Alaska Airlines Visa Business Card
You may remember Alaska Airlines getting a lot of flak a couple months ago, primarily due to the devaluation of their currency to book award tickets on Japan Airlines. I don’t doubt this has been disappointing news for many; meanwhile, it’s quite impertinent to me. Unphased, I picked up an Alaska Airlines Visa Business card in early April to add 70k more Alaska miles to my hoard. I moved on to other endeavors since, not keeping a close eye on my Alaska balance. Until recently. Here’s why Alaska Airlines Visa Business cardholders should check their Mileage Plan accounts now and how to resolve similar discrepancies.
An Unsettling Discovery
A few weeks ago, my Alaska Airlines Visa Business card statement arrived, and it clearly stated miles earned in the past cycle. But late last week, I logged into my Mileage Plan account, and these miles weren’t in my mileage balance or account history. Confused, I looked back at the Bank of America statement and noticed something odd. At the bottom of the second page was an unfamiliar Alaska Mileage Plan member number.
I checked my Alaska account again. Indeed, the number at the bottom of my Bank of America statement was different from my original, accurate Mileage Plan number. I was confident I included my existing Mileage Plan number when I applied for the card. Still, it seems I was somehow assigned a new one in the process.
Resolution
The next day, I jumped on chat and received a seven minute hold time. About 18 minutes later, a helpful Mileage Plan agent responded. I explained the situation, and she asked for some personal details, including both member numbers, my home address, and date of birth. A few minutes later, she advised that the miles in the new account had been redirected to my original account, and all future miles would accurately track. She mentioned it could take up to five days to see the updates reflected online. Two days later, I noticed my mileage balance had accurately updated.
Conclusion
It turns out this has happened to other people. Weird. I still don’t know why. But since I was able to resolve it efficiently enough, I’ve shrugged and moved on. Regardless, a pretty easy 70k bonus was definitely worth this minor inconvenience. Warning – if you hold an Alaska Airlines Visa Business card, you may be missing miles! Check your balance and take action, if necessary.
Has this happened to you? How did you resolve it?
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Slightly off-topic, but somewhat related: Have any others noticed that Amex creates a new loyalty account number when enrolling in the hotel status upgrades (Hilton and Marriott). Seems to happen every time I enroll despite entering my current member number. It’s an easy fix to get Hilton and Marriott to combine the accounts, but I feel like Amex shouldn’t be creating new loyalty accounts to begin with.
Should mention that this happens to me on the Biz Plat. Don’t have a personal Plat.
So do you call the credit card company or do you call milege plan?
I chatted with a Mileage Plan agent, as described in the Resolution section above.
I had the same issue. Alaska assigned a new FF number and then I had to call customer service to link to my existing FF Number
Same thing happened to me in February this year. Quick call and verification fixed it.
It’s nice to see calling in also worked to solve is, Ed.
They’ve had this issue for years on new cards. It’s weird they can’t seem to fix it.
Same exact thing happened to me a few months ago. Got it fixed same way the article describes. Nice try BOA/Alaska.
Yeah, apparently it’s been happening for a good while.
Thanks for the heads up! I recently got one too and despite including my MP number on the application, when I checked my statement, lo and behold, they had created a new account for me. First payment date isn’t until June 1, so I shouldn’t have any miles floating in limbo thankfully after a quick call to correct their error.
I’m glad you caught it, MFK!
All’s well that ends well. Got the miles yesterday.
I dont see where my Alaska Air MP number is listed on my account statement. I looked on the second page but it doesnt appear to be there.
Check the bottom of the page(s).