Canadian Alaska Airlines Credit Cards
by Ironwood 
, Thursday, July 20, 2023, 10:51 (832 days ago)
This may be of interest to relatively few readers, and if it repeats any earlier posts, my apologies.
Alaska Airlines credit cards and Mileage Plans in Canada have been handled as a MasterCard issued by MBNA bank, (currently a subsidiary of TD Bank).
(Corresponding credit cards for the Alaska Mileage Plan in the US are a VISA card.)
Effective 31 August/23, MBNA bank is severing its relationship with Alaska Airlines. Existing MBNA/Alaska Airlines cards will continue to earn Alaska Miles on purchases made to that date, and no longer.
The MBNA/Alaska/MasterCard can continue to be used after 31 August/23, and will earn MBNA Member Points on a 2 pts per $1 purchase basis......but no more Alaska Miles. Plans are afoot to, within the next year, permit redeeming MBNA Member Points for Alaska Miles, on a 1:1 basis, which sounds interesting.
MBNA bank will be issuing new cards by the end of October.
To date, Alaska Airlines has made no announcement concerning a new credit card for Canadian customers. We're chopped liver, apparently.
Alaska addressed my concerns, confirming that Alaska Miles do not and will not expire. The period to redeem Companion fares, however, will not be extended. In my case, my Companion Fare booking period expires this 12 September, but it was pointed out that flight dates can be scheduled up to 11 months after the booking date.
Canadian Alaska Airlines Credit Cards
by frostbite , Hamilton MT, Thursday, July 20, 2023, 11:56 (832 days ago) @ Ironwood
Why can't you just apply for an Alaska Airlines Visa card?
Canadian Alaska Airlines Credit Cards
by Ironwood , Thursday, July 20, 2023, 13:22 (832 days ago) @ frostbite
Why can't you just apply for an Alaska Airlines Visa card?
I don't think they're available to Canadians. When I applied for an Alaska card, I had no choice: it was an MBNA Bank Mastercard.
Canadian Alaska Airlines Credit Cards
by Little Guy , Thursday, July 20, 2023, 20:40 (832 days ago) @ Ironwood
Why can't you just apply for an Alaska Airlines Visa card?
I don't think they're available to Canadians. When I applied for an Alaska card, I had no choice: it was an MBNA Bank Mastercard.
That’s correct. Alaska partnered with Visa in the USA and with MasterCard in Canada.
I wish I could say that I will miss the Alaska Mastercard, but I won’t. I used to greatly enjoy the YVR->LAX-> flights. (Not so much the ZIH->LAX->YVR flights, experiencing customs/immigration at LAX.)
I haven’t flown on Alaska since they changed their schedules so that YVR-ZIH requires an overnight hotel stay. That expense makes the flights impractical for me. I have something like 140,000 points that have been sitting there for years.
Canadian Alaska Airlines Credit Cards
by Ironwood , Thursday, July 20, 2023, 23:47 (832 days ago) @ Little Guy
Why can't you just apply for an Alaska Airlines Visa card?
I don't think they're available to Canadians. When I applied for an Alaska card, I had no choice: it was an MBNA Bank Mastercard.
That’s correct. Alaska partnered with Visa in the USA and with MasterCard in Canada.I wish I could say that I will miss the Alaska Mastercard, but I won’t. I used to greatly enjoy the YVR->LAX-> flights. (Not so much the ZIH->LAX->YVR flights, experiencing customs/immigration at LAX.)
I haven’t flown on Alaska since they changed their schedules so that YVR-ZIH requires an overnight hotel stay. That expense makes the flights impractical for me. I have something like 140,000 points that have been sitting there for years.
I got an Alaska card solely for the Kelowna/Seattle/LA/Zihua route and we used it a few times, (including one trip from hell where Mrs. Ironwood tripped walking through the jetway into LAX and broke her shoulder) but Alaska has been cutting back on the Kelowna/Seattle Horizon flights. I've got 225,000 Alaska Miles but COVID, age and health concerns keep getting in the way. I'm like an atheist at his own funeral: all dressed up and no place to go.
