Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - AS Flyers ditching the AS Visa Credit Card?

This morning I canceled my BOA/AS Visa card. With the annual renewal coming up soon, I no longer thought of it as worth the $75 per year it was costing. As a MVP Gold I never used the upgrade certs and this year I noticed they no longer included Board Room passes.

Has anyone else held similar thoughts about the decreasing value of the card?

The $50 companion coupon has saved me an average $400-500 each time I use it... I think the card is well worth that benefit alone.

The ONLY benefit is the $50 companion voucher. This makes the card worth it. If this $50 went away, I'd cancel in a heartbeat.

I will probably dump mine when renewal comes up. AS is considering removing SJC from our destinations from TUS, citing low revenue. Even though all flights are filled. Last year they replaced the 737 with QX Regional Jets (71 pax) so no wonder revenue is down.

The only destination that I can use the upgrades for is SEA. The $50 companion is great but if that is all I can use, I don't think that $75 is a good price to pay for it.

So, Bye Bye, BofA

IMHO, it's BofA that sucks, not AS. I realize that the perks are being cut, but the customer no-service at BofA is atrocious. i can't even begin to describe the amount of letter writing and postage that goes into disputing an erroneous claim on that card, let alone the hold times. The declining benefits are one thing, but that bank is completely awful. I'm going to hang onto my card for the double miles on AS ticket purchases for now, but I really wish that AS would co-brand with a new bank partner.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fredmartens:
IMHO, it's BofA that sucks, not AS. I realize that the perks are being cut, but the customer no-service at BofA is atrocious. i can't even begin to describe the amount of letter writing and postage that goes into disputing an erroneous claim on that card, let alone the hold times. The declining benefits are one thing, but that bank is completely awful. I'm going to hang onto my card for the double miles on AS ticket purchases for now, but I really wish that AS would co-brand with a new bank partner. </font>

Well put. I'd love to see AS dump that partnership. B of A service simply sucks.

Sadly, there is no NW regional banking partner that can offer a better credit card program then BofA. I've found US Bank, which offers the NW WorldPerks Visa, to offer insufficient credit card service.

I canceled my BofA AS card a month ago. I just don't see enough benefits for the $75.

Do any other CC companies offer a $50 companion Certificate as one of the perks?

I would like to start accumulating miles on another airline. Ever since the Alaska Group canceled service to CLM it is harder and harder to use them for travel. Even using the companion cert is extra work. Would appreciate hearing what others are using as an alternative and why.

------------------
"A day without FF Miles is like a day without SUNSHINE"

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Superd1:
Do any other CC companies offer a $50 companion Certificate as one of the perks?

I would like to start accumulating miles on another airline. Ever since the Alaska Group canceled service to CLM it is harder and harder to use them for travel. Even using the companion cert is extra work. Would appreciate hearing what others are using as an alternative and why.

</font>

Another thought regarding the companion cert, I've heard that AS will be closing the Seattle ticket office (if it hasn't already)...it seems the cert is becoming harder and harder to use.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bstrickmma:
I've heard that AS will be closing the Seattle ticket office</font>


To my knowledge, there are no plans to close the Bellevue or downtown Seattle City Ticket Office locations.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Snowdevil:

To my knowledge, there are no plans to close the Bellevue or downtown Seattle City Ticket Office locations.</font>

That's good news. An agent at the Bellevue CTO told me a few weeks back that the downtown Seattle CTO was going to close soon. I think she said May. Hopefully this isn't going to happen.

I haven't had any issues with B of A (yet) but seeing as I charge a free domestic saver award's worth of tickets each year, I find the $75.00 annual fee more than worth it.

In regards to other airlines giving out companion fare tickets. My Delta American Express gives me one free companion ticket each year and my America West CC gives me a free companion ticket each year also.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by sxf24:
Sadly, there is no NW regional banking partner that can offer a better credit card program then BofA. I've found US Bank, which offers the NW WorldPerks Visa, to offer insufficient credit card service.</font>

WaMu!

Amen. Other than the local investment guy there that seems bent on pushing 5% front load Mutuals on me, WaMu seems pretty decent so far....I've moved a couple of accounts over there.

Well if WAMU did a no fee CC like they have with their no fee ATM, that would be great. I only use my AS Visa for AS ticket purchases. I am seriously considering doing away with it though. All other purchases go on the SPG AMEX.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by smantl01:
WaMu!</font>

Unfortunately, WaMu does not issue or service its own consumer credit cards. I believe it is all outsourced to Citi.

If they ever established a CC unit, AS would be a great first client though.

asking, whats the skinny on the "signature card"??? i can see some dining perks, etc., and if it is the same price as the platinum, cool.

but, again asking, is this a normal thing for boa to offer and then change annual fee to ???

(and you think any of those platinum "upgrade chits" will be worth a darn now http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif"

burkestr

I called B of A over the weekend to upgrade from Plat to Signature. I figured why not...there are a few more perks (unfortunately, none of the addtl perks are related to AS).

I called the # listed in my Mileage Plan statement for existing cardmembers wanting to upgrade. The first rep told me that the signature card "wasn't an option for me". I questioned whether it was a credit issue or...and she couldn't give me a straight answer. I asked for a supervisor, then waited on hold for 10 minutes. The supervisor came on, asked me several times what # I'd called...then finally told me that I was calling the wrong #. I explained that the # in my Mileage Plan statement for cardholders wanting to upgrade was the same as the customer service # on the back of my card. She put me on hold, apparently called the # to verify it was going to B of A, then came back and told me I was right!

Regardless, she told me the Signature card was a new thing for the Alaska program, and that I'd have to call back in a couple of days once things were sorted out. I asked that she call ME back when she's back in the office, and am expecting to hear back from her on Tuesday.

Regardless, it sounds like B of A and Alaska need to work on increasing the level of communications between each other!

Argh,

-Steve

Following up, what the the difference in the Signature Card vs the regular Platinum card? It looks like a dining benefit and some perks at Ritz Carlton hotels from what I can see, so what the is this dining benefit?

I have a Hilton signature Visa and I have never received one item of extra benefit from that, at least that I know of. Seems like a silly scheme to suck more out of us if you ask me.

I called Bank of America and posed the question of what is the difference and they didn't even know what the heck the card was.

The other thing that sucks is Bank of America actually expects you to pay the bill!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by WebTraveler:
Following up, what the the difference in the Signature Card vs the regular Platinum card? It looks like a dining benefit and some perks at Ritz Carlton hotels from what I can see, so what the is this dining benefit? </font>

Using B of A's card comparison page (http://www.bankofamerica.com/creditcards/index.cfm?template=choose_card&context=selected&Card2=8&Card1=22&Card3=&Card4=&last_sel_card=&sel=8), here's what I found that the Signature card offers over Plat:
No preset spending limit * 24-hour concierge service Visa Dining Program Preferred traveling benefits @ Ritz & Le Meridien chains


* Each charge that causes your balance to exceed your revolving credit access line will be evaluated based on your account spending and payment history and your experience with other creditors.

You can also read more about Visa Signature benefits here (http://www.usa.visa.com/media/cardbenefits/VisaSignatureBenefits.pdf) And here's a link (http://www.dinnerbroker.com/?site_id=211&jsessionid=2540831077848678433) to more details on the dining benefit.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">I called Bank of America and posed the question of what is the difference and they didn't even know what the heck the card was. </font>

Somehow this doesn't surprise me.... Following up to my post above, I didn't receive the promised followup call from B of A to tell me that they'd figured out how to upgrade my card to Signature level. I did receive a call back from AS MileagePlan (I forwarded them an email copy of my earlier post). The Mileage Plan rep simply explained that ALASKA was prepared for the card rollout, but that it sounded like B of A wasn't yet up to speed. She then suggested I try calling B of A back in a couple of months once they'd figured things out. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

-Steve

[Edited to add dining link]

[This message has been edited by smantl01 (edited Feb 26, 2004).]

I use my CC enough to justify keeping it, despite the fees. I rack up about 20k in charges + bonuses, so that's a free ticket domestic annually. For a $75 charge, that's not bad. It'll add up when I take trips to Africa, that's for sure.