Redeem Airline Miles For A Coronavirus Test

Hawaiian Airlines testing partner Vault Health makes at-home tests available for $119. You can avoid a 14 day quarantine on arrival in Hawaii with a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours from an approved provider.

You take the test at home, during a zoom call to walk you through it, and then ship the sample to their lab for processing. They generally have results available the same day they receive your test via overnight shipping.

Now you also have the option of redeeming miles for Covid-19 testing. You can spend 14,000 HawaiianMiles for a Vault Health test. According to Avi Mannis, the senior vice president for marketing at Hawaiian Airlines,

We remain dedicated to making testing for our guests as convenient and accessible as possible, so we’re incredibly pleased to extend our partnership with Vault Health to allow our HawaiianMiles members to purchase their at-home test kit with miles.

I generally value HawaiianMiles at a penny apiece, and this gets you 85 basis points, so it’s not an ideal value redemption. But it’s not terrible either. And it’s the first time I’m aware of Covid-19 tests being offered as a frequent flyer reward. (And you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points into HawaiianMiles if you need to.)

In mid-April Emirates started rolling out Covid-19 tests at the airport for certain flights. It was so difficult to get tested in the U.S. at the time that I suggested it might be easier to fly to Dubai than getting a doctor to order one. Now over a million tests a day are being reported in the U.S. And you can take a test at home that you’ve purchased with airline miles.

(HT: Tyler K.)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. Gary,
    Is the at-home test provided by Vault Health a PCR one or just a rapid antigen test? Would love to see a sample screenshot of their official test result!

  2. Vault failed to deliver my test in time and I had to scramble to get a different test. Do NOT rely on these guys for a trip you’ve invested heavily in. Unreturned emails, testing kit still “in transit.” Not sure how they became partners with the airlines, seems to me they were a concierge lab selling hormones to middle age men before this new venture.

  3. Wait why is this not a terrible redemption? Why would someone transfer Amex points? Your use of math escapes me.

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