Sign Up for AS Visa or Use My Chase Reserve?
 

I carry the Chase Reserve card. I fly Alaska first class about 6 times a year from Los Angeles to New Jersey (avg $1,500) each trip.

Should I continue to use the Chase card with the multiple points awards for purchases, or sign up and get the Alaska card and use it for these trip purchases?

Does the one-time 40K miles, annual companion fare, and 3x mileage outweigh the 5x points and valuable Chase Portal?

In other words, Are my dollars better spent building Chase points, or building Alaska Airlines points?

Appreciate opinions/advise.

Welcome to FT. :)

The CF cert cannot be used for FC travel so not sure how much use you'd get from that. But the 40K AS miles should be useful to you. Get the card and then drop it after a year.
Do you have status with AS?

Do you travel internationally in premium cabins on trips where your schedule is flexible? If the answer to all of those questions is yes, get the card. AS miles can be worth over 0.10 ea. if you use them right. If not, get the 40K bonus and dump the card.

Credit Rating Concern?
 

Thank you. That's good to know about the CF Cert. I guess the real value question is if the 3x miles I receive with the AS card (when using it for AS travel) is more valuable than the 5x points I would get for the same process using the Chase Reserve card; whether the AS points build-up is more or less valuable than the Chase Points build up. Hmmm.

Maybe a comparison question that has too many variables to calculate a consistent consensus answer.

Ding ding ding.

I assume you have a good idea of what you can get our of your chase points. Do some digging around here on Flyertalk to see what people have been able to do with their AS miles. Also, go to AS' webpage and search dummy bookings for flights you would actually be interested in taking and use that information to calculate how much you value an AS mile. The same advice goes for any FF program.

No international travel.

If getting then dumping the card is the maximum utilization of the card, and no one is concerned about the credit score impact, then maybe that's the way to go.

I have a very high multi-card credit line and I carry no balances, and 820 plus rating, so maybe cancelling will have a minor big picture credit impact.

I noticed you don't have AS listed in your frequent flier programs. Are you not crediting your miles to AS? You should be close to MVP Gold with 6 Tcons in F, and that unlocks many great benefits.

Yes, I have been getting my points, and they are building quickly. That's exactly what got me to thinking, I could be tripling those miles with an AS card, OR should are the 5x Chase points more valuable? Which, btw, with using the Chase card to purchase AS flights, I would be getting the Chase points AND the normal AS Frequent flyer miles. So technically, I need to do my research comparison math with 2x AS miles vs 5x points.

Believe it or not, I'm getting somewhere with this thread! Narrowing down the multiple variables that were flying through my head (no punn intended).

Not sure how are you getting 5X UR points... CSR gives you 3X on Travel + the best travel insurance.

I would say if you are into churning & want to rack up some Alaska points get the Alaska card and dump it after first year. All the benefits Alaska card gives you are not really applicable to you, but 40k points could worth more than $800 if used right.

Where are you getting 5x? The Sapphire Reserve only earns 3x on travel and dining purchases.

OP - let me make this simple for you: Chase.

You are flying in F. Based on your travel pattern, you should be a MVP or higher, possibly MVP Gold.

So the credit card has no practical use except the bonus miles. But you have been earning many miles from flights already. Unless you have some urgency to build up the miles, there is no point applying the card now, especially when there are reports that AS or BofA dinging people from having the card multiple time.

On the other hands, Chase is a better option because regardless how extensive AS partners are, it is not as extensive as UR partners Chase has. And you get more benefits from Chase than BofA.

Simply don't see the rationale you need the BofA AS cobrand card.

Yes, you are correct. Chase is 3x points per $1 spent on travel. My bad.

No, churning isn't in my strategy. Too busy to focus on it.

Thank you all for your input.

I am a believer in diversification in point earning

I think the OP should get the AS card and use it just for AS purchases. That plus the bonus will net a solid mileage redemption

Then make all your other purchases on the Chase card, and you'll still have a sizeable rewards balance there too.

CSR has insurance that the AS card doesn't have. Baggage, trip delay, trip cancellation, etc.

Chase points are far more flexible than airline points. While they don't convert to AS, you can transfer to BA or SQ and book AS with them, though check the redemption rates.

I have the AS card and barring an occasional on board purchase or a BofA promotion (e.g., I got $4 back at Rite Aid!), I don't use it. Flexible currencies such as CSR or AMEX have more value to me. But YMMV.

I forgot to state the important point that AS miles, unlike Chase points, have a fixed value in the sense that they can frequently be purchased with a +50% bonus. I'm not sure what that actual cpm value is in that case, but someone might be able to add that.