travelsg

so u must be their favorite customer..

alaskan9974

I posted in the wrong forum earlier.

Am a 40k member and had my Alaska air signature for two years, annual spend is 35-40k a year. Asked if a apr reduction was available, received a 12.24% apr from 14.24, af refunded for previous two years, 5k bonus miles and extra companion fare. Had only called to see if I was eligible for a reduction in apr as my credit has improved since applying.

Cheaper for me to fly ANC-HNL 25k UA miles rt. vs 50k AS miles so I switched spending to a csp & united card.

beckoa

Wirelessly posted (beckoa's PWP wondrousdevice3.0: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

Huh...didn't know UA operated ANC-HNL n/s

SOCguy

Called today to convert the card to one of the AF free BofA cards. No can do. "Can only convert to a card with the same terms." I said well then I'd like to cancel. "You should apply for the other card online and then after approval call to move the credit line over." Yeah no...not worth a hard pull for one of those cards. Cancel anyway. Zero attempt at retention. I'll use that hard pull in a few weeks if the 30k offer is still around.

Majikow

Hang up and call again. I had multiple reps tell me they couldn't convert the cards and called like 3-4 times til I got someone that would. They definitely can convert you to one of the Bank Americards.

SOCguy

I couldn't be bothered. I may have thought about hanging up and trying again but honestly, as a long-time BofA customer, I was pretty put off that there was absolutely no attempt whatsoever at retention (I don't consider "are you sure?" an attempt). The card hasn't gotten as much use lately as it has in the past but it certainly hasn't been collecting dust. I figured, if you don't want my business then I won't give it to you. I'm more than happy to pay $75 for 25-30k miles once or twice a year and never charge a thing on the cards.

pdxasflyer

We're doing a fundamental review in our household on travel rewards cards. up to now Hilton Surpass Amex and the AS Visa Sig have been our mainstays (90%+ on the latter) over the past 15 years. But the 1k mile booking bonus and companion cert issue is forcing reconsideration.

I have read or heard lots of positives for the following, so up for consideration are:
Cap One Venture
Chase Sapphire Preferred
SPG Amex
BofA BankAmericard Privileges
Chase British Airways Visa Signature

Sign-up bonuses aside, for the moment, do any of you have experience converting the others into AS Miles or redemption of awards? Is the companion cert still more valuable than some of the other perks, or even BA's 241?

Any thoughts, input appreciated!

LHG

I have two of the cards you mentioned, the CSP and the SPG.
You can use the Ultimate reward points to book tickets through their travel site (with 20% discount, so if ticket costs $300 dollars, instead of 30,000 points it would be 24,000 points), or you can pay with a combination of cash and points. The nice part is that you earn the miles on the flights you take, unlike using AS miles for the flight. (unless you do cash and points with them). You earn 1 point per dollar most places but 2 points for dining and travel, so the points can build much faster with this card if those are frequent spending categories for your family (even the parking meters downtown count). Plus you get a 7% bonus at the end of each year.
For the SPG, you can transfer 20,000 points and get a 5000 mile bonus for most airlines. I haven't tried it for AS yet. You earn 1 point per dollar spent most places (but more at SPG hotels).
I can't speak for the other cards you are considering. I guess you need to look at what your spending categories are and go from there.

amybd

Last year I called and asked to convert the card. First they said they could convert it, but not to the one I wanted, so I hung up to think about it, and called back and the next person said sure, they could do the one I wanted, but if I would rather, they would just refund the fee.

This year I tried again and was told on 2 calls the same line that while they can convert the card, I would still have the fee because the fee was part of "the terms and conditions I agreed to when I got the card" (well, no, the fee was $50 then, but anyway). I don't need the card, but it is one of our oldest credit lines at this point and we are shopping for a house, so I would rather not cancel altogether. Thankfully, the second CSR offered to refund the fee again, so it looks like I will keep the card for another year.

Anyone else been told that they could convert the card, but will get the fee anyway?

SquarePeg

I got this card last September, paid the annual fee (not waived, no statement credit). Used the companion cert. for a Hawaii trip. Have about 35K miles (bonus + HI trip miles). This years companion cert. added to my account end of August. Annual fee posted yesterday. Don't have any immediate plans to fly AS - maybe a family trip to CA in 2014.

Should I cancel the card to avoid the fee and reapply when I have plans that will involve AS or the companion cert? I think I read that this card was churnable? How long between close/app? Any downside to the cancel/reapply plan? I know I'll lose $10K available credit but since my spending is going to be low this year, I don't think my debt/credit ratio will impact my credit score by much.

If I cancel, will they claw back the companion cert? How long before my existing miles expire? Any easy ways to keep my miles from expiring if I no longer have the card?

TIA for your input.

Majikow

I converted my first one into a BofA Cash Americard back in April and then just reapplied for a new Alaska card at the end of August and was approved with no problems.

Also, right before I canceled my first card (right before the 1st year anniversary), they put in a companion certificate valid for a year, and I still have it in my account. So now after applying for the new card, I have two companion certs.

SquarePeg

I already have a BoA Americard Visa so I don't think that's an option. I'll have to ask when I call to cancel if there is something else they can downgrade me to that is no fee. Thanks for the info!

Majikow

They only offered me one of the Americards (Travel, Cash, and one other one).

SquarePeg

Converted to the no fee travel rewards card to preserve the credit line. Thanks for the tip.

LHG

My annual fee has posted, but no companion ticket coupon in my account yet (just the unused one from last year....Hum, need to use that in the next 10 days).
I called once and was offered no fee waiver or retention bonus. Will try again but leaning towards canceling and getting a new one when I next need a companion fare ticket.