Airline affiliated credit card

[Brat]

Several years ago I signed up for an Alaska card. It made sense, even if they charged $75/year because it gave me free baggage check-in when DH & I charged a flight on that card and it has an annual companion discount-fare. Alaska and Southwest are the carriers service my home airport and the places we go.

DH & I are very long in the tooth, I don't think we will be flying for a while because of covid.

The card renewal is coming up in October. I am tempted to cancel it.

Credit score is not an issue. Between the Costco, Fidelity and PenFed credit cards I have all I need.

Comments...

 

[SecondCor521]

You can call and ask them to waive the annual fee. Most of the time they won't, but sometimes they will.

You can almost always downgrade to a no-annual fee version of the card. Typically no-annual fee versions have less generous benefits, so in this particular case you'd almost certainly lose the companion fare, and maybe the free baggage benefit as well. You might still earn some cash back in the form of Alaska miles or something like that, but there are usually better cash back cards out there for that aspect of things.

If the card is no longer worth it and I don't need the credit card because I have others, and I'm not worried about any adverse impact on my credit score (little to none in my case and likely also in yours), then I usually go ahead and cancel.

 

[njhowie]

Cancel.

If you need a card to replace it with, sign up for any of the numerous ones out there with no annual fee which give cash back.

Closing the account will likely have little effect on your credit score. However, as a retiree, there is generally little need to worry about credit score. Are you considering taking out any large loans any time soon? Likely not.

 

[Car-Guy]

Personally I've never paid a fee for any CC... My preference is the card that gives me the most cash back for everyday purchases.

 

[samm]

cancel!
I had same issue with United card.
I cancelled -- airplane is very unsafe place these days

 

[Chuckanut]

I have two travel cards that charge a fee.

One is a hotel card that had a bonus of 150,000 points. That works out to 3.6 free nights after allowing for the yearly fee. However, since I am not traveling much, I will request to be down graded to their no-fee card before the next fee is due. Paying the fee does not make sense.

My other fee card is also a hotel card. The fee is about $50 a year and gives me one 'free' night each year. $50 for a descent room in a nice hotel that includes breakfast is not bad. Sometimes I even get an upgrade. I will probably use that one night sometime this year or early next, I hope. This card is no longer available so I will probably keep it even if I don't use the free room. If my travel is permanently affected by CV then I will cancel this card.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

+1 to see if they'll waive the fee.
If not, will it be a problem to cancel but apply for it again later?

My only caveat is with regards to any points you have in the Alaska Mileage Plan. It looks like you have to keep it active with activity of some kind within 2 years. You may want to evaluate the points you have and figure a way to keep them active.

 

[Newventurer]

ya, have this card too, and don't really use it anymore, my WalMart card has better benefits. the mileage points aren't that good a deal for us as they don't let us use them for 1st class upgrades and we don't like to fly coach so the companion fare (coach only) doesn't help us

 

[FIYes]

I would cancel the card. I am in a similar situation. No fee has always been my first priority in a card. However, last year we had a
United flight scheduled. The card fee was less than the checked bag fee, so I got DH a United card. I plan to cancel it when it is time to renew.

Someone mentioned the need for some activity every two years. I haven’t flown Alaska so I don’t know....but if that is the case, make a small charge before you cancel. That way your miles are good for another two years.

 

[foxfirev5]

Cancelled my Delta card yesterday. I don't see any need for it . 99% of my charges go on a cash back Fido card anyway.

 

[Markola]

Cancelled my Delta card yesterday. I don't see any need for it . 99% of my charges go on a cash back Fido card anyway.

I’m going to keep ours for the time being. I use the Delta Platinum Amex for extra purchase protection, rental car insurance, avoidance of international transaction fees, and cash flow management when I want to spread payments for bigger purchases over two months. Points are gravy.

Usually the free companion ticket and baggage fee avoidance more than covers the annual fee, though we’re staying on the ground this year, if not longer, so I guess the points will rack up.

 

[Sunset]

I had a American Airlines card, cancelled it so no fee, since won't be flying for a year or so.
The bonus of cancelling, is in 2 years from cancel, I can sign up for a new card and get 60,000 bonus miles.

I can keep my miles active for another 1.5 -> 2 years by going to the miles site, and buying a magazine for 800 points. Maybe Alaska Air Miles have the same option, to spend a few miles for something else.

 

[Sunset]

I’m going to keep ours for the time being. I use the Delta Platinum Amex for extra purchase protection, rental car insurance, avoidance of international transaction fees, and cash flow management when I want to spread payments for bigger purchases over two months. Points are gravy.

Usually the free companion ticket and baggage fee avoidance more than covers the annual fee, though we’re staying on the ground this year, if not longer, so I guess the points will rack up.

So right now you are getting only:
rental car insurance, and cash flow management , as a benefit... (whatever cash flow management is other than a fancy word for not paying the entire bill ).

Not much of a benefit considering the $250 annual fee.

 

[Markola]

So right now you are getting only:
rental car insurance, and cash flow management , as a benefit... (whatever cash flow management is other than a fancy word for not paying the entire bill ).

Not much of a benefit considering the $250 annual fee.

Fee is $195 and I auto pay the full Amex bill every month, so we never pay interest. Sometimes we buy something large, like an $800 porch settee set recently, and it’s nice to kick payment out to next month and park $400 this month and $400 next month in the right You Need A Budget (YNAB) category. No big whoop. Someday we’ll all be able to fly again and, until then, I’m happy to accumulate points. YMMV.