The Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card is a superb airlines credit card. You can earn a lot of valuable miles with this card and utilize perks like free checked baggage and a discounted companion fare. The welcome bonus isn’t too shabby, either!
In this article, I’ll break down everything you need to know about the Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card.
Table of Contents
Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card overview
- 3X on Alaska Airlines purchases
- 1X on all other purchases
- No foreign transaction fees
- Companion fare
- Free checked bag
- In-flight discount
- $75 annual fee
Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!
Welcome bonus
The bonus for the Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card will change over time but you might encounter one of the standard offers like 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 or more in the first 90 days after opening up your account.
Alaska has one of the best frequent flyer programs because you can use their miles on some pretty fantastic partners including:
- American Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Emirates
- Japan Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- Korean Air
If you fly economy, 40,000 miles is enough to get you all the way over to Asia! But if you are staying put in the US, you could use 40,000 Alaska miles to book a few domestic flights and get you around the US.
If you want to learn more about how to maximize your Alaska Airline miles check out the top 20 ways to use your Alaska miles!
Tip: Sometimes you can find offers that come with an additional $50 to $100 statement credit. These offers can sometimes be found by clicking through banners on the Alaska Airlines website.
If you find an offer with an additional statement credit, such as a $100 credit, you will usually receive your credit after you meet the minimum spend requirement.
For example, if the minimum spend requirement is $2,000, after you reach that you will qualify for the mileage bonus and the $100 statement credit. (It may take up to 8 to 12 weeks to receive the credit.)
Bank of America application rules
Bank of America just switched up their application rules and now you’ll have to deal with more complicated rules.
Below are the rules you need to consider.
You can’t get approved for more than:
- Two new BOA cards in a 30 day period
- Three new BOA cards in a 12 month period
- Four new BOA cards in a 24 month period
Here are more rules:
- Applicants with a BOA deposit account will not be approved if they have opened seven or more credit cards in the past 12 months.
- Applicants without a BOA deposit account will not be approved if they have opened three or more credit cards in the past 12 months
In addition, you have specific rules related to the Alaska Airlines credit card, which state:
This card may not be available to you if you currently have or have had the card in the preceding 24 month period.
The last thing that I will mention is that Bank of America likes to approve customers who hold a bank account with them. So if you don’t have a relationship with them, consider opening up a checking or savings account to improve your approval odds.
So there are a lot of rules to keep in mind when going for this card. I just suggest for you to use the free app WalletFlo so that you can automate your eligibility for credit cards and boost your approval odds!
Bonus categories
- 3X on Alaska Airlines purchases
- 1X on all other purchases
3X on Alaska Airlines purchases
You can earn 3X miles on virtually any Alaska Airlines related purchases including:
- Alaska Airlines tickets
- In-flight food and beverage purchases
- Lounge memberships
- In-lounge food and beverage purchases
- Cargo purchases
- Vacation packages billed by Alaska Airlines as the merchant of record and booked directly through Alaska Airlines.
Eligible Alaska Airlines Vacation Packages must be booked via the Alaska Airlines website or by calling the Alaska Airlines Vacation Packages toll free number.
Earning 3X on Alaska Airlines purchases is pretty solid. Many other co-branded airline cards will limit you to only 2X on the airlines so this has other cards beat from that perspective.
Using a WalletFlo valuation of 1.63, 3X comes out to 4.89% back. That’s very good for a return on airline spend making this one of the best travel rewards credit cards.
1X on all other purchases
I’ve never been big on earning 1X on all purchases considering that cards like the Chase Freedom Unlimited offer 1.5X on all purchases.
Still, if it is Alaska miles that you are after, at least you can continue to build that balance up with 1X earnings.
Alaska Airlines travel benefits
Free checked bag
With this card, you can get a free checked bag on Alaska flights for you and up to six other guests on the same reservation. (Just make sure everybody is on the same itinerary to get this benefit.)
You will also need to be on a qualifying flight which means that you will need to fly on flights marketed by Alaska Airlines and operated by Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, SkyWest or PenAir (codeshare flights operated by other carriers are not eligible).
Some co-branded airline cards limit the free checked bag to only one companion so getting up to six guests is a nice perk.
A checked bag on Alaska will normally cost you $30 so if you were to use this for six people, you could be saving up to $180 on a one-way flight.
So for many people, this perk alone could justify the annual fee which is already on the lower side at $75.
Tip: Check out the ultimate guide to checked baggage to find out everything you need to know about how to avoid baggage fees.
Alaska Airlines purchase discounts
- 20% back on in-flight purchases
- 50% off day passes at the Alaska lounge
When you use your Alaska Airlines credit card, you can get discounts on certain purchases. You can use the in-flight purchase discount on things like beverages, food, and internet.
Getting 20% back on in-flight purchases is pretty solid although it is not as good as the JetBlue Plus Card which offers 50% back.
Getting 50% off day passes at Alaska Lounges is really nice because a day pass will normally cost you $50 which means that you’ll be saving about $25 per visit. Not bad.
Tip: If you are really interested in airport lounge access, you might want to consider a card like the Platinum Card that has one of the best lounge access benefits you’ll come across!
Annual companion fare
Each year, you will be issued Alaska’s “Famous” companion fare. This is a one time companion pass that allows a companion to fly with you for only $99 plus fees.
The fees are usually about $22 so the total price for this companion ticket comes out to about $121 each year.
You can use this perk for valid round-trip or one-way coach Companion Fares when traveling on a paid published coach airfare on the same itinerary, booked at the same time on alaskaair.com.
So this is a nice benefit but to get the most out of it you need to find a decently expensive coach fare. Otherwise, your savings could be minimal.
By the way, if you were looking to save on airfare with Alaska Airlines and you reside in the state of Alaska, you might look into Club 49.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Dining
Your card will be automatically enrolled in Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Dining, a dining rewards program where you can earn 1 mile for every $2 spent at participating restaurants.
Additional benefits
“Museums on Us” Program
The Bank of America “Museums on Us Program” is a special program that allows Bank of America customers to visit museums all around the US free of charge on a select weekend each month. Find out more about it here.
Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection
The Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection consists of over 900 hotels around the world and offers you special privileges when you use the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection portal to book your hotel stay. Here are some of the perks you can get:
- Best available rate guarantee
- Automatic room upgrade when available
- Complementary in room Wi-Fi when available
- Complementary breakfast for two
- $25 food and beverage credit
- VIP guest status
- Late checkout upon request when available
As long as you get approved for the Visa Signature version, you will have this benefit.
Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card FAQ
No, the Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card does not come with MVP elite status.
Yes, you can get one free checked bag for you and up to six companions.
No, you do not have to use your Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card to receive the free checked baggage benefit.
No, the Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card does not provide you with free lounge access but it does offer a 50% discount on day passes to Alaska lounges.
No, you will not get priority boarding. You can find out more details about the boarding process for Alaska Airlines here.
The annual fee is $75.
No, it does not have any foreign transaction fees.
Bank of America is the issuer of the Alaska Airlines Visa Credit Card.
In the past, Bank of America would approve customers for the Platinum Plus version of this card if they had a lower credit score. That card came with a lower bonus and less benefits so the Visa Signature is the version that you most likely want to pursue.
Yes, you can get approved for the personal and the business version of the Alaska Airlines credit card.
Final word
Overall, I am a big fan of this credit card because you can use your miles on some fantastic partners. I also think that it has great earning potential on Alaska Airlines purchases along with solid free checked baggage benefits.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.
