mileage plan

Tag Archives for mileage plan.

Yes! Just Picked up a New Alaska Visa for 40K Miles – How to Get the Offer

by Harlan 7 Comments

a screenshot of a visa application

The typical signup offer on the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa is 30,000 Alaska miles after meeting the minimum spending requirements (usually $1,000 in the first 90 days).

We’ve seen offers for $0 companion fares, a $100 statement credit (tantamount to a 10% discount on the minimum spending), and a few highly targeted offers.

This latest deal is for 40,000 Alaska miles and a $0 companion fare after spending $2,000 within the first 90 days of account opening. There are a few steps to get the offer to show – but it’s worth it for 10,000 extra Alaska miles.

alaska visa 40000

Best public deal there’s been for the Alaska Visa – 40K miles and a $0 companion ticket

I was just instantly approved with a $17,000 credit line and I’m LOL/24. It’s clear by now I’ll never open another Chase card – so I went for it. Alaska miles are among the most valuable out there – and you can use the $0 companion ticket to anywhere Alaska flies, including Hawaii!

Here’s how to get the offer.

Alaska Visa 40K offer with a little massaging

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I’m Switching to Alaska and Southwest (With Companion Pass) Next Week

by Harlan 19 Comments

a purple background with white text

Also see: 

American who? Delta what? Beginning 2017, I’m exclusively flying and crediting everything to Alaska or Southwest.

If I have to fly American, that’ll be credited to Alaska. Thanks to Alaska’s merger with Virgin America, I might not see the inside of DFW much next year. DAL is gonna become my new jam – and it’s only 10 minutes up the street.

Switching to Alaska and Southwest

I’ll be at DAL a lot more than DFW in 2017

I’m also going to transfer 90,000 Starwood points to Marriott to get:

I easily value that at least $5,000.

Bring on the Alaska and Southwest “Love”

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Pick Up 30,000 Alaska Miles Every 45 Days

by Harlan 17 Comments

a screenshot of a computer

I recently picked up an personal Alaska Visa card, then tried to get another one soon after. It was automatically denied. Like, straight up the answer is no.

That’s unusual, so I thought it may have been because I didn’t lower the limits on my existing Alaska cards before applying. Not wanting to waste the hard pull on my credit (because multiple inquires on the same day are combined), I applied for the business version of the card and was instantly approved.

alaska miles every 45 days

Deeee-nied!

But I didn’t want to let it go. I called the next day to speak to a credit analyst (they are open 8am to 7pm and I usually apply for new cards late at night while tipsy) for reconsideration.

I offered to lower my limits on one of the other cards, as they are pretty high (like $20,000 each), but she said the denial had nothing to do with my credit score or account history. And moving credit lines wouldn’t help me, either.

I was denied because I already opened a personal Alaska card within the last 90 days – which was the first time I’d heard that. But apparently it’s been enforced sporadically for a while.

So I figured how to play by the “new” rules and still get my doses of Alaska miles: rotate between the personal and business versions of the card every 90 days.

Get 30,000 Alaska miles every 45 days

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Why I Bought a Car With Credit Cards

by Harlan 14 Comments

a silver car parked on a concrete surface

Also see: 

I’m targeting late April/early May to be out of NYC and in Dallas full-time.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted a silver Subaru Forester. Buying a house and moving to Dallas meant I’d need to buy a car sooner or later.

The budget I had in mind was $6,000 for everything. Tax, title, registration, base price of the vehicle, everything.

I knew car prices tend to rise as it gets warmer, so when I found a great deal on the car I wanted in late February, I went ahead and snagged it.

My new cahhh

My new cahhh. I named him Clyde

Oh! And I wanted to pay for it in full. No financing.

Just an in-shape, reliable used car whose only expenses were maintenance, insurance, and gas. Boom.

Buying a car with credit cards

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