Free Checked Bag On Alaska Flights
Get a free checked bag on Alaska Airlines flights for you and up to six companions traveling on the same reservation. Since a first checked bag on Alaska Airlines costs $30, this perk can save you over $200 each time you fly.
There are a few caveats:
- The cardholder must be traveling to claim the free checked bag benefit
- The cardholder’s Mileage Plan number must be on the reservation
- If a reservation was made with a group booking code or through the group booking desk, only the primary cardholder can get the free checked bag
Is An Alaska Airlines Credit Card Right For You
If you couldnt tell, Im a big fan of Alaska Airlines and its co-branded credit cards.
securely on the issuer’s website
- Min. credit levelGood
- Additional Cards Annual Fee$25
- Foreign Transaction Feenone
If you live in the 49th state, or one of the airlines hubs Seattle, Portland, Anchorage, San Francisco, Los Angeles the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card is a no-brainer. Thats because youll be able to easily take advantage of the companion fare, which will more than make up for the annual fee.
Since the card doesnt earn a lot on non-Alaska Airlines purchases, however, you should round it out with another travel rewards card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® , which earns better rewards on everyday spending.
If you dont live near an airport that Alaska serves and wont be able to use the companion fare opt for a credit card from your local airline instead. Here are the best credit cards for air travel and general travel rewards.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is another top dog in the world of credit card travel rewards. While the card has an annual fee of $550, the $300 annual travel credit it provides drastically reduces this. With waived annual fees for active-duty military members, this card will essentially put $300 cash back into your pocket each year of card membership not to mention all of the other benefits it provides.
- Earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000in purchases in your first three months of card membership.
- $300 Annual Travel Credit
- Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards Points For 1.5 Cents Per Point through the Chase Travel Portal, making the welcome offer worth up to $750 towards travel
- 3x Points On Travel And Restaurants Worldwide after using full $300 travel credit.
- Complimentary Lyft Pink Membership
- Up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck once every four years.
Active Duty Military Benefit: Chase completely waives the $550 annual fee and any associated late fees when youre on active duty with any branch of the US Military. They will even waive the $75 fee for adding an authorized user. Chase will not wave late fees and/or non-sufficient funds fees.
to get more information about the Sapphire Reserve
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How To Redeem Alaska Miles
There are many ways to slice and dice the 40,000 bonus miles. Short-haul Alaska awards start at just 5,000 Alaska miles each way. Many of the longer flights are 12,500 miles in economy. If you want first-class, its often 40,000 miles on longer domestic flights, but can start as low as 15,000 miles each way on shorter flights. If you want to head to Hawaii, those awards start at 15,000 miles each way in economy and 40,000 in first class.
Alaskas partners will also cover your travels across much of the globe. Those partners include British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and more. You wont necessarily get the lowest mileage booking rate for all of these partners when redeeming through Alaska. But by taking advantage of Alaskas allowance of one stopover on one-way award tickets, you can build some great itineraries.
Some of our favorite ways to maximize Alaska Airlines redemptions include booking Cathay Pacific first class from the U.S. to Asia for 70,000 miles one-way, Japan Airlines first class one-way from the U.S. to Asia starting at 70,000 miles and Fiji Airways from the U.S. to Fiji one-way in business class for 55,000 miles.
When borders reopen, you could even fly to Australia on Fiji Airways and add in a free stopover in Fiji on the way for the same 55,000 miles in business class.
Award Flights To Hawaii
Another travel sweet spot with Alaska Airlines is flying to Hawaii. If you can fly out of a west coast hub like Los Angeles or Seattle, each round-trip economy ticket only costs 35,000 points to get to Hawaii.
If you are planning a trip to this tropical paradise, the 40,000 point sign-up bonus gets you there.
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How Do I Reach Alaska Airlines Customer Service
Call to reach Alaska Airlines credit card customer service. Call to reach Alaska Airlines call center. Or, you can text 82008 if you dont feel like talking. They can help with changing reservations, making reservations, baggage information, and more.
Looking for a different customer service number? We have a list of numbers you can call depending on your credit card issuer.
Which Cards Compete With The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card
If youre interested in booking premium-cabin awards, earning transferable rewards points could be better because you wont be stuck with rewards attached to a single loyalty program.
Flexible rewards points, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards and Capital One miles, are easier to earn. Plus, many of these cards offer bigger sign-up bonuses or better-earning bonus rates in different spending categories. Here are a few great cards for earning transferrable points if youre not in specific need of Alaska miles:
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Related: Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
If you can qualify for a business card , you should consider opening the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card instead. It offers a better sign-up bonus of 60,000 bonus miles and Alaskas Companion Fare from $121 after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days of account opening and all the other benefits discussed above for an annual fee of $50 for the company and $25 per card.
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Compared To The Competition
Which airline credit card flies the highest? You can check out our editors picks for the best airline credit cards to get the complete story, but heres a quick snapshot of how the Alaska Airlines Credit Card compares to some of its most popular peers:
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Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card
Annual fee
Get 40,000 bonus miles plus Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare from $121 with this offer. To qualify, make purchases of $2,000 or more within the first 90 days of opening your account.
Rewards rate
Earn unlimited 3 miles for every $1 spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases. Unlimited 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
Recommended credit
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
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Bank Of America Alaska Airlines Travel Rewards Card Review
AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here’s our complete list of Advertisers.
Alaska Airlines offers many opportunities for domestic and international flights, both for paid and award travel. The co-brand Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card from Bank of America has some terrific perks when it comes to traveling with Alaska Airlines and its partners. Lets review the benefits of having this credit card, and you can find out if it’s worth adding to your portfolio of rewards earning cards.
Should You Apply For The Hawaiian Airlines Business Mastercard
For small business owners looking for a card that can get them free flights to Hawaii from a destination served by Hawaiian Airlines, the Hawaiian Airlines® Business MasterCard® is a decent pick. The points from the welcome offer alone are enough for two round-trip Discounted Award tickets between the U.S. West Coast and any of the Hawaiian islands, and the one-time discount can also save you a bundle on another trip.
But the card may come up short for people who hardly fly to Hawaii or don’t live near a city served by Hawaiian Airlines. The ongoing return for the card also falls short of other products, especially those that earn flexible points you can transfer to a variety of airlines beyond Hawaiian. If you prefer flexibility, you’re better off with the American Express® Business Gold Card or the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, or another of our picks for best small business cards.
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Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card Review: Is It The Best Travel Card For Your Business
The Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card’s welcome bonus and travel perks make the card a great fit for the airline’s most loyal frequent flyers.
Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure: ValuePenguin is an advertising-supported comparison service which receives compensation from some of the financial providers whose offers appear on our site. This compensation from our advertising partners may impact how and where products appear on our site . To provide more complete comparisons, the site features products from our partners as well as institutions which are not advertising partners. While we make an effort to include the best deals available to the general public, we make no warranty that such information represents all available products.
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the authors opinions and recommendations alone. It may not have been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through a credit card issuer partnership.
Citi is an advertising partner
- Discounted companion fare ticket every year
- Free checked bag for you and travel companions
- Good earnings rate on Alaska Airlines purchases
Why Get The Alaska Airlines Visa Business Card
- You are a frequent flyer on Alaska Airlines and can maximize rewards.
- You live on or frequently travel to the Pacific Coast.
- You often bring a group on business travel and will use the companion fare every year.
- You will benefit from tools for customizing employee spend limits.
- You dont need to add many authorized users to your account.
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Annual Companion Fare Certificate
Every year on your account anniversary, you’ll receive a companion fare certificate that allows a companion to fly with you from $121 . This certificate is added to your account automatically, and you can use it on any Alaska Airlines flight that you book through alaskaair.com.
Depending on the itinerary, you can get a lot of value from this perk and easily cover the card’s annual fee. It’s valid everywhere Alaska flies, including Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, and Canada.
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Annual Fee
The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card does have a $75 annual fee however, with this annual fee you are getting an opportunity for a valuable welcome bonus, free checked bags, and the annual companion fare. These perks can more than offset the annual fee on the card. Though, if you are someone that prefers to keep expenses low or will not frequently travel on Alaska Airlines, the annual fee can be prohibitive and should be taken into consideration when evaluating if this card is the right fit.
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Alaska Airlines Visa Card Credit Score
To get the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Card, you should have a FICO® Score of at least 670. It usually takes good credit to get approved, and a of at least 700 will give you even better odds.
Although your credit score is a key factor in the application process, it’s not the only factor that matters. Bank of America will also look at other items. These could include your income, your , and your number of recent credit applications.
% Back On Alaska Airlines In
The Alaska Airlines Credit Card now offers 20% back on Alaska Airlines inflight purchases when paying with your card.
This applies for the purchase of food, beverages, and Wi-Fi onboard Alaska flights, and the statement credit should post to your account within seven days. Theres no limit to how often you can take advantage of this.
Its worth specifically pointing out that while a few credit cards offer savings on inflight purchases, they almost always exclude Wi-Fi. So being able to get a discount even on Wi-Fi purchases is awesome.
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Other Cards To Consider
The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card is one of the best credit cards for frequent flyers on Alaska Air. But if you dont fly Alaska Air or its travel partners often, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card may be a good alternative for you. New cardholders earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months of account opening. Venture Rewards cardholders earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 2X miles on all other purchases.
Travelers looking for a premium card should consider the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card. Although it has a hefty $550 annual fee, it delivers in travel value. New cardmembers can earn 50,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months, which equals $750 in travel value through Chase Ultimate Rewards. The Sapphire Reserve card also includes a $300 annual travel credit, and cardholders can earn 3X bonus points on travel and dining purchases.
Earn valuable Alaska Airlines miles
The Long And Short Of It
If Alaska Airlines flies to destinations on your travel list, the companion fare is a great deal. That alone may make the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card worth having. Although there are many other best miles credit card options. The only downside is that you cant use those 30,000 bonus miles and the companion fare in the same booking. But if you fly Alaska often and collect miles with the airline, its a definite bonus, especially for bucket list destinations like Hawaii and Alaska.
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How To Earn Alaska Miles
With the Alaska Airlines Visa card, youll earn 3 miles per dollar on Alaska Airlines purchases and 1 mile per dollar on all other eligible purchases.
If you frequently travel on Alaska Airlines for work or pleasure and want to build up your Mileage Plan balance, this card is an obvious choice for airline purchases. Considering that TPG values Alaska Airlines highly at 1.8 cents apiece, thats a 5.4% return.
You should likely use another travel credit card for non-Alaska purchases since you can do better than the cards earning rate of 1 mile per dollar. However, if you really want to rack up Alaska miles for partner award flights, then that advice may not apply since Alaska miles are so valuable and challenging without flying Alaska.
How To Get The Most Out Of This Card
Beyond making sure you meet the spending requirement for the welcome bonus, make sure to use the companion pass to maximize the value from this card. Of course, use the card for all your Alaska Airlines purchases to earn the miles . If you want to be comfortable, you should also take advantage of the half-off deal on Alaska Airlines airport lounge day passes. Theyre $25 each instead of $50.
Because this card earns only 1 mile per $1 spent on non-Alaska Airlines purchases, you might consider carrying a second rewards credit card that you can use to max out earnings on all your non-Alaska Airline purchases.
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Who Should Get The Alaska Airline Visa Signature Card
Obviously, this card is a great choice if you frequently fly Alaska Airlines. With a $75 annual fee, this card provides elite-like perks without Alaska Airlines elite status. Cardholders get one piece of free checked luggage for themselves and up to six other passengers on the same reservation when traveling on Alaska, saving $30 per person each way on checked bags. Youll also enjoy several Alaska-related discounts, including 20% back on Alaska Airlines inflight purchases and 50% off day passes to the Alaska Lounge network when you pay with the card.
If you fly Alaska with a friend or family member at least once a year on paid fares, this card is also worth considering because of its companion fare more on that in a moment.
Even if you rarely or never fly with Alaska, remember that youre not limited to Alaska Airlines route network. Alaska miles are great on a variety of partners, too.