2,500 bonus miles with the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card

Bank of American is 2,500 bonus miles for spending $500 on my Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card. The deal is good at qualifying merchants by September 30, 2014. Qualifying categories include office supply, book, shoes, electronics, and computer stores. They ran a similar promotion last quarter – in direct competition with Chase, which offers Chase Freedom cardholders 5% cash back/5 points per $1 on rotating quarterly categories.

A clear disadvantage of this promotion is the stipulation that it may take up to 12 weeks from the end of this promotion for you to get your 2,500 bonus miles. The list of qualifying merchants include the following:

• Book Stores (5942-Book Stores, 5192-Books/Periodicals/Newspapers Stores)
• Electronics/Computer Software Stores (5732-Electronics Stores, 5734-Computer Software Stores)
• Shoe Stores (5661)

The terms exclude “big box” stores and “superstores” from the bonus. Stores like Walmart and Target will likely be excluded under this definition.

It’s still an easy 2,500 bonus miles for Alaska Airlines Visa Signature cardholders. Especially if you’ll be doing some back-to-school shopping anyway. For the rest of us, a couple of Visa gift card purchases at the local Staples/Office Max will do the trick. You’re earning the usual 5x points per $1 you would with your Chase Ink card and if there’s a promotion on gift card purchases, you can even walk away with a small profit.

Alaska Airline miles are very valuable. Largely thanks to the Mileage Plan program’s generous award chart, vast partner network, and the ease of redeeming miles online. When you’ve spent a week on the phone with American Airlines reps who tell you “Etihad doesn’t fly to Abu Dhabi,” you’ll appreciate a program that makes it easy to redeem miles.

To participate in this promotion, check your email and click on the “activate link” and you’ll automatically be registered.