Tag Archives: Alaska Airlines

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How to Redeem the Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards 25K Global Companion Award (Step-by-Step Guide)

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend. Last summer, Alaska Airlines introduced the new Bank of America Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite Credit Card, which included a generous welcome offer and a new 25K Global Companion Award benefit. I recently redeemed my 25K Global Companion Award and realized there weren’t many guides showing exactly how the redemption process works. In this post, I’ll walk through every step of the booking process, from locating the award in your account to confirming that the correct number of points were deducted after booking.

25K Global Companion Award at a Glance

  • Saves up to 25,000 points on a companion ticket
  • Works on Alaska Airlines award bookings
  • Must be redeemed before expiration
  • Any unused value is forfeited
  • Applies automatically during checkout

In August 2025, I was approved for the credit card and received the 105K point welcome bonus plus a 25K Global Companion Award in November 2025.  Here was the email offer I received from Alaska Airlines:

Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite Card welcome offer with 25K Global Companion Award bonus

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One Year Later: An Update to Our Simplified Wallet Strategy for 2026

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Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  Last year, we set out to simplify our wallets before Madison was born (Cutting $2,000 in Credit Card Annual Fees: Our Simplified Wallet Strategy for 2025). Our goal wasn’t to maximize every credit card perk. Instead, we wanted to reduce the total amount paid in annual fees, eliminate coupon-book credit cards (cards with high annual fees and lots of credits), and keep only the cards that delivered outsized value with minimal effort. One year later, it’s time to see how closely we stuck to that plan, what surprised us, and which cards earned a permanent place in our wallets.

One Year Later at a Glance:

  • 💳 Closed 5 credit cards
  • ⬇️ Downgraded 3 credit cards
  • ✨ Opened 5 new credit cards (and earned 360,000 points & miles in welcome bonuses)
  • 💵 Received $429 in retention offers
  • 🏨 Prioritized Free Night Certificates and travel credits over coupon-book benefits

Cards We Closed

Credit Card Name Annual Fee Notes
Laura’s AMEX Gold $325 Closed card in February 2025 (we were tired of jumping through hoops to get all the monthly credits.)
Barclays JetBlue Plus $99 Closed card in March 2025 (we didn’t have any upcoming JetBlue flights planned.)
Bank of America Air France / KLM $89 Closed card in March 2025 (we didn’t have any upcoming Air France / KLM flights planned.)
AMEX Delta Platinum Business $250 Closed card in July 2025 (I redeemed all my Delta SkyMiles and didn’t have any upcoming Delta flights planned.)
Laura’s Barclays Hawaiian Airlines $99 We decided to keep this credit card open in the hopes of a future product change to a Bank of America Alaska Airlines Credit Card.
AMEX Business Gold 3 $375 Closed card in November 2025 (we were tired of jumping through hoops to get all the monthly credits.)

While most of these credit cards come with a variety of credits / coupons, these cards did not provide enough value for us to justify paying the annual fees for another year. Continue reading →

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2026 Travel Predictions Midyear Review: Which Predictions Came True?

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is going well. As we approach the halfway point of 2026, I thought it would be fun to revisit my 2026 travel predictions and see how many have come true so far.  Predicting the future is never easy, especially in the travel and credit card world, but it’s always entertaining to look back and see what actually happened.

Below are my original predictions and a midyear update.  Predictions in green have come true, while predictions in red have not come true just yet… 

Airline Predictions (0 / 3):

  • Alaska Airlines will change the Global 25K Companion Award into a Global 25K Award Discount (valid for a single passenger). – Nope, Alaska Airlines has not made any changes to the Global 25K Companion Award. 
  • Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, or Delta Airlines will launch a debit card. – Nope, none of the 3 airlines has launched a debit card.
  • Southwest Airlines will not award Rapid Rewards Points on Basic Fares. – Nope, Southwest Airlines has not made any changes to earning points on Basic fares.

Continue reading →

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By the Numbers: My 10 Most Popular Blog Posts of 2025 (Plus 10 All-Time Favorites)

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Good afternoon everyone, and I hope your new year is off to a great start! With 2025 officially in the books, it’s time to look back at the blog posts you found most helpful, interesting, and worth clicking on throughout the year. Below you’ll find the 10 most popular posts written in 2025, along with the 10 most popular posts written in previous years that continued to draw strong traffic.  If you’re curious, you can also check out the most popular posts from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

2025’s Most Popular Blog Posts (Written During 2025)

  • No Upcoming Hilton Stay? Turn Your Credit Into a $50 Snack Shopping Spree (10/8/25) – I explain how to use your Hilton Credit even if I don’t have an upcoming hotel stay planned. Instead of letting the credit go to waste, I show how I used it for a $50 snack and convenience shopping spree.  I did this at the end of Q3, at the end of Q4, and will probably do this again sometime in Q1 2026.
  • Should I Transfer All My Amex Points to Hawaiian Airlines? (5/19/25) – I analyzed whether it made sense to transfer all of my American Express Membership Rewards points to Hawaiian Airlines. I weighed the pros, cons, and risks before making what could be a one-way, irreversible decision.  This post is no longer relevant since Hawaiian Airlines is no longer an AMEX transfer partner.

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My Overly Ambitious (and Probably Wrong) 2026 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions

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Good afternoon everyone and let me be the first (or maybe the tenth) to wish you a very happy New Year! Fresh off the heels of reviewing my 2025 travel predictions (including 7 wins and plenty of misses), it’s time to look ahead. From airlines and hotels to credit cards and loyalty programs, here are my overly ambitious (and occasionally wishful) predictions for what 2026 has in store for the miles and points community.

Airline Predictions:

  • Alaska Airlines will change the Global 25K Companion Award into a Global 25K Award Discount (valid for a single passenger).
  • Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, or Delta Airlines will launch a debit card.
  • Southwest Airlines will not award Rapid Rewards Points on Basic Fares.

Continue reading →