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The Alaska Airlines card from Bank of America now offers 30,000 bonus Alaska miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in your first 90 days from account opening.
The previous public offer had been 25,000 miles for a long time with frequent 30,000 mile offers and an occasional 40,000 mile offer, but Alaska Airlines announced its plan to go to a 30,000 mile bonus this spring in a February stock market filing.
Quick Facts
- Sign Up Bonus: 30,000 Alaska miles after $1,000 in spending in the first 90 days
- Category Bonuses: 3 miles per dollar on Alaska Airlines purchases
- Value of Alaska Miles: Worth 1.75 cents each to me
- $121 Coach Companion Fare
- Free Checked Bag for you plus up to six others on same Alaska Airlines reservation
- No Foreign Transaction Fee
- Annual Fee: $75, not waived
- Churnable
Sign Up Bonus
The Alaska Airlines card from Bank of America now offers 30,000 bonus Alaska miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in your first 90 days from account opening.
The normal bonus was 25,000 miles on account opening. I think 5,000 extra bonus miles for only $1,000 in spending is a good trade off.
There were very frequent links for a 25,000 mile offer that also had a $100 statement credit. By my valuations, that offer is $12.50 better than the new 30,000 mile offer.
While this is a smaller bonus than most airline cards, which frequently offer 50,000 mile bonuses, Alaska miles have unique and awesome uses, plus this card is from Bank of America which has no other good rewards cards, so this is still a card to consider.
Category Bonuses
You get three miles per dollar on all Alaska Airlines purchases. That’s a pretty phenomenal category, but I’d still rather use the Citi Prestige® Card, which earns 3x ThankYou Points per dollar on all air travel and hotel purchases (including Alaska Airlines purchases) because I value ThankYou Points more highly than Alaska miles.
Other Benefits
The card comes with the standard checked bag benefit that most airline cards offer. This one is good when you fly Alaska Airlines, and is also good for a free checked bag for up to six others on the same reservation as you.
The card also comes with a $121 companion ticket in economy. This can be a good deal. Buy one ticket at full price with no fare class restrictions, and the second person flies for $121. You both earn miles and are eligible for upgrades.
Foreign Transaction Fees
The card has no foreign transaction fees.
No Annual Fee
The card has a $75 annual fee. The first one is due on the first statement.
Are the Alaska Airlines Credit Cards Still Churnable?
First, let me clarify what I mean by churnable. Generally a churnable credit card is one you can get the same sign-up bonus over and over.
From what I can see from reading through the last five weeks of the Flyertalk thread Alaska Airlines card offers, Personal & Business, 25K and up, everyone that has been churning Alaska Airlines cards in the past has continued to be approved for new cards. Most wait a span of at least 91 days before reapplying.
There is one exception– this Flyertalker who had opened 11 cards in the last six months was outright denied. Note that those weren’t 11 Bank of America cards per se, but credit cards across the board. So too many new accounts open in a shorter period of time could be a trigger for denial.
What I did see happen to more than one person was the receipt of a pending status on their applications instead of an immediate approval. But the ones who reported an update all said they were approved after calling the reconsideration line (note that phone numbers for the reconsideration line listed in the wiki summary at the top of the thread are outdated, try 1-866-811-4108 instead). This very recent post is from a Flyertalker who received a notice of pending applications for two out of the three Alaska cards he applied for, and he has not posted any update referencing a reconsideration phone call or an approval. But I wouldn’t consider this a negative data point against the churnability of the Alaska cards just yet.
A quick aside–you should always consider calling the reconsideration line if your credit card application comes back as status pending. Many times they will just ask you the same questions that were on the original application and then approve you.
So I will tentatively say that yes, Alaska Airlines credit cards are still churnable for the time being.
Bottom Line
The Alaska Airline card’s increased bonus is worth checking out if you want to fly Icelandair, Cathay Pacific, Hainan, American Airlines at its pre-devAAluation prices, and other awesome partners.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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