Update: Alaska has added a couple of new benefits to this card:
- Cardholders get 50% off Alaska Lounge day passes, dropping the price from $50 to $25 per person.
- Cardholders get 20% back on inflight food, beverage, and Wi-Fi purchases when you pay with your card.
Originally posted on 5/6:
Highest Ever Signup Bonus On The Alaska Airlines Visa® Business credit card
Table of Contents
Welcome bonus:
You can now earn 40K Alaska miles for opening the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business credit card from Bank of America and spending $2,000 in the first 90 days.
You’ll also get Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare™ from $121 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from just $22) after meeting the spending requirement.
Alaska miles are some of the most most valuable and hard to obtain miles.
Annual fee:
There is a $75 annual fee ($50 for the company and $25 per card).
Companion fare:
With this offer you can bring another passenger with you on a one-way, round-trip, or multi-city paid ticket for just $121 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from just $22). You can also use your credit card to book companion travel for 2 other people.
This is valid anywhere that Alaska flies to, including Hawaii!
The companion will also earn their full flown miles for their tickets as Alaska still awards miles based on flight distance.
Card earnings:
- 3 Alaska miles per dollar on Alaska Airlines purchases and 1 mile per dollar elsewhere.
- There are no foreign transaction fees.
Free checked bag:
The primary cardholder and up to 6 additional guests on the same reservation get a free checked bag on Alaska flights, even on Saver Basic Economy tickets. That’s a savings of $60 round-trip per bag.
Business vs Consumer card:
Bank of America business cards don’t appear on your credit report. That’s good for several reasons.
First of all they won’t count against your 5/24 count for opening new Chase cards. Only cards on your report that have been opened within the past 24 months count for that.
Second, when you spend money on personal cards your credit score will be hurt even if you pay your bill on time. A whopping 30% of your credit score is based on credit utilization. You can pay off your card bill before your statement is generated to avoid that, but that takes effort and laying out money well before you have to. Additionally it’s good to have the statement close with a couple dollars to show the card is active and being paid every month. On a Bank of America business card it’s just not reported, so you can wait until the money is due without it having a negative effect on your score.
Third, if you ever do decide to close a business card it won’t have an effect on your personal credit score.
You may already have a business that needs a card to keep track of expenses. For example if your name is Joe Smith and you sell items online, or if you have any other side business and want a credit card to better keep track of business expenditures you can open a business credit card for “Joe Smith” as the business. You don’t need to file any messy government paperwork to be allowed to do that. Just be sure to select “Sole Proprietorship” as the business type and just use your social security number in the Tax Identification Number field
Alaska miles sweet spots:
Alaska’s award chart has some truly amazing sweet spots for travel on partner airlines.
Alaska miles are some of the most valuable miles out there. You also can’t transfer points from AMEX, Barclays, Capital One, Chase, or Citi to Alaska, which makes them hard to get. The only decent transfer option is from Marriott at a 60K:25K ratio.
Another amazing benefit is that Alaska allows for a free stopover for as long as you want, even on a one-way award! That means you can visit 3 cities on a round-trip award!
Alaska doesn’t charge any fuel surcharges, except for travel on British Airways.
For example while you need 32.5K AA miles to fly nonstop on lie-flat seats between NYC and Los Angeles or San Francisco:
The same flight will be just 25K Alaska miles:
There are tons of amazing bargains for flights on Cathay Pacific:
- You can use 17.5K Alaska miles for coach, 20K for premium economy, 25K for business, or 35K for first class to fly one way to or from JFK and Vancouver on Cathay Pacific.
- You can use 30K Alaska miles for coach, 35K for premium economy, 50K for business, or 70K for first class to fly one way to or from North America and Asia via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific.
- You can use 50K Alaska miles for coach, 55K for premium economy, 62.5K for business, or 70K for first class to fly one way to or from North America and Tel Aviv or Johannesburg via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific.
- You can use 40K Alaska miles for coach, 47.5K for premium economy, 60K for business, or 80K for first class to fly one way to or from North America and Australia or New Zealand via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific.
- You can use 22.5K Alaska miles for coach, 25K for premium economy, or 30K for business class to fly one way to or from Hong Kong and Tel Aviv on Cathay Pacific. There are no fuel surcharges.
In other words for 50K miles you can fly business class from JFK to Thailand and stopover in Hong Kong for as long as you want. A paid ticket like that can cost over $6,000, imputing a value of 12 cents per Alaska mile!
Or for 70K miles you can fly first class class from JFK to Hong Kong, stopover in Hong Kong for as long as you want, and then fly in business class to Tel Aviv. A paid ticket like that can cost over $25,000, imputing a value 36 cents per Alaska miles! If you wanted to use American miles for this it would cost 150K miles!
Alaska requires that you call them up to book travel on Cathay Pacific, you can’t search for these awards online.
Cathay Pacific is famous for their wonderful first class where they offer the best bed comfort, seat comfort, and pajamas in the industry. It doesn’t offer walled-in suites or the hands-on service of Singapore and it doesn’t have onboard showers like Emirates or Etihad, but I don’t think any first class can compete with Cathay’s ultra-comfy seat and bed arrangement.
Cathay Pacific is known for releasing lots of award space as it gets within 2 weeks of a flight. They increase the amount of award space with each passing day if the flight has seats for sale.
It might not be a bargain, but you can avoid paying hefty fuel surcharges on Emirates flights with Alaska miles. You can use 42.5K Alaska miles for coach, 82.5K for business, or 150K for first (shower) class to fly one way to or from North America and the Middle East on Emirates.
Alaska also has bargains on other airlines:
- You can use 30K Alaska miles for coach or 50K for business to fly one way to or from North America and Asia on Hainan.
- You can use 35K Alaska miles for coach, 60K for business, or 70K for first class to fly one way to or from North America and Asia via Tokyo on JAL.
- You can use 25K Alaska miles for coach or 45K for business to fly one way to or from North America and South America on LATAM. You’ll need to call Alaska to book travel on LATAM.
- You can use 42.5K Alaska miles for coach, 47.5K for premium economy, 55K for business, or 70K for first class to fly one way to or from North America and Australia or New Zealand on Qantas.
- You can use 40K Alaska miles for coach or 55K for business to fly one way to or from North America and Australia, New Zealand, or the South Pacific on Fiji Airlines.
For example you would need 110K AA miles to fly in business class to Fiji, have a stopover there, and then fly to Australia. Alaska charges just 55K miles for the same itinerary:
There are lots of other Alaska mileage bargains, post which ones are your favorites!
Need more Alaska miles? You can buy them on sale here.
Will you signup for the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business credit card?
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60 Comments On "New Benefits And Highest Ever Signup Bonus On The Alaska Airlines Business credit card; My Favorite Uses Of Alaska Miles"
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@Dan, so I can I fly from JFK to Israel, with my spouse and kid for just 62.5K Miles + $242?
No, as Alaska does not fly to Israel.
If I apply for the card and so my wife, would Alaska let pulling the miles in one account after ?
Besides this is there any other card that offers Alaska sign up points ?
Does the companion pass work only once or as long as u have the card ?
once per year
From which beauro does bank of american pull ?
Dan, Isnt the business card difficult to get with BOA asking for documentation of business?
I got this a couple of years ago without any documentation.
Can i ge the personal and business version? I see the personal is 40k as well.
Sure. The personal card has had bonuses up to 50K though. 40K is the highest for the business card.
Ok thanks. If I have both cards, can I use 2 companion passes on one reservation?
Is Alaska 17,500 their standard rate for flights to Vancouver or LAX (for Coach)?
Is this still useful from Cleveland, since they don’t seem to have flights out of CLE?
The best uses are on partner airlines.
Any use for this to europe?
Sure.
what would be the best to paris?
Dan – question regarding business cards:
You always mention the benefits of business cc’s not reporting to your credit report. However, that works conversely too, right?
If one takes out a business cc to build credit by adding total credit available, and spending and paying every month – that won’t actually help their report. Is that right?
Correct, you would want a personal card for that purpose.
How much do I have to spend per year in order to get the Companion Pass?
$0. It’s one of the benefits of the account, but in theory it’s $75 because that’s the cost of the annual fee.
What airlines are partner airlines with Alaska for domestic flights?
It is surprising to me that they do not offer a direct flight to NYC – Anchorage while UA offers during summer season…
Dan
Can a convert my Alaska points to Korean who then can book me a flight on Hawaiian?
Thank you.
Can I get this card in Canada and in the US and use the same mileage number?
If I join now and spend $2000 in 7 days can I then get miles to purchase tickets for use in June?
Why dont people do your own research instead of always being spoon fed? These questions are so basic that a simple search would yield answers.
Tough to get this card. I recently applied and they now ask for a lot of documentation, specifically last 2 yrs of tax records. Since I’m a self-proprietor this means revealing mine and my husband’s full taxes. Not worth it in my book. Others may feel it’s not a big deal disclosing sensitive tax info. to a bank.
Will buying Alaska points here count towards $2,000 spend?
Sure!
Thanks dan! Any idea how long the offer will be up for?
25k on latam between any destination in North and South America? Lax-gru?
You forgot to mention that they allow children 12 and up to fly alone without having to pay a fee for an unaccompanied minor. Big plus for us when we send our kids to visit their grandparents.
thanks so so much since u haven’t out any info or example how to use it to Europe can u please tell shortly how ? thanks
Is companion fare valid for business class ticket?
Had the same question?
Dan, you should put in the post , that even when you apply as Sole Proprietorship, they will ask you for the last 2 years of tax returns.
Would I know that before I would not apply.
Just a credit pull wasted on my report.
Not always the case.
I asked the rep.and he said that when you apply as Sole Proprietorship, it doesn’t tell them much about the business and they always ask for tax returns in that Case.
Is there anything I can still do now once they ask this? Would huca do anything here ?
HUCA can’t hurt. And a new business wouldn’t have tax returns.
IME banks don’t approve for if the business is less then a year old.
I’ve gotten this card without providing tax returns.
What bank is this with?
BOFA.
Even better offer on the personal card now, same as above + $100 statement credit
The personal card has had a 50K offer previously.
In your JFK-HKG-TLV scenario, the return would have to be via HKG as well?
It’s a one-way fare. You can return on any airline you want using any kinds of points you have (or even paying cash!).
Is the companion fare eligible for biz or first class fares too?
Can it be used when the main ticket was a mileage redemption ticket or must it be used on a paid oop ticket?
Tia!
@Dan
Question. I have this Biz card (1+ yr) and a the Plat Personal AS card for two years not Signature (a bit peeeved at BofA lgiving me owest CL of any card in almost 20 years)
I digress with new 2 year rule on AS card can I still get Personal card since it wasn’t a signature card (still have PT card and AS biz card opens).
Can you get a second AS biz card? ( I signed up an approved with legit biz with EIN and Sch C).
Not as Sole Prop,. But I have opened Ink trifecta as a SP as well as Amex.
Thanks
if you get retention to waive your annual fee can that lead to getting your points frozen? I am not asking about getting the annual refunded if you close it before it is due that is know n to freeze your points I am askign if you can get a rep to waive would that potentially trigger a freeze? thanks in advance
Isn’t there a shelf life on Alaska miles? As I have quite a few miles expiring soon is there any way to keep them alive or transfer them? Thanks.
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/milespoints/mileage-expiration-guide-for-38-loyalty-programs-how-to-keep-your-points-from-expiring-and-how-to-bring-them-back-to-life-after-theyve-expired/
Can you transfer Amer EX Plat points or Chase Sapphire points to Alaska to book these fares on Cathy?
Can you get the SUB if you’ve had this card before?
If you get the companion pass now is it only good till December 31 2019 or a year from when you get it? Thanks
Good for 12 months.
Used your link,
Anyway to check business application status online/automated?
TY
Is there any real downside to giving them your tax returns? I was requested for my 2 most recent tax returns after applying for this card.
No.