Breeze Airways is a domestic carrier that primarily serves regional airports in the eastern United States, giving it a niche market. The same is true, then, for the airline’s co-branded credit card, the Breeze Easy Visa Signature. Issued by Barclays, the card will be a practical pick only for those who live near an airport that carries Breeze flights.
Even then, the card has a substantial annual fee that may turn away everyone but frequent Breeze customers.
Here’s what you need to know about the Breeze Easy Visa Signature credit card.
1. Breeze Airways runs limited routes
Breeze is a budget airline with routes serving 56 cities in 29 states, as of April 2024. If your home airport doesn’t service Breeze flights, you probably don’t have much use for the Breeze Easy credit card.
2. Perks fall a little short given the annual fee
The Breeze card has an $89 annual fee. In exchange for that, cardholders get a few perks including priority boarding for cardholders and their travel companions, as well as free inflight Wi-Fi on Airbus planes. (There’s no foreign transaction fee either, although that’s table stakes for a travel card.)
Breeze cardholders can get 7,500 bonus points each card anniversary, but those points are contingent on spending at least $10,000 per year with the card. For comparison, the $95-annual-fee Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card awards anniversary points regardless of your annual spending amount.
Another disappointment is the absence of a free checked bag, which is common among airline cards with similar annual fees. The only way to check bags for free on a Breeze flight is to purchase a more expensive ticket — but more on that in the next section.
3. Rewards are mostly based on seating tiers
A Breeze ticket comes in four varieties. In order of least to most expensive:
-
No Flex Fare. Only one personal item allowed.
-
Nice Bundle. One personal item and one carry-on allowed.
-
Nicer Bundle. One personal item, one carry-on, one free checked bag and free in-flight Wi-Fi.
-
Nicest Bundle. One personal item, one carry-on, two free checked bags and free in-flight Wi-Fi.
The Breeze Easy Visa Signature card earns rewards on all ticket types except the No Flex Fare. The card earns:
-
Up to 10x BreezePoints for Nicer Bundles, Nicest Bundles, and trip add-ons such as premium seating, additional checked bags, and in-flight snacks and drinks.
-
Up to 4x BreezePoints on Nice Bundles.
-
2x BreezePoints on eligible grocery store and restaurant purchases including in-flight food and drinks. Purchases at Target, Walmart and warehouse clubs aren’t eligible.
-
1x BreezePoints on all other purchases.
The excellent rewards rates on flights are possible because they stack on top of rewards earned through Breeze Airways’ loyalty program, Breezy Rewards. For example, you’d get 5x points for booking a Nicer Bundler with your Breeze credit card and then 5x points through the loyalty program once the flight is completed.
BreezePoints are not capped and never expire.
?Nerdy Tip
As of this writing, you can get 500 BreezePoints by downloading the Breeze app.
4. The sign-up bonus is decent
The Breeze card has a sign-up bonus of 50,000 BreezePoints for new cardholders who spend $2,000 in the first 90 days of account opening. One BreezePoint is worth 1 cent for all redemption options including Breeze fares and trip add-ons, so the credit card’s welcome offer is worth $500.
5. Redemption options are narrow
BreezePoints may only be redeemed for more Breeze flights. While not a dealbreaker for those who enjoy flying Breeze, cardholders should nevertheless know that popular redemption options like statement credits and gift cards are not available with the Breeze credit card, nor does Breeze currently have any airline or hotel transfer partners.
Discussion about this post