Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card review: Niche rewards for travelers
Ideal for flyers who travel frequently on Alaska Airlines
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Snapshot
4.5
Bottom line
Intro offer
Buy One, Get One + 50,000 Bonus Miles!
Rewards rate
1 mile - 3 miles
Annual fee
$95
Regular APR
21.24% - 29.24% Variable APR on purchases and balance transfers
Bankrate Score
Rewards value
APR
Rewards flexibility
Features
Why you'll like this: Its annual companion fare perk is among the most valuable benefits you can get on a mid-tier airline card.
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Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card Overview
The Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card has valuable benefits for the airline’s frequent flyers and a solid sign-up bonus and rewards rate. Cardholders can also hit the ground running with Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare™ on Alaska Airlines — one of the best deals you can find on an airline rewards card. Get Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare™ from $122 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) each account anniversary after you spend $6,000 or more on purchases within the prior anniversary year. Valid on all Alaska Airlines flights booked on alaskaair.com.
This card can be worth the $95 annual fee, but mainly for those who fly with Alaska Airlines often since you can only redeem rewards and take advantage of benefits with the airline.
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Rewards
- 3 miles per dollar spent with Alaska Airlines
- 2 miles per dollar on eligible gas, EV charging stations, cable, streaming services and local transit purchases
- 1 mile per dollar on all other purchases
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Limited-time online welcome offer
Limited time offer: Buy one ticket, get one for just the taxes and fees ($0 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) and get 50,000 bonus miles with this offer. To qualify, make $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis -
Rates and fees
- Annual fee: $95
- APR: 21.24% - 29.24% (variable)
- Balance transfer fee: 4 percent of the amount of each transfer
- Cash advance fee: See Terms
- Foreign Transaction fee: None
- Late payment fee: Up to $40
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Other cardholder perks
- Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare™
- Free checked bag for cardholder and up to six companions on the same reservation
- Priority boarding
- 20 percent back on Alaska Airlines inflight purchases
- $100 off an annual Alaska Lounge+ Membership
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis
Alaska Airlines Visa Card pros and cons
Pros
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Earn Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare every year starting at $122 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23).
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Cardholders and up to six companions on the same reservation get a free checked bag on Alaska flights.
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You can receive 20 percent back on inflight purchases when you use your card.
Cons
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While Alaska Airlines is a oneworld Alliance partner, the airline has a limited route network.
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The card's annual fee recently increased from $75 to $95, making it even less practical if you only fly Alaska Airlines occasionally.
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You’ll need a good to excellent credit score for the best approval odds.
Why you might want the Alaska Airlines Visa Card
Like any branded airline card, the Alaska Airlines Visa card is excellent for frequent flyers of its respective airline, Alaska Airlines. It can be an ideal choice for customers of the airline who take annual or semi-annual trips because it includes generously boosted rewards rates and has some key perks that help you save.
Companion flights: For a friend or family member
You can earn a companion fare code when you spend $6,000 in one year with the Alaska Airlines Visa card ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23). This can be a great way to recoup your annual fee.
While spending $6,000 on your travel card is no easy task, it might help to look at this offer as an opportunity to save hundreds of dollars on a trip you’re sure to take each year. For instance, the average one-way Alaska Airlines fare hovers around $250 (before taxes). If you spend $6,000 in one year to earn this promotion and use the promotional code to cover companion airfare worth $250, then you’re looking at a return of roughly 4 percent, which rivals the cash back rate on some of the best cash back credit cards.
Rewards: Boosted rewards for flights and some recurring purchases
Cardholders can earn 3X miles on flights and 2X miles on eligible gas, EV charging stations, cable, streaming services and transit. In the right hands, these modestly boosted rewards categories can bring a healthy sum of miles. Regarding co-branded airline cards, 3X miles seems to be the standard among cards with comparable annual fees. You can also receive a 10 percent boost to your earned miles if you have an eligible Bank of America account.
Alaska Airlines also has a decent rewards program, with miles coming in at an estimated value of 1.1 cents, according to Bankrate’s latest valuations. This valuation isn’t exceptional, but it is more than you might expect on other cards and is far from the least valuable among airline miles. Plus, you’ll earn them at generously boosted rates, so your miles will stack quickly.
Welcome offer: Solid value with a little effort
While it may require some precise planning, the recent update to the Alaska Airlines Visa's limited-time online bonus has added significant value to the card. You can earn 50,000 bonus miles for spending $3,000 in your first 90 days with the card and snag a sweet "buy one, get one" deal on airfare (must pay taxes and fees).
Depending on how you use this flight can determine how valuable this welcome offer is. The miles with the welcome offer can be worth $550, based on the valuation of 1.1 cents, which is good value, but you can really boost the value of this offer by cashing in your buy one, get one offer on pricey airfare.
Perks: Free checked bags with priority boarding
Several credit cards include free checked bags, but not all have free checked bags for up to six people on the same reservation, something the Alaska Airlines Visa can boast. The only card that comes out ahead for this perk is the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, which offers a free checked bag on Delta flights for up to eight additional people on the same reservation. But if you’re a loyal Alaska Airlines customer, there is no replacement for the value that this card carries for multi-person reservations.
Plus, this card has priority boarding for as long as you’re a cardholder. Although this perk isn’t a huge value play, it can help ease tension in the airport and get you onto your plane and into your seat before most of the overhead bag space is cluttered.
Why you might want a different travel card
If you don’t use Alaska Airlines you won’t be able to make the most of this card. However, even if you are a frequent flyer of the airline and live near Alaska Airlines hubs, this card might not provide you with the best value for your specific circumstances.
Limited network: Lacks wide-spread coverage
Alaska Airlines connects cities along the western coast of the United States with international routes to Belize, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, the Bahamas and Canada. As a oneworld Alliance member, the airline has several partners, opening its flight network to more destinations. However, if you’re hoping to stick with Alaska Airlines, you’ll be disappointed to learn that the airline does not fly to many destinations.
However, the airline has several partners as a oneworld Alliance member, opening its flight network to more destinations. Unfortunately, there are added fees and guidelines associated with transfers that can lower the value of your Alaska miles and make using them less convenient. The most viable way to redeem your airline miles is directly with Alaska Airlines on routes they serve. However, because the airline has fewer routes than most airlines, this might make the card a poor choice for travelers with plenty of variety in their travels — particularly regarding international travel via transatlantic routes.
Rates and fees: Increased annual fee eats into rewards
This card once carried a $75 annual fee but was increased to $95 not too long ago, making it more difficult to recoup the cost of the card with rewards earnings. Other general travel rewards cards might have the same annual fee as the Alaska Airlines Visa card fee, but they may have rewards programs that are far easier to maximize. If you don’t foresee yourself spending enough on the card to earn enough miles to offset it, then the card is most likely not a good choice for you. For reference, you’ll need to spend roughly $2,900 on Alaska Airlines flights in one year to earn the cost of your annual fee back with the value of your miles at 1.1 cents upon redemption.
You can also leverage rewards from other purchases to maximize your card’s value, but it will require substantial spending. If you spend $2,000 on purchases outside your boosted categories, $1,500 at eligible gas stations and $1,220 on Alaska Airlines flights, you’ll earn enough miles to offset the cost of your card’s annual fee at a redemption value of 1.1 cents per mile. Combined spending among these three categories is $4,700 at an average rewards rate of 1.8X miles just to earn back the cost of your card. If you opt for a general travel rewards card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card or the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, you could offset the same $95 annual fee (See Rates & Fees) at faster rates with the same spending amount.
We tried it: Here’s what our experts say
Despite living in Florida, Nick Ewen, a credit card expert at The Points Guy, has kept the Alaska Visa in his wallet for a number of years.
I love the Alaska Visa card, mainly because of the annual companion fare benefit it offers. I’ve used it to fly to Hawaii (with a stopover in San Diego), Portland and Seattle in years past — saving well over $1,000 in the process. And Alaska Airlines MileagePlan remains an incredibly valuable loyalty program thanks to its Oneworld and non-alliance airline partners.
— Nick Ewan, Director of Content, The Points Guy
How the Alaska Airlines Visa Card compares to other travel cards
If you’re considering the Alaska Airlines Visa Card, you should compare it to other travel credit cards and airline cards before applying. Here’s how the Alaska Airlines Visa Card stacks up against cards that offer similar perks and rewards.
Annual fee
Intro offer
50,000 bonus miles plus buy one ticket, get one for just the taxes and fees ($0 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) with this offer. To qualify, make $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.
Rewards rate
Earn unlimited 3 miles for every $1 spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases. Earn unlimited 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, EV charging station, cable, streaming services and local transit (including ride share) purchases. Earn unlimited 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
Rewards rate
5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠. 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries. 2x on all other travel purchases. 1x on all other purchases.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening, plus receive a one-time $250 Capital One Travel credit in your first cardholder year – that’s equal to $1,000 in travel
Rewards rate
5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Best cards to pair with the Alaska Airlines Visa Card
Finding the right card to pair with the Alaska Airlines Visa can be difficult. It’s a branded airline credit card, so you won’t have many options if you’re hoping to combine points and bonus categories. However, it would pair excellently with a flat-rate travel rewards card or one that includes generous rewards with the option of transferring points to partnering airlines — particularly those in the oneworld Alliance.
Who is the Alaska Airlines Visa Card right for?
Bankrate’s Take — Is the Alaska Airlines card worth it?
The Alaska Airlines Visa Card can be worth the $95 annual fee, but only if you can use Alaska miles and the card’s companion fare. If you live in an area not serviced by Alaska Airlines or frequently fly to destinations outside the airline’s service area, you may want to look at other card options.
Fortunately, there are many rewards and travel credit cards to choose from. No matter whether the Alaska Airlines Visa Card makes sense for your travel needs, you should consider all your options before you decide.
How we rated this card
We rate credit cards using a proprietary card scoring system that ranks each card’s estimated average rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more against those of other cards in its primary category.
Each card feature is assigned a weighting based on how important it is to people looking for a card in a given category. These features are then scored based on how they rank relative to the features on other cards in the category. Based on these calculations, each card receives an overall rating of 1-5 stars (with 5 being the highest possible score and 1 being the lowest).
We analyzed over 150 of the most popular rewards and cash back cards to determine where each stacked up based on their value, cost, benefits and more. Here are some of the key factors that influenced this card’s overall score and how the score influenced our review:
What cardholders think
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card
In May 2024, Bankrate collaborated with third-party SliceMR to survey 6160 cardholders nationwide. Bankrate and Slice MR collected, averaged and presented website analytics and cardholder responses to six questions on a 5-point scale. Responses are based on individual cardholder’s product details, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by credit card issuers, nor do these ratings reflect Bankrate’s own reviews of these cards.
Community Reviews
* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.
