawaii vacation planning and offers the ability to use points to “erase” any travel purchase that you charge to the card.

The annual fee is far higher than our first pick for Hawaii travel. It is high thanks to the points multipliers for booking flights, hotels, and even everyday purchases. It also comes with premium travel perks like airport lounge access, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck reimbursement, top-level status with Hertz, and more.

The card that is one tier lower (shown below via the button) is also a good option, but without the high annual fee.

You can book flights with any airline, stay at any hotel, and even transfer miles to several top travel loyalty programs.

Both of these cards are great for Hawaii thanks to their earning multipliers and ability to transfer points to hotels and airlines for Hawaii travel.

Fastest Way for Free Nights in Hawaii

I have three hotel-branded credit cards to recommend for free nights in Hawaii. We like the World of Hyatt program for their static point valuation. With our #1 hotel-branded credit card’s sign-up bonus, you can book a category 4 hotel: Hyatt Place Waikiki.

For Marriott Bonvoy’s dynamic point pricing, it will take early planning to book your dream hotel.

The cards below help fast-track your earning potential.

#1 hotel-branded credit card for Hawaii: This is the credit card for free nights in Hawaii with no point transfers. The sign-up bonus of two free nights is for a Hyatt category 1 – 4 hotel. The only category 4 hotel in Hawaii is the Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach.

We like this card as it takes care of loyal Hyatt guests, like my brother, who travels for work! It offers valuable perks that enhance the hotel experience, including complimentary nights and elevated rewards on Hyatt stays. If you’re going for higher elite status, this card helps unlock those levels.

Earn two free nights after you meet the specified spending milestone within three months of opening the card. You’ll also get a free night annually on your cardmember anniversary, and you can earn yet another free night each year by spending $15,000 on the card.

Grab this card and have a vacation in Waikiki! 

Pros	Cons
This card offers a substantial amount of points per dollar spent at Hyatt hotels. Combine this with points from our #1 Hawaii Credit Card, and you are quickly amassing free nights in Hawaii.	Although the cost is reasonable for a rewards card, there is an annual fee.
Cardholders receive at least one free night at a Category 1-4 property each year.	While there is an option to earn an extra award night each year, you’ll need to spend over $10,000 to get it.
Enjoy complimentary World of Hyatt Discoverist status for as long as your account is open.

Our #2 hotel-branded card helps you earn points fast for Marriott properties in Hawaii. This card comes with three free nights at Marriott hotels. That is equivalent to 150,000 points.

The average Westin or Ritz-Carlton requires 100,000 points per night in Hawaii. The Wailea Beach Resort on Maui is around 85,000 points or less, so getting two nights is possible! On Oahu, you can stay at a Courtyard Marriott or Residence Inn to get three free nights. Oahu has more hotels in those branded categories.

It also has a double-digit points multiplier on Marriott purchases.

Marriott Bonvoy uses dynamic pricing, so using points for a Hawaii hotel can require a lot of points. With strategies like booking early, visiting in the shoulder seasons, and staying at a lower-tier branded property, you can get the three free nights they offer in their sign-up program.

See our Where to Stay in Hawaii with Points for strategies on using Marriott points.

The #3 hotel-branded credit card for Hawaii awards Hilton Honors members. If you want to stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Oahu or the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island, this is the card for you.

The sign-up bonus is 100,000 Hilton bonus points, which is enough for one free night at the popular hotels above. It also has no annual fee and has a large multiplier on dollars spent at Hilton properties. If you’re a frequent Hilton guest, you will get a lot of value out of this credit card and the famous Hilton resorts in Hawaii.

Although these hotel-branded credit cards help you earn free nights in Hawaii, our number one pick for earning points for Hawaii remains the best overall card we listed above, thanks to the point transfer potential!

Best Credit Cards for a Free Flight to Hawaii

For us, this is the easiest way to get free flights to Hawaii: We got this personal card and this business card early in the year. With the sign-up bonuses, you instantly have enough points for the two-year companion pass and for free flights to Hawaii. We share our experience with having the Southwest Companion Pass for Hawaii for two years.

Southwest has become a significant player on flights to Hawaii from the mainland. For inter-island flights, Southwest and Hawaiian Airlines (now owned by Alaska) are your only options. 

As you are probably not a solo traveler to Hawaii (Hawaii is great for romance!), one free flight is always a perk! Plus, there’s solid earning potential on everyday categories beyond just Southwest purchases, which is nice on an airline-branded card.

We share a link to a lower annual fee, personal card here.

Another Good Credit Card for Hawaii Flights

The Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines merger is shaking up flights to Hawaii. The merger combined two large route networks and loyalty programs. That is helpful with the credit card featured below.

Free Flight: With this card, the sign-up bonus will provide the equivalent of a free flight to Hawaii (plus taxes and fees of around $6 to $25). 

Companion Pass: You will earn a companion fare (low cost) or a companion award, which is equivalent to a free flight, depending on the level of the card you get.

The annual fees are reasonable. Choose a low annual fee or a higher annual fee with a larger sign-up bonus.

The drawback is that this card is highly dependent on being on Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines’ routes. As 60% (Source: Hawaii DBEDT) of domestic Hawaii travelers come from the West Coast, this isn’t a problem for most! If you have lounges on our route, then you get lounge passes!

Best Credit Cards for Business Owners Going to Hawaii

Being a business owner is a great way to earn reward points. We have two business credit cards to recommend for Hawaii trips. 

Our first recommendation is the business version of our #1 pick for a credit card for Hawaii trips. The card has a reasonable annual fee, has a great sign-up bonus, and points are transferable to a host of Hawaii hotel and airline partners. 

Our second business credit card for Hawaii travel is the business version of our second pick for an overall card. This card requires excellent credit (720-850) and has a high annual fee. But you get a huge signup bonus and large point multipliers for booking travel. 

This is an excellent card if you have a considerable expense coming up. Grab this card, and you will get a hotel in Hawaii as part of the deal.

For Luxury Travelers Who Travel Frequently

We always have this credit card in our wallet! The annual fee is mind-blowingly high, but we offset the cost with all the travel perks and comforts they provide. The rental insurance option alone gives us peace of mind!

We book through their exclusive luxury hotel travel portal for good rates and exclusive perks like early and late check-ins. This is super helpful for those Maui red-eye flights.  

The airport lounge access program is a lovely perk for travel to Hawaii and everywhere else. 

See if this card is right for your travel style. The downside is that points are not transferable to Hyatt, but you can use them to book Marriott and Hilton properties. 

Second Option for Luxury Travel: Lots of Travel Credits!

A warning: this luxury credit card for Hawaii travel comes with a high annual fee. Check out the “Additional Details” section, where you’ll find that the number of travel benefits and credits not only offsets the annual fee but also offers even more perks! It even comes with streaming service subscriptions.

The sign-up bonus is generous, with a substantial promo credit. The point multipliers and the best card for transferring points make this a wonderful card for luxury travelers to Hawaii.

Final Tips for Choosing a Credit Card for Hawaii

These credit cards for Hawaii will help you realize your dream vacation. If you have a big purchase coming up or if your grocery budget will achieve the sign-up bonus threshold, then this is a great option for a free night or flight to Hawaii.

There are success stories of folks using a combination of these cards to get free flights and hotel rooms to Hawaii. That can take a couple of years to accrue the points. That is a great strategy!

For one trip to Hawaii with some savings on hotel rooms, applying for our #1 card for Hawaii will help get you there fast.

Explore the full list of cards in our wallets below for details on choosing the credit cards for your Hawaii vacation.