Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Credit Card Review

The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program is popular with frequent Alaska fliers, in part because they have so many different airline partners that you can use your miles for. If you frequently travel for business, that’s music to your ears.

And if you have good business credit already, the Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card could make your Mileage Plan experience even more generous. Like most airline credit cards, it offers a strong bonus for purchases from the airline, plus a smaller bonus for some other purchases. Find out if it’s right for you.

What Is the Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card?

The Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card is a small-business credit card that offers serious benefits to frequent Alaska Airlines customers. 

New account holders can earn one of the best sign-up bonuses in the category, with a value easily exceeding $1,000 when fully exploited. Moving forward, this card earns 3x points on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases, such as flights and inflight WiFi, and 2x points on eligible gas, shipping, and local transit (including rideshare). 

The Alaska Airlines Business Business card has several additional benefits:

• Priority boarding
• $100 off an annual Alaska Lounge+ Membership when using your card
• 20% back on Alaska Airlines in-flight purchases when using your card
• A 10% rewards bonus on all miles earned from card purchases if your company has an eligible Bank of America small-business deposit account

The annual fee for this card is $70 for the company and $25 per card, including the first card. There is no foreign transaction fee for this card.

What Sets the Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card Apart?

This card has several features that help it distinguish itself from other credit cards in its category.

• Fantastic sign-up bonus. This card has one of the best sign-up bonuses of any airline credit card on the market, and for less than $100 per year for a single user. That’s definitely worth celebrating.
• No late fee for balances less than $100. Most cards charge late fees no matter the balance, so it’s notable that this card doesn’t charge a late fee if your balance is less than $100. Of course, you should always pay your balance in full and on time if you can. 
• Priority boarding. You get priority boarding for holding the Alaska Airlines Business credit card. If you fly Alaska Airlines frequently, this could be important to you.

Key Features of the Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card

The Alaska Airlines Business credit card offers a sign-up bonus, no foreign transaction fee, and additional benefits like priority boarding.

Sign-Up Bonus

Earn 50,000 bonus miles, a $100 statement credit, and a Companion Fare ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from $23) after making $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening.

Earning Rewards

This card earns 3x miles on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases, such as airfare and in-flight WiFi.

It also earns 2x points on eligible gas, shipping, and local transit purchases. Local transit is a broad category that includes tolls, public transportation, and rideshare. 

All other eligible purchases earn 1 mile per $1 spent. There are no limits on how many miles you can earn in any of these categories.

Redeeming Rewards

You can redeem your points for Alaska Airlines flights. Redemption values vary by route and other factors, and you may be able to get better value when you redeem for partner flights.

Important Fees

This card charges balance transfer and cash advance fees equal to 4% of the amount of each transaction. 

Balances of $100 or less incur no late payment fees. Otherwise, the late payment fee ranges from $29 to $49, depending on balance.

The annual fee for this card is $70 for the company and $25 per card. There is no foreign transaction fee.

Additional Benefits

This card has several additional benefits, including priority boarding and $100 off an annual Alaska Lounge+ Membership when you pay with your card. 

You also get 20% back on eligible Alaska Airlines in-flight purchases when using your card, plus a 10% rewards bonus on all miles earned from card purchases if your company has an eligible Bank of America small business account.

Credit Required

This card requires excellent credit to qualify. Don’t expect to qualify with a FICO score below 720 or limited credit history. 

Pros & Cons

The Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card is an appealing airline credit card, but far from perfect. Before you apply, understand its pros and cons.

Pros

This card offers a few key advantages over the competition. You’ll have to decide whether the upsides outweigh the downsides.

• Strong rewards categories. This card earns unlimited 3x miles on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases and unlimited 2x miles on a broad mix of other favored categories. All in all, it’s an above-average rewards program.
• Excellent sign-up bonus. This card has one of the best sign-up bonuses of any airline credit card. The bonus miles portion should be enough for an award flight for you and a heavily discounted fare for your companion, and the credit covers the first year’s annual fee if you have just one card.
• Good benefits. This card offers several valuable benefits, perhaps the most notable being a 10% boost to earned rewards miles if your company has an eligible Bank of America small-business account. Also worth noting: 20% off eligible in-flight purchases and $100 off an annual Alaska Lounge+ Membership paid with your card.

Cons

There are also a few drawbacks to the Alaska Airlines Business credit card. Consider them carefully before you apply.

• Bonus miles portion of the sign-up incentive could be better. There are other cards that have even more generous sign-up bonuses. Not that this one is terrible — just know you can do better.
• Companion Fare restrictions. This is a valuable perk, but there are restrictions. For example, you have to pay for the ticket with your Alaska card (no mileage awards), and the second ticket will cost you a $99 fee, plus taxes. And you can’t use it for first class tickets. 
• Extra fees for additional cardholders.  This card has an annual fee for $70, but imposes another $25 fee for each additional authorized cardholder. Most small-business cards don’t have this per-card fee. 

How the Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card Stacks Up

This card’s closest competitor is probably the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Card. Here’s how the two cards compare.

	Alaska Airlines Visa Business	Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business
Annual Fee	$70, plus $25 per card	$99
Sign-Up Bonus	Very good	Even better
Rewards Rate	Up to 3x miles	Up to 3x points
0% Intro APR	None	None
Foreign Transaction Fee	None	None
Credit Needed	Excellent	Good or better

The Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card has a lot going for it, but believe it or not, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business card is even better. If you regularly fly Southwest that is. If you’re more frequently in the air with Alaska or one of its partners, you know where to turn.

Final Word

The Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card is clearly aimed at Alaska’s more frequent travelers, as a way to earn additional miles and some nice little perks. It does that job well, but is poorly suited to more casual customers. That said, if Alaska is your airline and you’re a small-business owner who regularly takes to the air, then this is your card.