sjbsf

I think I passed the $10,000 mark in the first half of January and still nothing. I fear this is going to require a call or two. Last year everything worked flawlessly.

notquiteaff

AS seems to be really pushing the 4k EQM for $10k spend.

Big advertisement above the escalators going down to the trains at the SEA D gates.

notquiteaff

AS/BofA sent me an offer via email: add an authorized user, get 2500 miles. Does BofA require a SSN for the authorized user? No, I don't want to add my dog or cactus - I'll have a friend visiting from abroad later this year and it might be useful for him to have a US credit card.

Edit: the web form doesn’t require entering the SSN, but neither does Amex… but if you don’t provide it, Amex will close the AU card after a few weeks.

vanillabean

I wish Alaska would push a Visa card with lounge access.

BOB W

The Alaska Lounges are over crowded much of the time and AS is actively looking at ways to restrict access. No Priority Pass access except at JFK and restrictions on access when flying in paid F are two examples. Adding a VISA card access option would only make crowding much worse.

I travel solo a lot and sometimes find it hard to find a a seat in any lounge, especially in SEA.

notquiteaff

Well, I was in the SEA lounge this evening around 6pm. First time with my AS AA Exec Mastercard with lounge access. There was plenty of available seating. By comparison the Centurion Lounge had a long line of people waiting to be let into the elevator (I didn’t bother joining the line).

scubadu

But surely you recognize that if AS offered a club access credit card, just as Amex does with Centurion lounges, you might be have a very different experience in the AS lounge. The reality is that most "everyday" AS fliers don't really understand that the AA Exec Mastercard is such a good deal, so the number of passengers using that as an entry mechanism is probably pretty low (relatively speaking). However, if AS started offering/marketing an equivalent card (at a competitive price point, i.e. better priced than paying for lounge membership directly) to all AS fliers, I suspect there would be a good amount of uptake on that offer and lounge crowding would look very different.

Bottom line is that the natural trend for airline lounges is toward crowding and it will only get worse as additional, new pathways in are provided. That said, if AS was my primary airline/program, I'd be kinda miffed that AA folks can get such a great overall deal for accessing AS lounges and that AS doesn't offer some type of equivalent product...

Regards

mtofell

Not sure it's such a big deal to others but a Mastercard vs. Visa is a HUGE deal to me personally since Costco doesn't take Mastercard. With a family of 5 I spend a lot at Costco (+/- 30% of my monthly personal CC spend) and if for no other reason than clerically I just don't want my daily CC to be a Mastercard. I am surprised/disappointed the AS/BofA CC is kind of a dud compared to other airlines.

scubadu

I think you might have missed my point. I only mentioned Mastercard because that is just what the AA card is, but that has nothing to do with what I was talking about. My broader point, in counter to notquiteaff's comment about a blissful lounge experience, was just that if AS creates a similar offering (whether Visa or Mastercard) there will likely be much higher uptake and crowding in AS lounges will only get worse (and frankly, it probably will get worse anyhow as that is the trend).

Regards

notquiteaff

This is a bit off topic, perhaps, but I have put all my recent Costco spend (effectively) on my AA Executive and MileUp cards - both MCs. How? By buying Visa giftcards on AA Shopping, which earns me extra miles (and LP) and gets me Visa giftcards that can be loaded into my Android phone for Google Pay. My current batch of giftcards earned me 4X AA miles and nearly 5X loyalty points.

That’s quite likely unless they expand lounge space or price the card high enough to not make it too attractive.

My blissful visit the other day was probably quite profitable (assuming AA pays them for each visit). I sat in a quiet corner for an hour and watched the runway traffic while catching up on email/FT after ten hours of “incommunicado” time flying back from Europe. And the only thing I consumed was a double espresso…

TalkingPoint

pretty sure jfk doesn’t accept pp. I saw someone trying to get in with pp last year and they said they didn’t accept it. It’s not listed on pp website either. I believe it’s been pulled years ago.

notquiteaff

My wife got an offer from AS/BofA for additional RDM for credit card spend:

Earn 2,500 bonus miles when you spend $2,500 or more on purchases with your Alaska Airlines Visa® card ending in xxxx by September 30, 2024. Must register by August 31, 2024. Restrictions apply.*

Fine print:

Selected Alaska Airlines consumer cardholders can earn 2,500 bonus miles after making any combination of purchase transactions totaling at least $2,500 (exclusive of any fees, such as the annual fee) using your eligible Alaska Airlines Visa credit card with a transaction date one day after registering through September 30, 2024 11:59PM Eastern Time. Returns, credits and adjustments to this card will be deducted from purchases, even if this card was not the original payment method. Cash Advances and Balance Transfers are not considered purchases and do not apply for purposes of this offer. These 2,500 bonus miles are in addition to the miles you already earn when you use your card. To qualify for this offer, your credit card account must be open with active charging privileges at the time of fulfillment. Registration ends on August 31, 2024. Please allow one calendar day for the retail promotional offer to become active. Transactions completed the day of registration are not guaranteed to post to the promotional offer. Bonus miles will be credited to your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account within the first two billing cycles after qualifying. The value of this reward may constitute taxable income to you. You may be issued an Internal Revenue Service Form 1099 (or other appropriate form) that reflects the value of such reward. Please consult your tax advisor, as neither we, nor our affiliates provide tax advice. All Mileage Plan terms and conditions apply. This one-time promotion is non-transferable and selected cardholders can only earn 2,500 bonus miles one time with this offer.

jsguyrus

How about they just issue the EQM's from their "spend $10,000" program before they do other promotions. April 1 and still no BOA EQM's.

isaacchambers

Its basically 2 miles per dollar....not a big deal compared to a basic capital one X card.....

isaacchambers

I agree..still waiting on the BofA 4k eqm AND the lifetime miles from the VX merger too.....