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Founder and CEO of Upgraded Points, Alex is a leader in the industry and has earned and redeemed millions of points and miles. He frequently discusses the award travel industry with CNBC, Fox Business...
Juan has been involved in credit cards, loyalty, travel, and personal finance for more than 10 years. He has worked for several outlets including The Points Guy and Forbes and was previously Editor-in...
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Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card
U.P. Rating
The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.
4.25
$100 statement credit + 50,000 bonus miles + Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™
$95
18.24% - 26.24% Variable
Good to Excellent (670-850)
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card
Provides the potential to earn plenty of miles to fly with Alaska Airlines or over a dozen partners. Plus, get an annual companion fare from just $122 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23)!
U.P. Rating
The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.
4.25
With the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card in your wallet, you could get great perks and earn miles at the same time. This is a win-win if Alaska is the airline you prefer to fly with! Plus, its annual companion fare is a great benefit for traveling couples.
Card Snapshot
Welcome Bonus & Info
LIMITED TIME ONLINE OFFER — $100 statement credit, 50,000 bonus miles plus Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare™!
Get a $100 statement credit, 50,000 Bonus Miles and Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare™ from $122 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) after you make $2,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of your account opening.
Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare™. Every year on your credit card account anniversary you’ll receive a companion fare which allows you to book a companion flight from $122 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23). Valid on all Alaska Airlines flights booked on alaskaair.com.
Free checked bag for you and up to 6 guests on the same reservation – that’s a savings of $60 per person roundtrip!
Earn unlimited 3 miles for every $1 spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases, 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, local transit (including rideshare), cable, and select streaming services, and unlimited 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases. And, your miles don’t expire on active accounts.
10% reward bonus on all miles earned on card with an eligible Bank of America checking, savings, or investment account.
Priority boarding on Alaska Airlines when tickets are purchased with card.
With oneworld® Alliance member airlines and Alaska’s Global Partners, Alaska has expanded their global reach to over 1,000 destinations worldwide bringing more airline partners and more ways to earn and redeem miles.
Flexibility with no blackout dates on Alaska Airlines flights when booking with miles or a companion fare.
Plus, no foreign transaction fees and a low $95 annual fee.
This online only offer may not be available elsewhere if you leave this page. You can take advantage of this offer when you apply now.
2x miles per $1 spent on eligible gas, local transit (including rideshare), cable, and select streaming services
1x mile per $1 spent on all other purchases
Annual companion fare
Free checked bag for you and up to 6 traveling companions
20% back on Alaska inflight purchase
Cons
$95 annual fee
Great Card If
You prefer to fly Alaska Airlines over other carriers
You want to earn a companion fare
You don’t mind redeeming miles with restrictions
Don’t Get If
You want a variety of redemption options
You don’t have an Alaska Airlines hub nearby
Welcome Offer, Earning Categories, and Points
The current welcome offer for the Alaska Signature card can be seen above in the card snapshot.
Earn 3x miles for every dollar spent on Alaska Airlines tickets, vacation packages, cargo, and inflight purchases. You’ll get 1x mile for every dollar spent on all of your other purchases.
Plus you can redeem those miles for flights and upgrades on Alaska Airlines or any of its Oneworld and non-alliance airline partners, including American Airlines, British Airways, and Singapore Airlines!
Alaska Signature Card Benefits
The Alaska Signature card also comes with a couple of great perks.
Not only is your first checked bag free on Alaska Airlines-operated flights, but the benefit extends to 6 other passengers as long as they are on your reservation.
Based on the typical $25 per bag fee, that’s a huge savings of up to $175!
This saving easily offsets the card’s $95 annual fee!
International Travel Benefits
If you like to fly abroad, you’ll love that the card has recently eliminated foreign transaction fees for purchases, saving you 3% automatically.
In addition, the card is chip-enabled for enhanced security. The chip also makes it easier to make purchases out of the country since many places only accept cards that have them.
Even More Benefits
Your miles never expire with the card as long as it stays active. You can also earn as many as you want because there’s no cap.
Plus, because it’s a Visa Signature card, you get a variety of shopping and travel perks.
Best Way To Redeem Alaska Miles
If you fly Alaska Airlines and its partner airlines on a frequent basis, you can earn a decent amount of miles with the Alaska Signature card. Those miles can be redeemed for flights, upgrades, and magazine subscriptions, and more!
However, you’ll need to call Alaska Airlines at 800-252-7522 to book award flights on Cathay Pacific and LATAM.
Here is a sample of the miles you will need to book an award:
Award Type
Coach
Business
First
Continental U.S. and Canada
12,500
20,000
25,000
Intra-State
7,500
12,500
15,000
Hawaii
20,000
30,000
40,000
Central and South America
17,500
25,000
30,000
Mexico
17,500
25,000
30,000
The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program allows you to book one-way tickets with a free stopover, which is a unique benefit. After all, stopovers provide time to visit an extra location on the way to your final destination!
Tip #2: Redeem miles for an upgrade; you only need 15,000 for a first class upgrade award! You can also purchase upgrades for as little as $50. The total amount depends on how far you are traveling.
Tip #3: Don’t forget about that annual companion fare.
Tip #4: For as few as 500 miles, you can order a magazine subscription. Choose from top magazines such as “Glamour,” “Gold Digest,” “Sports Illustrated Kids,” and many more.
Tip #5: Share miles with a friend or loved one, or donate them to charity. You have both of these options when it comes to the miles you earn with the Alaska Signature card.
The Charity Miles program includes Make-A-Wish, The Nature Conservancy, Hero Miles, and various disaster relief organizations.
Best Way To Maximize Alaska Miles
Obviously, the most effective ways to rack up Alaska miles with the Alaska Signature card is to use it for Alaska Airlines purchases where you’ll earn 3x miles.
Here are some other ways to earn more miles with the Alaska Signature card:
Tip #2: With Mileage Plan Shopping, you earn miles by shopping online with over 800 participating retailers, including Groupon, Sears, and REI. Pay with your Alaska Signature card and earn additional miles.
Tip #3: Rent a car with Alaska’s rental car agency partners to earn triple miles and other deals. Check the offers for each car rental agency, because they can vary widely during promotional periods.
For example, at one point Hertz offered 4x miles plus savings of up to 35% for using your Alaska Airlines membership number!
Tip #4: Mileage Plan has an extensive list of Everyday Mileage partners, such as GCI, Teleflora, and Carrs Safeway. Each business offers miles and discounts for its products and services.
Tip #5: Fly Alaska Airlines partner airlines to earn flight miles and premium cabin bonuses. Click on an airline at the Mileage Plan website to find out how many miles you can earn.
The miles you earn with some carriers, such as American Airlines, can even count toward Alaska Airlines elite status.
Tip #6: Stay at partner hotels to earn Alaska Airlines miles.
Tip #7: Earn 1,500 bonus miles for vacation packages purchased at alaskaair.com. Flights must be marketed and operated by Alaska Airlines with the 2-letter airline code AS preceding the flight number on your receipt or boarding pass.
If flights are shorter than 500 miles, you will earn a minimum of 500 miles. Also, these bonus miles are per booking (not per passenger) and do not count toward elite status qualification.
Alternative Card to the Alaska Signature Card
Unfortunately, the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan loyalty program doesn’t have a wide variety of redemption options like some airline credit cards. In addition, it can be difficult to redeem miles because of the restrictions put on awards.
The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.
Marriott loyalists will love this card's annual free night award, automatic elite status, and up to 17x points per $1 on Marriott hotel stays.
Marriott loyalists will love this card's annual free night award, automatic elite status, and up to 17x points per $1 on Marriott hotel stays.
Earn 3 Free Nights after you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases (each night valued up to 50,000 points) within the first 3 months from account opening.
Up to 3 Free Nights
$1,050
$95
Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.
Good to Excellent (670-850)
If you’re a frequent traveler and a Marriott loyalist, there’s a lot to love about the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. The card comes packed with several great benefits like a free hotel night once a year, automatic Silver Elite status (with a fast-track to Gold Elite status), and multiple options for redeeming points.
Pros
Earn big when you use your card at over 7,000 participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels
New benefit to earn big at grocery stores, gas stations, and dining
Automatic Silver Elite Status
1 Free Night Award each cardmember anniversary (up to 35,000 points)
Earn 3 Free Night Awards (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after qualifying purchases.
Earn 3X points per $1 on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining.
Earn 1 Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 you spend.
1 Free Night Award (valued up to 35,000 points) every year after account anniversary.
Earn up to 17X total points per $1 spent at thousands of hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Card.
Receive 15 Elite Night Credits annually, automatic Silver Elite status, and path to Gold Status when you spend $35,000 on purchases each calendar year.
The welcome offer for the Marriott Boundless card is typically very good. In addition, you earn 6 points per $1 for all stays at participating Marriott hotels and 2 points per $1 for everything else.
The Marriott Boundless card allows you to transfer points to over 40 airlines (including Alaska Airlines) with no blackout dates. For every 60,000 points you transfer, you get an additional 5,000 bonus miles!
The card gives you other redemption options, too. Not only could you still fly Alaska Airlines (as well as a ton of other airlines) but you can redeem points for hotel stays, gift cards, and more.
Bottom Line: Travelers who want more flexible redemption options might consider the Marriott Boundless card that allows you to transfer points to Alaska Airlines and has lots of benefits.
We’ve also compared the Alaska Airlines Signature card to other popular cards:
The information regarding the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Alaska Signature card? Is it worth it?
The Alaska Signature card is a partnership between Alaska Airlines and Bank of America. It is great for those who fly Alaska Airlines and its partner airlines frequently and want a card to earn more miles for flight awards.
The card has several benefits, including bonus miles, the ability to earn an annual companion fare for $99 plus taxes and fees ($23), and your first bag checked complimentary (along with that of up to 6 companions!)
How does the Alaska Signature card work?
The Alaska Signature card earns 3x miles on all Alaska Airlines purchases, 2x miles on eligible gas, local transit (including rideshare), cable, and select streaming services, and 1x miles for other purchases. Enroll in the Mileage Plan Dining program and earn 1x to 5x points on purchases at participating restaurants.
Earn additional miles by booking with hotel and car rental partners and making purchases with participating retailers.
Redeem your miles for travel on Alaska Airlines and its partner airlines, including American Airlines, British Airways, and Singapore Airlines. You can also redeem miles for first class upgrades and magazine subscriptions.
How do you redeem Alaska Signature card points?
Miles earned on your Alaska Signature card automatically get deposited into your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account. From there, you can redeem the miles through the Alaska Airlines portal.
Who are the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan partners?
Alaska Airlines is part of the Oneworld alliance and it has partnered with a number of additional airlines. The full list of partners can be found on the Alaska website.
What is the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Dining program?
Most airlines, including Alaska, have a partnership with the dining network, allowing members to earn miles in their loyalty accounts simply for dining at partner restaurants.
Just register your credit card(s) and the miles will automatically accumulate.
See our detailed review of the Alaska Airlines dining program. Note that you can only be a part of 1 dining program at a time, but can switch whenever you want by simply signing up for another program.
Which is better, the Alaska Signature card or the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card?
The Alaska Signature card is great for those who travel Alaska Airlines on a regular basis.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card earns 2 points for every dollar you spend on travel and dining and 1 point per dollar for everything else. This means you have the option of earning with carriers other than Alaska Airlines.
The annual fee is equal with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card ($95 vs. $95). You also don’t earn a companion fare with the card as you do with the Alaska Signature card.
Founder and CEO of Upgraded Points, Alex is a leader in the industry and has earned and redeemed millions of points and miles. He frequently discusses the award travel industry with CNBC, Fox Business, The New York Times, and more.
This bonus value is an estimated valuation calculated by UP after analyzing redemption options, transfer partners, award availability and how much UP would pay to buy these points.
