Tag Archives: Alaska Airlines

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I Downgraded to the Virgin America Visa Signature Credit Card

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Good morning everyone.  A few days ago, the $149 annual fee posted to my Virgin America Premium Credit Card.  I called the number on the back of the credit card to see if there were any retention offers available, but sadly, the rep had no offers available for me.  Instead of closing the credit card, the rep suggested that I downgrade to the Virgin America Visa Signature Credit Card that had a $49 annual fee.

Most of the card benefits are the same for both cards, including the Virgin America $150 off companion discount code, free checked bag, and 20% off in-flight purchases.  The only difference between the credit cards is the Visa Signature credit card does not earn status points (not a big deal since I am Virgin America Gold and Alaska Airlines MVP Gold), I will get charged a fee for changing or cancelling my ticket (I never used this feature when I had my Virgin America Premium Credit Card) and I will be charged foreign transaction fees (I will never use this credit card internationally).

The only reason I kept the credit card is for the Virgin America $150 off companion discount code and my curiosity surrounding what will happen to this credit card when the Alaska Airlines / Virgin America merger is complete.  If my memory is correct, the Virgin America $150 off companion discount code used to only apply to the Virgin America Premium Credit Card, but sometime in the last year, that benefit was added to the Virgin America Visa Signature Credit Card.

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[Sale Extended thru 7/12] Alaska Airlines: Decade of Awesome Sale – Fares as Low as $49

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Update: Alaska Airlines just sent out an email to announce that the sale is extended one more day: “We’ve extended our sale and you have one more day to join us in our revelry with fares as low as $49*, one way.”

Good morning Alaska Airlines! Everyone is getting in on the act today. If you’ve got any travel plans and Alaska or Virgin airlines are in the picture, check out their one day sale.

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Decade of Awesome

We’re celebrating ranking “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Carriers in North America, 10 Years in a Row” by J.D. Power. And our friends at Virgin America are celebrating being ‘Top Domestic Airline’ 2017 in Travel + Leisure ‘World’s Best Awards’.†† Join us in our revelry with fares as low as $49*, one way. Hurry, these fares are only good today.

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My Alaska Airlines Bump: There’s a First Time for Everything

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There’s a first time for everything, and recently on an Alaska Airlines flight, I volunteered to be bumped. It’s not that I’ve never heard the call for volunteers before. We all have. But something about this time made me ask myself if now was the time and this was the opportunity to do it. After all, can a bona fide travel blogger NOT have a bump experience to talk about? Given the crazy day I ended up having, I’ll never forget my first time!

I was originally on a morning Alaska Airlines nonstop flight from San Diego to Boston. I’ve taken this flight before but always in the winter months. Apparently, since it’s the only nonstop of the day to Boston, it can get crowded. I heard the call for volunteers before we started boarding the flight.

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Great Circle Mapper: San Diego (SAN) to Boston (BOS)

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Which Trip Should I Use with the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare?

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The yearly Alaska Airlines Companion Fare that comes with the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card is awesome. However, the question becomes, WHICH trip is the best trip to use it on? I’ve had the credit card and gotten the companion fare deal for many years now. But this year was the first year that I had three potential uses for it. A good problem to have. Maybe you’ve had this good problem as well :)

It did, however, require a thorough look at comparing prices and hotels. If I’m paying cash for a hotel stay, I always use Pruvo to monitor for price drops, so that figures into my choice too. I also looked at what other miles/points I had available for these routes to finally make my choice. It was a lesson in perseverance! Here’s what I did. I was originating from San Diego and my trips were to Hawaii, New York City, and Boston. My dates for Hawaii and Boston were somewhat flexible, but my New York City dates were not.

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Great Circle Mapper: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=hnl-san,san-bos,san-jfk

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How to Redeem Virgin America $150 Companion Discount Code & My Important Warning

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Good morning everyone, happy Sunday!  I wanted to quickly thank everyone who braved the 100+ degree weather in Sacramento to attend my Sacramento Travel Hackers Meetup at In-N-Out yesterday.  It was great talking to you about miles and points.  I look forward to returning when the weather cools down a little bit.  A few weeks ago, I needed to purchase flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Las Vegas (LAS) on Virgin America.  I needed to go to Las Vegas for a specific weekend and I bought tickets somewhat last minute, so flights were expensive.  Here was the price for 2 round trip tickets on Virgin America. I found it odd that if I purchased the flights from Virgin America or through Google, the price was $729 total, but if I bought the same flights through Alaska Airlines, the price was only $613 total.  That seemed really strange to me.

I currently have a Comenity Virgin America Premium Visa Signature Credit Card which includes a Virgin America $150 Companion Discount Code.  A few months ago, I wrote Comparing the Alaska Airlines $120 Companion Fare Code vs. Virgin America $150 Companion Discount Code.  I remembered that I still had my Virgin America $150 Companion Discount Code available that was going to expire in the next few months.  In this post, I will show you how to redeem your Virgin America $150 Companion Discount Code and provide a warning before you use your Companion Discount Code.

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