There is another targeted Amex Offer out that’s good for $80 back on $400+ in flight reservations with Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines.
That’s an excellent discount if you have plans to fly either carrier in the future, especially since the $400 can be reached in more than one transaction, and it’s fairly easy to cancel a main cabin ticket and convert it to Alaska wallet funds. Unfortunately, neither my wife’s nor my cards are targeted. (h/t: MEAB)
The Deal
- Earn a one-time $80 statement credit after using your enrolled eligible card to spend a minimum of $400 in one or more purchases on flight reservations online at alaskaair.com or through the Alaska Airlines app.
- Expires 10/30/2026
- Enrollment required
Key Terms
- Offer valid only on Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines marketed flights.
- Offer valid only on flight reservations made directly with Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines online or through the app.
- Flights must originate in the US, including US territories, and be paid for in USD to qualify.
- Excludes in-flight spend and electronic gift cards.
- Excludes hotels and rentals, car services, group travel, packages and travel insurance.
- Not valid on Flight Pass, Alaska trips, Company store, uniform purchases, Alaska Lounge membership, Alaska Lounge merchandise and day passes, purchase of points/miles, Alaska Air Cargo, Corporate managed travel, Alaska Airlines Freight and Alaska Lounges/Boardrooms at various locations.
- Offer valid only on purchases made in US dollars.
Quick Thoughts
This is a nice deal if you’re booking a flight on Alaska or Hawaiian. Note that this deal must be tightly targeted—I didn’t see it on any of my wife’s or my cards.
Even if you end up not taking the flight, Alaska will give you a credit in wallet funds for the entire cost as long as it’s not a saver fare. However, remember that if you cancel the ticket within 24 hours of booking, the refund will be issued to your original form of payment, so it won’t trigger the Amex credit.
Technically, wallet funds have a 12-month expiration from the date that the original flight was purchased. That said, the clock will reset each time you book a new flight (even if you cancel that flight). So, in practice, there’s no need for wallet funds to ever expire.
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Also if you cancel and get the refund in wallet AS dollars, that expires after a year, doesn’t it? Worth mentioning in the article if that is correct.
Yes, it expires in a year from original purchase date.
Technically, yes. But you can reset that clock by simply booking another ticket and canceling, so in practice there’s no need for it to ever expire.
Other than partner award booking fees and inability to use a companion pass (Ascent variety on paid fare), are there any other disadvantages to not using a Summit card to book an AS flight? E.g. will I lose free baggage or anything?
So I book a non saver fake reservation wait 48 hours , cancel reservation and that leaves me with? Please explain like I am a 5 year old, thx Tim.
That leaves you with $400+ ( whatever the ticket cost you) in wallet credit you can use later (within a year) and you get the $80 cashback from Amex.
Thanks TravelGeek, I guess the FM writers were too busy to reply
Ugh…I got the offer, but the flight costs $3 less than the required spend, and there don’t seem to be any qualifying add-ons to top-up the purchase past the $400 mark.
Buy a more expensive fare class? Or… buy a different flight for $400+, wait two days, then cancel and use wallet credit to buy the actual flight you want. Or maybe you can just change the flight.
Easier said than done. It’s a transpacific flight, so the next fare class is over 10 times as much ($397 vs $4,050).
Baggage fees?
Ineligible per the T&C’s. And even if it was eligible, it’s not possible to charge since it’s a codeshare, so any fees like baggage or seats are chargeable to JAL, not Alaska.
Ah, i see. Thanks, i learned something: that baggage fees are chargeable to the operating airline, and not the airline that sells you the ticket.
Do you have a blog or website, I like you….please respond
I’d just do what TravelGeek recommends. Buy a $400 ticket, cancel it after 24 hours, then use the wallet funds towards the new flight.
Thanks, Tim. I’m a little apprehensive about the 24-hour cancelation policy since (a) I’ve heard of people getting refunded beyond the 24-hour mark up until the end of the next day (i.e. midnight)…and in varying time zones depending on the airline; and (b) I’m on the other side of the international date line, which seems to screw up some travel booking systems. But I’ll try to pad the time a reasonable number of hours to create some cushion.
Sweet! Got it!…thanks Tim!
Also, thanks for 24 hour cancellation after booking!