Alaska Airlines Brings Back Impressive Credit Card Offer of 70k Miles Plus a Companion Fare

The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature^® credit card doesn’t get as much attention as other co-branded airline credit cards, but overlooking it is a mistake. Not only does Alaska Airlines have one of the best U.S. loyalty programs, but the card alone can provide exceptional value to cardholders — even if you don’t fly Alaska Airlines often.

Let’s take a look at the card’s benefits, its new welcome offer, and how you might put both to good use.

New Alaska Signature Card Welcome Offer

New Offer: 70,000 Bonus Miles plus Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare ($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.

We value Alaska Airlines miles at 1.6 cents apiece, making the miles from this new welcome bonus for the Alaska Signature card worth $1,120 — pretty great as far as credit card welcome bonuses go.

Alaska Signature Card Benefits

The Alaska Signature card carries a $95 annual fee, but it recently added new perks to justify this ongoing cost:

• Earn 3x miles per $1 spent on all Alaska Airlines purchases; 2x miles on gas, cable, streaming services, and local transit purchases; and 1x miles on all other purchases
• Free checked bag and priority boarding for you and up to 6 guests on the same reservation
• Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare from $122 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from just $23) after you spend $6,000 or more on purchases within the prior card anniversary year
• 20% back on all Alaska Airlines inflight purchases
• $100 off an annual Alaska Lounge+ Membership
• 10% rewards bonus on all miles earned from card purchases if you have an eligible Bank of America account

To be clear, the Companion Fare benefit is in addition to the Companion Fare currently attached to the welcome bonus available to new applicants for the Alaska Signature card. That means you could receive 2 Companion Fares within the first year of opening the card, assuming you earn the welcome bonus and complete the $6,000 spending requirement for another Companion Fare.

Great Ways To Spend Alaska Miles

It’s easy for those who are new to points and miles to see a card like the Alaska Signature card and not give it a second thought if they don’t fly with Alaska Airlines often. But what they miss is that Alaska Mileage Plan has an incredibly lucrative award chart, especially for some of its Oneworld partners.

Fly Cathay Pacific First Class to Asia

For 130,000 Alaska miles each way, you can fly Cathay Pacific first class, one of the widest first-class seats in the sky, from the U.S. to select Asian cities. You can even add a free stopover in Hong Kong that allows you to sample the city while also visiting the carrier’s 2 first class lounges: The Pier, First and The Wing, First.

If you prefer to save some miles and fly in Cathay’s business class cabin, it will cost you 85,000 Alaska miles each way!

Fly Japan Airlines Business Class to Asia

Japan Airlines is another airline known for its excellent business class product and onboard service. Want to fly it between the U.S. and Tokyo? You’ll need just 60,000 Alaska miles each way if you’re flying from Seattle (SEA) or Vancouver (YVR) or 75,000 miles if you’re flying from another U.S. city.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, Alaska miles are some of the best miles to earn for those who love redeeming their miles for premium cabins on world-class airlines. Given that, the Alaska Signature card is one worth considering adding to your wallet — especially with this increased welcome offer!