Special is in the eye of the beholder. The PIN priority of the card is quite special for those who care about that, but only for those who care about that. The only credit card program that transfers to Alaska Airlines will seem more special once SPG goes "poof" in the merger with Marriott to those who care about that, but only to those who care about that.

Meanwhile, it continued being a charge card when they went from Citi to BMO, but there were some other changes both before and after (that you may have gotten confused with whether it was still a charge card). It went from 2 months to pay to just 1 month to pay, it went from no preset credit limit to preset credit limit, and it went from not reporting to credit bureaus to reporting to credit bureaus. But the cards transferred from Citi are still charge cards because you have to pay the statement amount in full each month.