Alaska Airlines Visa® Card Review: Get Bonus Miles and an Annual Companion Fare

For travelers who want to earn Alaska Airlines miles, the Alaska Airlines Visa® Card is the fastest way to do it. This airline credit card, which is offered by Bank of America, includes an excellent welcome bonus, a high rewards rate, and the opportunity to earn an annual companion fare. Read our full Alaska Airlines Visa® Card review to see its good points, drawbacks, and whether you should apply.

This credit card is a good fit for: Frequent flyers with Alaska Airlines. Travelers who live on the West Coast or in Alaska will get the most out of the card.

Features and benefits

With all kinds of savings opportunities, this is a fantastic airline credit card. It makes flying with Alaska Airlines more affordable, and the benefits can easily outweigh the reasonable annual fee.

Big bonuses: Earn more miles on your spending

One of the best parts about airline credit cards is being able to earn miles on all your regular spending. This Alaska Airlines card excels at that, because of all the bonuses it offers

As a new cardholder, you can earn a limited-time online welcome offer of 70,000 Bonus Miles plus Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™. It's one of the more valuable sign-up bonuses, and you earn it after spending just $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.

This card also has more bonus categories than most airline cards in its price range. It earns:

• 3X miles per $1 on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases
• 2X miles per $1 on eligible gas, EV charging station, cable, streaming services, and local transit purchases
• 1X mile per $1 on other purchases

If you have an eligible Bank of America account, you even earn a 10% rewards bonus on all miles earned from card purchases. For example, if you earn 50,000 miles over the course of a year, you'll earn another 5,000 bonus miles.

Companion fare: Perfect for couples or friends to fly together

Flying is normally twice as expensive for couples, but not if you have this Alaska Airlines credit card. As mentioned above, part of its welcome offer is Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™. You can also earn another companion fare each account anniversary, after you spend at least $6,000 or more on purchases during the prior account year.

You can use Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™ when you book a round-trip coach ticket. It lets you also book a fare for your travel companion starting at $122. The base fare is $99, and there's also taxes and fees starting at $23, depending on the itinerary.

If you have any frequent travel companions, this is a valuable benefit. Try to save it for a longer, more expensive flight when you can. For example, if you have a cross-country holiday trip where flights could cost $500 to $1,000 per person, that's a smart time to use your companion fare and save big.

Save every time you fly with a free checked bag

If you're not the type of person who can fit everything in a carry-on, you can at least save on fees with this card. It includes a free checked bag, which would otherwise cost $35 each way. On a round trip, you're looking at $70 in savings.

This benefit isn't just for you, either. Up to six guests traveling on your reservation can also check a bag each free of charge. So if you have a large family, and everyone wants to check a bag, an Alaska Airlines card is good to have.

Go further thanks to Alaska's partner airlines

After you've saved up some miles, your first thought might be to use them with Alaska Airlines. You can certainly do that, but one of the cool things about miles with Alaska is all the ways to redeem them.

Even though Alaska isn't the largest airline, it has over 20 partner airlines where you can redeem your miles. This opens up all kinds of destinations.

Let's say you want to visit Japan, but Alaska Airlines doesn't have anything available. You could use your miles to book a flight with Japan Airlines, since that's one of Alaska's partners. Here are a few more of Alaska's partners, which include all members of the oneworld airline alliance:

• American Airlines
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Korean Air
• LATAM

Useful extras: Priority boarding, in-flight savings, and a discount on a lounge membership

This travel card has a few other perks that could be useful at the airport and on the plane:

• Priority boarding: Overhead space doesn't last long on crowded flights. When you pay for your flight with this card, you'll get priority boarding. And just like the free checked baggage benefit, it also applies to up to six guests on your reservation.
• 20% back on in-flight purchases: This applies to food, beverage, and wifi purchases. You receive it as a statement credit within seven days of the transaction posting to your credit card account.
• $100 off an annual Alaska+ Lounge Membership: This normally costs $650, and it gets you into Alaska-operated lounges and nearly 90 partner lounges. Alaska does a good job with its airport lounges -- I've visited several of them. The flagship lounge at the Seattle-Tacoma airport is stunning, with plenty of space and a perfect view of the runway to watch planes taking off.

Drawbacks to know about

There's not much to complain about with the Alaska Airlines Visa® Card. It's a high-quality card with just one potential downside to mention.

Smaller route network could limit this card's usefulness

Alaska Airlines doesn't offer nearly as many flights or destinations as its largest competitors. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines all have much larger route networks and more flight options.

Its partner airlines at least give you more booking options with your miles. But before you get an Alaska Airlines card, make sure you'll be able to fly with the airline regularly. That way, you can take full advantage of the card's benefits.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, the West Coast, or Alaska, then this credit card could be a great fit. Alaska Airlines has hubs in each of those regions. If you don't, you may want to consider airline cards with a carrier that has a hub at your closest airport. Or, you could check out travel credit cards that aren't tied to a specific airline.

READ MORE: The Ascent's Full List of Expert Credit Card Reviews

To get the Alaska Airlines Visa® Card, you should have a FICO® Score of at least 670. Ideally, aim for a credit score of at least 700.

Although your credit score is a key factor in the application process, it's not the only factor that matters. Bank of America will also look at other items. These could include your income, your credit utilization ratio, and your number of recent credit applications.

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Considering what the Alaska Airlines Visa® Card offers, its $95 annual fee is a bargain for frequent flyers with the airline.

If you spend at least $6,000 per year on your Alaska Airlines Visa® Card, then you'll earn Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™. That alone can be worth hundreds of dollars depending on how you use it. If you frequently travel with someone else, then the value of the annual companion fare should easily outweigh this card's annual fee.

You'll save $30 every time you need to check a bag, plus $30 per travel companion for up to six other people. And since you'll be earning Alaska Airlines miles on purchase, you should get plenty of value from this card's travel rewards as well.

You travel with Alaska Airlines often. Those who live near one of the airline's hubs will be able to get the most out of this card, so it's great if you live in the Pacific Northwest, the West Coast, or Alaska. Ideally, you should also plan to spend at least $6,000 per year and travel with a companion at least once per year. That way, you can earn and make use of an annual companion fare.

The Alaska Airlines Visa® Card won't be right for everyone simply because of the airline's flight and route selection. But for travelers who live near one of those hub airports, this card offers substantial value at an affordable cost.

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Our Credit Card Methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

Our highest-rated credit cards have:

• A rewards rate above 2% (or 2x points or miles) with average spending, or competitive 0% intro APR balance transfer and purchase offers
• Attainable welcome bonuses that make up for any annual fees
• Low annual fees or a balance transfer fee of 3%
• Top perks such as purchase and travel protections, no foreign transaction fees, travel credits, and status upgrades

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.