Alaska Airlines Credit Card Review: Big Bonus, Great Perks

Link: Apply now for the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card

The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card is a valuable airline credit card, which has a generous welcome offer and strong ongoing perks. In this post, I wanted to provide a detailed review of Alaska’s personal credit card, issued by Bank of America, for those who may not have the card yet. This is an especially good time to pick up the card, given the bonus that’s being offered.

Alaska Airlines Visa Card welcome bonus

The Alaska Airlines Credit Card currently has a limited time welcome offer. You can unlock this two-part bonus after spending $3,000 within the first 90 days:

• Earn 70,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles
• Earn an Alaska Airlines companion fare from $122 ($99 fare, plus taxes and fees starting at just $23)

Personally, I value Alaska miles at 1.5 cents each, meaning that to me, the 70,000 bonus miles are worth $1,050. There are some amazing uses of Alaska Mileage Plan miles, whether you’re looking for a long haul business class adventure, or just want to redeem for domestic flights. Also keep in mind that starting in 2025, award flights (including on partner airlines) will count toward elite status.

Furthermore, that doesn’t account for the companion fare you get as part of the welcome bonus, which can save you hundreds of dollars.

Alaska Airlines Visa Card eligibility requirements

The Alaska Airlines Credit Card is issued by Bank of America, so there are some general restrictions to be aware of:

• Bank of America will typically only approve you for two cards in a two month period, three cards in a 12 month period, and four cards in a 24 month period (this typically doesn’t include business cards)
• Eligibility for this card is unrelated to whether you have the business version of the card, so you can apply for both

Alaska Airlines Visa Card annual fee

The Alaska Airlines Credit Card has a reasonable $95 annual fee. At right under $100, that’s in line with the annual fees you’ll find on many co-branded airline credit cards. You can add authorized users to the card at no extra cost (and there’s a reason you may want to do so, as I’ll cover below).

Alaska Airlines Visa Card rewards structure

The Alaska Airlines Credit Card offers the following return on spending:

• 3x Mileage Plan miles for Alaska Airlines purchases
• 2x Mileage Plan miles on eligible gas, EV charging station, cable, streaming services and local transit purchases including ride share
• 1x Mileage Plan miles for all other purchases

The card also has no foreign transaction fees, making it ideal for purchases abroad. While this isn’t going to be the most lucrative card for all purchases, the reality is that Alaska Mileage Plan miles are otherwise hard to earn, as most major transferable points currencies don’t partner with Alaska Airlines (the exception is Bilt Rewards).

Therefore if you want to earn Alaska Airlines miles for your credit card spending, this is a good option. Furthermore, as I’ll cover below, there’s an incentive to spend $6,000 per anniversary year on the card.

The card also offers a relationship bonus. If you have an eligible consumer Bank of America checking or savings account, you’ll receive a bonus equal to 10% of the miles you earn on each dollar spent. This is a way to earn even more rewards.

Alaska Airlines Visa Card earning elite miles

The Alaska Airlines Credit Card can increasingly help you earn elite status in the Alaska Mileage Plan program, by awarding elite qualifying miles (EQMs).

For the 2024 program year, you can earn 4,000 EQMs for every $10,000 spent on an Alaska credit card, up to 20,000 EQMs (which you’d unlock after $50,000 of eligible spending).

For the 2025 program year, this will be even simpler, as you’ll earn one elite qualifying mile for every $3 in eligible spending on the card, up to 30,000 EQMs.

As a reminder, here are the requirements to earn elite status in the Mileage Plan program:

• Mileage Plan MVP status requires 20,000 elite qualifying miles
• Mileage Plan MVP Gold status requires 40,000 elite qualifying miles
• Mileage Plan MVP Gold 75K status requires 75,000 elite qualifying miles
• Mileage Plan MVP Gold 100K status requires 100,000 elite qualifying miles

Alaska Airlines Visa Card companion fare

In addition to the companion fare offered as part of the welcome bonus, the Alaska Airlines Credit Card offers an annual companion fare when you spend $6,000 per anniversary year on the card.

The Alaska Airlines companion certificate is the single most valuable airline credit card companion ticket, in my opinion. You’ll pay $99 plus taxes and fees (which start at $23), so you’re looking at paying $122+ for your companion.

What makes this companion fare so exceptional is that it’s valid on all Alaska Airlines economy fares, you can use it for one-ways or roundtrips, the companion even earns miles and is eligible for upgrades, etc. You can also use it anywhere Alaska Airlines flies, from Hawaii, to Costa Rica, to Mexico.

See this post for everything you need to know about the Alaska Airlines companion fare. Even as someone who doesn’t fly Alaska Airlines that often, this is something I’ve consistently gotten good value from.

Alaska Airlines Visa Card first free checked bag

The Alaska Airlines Credit Card offers a free checked bag for you and up to six guests on the same reservation. In order to be eligible for this perk, you need to charge the cost of the ticket to your card. Another great thing is that authorized users on the card can also receive this benefit, as long as their ticket is purchased with the card.

This is a great benefit that could save you a lot of money — Alaska ordinarily charges $35 per checked bag, so that’s a savings of $70 per person roundtrip, if checking bags. If you fly Alaska fairly often but don’t have elite status, that alone could quickly more than justify the annual fee.

That free checked bag benefit for authorized users makes this a great card for families. You could add family members as authorized users, and then they could receive a free checked bag even when not traveling with you.

Alaska Airlines Visa Card priority boarding benefit

The Alaska Airlines Credit Card offers priority boarding for you and up to six guests on the same reservation. In order to be eligible for this perk, you need to charge the cost of the ticket to your card. Another great thing is that authorized users on the card can also receive this benefit, as long as their ticket is purchased with the card.

This is a valuable benefit that help you ensure that there’s space in the overhead bin for your bags. It’s also an awesome authorized user perk, so that you can share this benefit with family members.

Alaska Airlines Visa Card 20% inflight savings

The Alaska Airlines Credit Card 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. There’s no limit to how often you can take advantage of this.

It’s 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.

Alaska Airlines Visa Card lounge discount benefit

If you’re looking to get an Alaska Lounge membership, the Alaska Airlines Credit Card offers $100 off an Alaska Lounge+ annual membership when you pay for the purchase with your card. An Alaska Lounge+ membership ordinarily costs $500-600 annually, and offers access to all Alaska Lounges, plus nearly 100 partner lounges around the world (including American Admirals Clubs).

Being able to get this lounge discount could prove to be a good value.

Looking for a business credit card?

If you’re eligible for business credit cards, I’d consider picking up the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card:

• The card has a welcome bonus of 50,000 Mileage Plan miles plus an Alaska Airlines companion fare from $122 as part of the welcome bonus after you meet the spend requirement of $3,000 within 90 days
• There are many reasons to get this card, from the first checked bag free, to the savings on flight purchases, to the ability to earn an annual companion fare
• Anecdotally the card is quite easy to be approved for, and you’re even eligible for the bonus if you’ve had the card before
• You could pick up both cards, take advantage of both welcome bonuses, and could also earn two companion certificates annually

Read a full review of the Alaska Airlines Business Card.

Bottom line

The Alaska Airlines Credit Card is a valuable co-branded airline credit card. The card has an excellent welcome offer, and offers perks that should prove worthwhile for those who fly Alaska Airlines with any frequency. If you don’t yet have this card but are eligible, this would be a great time to apply.

If you want to learn more about or apply for the Alaska Airlines Credit Card, follow this link.