In June 2023, MBNA announced that Alaska Airlines credit cards would be converted to MBNA Rewards credit cards, and this occurred in September 2023.
We were still waiting to hear when it would be possible to convert MBNA Rewards points to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, as promised by MBNA. Here’s the latest news.
According to this article from Rewards Canada, former MBNA Alaska credit card holders have received the news that they will be able to convert their MBNA Rewards points associated with the card to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program in a single transaction between August 1 and October 31, 2024.
This therefore differs from the information we received from MBNA in June 2023, which suggested that all holders of the MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard® or the MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus® Mastercard® could take advantage of this conversion option at a ratio of 1:1. So it seems that MBNA and Alaska Airlines have failed to reach a joint agreement for a long-term partnership.
So, only if you’ve already been an Alaska Airlines World Elite® Mastercard® or Alaska Airlines Platinum Plus® Mastercard® cardholder and your card has been converted to an MBNA Rewards credit card, will you have the opportunity to convert your points to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. Since you can only do this once, and you have until October 31, 2024, it may be preferable to wait until the end of October to convert as many points as possible.
As a reminder, here are the details of the credit card transition process that took place in September 2023.
In June 2023, MBNA announced to existing Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan credit cardholders that they would be converted to MBNA Rewards credit cards effective September 1, 2023.
As of September 1, 2023, former holders of an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan credit card converted to an MBNA Rewards credit card have the features inherent in their new credit card. They will also be able to convert their MBNA Rewards points to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan in a single transaction between August 1 and October 31, 2024.
Here are the features of these two MBNA Rewards credit cards:
With the MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard®, you can earn 5 points per dollar of purchases for:
Everywhere else, you will get 1 point per dollar.
Enough to make the MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard® the best MBNA credit card for restaurants, groceries, digital media, subscriptions and household utilities.
Knowing that Mastercard recognizes Walmart Supercenters as grocery stores, this is the best credit card for Walmart customers!
Plus, depending on your province of residence, you’ll get a welcome bonus of between 20,000 and 30,000 points, a value of $200 to $300!
And each year, you will receive Birthday Bonus Points equal to 10% of the total number of Points the Account earned in the 12 months before the month of your birthday, to a maximum Birthday Bonus each year of 15,000 Points.
The MBNA Rewards Platinum Plus® Mastercard® is one of Canada’s best no-annual-fee credit cards.
With this card, you can earn 2 points per dollar on:
And 1 point per dollar everywhere else. This is the best MBNA credit card with no annual fee.
For a limited time, you can get 10,000 welcome bonus points, a $100 value on travel purchases charged to your Card.
It is regrettable not only that credit cards with travel rewards are disappearing from the Canadian market, as was the case with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and Best Western Rewards, but also that an agreement could not be reached to convert MBNA Rewards points to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan for all MBNA Rewards credit cardholders.
After months of anticipation, this is a disappointment, as we had hoped that MBNA Rewards would become a hybrid rewards program, like American Express Membership Rewards, RBC Avion Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy (currently the only programs in Canada that allow customers to convert points to other programs).
Read all about it on the MBNA website:
Savings are here:
