Companion fare: Perfect for couples or friends to fly together
Flying is normally twice as expensive for couples, but not with this Alaska Airlines 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, plus 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 cost $500 to $1,000 per person, that's a smart time to use your companion fare.
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: When you pay for your flight with this card, you (and up to six guests on your reservation) get priority boarding.
- 20% back on in-flight purchases: This applies to food, beverage, and wifi purchases, and 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.
