Update 8/15/23: Deal is back
Update 7/23/23: Deal is back
The Offer
- Costco.com is selling $500 Alaska Airlines e-gift cards for $449.99.
The Fine Print
- While supplies last.
- Limit 10 per member.
Our Verdict
Nice discount for heavy Alaska Airlines users.
Hat tip to GCGalore
got 2 identical email this morning. both landed in spam box.
Can I use these and a partial payment with my Chase Sapphire Preferred for the travel insurance or does the full cost of tickets need to be put on the Chase card?
With Chase, partial payment is enough. With Amex it has to be full.
Alaska came up with some new requirements in order to have free checked luggage, some part of the ticket must be charged to the Alaska Credit Card.
It is better to load these gift card funds to you Alaska Wallet and use that to pay for the ticket, hopefully the ticket fare exceeds the wallet funds some can be charged to the credit card.
Or is it better to not load them to the wallet and apply as needed to get free checked luggage benefit?
Does Alaska let you select how much wallet funds to apply to ticket purchase?
Why exactly are you guys buying these? Are these for people who run out of their airline miles?
One use is if you have Alaska companion pass (can’t be used on award flights). Cash+companion ticket is often a better deal than using 2x points for award tickets, much more flexible, and no one has an unlimited amount of miles.
The companion pass has to be used on a ticket purchased with the credit card the pass is linked to. Is there a way around that to be able to use gift cards?
When the ticket price is greater than the gift card balance, the AS credit card benefits are still there if you pay the remaining via the card
So just a small portion has to be paid via credit card (the rest can be a gift card), and I can still use the companion pass, correct? Can I adjust how much of the gift card is applied to a particular purchase (e.g., leave only a single dollar to be paid via credit card)?
I used gift card balance last month for myself and my companion, and paid the rest with my BofA Alaska Biz card. I have this card since before they changed companion pass rules, not sure if newly approved cards would work. I didn’t have enough gift cards to pay the whole balance with them, but I suspect it would have worked.
Did you receive the first checked bag-free benefit by paying partially with your BoA Alaska Biz card?
Yes, I both got to use the companion fare and got a free bag by paying like $400 with a gift card and maybe $380 on the credit card.
I had to follow up with Costco support and get escalation to a resolution specialist who sent me an email with the code and PIN; I got no emails from the vendor at all. Heads up to others who wait more than 3-4 days. You will not get the code instantly!
thanks for the heads up. sucks if the fare changed while waiting for the code
Dead!
Limit shows 5 per member for me, Doc.
I purchased yesterday (Sunday) and got the code 22 hours later. Before that, I purchased one Thursday 4/1/21 and it took 13 hours.
got it 12 hours after, and went directly into the spam box in gmail.
Thankfully it didn’t hit my spam, but FYI it comes from costco_ops ecommerce.costco.com subject: Your Costco.com Alaska Airlines Gift Certificate
Can you use these GC to pay for awards bookings for taxes and fuel surcharges?
Didn’t work when I tried it:
“Why can’t I use these funds?
My wallet funds, certificates, or gift cards can only be applied toward the purchase of eligible fares for travel on flights operated by Alaska Airlines, and Horizon Air between Anchorage and Dutch Harbor, and SkyWest flight series 3300-3499.
My wallet funds, certificates, or gift cards may be redeemed for new ticket purchases only and cannot be applied toward service fees, or as additional fare for exchanged or partially used tickets.
My wallet funds, certificates, or gift cards cannot be applied toward the purchase of hotels, cars, Fly & Buy Miles™ or trip protection.
My wallet funds, certificates, or gift cards cannot be used to purchase Alaska Airlines vacations packages, air cargo services, services offered by Mileage Plan™, hotel, cruise, or car rental partners.”
Only on AS flights
not sure if I wanna fly Alaska again after the disaster season last Christmas in SEATAC. Nightmare with their customer service.
What happened at SeaTac?