krazykanuck

True, but I'd still label BoA as a "card issuer of last resort". They're a crappy bank, with mediocre customer service, and honestly unless you're high up in their relationship banking there is little reason to want to deal with them. I'm still impressed that I figured out how to pay my AS Biz card through their terrible interface

chrisl137

Wells Fargo is worse.

They have a habit of turning off people's online access to their accounts and being unable to restore it.

Tack

As a long time BoA customer I’d agree that they can be pretty bad at times. But banks in general are horrible. They all suck. My business requires the use of a couple of other banks due to lack of BoA coverage. Regions Bank, in the south is atrocious. Lol makes me pine for the reliable, crappy BoA service. With their entry into OW, AS needs to find a much better credit card partner.

eponymous_coward

Not to mention their habit of opening credit cards without permission from customers.

Like I said, I don't think there are a ton of choices in terms of "size of bank" (needs to be able to hand AS a very large check and customer base to market to), "local footprint in communities AS serves", and "won't hack off AS's management of their frequent flier mileage program by having a convertible currency, or have exclusive relationships with AS competitors" (read: I think there's zero chance they end up with Chase or Amex, for exactly those reasons- DL would have a fit if they weren't AMEX's exclusive airline partner in the USA, and I don't think AS wants UR transfers into MP, which would be a sticking point with Chase). It's basically Wells Fargo and US Bank. BofA may actually be the best option for AS given those choices- BofA is about 5x the size of US Bank in terms of deposits (2.5 trillion vs. 462 billion)...

PlowJockey

So do you think of those other cards as collectively $450 less because of the credit?

You have to count the cost somewhere 😁

eponymous_coward

There are other reasons to get those cards- free room nights, status, credits, etc. “I can use this card to reduce the cost of a lounge membership” is one way to assess if it’s worth the annual fee.

Flying for Fun

Starting February 2023, Amex Platinum will be dropping guest privileges so cardholder only access to the Centurion Lounges. That may change your cost benefit analysis.

James

anteater

I wish this would happen sooner, so as to help alleviate the capacity issues, or someone can gift me a Centurion card. 🤙🏻

scubadu

Let's not derail this thread, there is an existing one for that discussion, but suffice it to say many of us find that change delightful and it actually enhances the cost benefit analysis.

Regards

eponymous_coward

Not mine though. I neither hold a Platinum card nor use my Hilton Aspire to defray costs for a lounge membership. I also don’t value domestic lounges very highly. My preferred airport experience is “as little time in them as possible”. Aspire’s Priority Pass is fine but honestly I’d probably trade it for a reduction in fees or a different benefit.

I use the AMEX airline fee reimbursements for comp airfare. I mostly mention using AMEX credits to defray lounge fees because people might not know you can do that.

PDXPremier

That would be a total game changer for me. If you typically have 3 or more guests included as immediately family, even the discounted $25 B of A lounge passes don't make it less expensive than just getting a lounge membership....I would be dropping $100 per lounge visit which would be WAY more expensive than just coughing up the $350 or $500 for a lounge membership.

scubadu

Ummm.... I don't think you are talking about what Flying for Fun and eponymous_coward are talking about.....

Regards

nearlysober

I'm a bit confused on the oneworld lounge access. Not taking into account elite status or ticket type... on the AS website, on this page:
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/ai...tion-and-hours

It says:
An Alaska Lounge membership means you’ll also have access to more than 95 partner lounges around the world.

and then immediately below that in the "priority lounges" it says:
Find some peace and quiet at one of more than 650 oneworld airport lounges worldwide.

Are oneworld "priority lounges" different than a full partner lounge? Like, a reduced service lounge or something?

NoLaGent

^ they're not.

The 95 "partner lounges" are predominantly comprised of Admiral Clubs.

When you click through to the OW lounge page from the link you posted and scroll down, they also use the term Premium instead of Priority, they're both referring to the OW Lounge network, it's just poorly phrased.

dayone

A reminder that we're discussing the new pricing and tiers for AS Lounges. Thanks.

dayone, AS Moderator