Los Angeles to Maui in Economy

The sharpest number on this route comes from British Airways Avios and Hawaiian Airlines' inter-island network, though that sweet spot applies specifically to hops between Hawaiian islands, not to the LAX-OGG mainhaul. For 5,000 Avios, you can cover an inter-island segment (think Honolulu to Maui or Maui to Kauai) that would otherwise run around $130 in cash, producing a redemption value of 2.6¢ per Avios. That beats our conservative 1.5¢ per Avios valuation by a meaningful margin, making it one of the better economy sweet spots in the Hawaii region. Keep this in mind if your itinerary involves connecting through Honolulu on award space from the mainland.

For the LAX-to-OGG segment itself, the programs worth searching first are those with access to Hawaiian Airlines or Alaska Airlines award inventory. Hawaiian Airlines is not part of a traditional alliance, but its HawaiianMiles program prices its own metal reasonably. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is also worth checking, as Alaska operates LAX-OGG service and its award chart has historically been competitive for West Coast to Hawaii routes. a transfer partner and Flying Blue are less directly useful here given the absence of Star Alliance or SkyTeam carriers on this specific corridor.

Economy saver space between Los Angeles and Maui exists, but the honest picture is mixed. Hawaiian and Alaska both release some partner award inventory, and off-peak travel in January, February, and early September tends to show more open dates. Peak summer (June through August), Thanksgiving, Christmas, and spring break windows are a different story. Award seats on popular leisure routes like LAX-OGG get absorbed quickly by cash and upgrade demand. Searching with flexibility across a two-to-three week window significantly improves your odds of finding something.

On transfer paths: if you are targeting Avios for the inter-island piece, Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, and Capital One miles all transfer to British Airways Executive Club, generally at a 1:1 ratio. That means 5,000 Ultimate Rewards points or 5,000 Amex points converts to the 5,000 Avios needed for the inter-island leg. For the LAX-OGG mainhaul, HawaiianMiles does not accept major bank point transfers directly, so you would be booking that segment through a partner program or paying cash, then using Avios for the island hop on the other end.

Against our valuations, the math is clearest on the Avios inter-island redemption. At our 1.5¢ per Avios baseline, 5,000 Avios carries a theoretical value of $75. The redemption delivers $130 in avoided cash cost, which is a genuine outperformance worth prioritizing if inter-island travel is part of your trip. For the mainland leg, run the numbers on whatever program you are using against our valuation tables before transferring, because LAX-OGG cash fares can dip low enough that a cash purchase beats a mediocre redemption in CPP terms.

Find space first, then transfer.