When Alaska Airlines revealed its new brand in January, they began to let slip other key changes coming to their co-branded credit card issued by Bank of America. First among them was the removal of foreign transaction fees. A couple months later, an investor presentation revealed their plan to increase the standard bonus on the Visa Signature card to 30,000 miles instead of the usual 25,000 miles.
Although scheduled for June 1, both changes are now in effect as of May 27 according to @bmvaughn. (I’m a little late to the party, but I like to take time off on the weekend, too!) You’ll also get a shiny blue card with the new look.
https://twitter.com/bmvaughn/status/736370354147364865
A key difference from the old offer is that you need to spend $1,000 to earn those 30,000 bonus miles. Previous offers only required one transaction.
Another common offer for the credit card provided 25,000 miles and a $100 statement credit if you applied during the booking process on the Alaska Airlines website. This offer appears to remain unchanged. Some would say that $100 is better to have than 5,000 miles, but I consider them roughly equal. I suspect we will also see this offer get updated eventually.
These changes put the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card closer to major airline credit cards issued in partnership with United, Delta, and American. However, all of those airlines also run targeted and limited-time promotions for up to 50,000 miles (and sometimes more). It would be nice to see Alaska do that, too. I don’t think I’ve seen a single targeted offer for their credit card over over a year. I would also like to see some bonus categories for transactions other than Alaska Airlines tickets. It’s far too easy for me to keep this card in a drawer right now, using it only when I book a flight. A dining, grocery, or hotel bonus would go a long way to keeping it in my wallet year-round.
