With amazing partner airlines and low redemption rates, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles are among the most valuable in the travel world … but also some of the hardest for many travelers to earn. That just changed.
On Wednesday, Bank of America and Alaska Airlines rolled out a huge new welcome offer bonus on the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card: You can now earn 70,000 Alaska miles after spending just $3,000 within the first three months of card membership. Plus, you’ll earn one of Alaska’s famous companion fares (pay just $99 plus taxes and fees to bring a buddy) in your first year, with a path to keep earning those potentially valuable companion fares each year thereafter.
It’s one of the best welcome bonuses we’ve seen on Alaska credit cards, period. While bonuses have gone as high as 100,000-miles, those have required spending a whopping $15,000 within the first few months. In this case, you can earn 70,000 miles spending just a fraction of that amount.
No matter if it requires spending $15,000 or just $3,000, keep in mind: Credit cards are serious business. You should never open or spend on a credit card to make purchases you can’t afford to pay off immediately.
But if you can do so responsibly, these valuable miles are worth earning even if you never plan to set foot on an Alaska Airlines jet. Let’s take a deeper look.
This is a public offer available at AlaskaAir.com and through Bank of America – there’s nothing in it for us if you apply and get approved. It’s simply a phenomenal offer and a great way to earn Alaska miles.
Click Here to learn more about the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card
Full Benefits of the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card
Welcome Offer Bonus
You’ll earn 70,000 Alaska Airlines miles plus one of Alaska’s Famous Companion Fares™ (pay just a $99 fare plus taxes and fees, from $23) after you make $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening. This is a limited-time offer!
Free Checked Bag + Priority Boarding
Alaska Airlines Visa credit cardholders will get a free checked bag when they purchase airfare with their card.
You’ll also get free checked luggage for up to six additional guests traveling on the same reservation.
Cardholders who pay for their flight with their Alaska card will also get priority boarding on Alaska-operated flights.
Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare
In addition to the companion fare you’ll receive as a part of the welcome bonus offer, cardholders will get another companion fare each year on their account anniversary after spending $6,000 or more on purchases within the prior year.
This allows you to add a companion to an Alaska flight you book for $99, plus taxes and fees which start at $23.
Earn Miles with No Milage Cap
Alaska Airlines Visa credit cardholders will earn 3x miles per dollar spent on Alaska Airlines purchases.
You’ll earn 2x miles per dollar spent on gas, cable, streaming services, and local transit purchases, and 1x point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
20% Back on Alaska Airlines Inflight Purchases
Get 20% back on Alaska Airlines inflight purchases when you pay with your card.
$100 Off An Annual Alaska Lounge+ Membership
Get $100 off an annual Alaska Lounge+ Membership when you pay with your Alaska Card.
This gets you access to all nine Alaska Airlines lounges plus 90+ partner lounges for you and up to two guests.
Alaska Lounge+ memberships cost $550 for those with Alaska elite status (MVP, MVP Gold, Gold 75k, Gold 100k) and $650 for those without status.
Get a 10% Rewards Bonus
If you have an eligible Bank of America checking or savings account, you’ll also get a 10% bonus on all miles earned from card purchases.
For example, that means for every 1,000 miles you earn from purchases on your card, you’ll receive 1,100 miles.
Annual Fee
The Alaska Airlines Visa card has a $95 annual fee, which is not waived in the first year.
Click Here to learn more about the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card
Why Alaska Miles are So Valuable
They may be hard to earn since they are not a transfer partner of any of the major credit card programs, but Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles are some of the most valuable on the planet thanks to low award rates booking partner airlines like Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and more.
Alaska rolled out a new award chart at the end of 2022, and while Alaska’s amazing award rates are still largely the same, it’s nowhere near as transparent as it was previously. With less transparency, it’s hard to work out exactly how much a flight should cost. That opens the door for Alaska to start charging far more miles for some of these flights.
But for now, there are still some amazing deals that are bookable with Alaska miles.
Let’s have a look at a few of our favorite options.
Fly Cathay Pacific First or Business Class to Asia & Beyond
It doesn’t get much better than this deal. Using Alaska miles, you can book premium cabins on Cathay Pacific for much less than Cathay charges using its own Asia Miles – or even redeeming American AAdvantage miles for the same trip.
Here’s a look at some of the fantastic rates where you can fly this top-notch product when redeeming Alaska miles.
- Fly from the U.S. to Asia for 50,000 miles in business class or 70,000 miles in first class each way!
- Fly from the U.S. to India or the Middle East for 62,500 miles in business class or 70,000 miles in first class one way!
- Fly to Australia or New Zealand for just 60,000 miles in business class or 80,000 miles in first class each way!
For comparison, American and Cathay Pacific charge between 70,000 and 85,000 miles in business class and 110,000 to 125,000 miles in first each way for these same exact flights. This means you could save nearly 30 to 45% by booking Cathay Pacific flights using Alaska miles.
Best of all, if you’re traveling beyond Cathay Pacific’s hub in Hong Kong (HKG), you can add in a free stopover when booking with Alaska miles. This can be a great way to break up a trip to Australia or India flying fancy on one of the best airlines in the world and getting to see two cities for one low price.
Fiji Airways Business Class to Fiji, Australia, or New Zealand
Another incredible deal you can book using Alaska miles is to fly Fiji Airways nonstop to Fiji, or continue all the way down to Australia or New Zealand for just 55,000 miles one-way in business class!
This is about as cheap as it gets to fly in business class to the land down under – and unlike nonstop flights to Australia, finding award space to book it is actually possible. Add in the fact that you can stopover in Fiji for some island time on your way to or from (or both) for no extra miles, and this is one of the best deals you can book with any mileage program.
Fly Japan Airlines First or Business Class to Asia
Japan Airlines has one of the best premium cabin experiences in the world and using Alaska miles is one of the cheapest ways to do it.
Business class flights start from just 60,000 Alaska miles one-way … but trust us, it’s worth it to fork over just 10,000 miles more and do even better by redeeming 70,000 miles for Japan Airlines first class.
The 70,000-point welcome offer bonus alone is enough for a one-way first-class ticket to Tokyo!
While the starting rates are for nonstop flights to Japan, it’s just 5,000 more miles to connect onward to Southeast Asia. And you can even stop over in Tokyo on the way if you wish.
Read more: 7 Sweet Spots to Use Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles
Are You Eligible for the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card?
When it comes to credit card application rules from Bank of America, there are three rules you will want to know.
The Bank of America 2/3/4 Rule
The Bank of America 2/3/4 rule states that you can only be approved for two Bank of America credit cards in a rolling two-month period. You can be approved for three Bank of America cards in a rolling 12-month period, and four cards in a rolling 24-month period.
This rule is specific to Bank of America credit cards (both business and personal), and applications from other banks will not be factored into this rule.
The Bank of America 3/12 & 7/12 Rule
Similar to Chase’s 5/24 rule, Bank of America has something called the 3/12 & 7/12 rule. It works like this:
- If you have a bank account with Bank of America and have opened seven new cards (from any bank) in the past 12 months, your application for a new Bank of America card will likely not be approved.
- If you don’t have a bank account with Bank of America and have opened three new cards (from any bank) in the past 12 months, your application for a Bank of America card will likely not be approved.
There may be some exceptions, but these are good rules of thumb to follow.
The Bank of America 24-Month Rule
Bank of America allows you to earn the welcome offer bonus on the same card multiple times. They will, however, restrict how often you can earn it.
You are not eligible to open a Bank of America Card and earn a welcome bonus if you’ve earned the bonus on that card in the past 24 months. You also can’t have the card currently open if you want to get approved.
If you aren’t impacted by any of these rules, you should be eligible to open the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card and take advantage of the big limited-time welcome offer bonus.
Related Reading: Master Guide to Credit Card Applications: All of the Rules You Need to Know, Bank by Bank
Bottom Line
Bank of America has rolled out a huge new 70,000-point offer on the Alaska Airlines Visa® Signature Card after spending just $3,000 in the first three months of card membership.
It’s one of the best ways we’ve ever seen to easily and quickly pile up Alaska miles. But act fast: While we don’t yet know when it ends, this offer is only available for a limited time.
Click Here to learn more about the Alaska Airlines Visa® Credit Card
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