@Anonymous wrote:No one with a love or hate for either of these?
I would love to have both of them 
I'm contemplating BA for sure after getting some guidance from lhcole. I'll wait on the Alaska Airlines until early next year (doubtful they'll bring back the 50,000 points offer but we'll see).
@lhcole77 wrote:I have both and love them both. I say get both!
I used my 25K bonus to fly to Montreal this past spring. Paid $60 in taxes from NorCal. Still have 30K to use with them . I fly Alaska about three times a year to visit family in Pac NW. Alaska also flies to Mexico, Hawaii and has added/is adding Costa Rica. Companion tickets work on those flights.
I'm using some of my Avios from Chase to fly London-Munich at Christmas. I've also cashed them in on flights to visit family. Still have 60K in the bank and will be adding another 25K before 10/1.
The BA devaluation doesn't affect all consumers. Mainly on some flight redemptions and cashing in MRs. Won't affect the 50K sign up bonus.
I'm looking forward to flying on BA metal. And I'm already a huge fan of Alaska.
ETA: Alaka card approved at $5K and now at $25K CL after a year. Using it for BTs right now due to frequent BofA 18-21 month offers. Chase approved at $15K CL and I've had it for 6 months.
Big thanks.
Only have Freedom and don't see being eligible for CSP while the 5/24 rule is in affect. So Avios would be only via signing up for BA card and via MR from Plat. Thinking of maybe switching from BCP to EDP and possibly also picking up a PRG.
Alaska card $5k-->$25k via CLI requests, auto or what? Sounds pretty generous! What kind of use?
And yeah MJ. This'd definitely set me back GC wise, but one of the reasons for quitting my second job was so I could actually get out and live a little. So as long as we'd get approved and at least $5k on the Alaska to get Sig for bonus etc., it'd work for us. No mortgage, car loan etc. on the horizon. Home improvement, health improvement, life improvement are on the agenda, not necessarily in that order. 
I have the 800 goal in my sig, but remember, I'm a tortoise. Speed is not an issue.
@Anonymous wrote:Starting to plan for a trip from So Cal to Alaska (hopefully next summer). I've been afraid of airline programs and rewards programs like UR/MR etc. But since I don't see this 'hobby' diminishing, I think it might make sense to get one of these or the other, or maybe both. Not sure if now is as good a time as any or if I'll wait.
I looked at credit pulls database and see a 4 approvals for Alaska (BofA) in the last year (two this year in CA with TU pulls one said EX was frozen, one EX and one EQ). If I don't specify CA I see several more approvals with all three CRAs.
British Airways, no info on credit pulls in two years without specifying CA. Seemed like I was at an internal limit with them when I got my Hyatt (had to move $ from Amazon) but that doesn't mean I am now. And DH has NO Chase accounts where he's primary. He's an AU on a few, so since he's the one with the Plat, maybe it'd make sense for him to apply for BA. Though his scores are lower (his low 700's, mine 740's)
Besides the Alaska trip, in the somewhat near future we plan on at least one trip to Portland and/or Seattle (either separate trips to each or one where we fly into one and fly out of the other renting a car in between). Alaska flies out of all of our local airports (we have many to choose from within a reasonable distance, though avoid LAX if we can).
Alaska makes a lot of sense because these would all be two-person trips so we could make use of the companion fare easily. We could even try for me getting one and him getting one and then covering one fare each way with companion fare. Sign up is 25k miles, but I haven't been easily been able to tell what mile flights would be. The companion fare is compelling enough on it's own. These would be gravy. And honestly when I go to the site or FT and start reading about fares with all kinds of different letter designations, I feel really dumb. My brain just rebels and doesn't process.
British Airways I always hear is great for short hops and virtually all the flights we'd plan are short hops and could be had through BA partners. Other than potentially flying into or out of Alaska (not sure if we'll just cruise or do a combo or what) all of our flights would fall into the 4500 or 7000 Avios one way bands. Sign up is 50k Avios. That would go a long way.
I see that Alaska does flash sales, for which it would seem good to get it (or a couple of them) sooner rather than later to maximize that. Though I could just sign up for loyalty program without the card and use RC or Plat or whatever seems the best idea at the time.
I know BA is devaluing as of 10/1 but I might go ahead and set up a loyalty account for them too. At some point we'll have 100k MRs. If I make a loyalty account, I'd be ready to grab them if they end up with a good transfer deal. Some have mentioned that transfering now (before devaluation) IS in a sense getting a 25% bonus because you'd get 1k for 1k instead of the upcoming 800 for 1k.
Not asking real specific things I know. Just looking to kick this around. Anything stand out to you? I try to read the pertinent sections on FT and get a bit overwhelmed.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the AK Companion Fare a round trip benefit? Not a one way "leave your companion at the destination" fare, but rather buy one round trip, then for an additional fee, get a companion round trip ticket? So doubling the number of BofA AK Air CC you have isn't going to help
And yes, the AK Flash Sales are available with only the FF program.
Also, consider Delta. They are in a competitive spirit with Alaska in all things Seattle-hub, so prices and miles requirements are quite similar.
@NRB525 wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the AK Companion Fare a round trip benefit? Not a one way "leave your companion at the destination" fare, but rather buy one round trip, then for an additional fee, get a companion round trip ticket? So doubling the number of BofA AK Air CC you have isn't going to help
And yes, the AK Flash Sales are available with only the FF program.
Also, consider Delta. They are in a competitive spirit with Alaska in all things Seattle-hub, so prices and miles requirements are quite similar.
Thanks.
Delta is the only airline still in existence that I have any relationship with (except possibly SW). I flew to Costa Rica on Delta last year, and used to fly through ATL often enough. Good to know they're a seattle hub too.
And re: companion fare, that's exactly why I'm asking. Makes total sense. Honestly, I'm smart, I'm educated, but I'm so easily confused by all this frequent flier stuff. Too many balls in the air. So it would seem like since, at this point, DH has the Plat AND is ripe for a nice SL with Chase, he could go for BA. I could go for Alaska. (If I decide we should do both). And then I kick around the Delta idea a bit longer.