Reader Story: Part 1– Deciding on New Cards to Apply For

I have a friend who, after about five months off from applying for any new cards, decided to give it another go recently. He is writing a series for MileValue on his experience. Below is Part 1, where he decides on a new round of credit cards: the Ink Plus (this card is no longer available) and the British Airways Visa Signature® Card by Chase, as well as the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature and Business credit cards by Bank of America.

Alaska Airlines’ Promised 30k Offer Now Live

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

Cheapest Economy and First Class Award Space From Low Tax Countries in Europe

Today (May 11, 2016) is the last day to take advantage of the 30% discount on Virgin Atlantic economy awards that brings the price of an award between select U.S cities and London down to only 12,250 Virgin Atlantic miles and $134.60 in taxes and fuel surcharges.

If you stack that Virgin Atlantic economy sale with the current deal American Express is offering-- a 30% transfer bonus of Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic through May 31, 2016--then you can book an award to London for only 10,000 Membership Rewards +$134.60!! Book now, but not as a roundtrip.
Why

Alaska Airlines Credit Card Primer: Best Offer? Churnable?

The current sign-up bonus available to the public for the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Card is 25,000 Alaska Airlines miles upon approval. There are higher offers out there however, and the official public offer is increasing in May, but with a new minimum spending requirement.

There is no minimum spending requirement to earn the current sign-up bonus of 25,000 miles.

There is also a $75 annual fee.

Round-the-World Example with Half in Flat Bed for 100,000 Miles

You can book yourself a tour around Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia stopping in four places for only 100,000 miles total with nearly half the trip in a flat bed. By stopping in four places, I am referring to actual destinations, not connections that have to be under 24 hours.

Much like the Mega Trip to the Caribbean and South America I wrote about a few days ago, this deal relies on piecing together some sweet spot awards (and this time also a low cost carrier flight within Europe) into one big trip.

Best Way to Book Emirates First Class: Japan Airlines Miles with Cheap Prices, No Fuel Surcharges

There used to be two programs that offered Emirates First Class and Business Class redemptions at reasonable rates:

Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Now there is only one.
Current State of Alaska/Emirates Awards
Sadly, Alaska Airlines massively devalued their Emirates chart with no notice.

Alaska Airlines Will Buy Virgin America. Impact on Miles & Points?

Today Alaska Airlines announced it will buy Virgin America, after weeks of speculation. Alaska beat out JetBlue in the bidding.

Alaska is predicting that it will take nine months to close the deal and another year beyond that for the carriers to combine onto a single operating certificate.

To give you an idea of the relative sizes of these airlines, look at the 2015 passenger numbers for North American airlines, according to Wikipedia.

Virgin America is a minnow.

Alaska Says Its My Fault for Emirates Devaluation, But Still Caves to My Demand

Yesterday, Alaska Airlines doubled the price of flying Emirates First Class awards with no notice whatsoever. Here was my take:
Devaluations stink.
Major devaluations stink more. (Please do it the Aeroplan way of small yearly devaluations with a few months notice instead.)
No-notice major devaluation stink the most.
They are plainly unethical. For weeks Alaska has been selling its miles with a bonus to entice you to buy.

Alaska Massively Devalues Emirates Award Charts with No Notice. And Hugely Lies!

Alaska Airlines has massively devalued its award charts to fly Emirates with zero notice.