Alaska Airlines announced this week that the move to a single loyalty program with Hawaiian Airlines will come this summer, and that they’ll also launch a premium credit card at that time. They’re giving out 500 miles for joining the wait list for that card plus an additional 5,000 bonus miles if you apply and are approved – on top of the card’s initial bonus.
So far we know that this card will come with a $395 annual fee and:
- it will include a global companion award certificate valid on Alaska and partner airline awards.
- it will offer 3 points per dollar on foreign transactions and dining, and offer accelerated elite status.
- waived award ticket fees, lounge passes and inflight wifi passes, plus same-day confirmed fee waivers will also be benefits.
Brett Catlin, Alaska’s Vice President of Loyalty, Alliances and Sales, shared some additional details about the card’s companion award certificate with me.
- The global companion award certificates will be useable on any Alaska Airlines redemption – that means partner awards and for any class of service.
- Cardholders will receive one certificate for having the card and can receive a second certificate earned from spend each year.
- However, there will be mileage caps on these awards. The certificate earned via spend will have a higher mileage cap. Cardholders will be able to “top up” the companion award certificates with additional miles above the caps (Catlin says this is “inspired by some of what we see hotels offer”).
Qantas Airbus A380 First Class Cabin
He also clarified – for avoidance of doubt – that the card’s ‘partner award fee’ waiver applies to the $12.50 partner award fee, and not the YQ/YR surcharges imposed by partners like British Airways. That would have been nice! (That’s actually a nice earned feature of the Qatar Airways credit cards.)
British Airways Business Class
I noted earlier that I certainly like the card’s 3x points-earning on foreign transactions. That’s a unique and valuable category accelerator. Catlin agrees, telling me “I’m most excited about the 3x on all foreign spend.”
Bonusing foreign transactions is something that some other airlines have wanted to achieve, but the economics never worked because their bank co-brand deal required the program to subsidize the points-earning on foreign transactions due to the foreign transaction fee waiver in the product.
The foreign transaction fee waiver was always important in travel rewards because when the customer would travel abroad, they’d put away cards that didn’t have it – and then wouldn’t return those cards to top of wallet when they got back home.
It’ll be really interesting to see whether this effect operates in reverse – driving the Alaska premium card to top of wallet when cardmembers leave the country, and keeping it top of wallet when they return home. It’ll also be interesting to see the extent to which expats are able to make use of this to earn 3x on their daily spend.
Wow. 3 points per dollar on foreign transactions. If foreign transaction fees are also waived, then I may have to give the Trumpers a win and actually move abroad. @Mantis @Gene @Retired Gambler (and whoever else usually, I just assume you’re all the same guy).
@ Gary — Lounge passes sounds bad. Lounges are already overcrowded! Either lounges end up turning into zoos like SkyClubs, have Delta-like waits, or United-like “no passes accepted” signs. When everyone is elite, no one is elite!
I will be convinced when I see it that there will be no foreign transaction fee. People with ties to the US and Canada could use the card in Canada as a 3% back card.
With a $395 fee, one needs to assess their use periodically to make sure it’s worth it.
On overcrowding, I find it interesting how each respective lounge choses to handle it. For instance, Delta SkyClub (via the Amex DL Reserve) and Amex Centurion (via personal Platinum) often delay access for most (unless they are VIPs, like First, Diamond, 360, or Centurion card holders, etc.), whereas I cannot think of a single time that United or American has ever delayed or denied me access to their lounges as a cardholder of their respective lounge cards (Chase United Club, Citi American Executive cards). That said, I’ve walked into UnitedClubs (Sunday afternoon during ski season in Denver, yikes) where people are literally sitting on the floor because there are no seats available, but at least people can get a drink before their flight, if they wish. Anyone else feel this way?
Nice to see any class of service. However, the mileage caps sound like it will be a buzz kill. If it’s 100k then fine, can still do transpacific J with no top up. If it’s 50k, which would be my guess, then it’s much less interesting.
As someone who flies a lot within the US on American metal with AS miles, while also flying to London for work regularly, this card seems like a no-brainer.
Insider memo said it’s 25,000 miles Companion BOGO that comes WITHOUT spending and 100,000 miles Companion BOGO that come WITH annual spending of whopping $ 60,000.
First thing first, these companion BOGOs worth less than their face value due to the restriction that you have to find the companion award availability of 2 at least. And we all know, more and more companion airlines only offer 1 availability per flight to the partner.
Let’s be honest, unless you are a successful MS’er or you are willing to spend your way to Alaska elite status. Most people won’t hit that $ 60,000 annual spend threshold.
Only 2 lounge passes are distributed quarterly diminishes its value. It’s even worse than Delta Reserve/Amex Platinum.
All in all, this card is not as amazing as you think it is. The only real offset of the annual fee is that if you constantly generate and redeem 100,000 Alaska miles+ annually to make it worth it for award fee waivers or same day change, etc.
Might as well give up on your super-deluxe-extra-self-important status guys. Those days are over.
Is AS the only airline that charges an award partner booking fee?
I would hope that they would drop that petty fee for all ward travelers and put on big boy pants by now.
Real scandal here is the nonsense fee
@Will, if that all turns out to be correct I still think this card has pretty great value.
“Companion” availability should just mean finding award space for 2 instead of 1. So as long as you’re normally redeeming at least 50k miles per year traveling with a guest, you’re getting a 25k mileage bonus, rebate, whatever you want to call it. I find that availability very often and that alone nearly (or wholly) offsets the AF depending on how you value AS miles.
I think 2 lounge passes per quarter makes sense. It’s a good balance between the free for alls that AX and DL lounges have become and still providing incremental value to holding the card with 8 visits per year if you max it out.
Add in the various fee waivers and I can see this making a lot of sense for me – and others.
@Will
25k cap? Gross. Probably won’t be a keeper card for me then.
@paul – air canada does, us airways used to..
@Darin, each of us obviously value AS miles differently. IMO, 25k AS miles worth no more than $350 if you’re certain to be able to use it every single year. Because of the possibility that you may not be able to use it every year, or that redeeming AS miles may be suboptimal in a given situation, I’d discount it by at least 25%, so the value of the companion certificate would be around $260, about 2/3 of the annual fee on the card.
The value of each AS lounge pass should be worth less than the value of each UA lounge pass, since AS has far fewer lounges. So, again, I’d discount their values.
Currently AS credit card is issued by Bank of America and the Hawaiian Airlines credit card is issued by Capital One.
Do we know which bank will issue the card from the merged company?
As an Alaska Gold 100K with the BoA AS business card and Club Room membership, I will wait until the offer is online and all details are published. Unless the SUB is huge, this card is a hard pass.
Very common to have 3x bonus, or even 5x bonus on overseas spending on Singaporean credit cards- because they don’t waive the foreign transaction fee. I suspect that is the same trick going on here with the new Alaska card- hard pass
2 Companion BOGOs are potentially worth a lot. Have to see the mileage caps on them, but being able to spend on one card and generate one RT international business class trip per year would be a big win for most people. Whether it fits with the maximizer crowd remains to be seen, but I could see this being a 1 card solution for a lot of everyday folks. And that’s really the magic bullet: card issuers have to figure out how to give benefits that will drive 1x spending on cards beyond the sign-up bonus. Some hotels have FNCs (Hilton) or status benefits (Hyatt). Those aren’t the best cards for maximizing spending, but you aren’t doing bad if you are getting a lot out of that chain’s status benefits. The Big 3 airlines have lost their way on this, as even the premium cards offer so little (Delta is the worst of these). But with this move by Alaska, the balance might be better — maybe you could do a little better running a bunch of Amex cards, but if you can get some status perks, pay for a big chunk of a vacation cost, and not have to mess with much without losing too much value, why not just set it and forget it?
Barclays issues the Hawaiian Airlines credit card.
Bank of America will issue the premium card.
AS is waiting for the Barclays contract to expire – which was extended jointly by Hawaiian and Barclays while waiting for the merger to be approved – timing was off.
What is uncertain – will BofA purchase the book of business from Barclays? In the past, I am not aware where BofA has purchased another banks book of business for an airline credit card program. They have sold portfolio’s – such as the former America West credit card program that was acquired by Barclay’s for the US Air program – now at AA and going to Citibank.
AS and BofA have a long-term, excellent relationship – going back to the SeaFirst days in the late 1980’s. I am certain AS would prefer that BofA just purchase the Barclay’s book of business without having to lose and piss off Hawaiian Airlines cardholders from having to apply and be approved for the AS credit card.
As many are aware, BofA sold it’s retail branch presence in the state of Hawaii. Will that matter much? No.
This will get resolved once dates are firmer and more moves are made. Still need to get a bargaining agreement with the flight attendants. Then proceed to obtain consolidated bargaining agreements amongst all work groups. Lot’s of work to do there – including at LAX where UAL is already taking back some of the space including a wide-body use gate they sub-lease to AC in Terminal 6…interesting development.
Now, I’m hoping that AS will turn the new HA Apt. 1929 lounge at HNL into an international business class lounge. It will be small – but sorely needed for international travel and that’s “if” AS expects to continue to offer long-haul international service from HNL, of which I’m not certain that will continue – long term.
SO_CAL_RETAIL_SLUT
Gone are the days when the point of an airline (or hotel) card was greater rewards for spend on that airline (or hotel). I have yet to find any mention of this. How much does the card earn for spend ON ALASKA AIRLINES?? Seriously. I’m guessing it’s also 3x, but who knows? And I’m asking that literally.
I get a feeling nobody will want this card pretty much like the Qatar card.
“That would have been nice!”
That would have been huge. Given the swing and a miss on not eating the YQ on awards and other limitations I’m not convinced that this card is worthwhile.