Offer Ending: 80,000 Points Plus A Companion Award—Why Alaska’s Best Credit Card Beats Those From Bigger Airlines

I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Be aware that websites may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, Capital One, and others. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all offers that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.The Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card is probably the best airline cobrand credit card, and it has a limited-time offer of 80,000 bonus points and a 25,000-point Global Companion Award after spending $4,000 or more on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening. The annual fee is $395. The offer gives you two different things. The 80,000 bonus points and the 25,000 point Global Companion Award that reduces the points needed for a second passenger’s award ticket. I think the strongest reasons to consider it are the annual companion award and earning 3 points per dollar on eligible foreign purchases. Alaska has also put a substantial reward at $60,000 in annual spending. The Annual Companion Award Helps With Renewal Each account anniversary brings another 25,000-point Global Companion Award, with no annual spending requirement. Spending $60,000 in your card anniversary year earns a separate 100,000 point Global Companion Award. You can earn both. These work on eligible Alaska, Hawaiian and partner awards available through Alaska’s website, in any cabin. Suppose an award costs 35,000 points per passenger. Two tickets would normally require 70,000 points. Applying a 25,000-point certificate brings that down to 45,000 points, plus applicable taxes and fees. If each ticket costs 100,000 points apiece, the larger certificate brings the combined price down from 200,000 to 100,000 points, plus taxes and fees. Things to know: Book both travelers together on the same itinerary. The certificate applies to a new booking, not an existing reservation. You can use it for one-way or roundtrip travel. Multi-city and open-jaw itineraries are excluded. If the companion’s ticket costs more than the certificate covers, pay the difference in points. If it costs less, you lose the unused value. Book within one year of issuance. Travel can take place later, but changes after certificate expiration forfeit the discount. Partially used tickets can’t be changed. Only one certificate can be applied per reservation, and it can’t be combined with another discount. Pay taxes, fees and surcharges with the Summit card. The cardholder doesn’t need to travel – you can book for any two travelers. You still need award space for two. Using all 25,000 points of the anniversary certificate would cover the $395 fee if those saved points are worth 1.58 cents each to you. At 1.5 cents, it’s $375. That’s close enough that using another benefit can put you ahead. But don’t give the certificate full value if you’d otherwise let it expire or use it to save only 10,000 points. Foreign Purchases Are The Standout Earning Category The card earns: 3 points per dollar on eligible dining, foreign transactions, and Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines purchases. 1 point per dollar on other purchases. A 10% relationship bonus on purchase points when you have a qualifying Bank of America or Merrill account. That makes the rates 3.3 and 1.1 points per dollar. Dining and airline bonuses are something offered by numerous cards. Getting a bonus on eligible shopping and other purchases abroad that wouldn’t ordinarily fall into a bonus category is much more interesting. (Generally Chase buys points at a discount from its cobrand partners on foreign transactions, effectively subsidized by the program, making it uneconomic to offer something like this.) The relationship bonus triggers with qualifying checking accounts, consumer savings and certificates of deposit, as well as Merrill investment accounts. A new account can take up to 60 days to trigger the bonus. The Card Can Save Money On American Award Tickets Atmos charges a $20 partner award booking fee per person, each way. Summit waives it when you redeem points from the primary cardholder’s account and pay the award’s taxes and fees with that card. The primary cardholder doesn’t have to be traveling. That saves $80 on a roundtrip partner award for two. Five such bookings would save $400, more than the annual fee, without assigning any value to the companion award or lounge passes. This is a fee Alaska imposes and then lets its premium cardholders avoid. I’d prefer they didn’t charge it in the first place. But if you’re booking these awards anyway, the savings are great. Free points sharing helps, too. The primary cardholder can establish a network with up to ten other Atmos members and move redeemable points between linked accounts without a transfer fee. Each member can belong to only one network, and the primary cardholder can change each linked account only once every 12 months. Status points can’t be transferred. Being able to combine balances is useful when several family members have points but no one has enough for the award you want. Lounge Access, Bags And Travel Benefits The card’s travel benefits include: Eight Alaska Lounge passes annually, issued two per calendar quarter. They expire at the end of that quarter. Each covers one adult and up to two accompanying children under 21, with access to Alaska Lounges for the travel day. You need an eligible same-day boarding pass, and access is subject to capacity. These don’t admit you to Hawaiian’s lounges or partner lounges. Eight Alaska Wi-Fi passes annually, also two per quarter. Each is for one flight, and unused passes expire at quarter-end. A first checked bag free and preferred boarding for the cardholder and up to six guests on the same reservation on eligible Alaska and Hawaiian flights, when airfare is purchased with the card. Include the primary cardholder’s Atmos number. 20% back on eligible onboard purchases. This is for Alaska food, beverages and Wi-Fi, and Hawaiian food and beverages, when paid with the card. Up to $120 for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fees every four years when charged to the card. Complimentary upgrade waitlist priority for eligible elite members. A same-day confirmed change fee waiver. Alaska’s benefits page includes eligible Alaska and Hawaiian flights. Saver fares are excluded, and routing and same day travel restrictions apply. For a family of two adults and two children under 21, two lounge passes can cover everyone for a travel day. There’s also a $50 delay voucher. For an eligible Alaska booking purchased directly with the Summit card, a departure delay of at least two hours or a cancellation within 24 hours of departure can qualify. It’s for the primary cardholder, limited to one per calendar day, and expires 48 hours after issuance. Activation instructions arrive by email, and eligible spending is reimbursed as a statement credit. There’s also trip and baggage delay coverage, trip cancellation and interruption protection, and lost luggage reimbursement. along with primary rental car collision coverage. The $60,000 Spend Strategy Summit earns one status point per $2 in purchases, plus 10,000 status points each account anniversary beginning with your first anniversary. Atmos Gold requires 40,000 status points and comes with oneworld Sapphire. So $60,000 of spending produces 30,000 status points. An anniversary deposit of 10,000 in the same qualification year gets you to Gold which is oneworld sapphire. Status qualification runs by calendar year. The $60,000 companion award threshold runs by card anniversary year. Spending split between two calendar years can earn the certificate without producing Gold in either year. And a new cardholder doesn’t receive the anniversary status points immediately upon opening the account. Suppose you put $60,000 of purchases that earn the base rate on Summit. With the relationship bonus, you’d earn 66,000 redeemable points and the 100,000-point companion certificate. A card earning 2 points per dollar would generate 120,000 points on that same spending. You’re giving up 54,000 points in the alternative program in exchange for the certificate and the status credit. That can definitely be worth it even aside from the status. Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card Topics on this page Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of advertisers Citibank, Chase, American Express, Barclays, Capital One or any other advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.