Alaska’s Atmos Rewards + Summit Card: Game Changer?
Tl;dr: Alaska’s new Atmos Rewards keeps all the best parts of Mileage Plan and adds the Atmos Summit—easily the best airline card if you travel with a companion.
Alaska Airlines unveiled its new frequent flyer program this week, Atmos Rewards, offering a combined program following its merger with Hawaiian Airlines. The launch coincided with Alaska’s new premium card, the Atmos Summit. A couple weeks ago I said I was “all-in” on Alaska. At the time, I meant that in the sense that it was the main part of my points and miles strategy. But the changes here are so good that I am half considering literally redirecting the vast majority of my spending and travel to the Alaska-verse. And thus a (long) off-schedule Saturday post to explain the big changes and why they are game changers.
Why MileagePlan Was Already Great
Alaska’s MileagePlan was fantastic:
Unlike other dynamically-priced awards programs (most of them), Alaska still used an award chart that offered both outstanding value and relative predictability. From DC, for instance, flights to Japan were available for 75k, while Europe could be reached for 50k. All round-trip, mostly with minimal fees (looking at you, British Airways).
If the award chart wasn’t good enough for you, you could book deeply discounted “Global Getaway” fares on a regular basis, like 50k miles or less to Georgia (🇬🇪), Uzbekistan, and Oman.
Status was earned by miles flown–including on award flights–and MVP status was conferred at 20k of these Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs). With many round-trips between the US and other continents clocking in at around 10,000 miles, that meant two award flights alone could be good enough for elite status.
Alaska featured milestone awards, offering things like wi-fi passes, in-flight meal vouchers, or bonus miles on reaching thresholds starting at just 10,000 EQMs.
Thanks to two different consumer credit cards and a partnership with Bilt, it was possible to earn Alaska miles very efficiently, with excellent earning rates on dining, travel, gas, and even rent. On the co-branded cards, that spending could also earn EQMs.
This was all pretty good, so some people were naturally suspicious that the rebranding might be an opportunity to slash some of these benefits. After all, these refreshes usually do exactly that.
In 2022, AA switched to status based on “Loyalty Points,” earned via spending in an AA ecosystem–not just flights, but also shopping, dining, hotel bookings via AA, co-branded card spending, etc. You could earn status without flying by spending as little as $20,000 on the right AA credit card. In 2023, Delta announced that it would “simplify” and “enhance” its program–by requiring more spending to earn even basic status. Some of the changes were quickly walked back, but Delta’s program still is not a model of accessibility and rewards for the average consumer (although I love it under certain conditions). Despite the backlash Delta received, United jacked up their spending requirements the next year.
With the rest of the industry requiring more and more spending for fewer and fewer benefits, would Alaska go full Southwest and trade its trademark, customer-friendly market niche to model itself after its bigger rivals?
Atmos Keeps the Good, Adds More
Well, good news everyone–everything I highlighted above is retained in the new Atmos Rewards program.
The changes are mainly cosmetic. Atmos has a new name and new look, and some of the terms are changing. Miles are now points. Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) are now “status points” (SP). The elite tiers are getting a refresh too, with some slight tweaks for the fancier among us:
Alaska MVP/Hawaiian Pualani Gold (20k EQMs) → Atmos Silver (20k SP)
Alaska MVP Gold/Hawaiian Pualani Platinum (40k EQMs) → Atmos Gold (40k SP)
Alaska MVP Gold 75k (75k EQMs, logically) → Atmos Platinum (80k SP)
Alaska MVP Gold 100k (100k EQMs) → Atmos Titanium (135k SP)
The milestone rewards and elite benefits like free bags, upgrade eligibility when flying AA, and Oneworld elite status remain as well. Some of these milestone rewards are pretty solid (you can pick one at each milestone):
10k: 750 pts, free pre-order food
30k: 2,500 pts, $25 discount
55k: 5k pts, 10k toward an experience, 2 upgrade certificates
85k: 15k pts, 2 upgrade certificates, 10k SP rollover
100k: 50k points, 75k off an experience, Lounge+ membership, 4 upgrade certificates
The distance-based way to earn status remains, but now you can also choose to earn based on price paid or segments flown if that’s more advantageous to you, and you can change your preference once per year.
In addition, Alaska is rolling out Starlink wifi for all MileagePlan members. Alaska is introducing “communities.” Details are sparse, but they are based on the two airlines’ prior Club 49 and Huaka‘i by Hawaiian programs. The former offers Alaska residents perks like free checked bags, cheaper freight, and discount codes on flights to or from the state. The latter offers perks like a free checked bag on inter-island flights. New communities will include “Global Locals” (members outside the US), “Culinary Journeys (members chasing “foodie destinations” 🙋♂️), and “Families on the Go.” (Oh, and wine still flies free. 🍾)
And finally, Alaska will be the first and only US airline to offer elite members complimentary upgrades to international business class. The offering is limited to Titanium members, but if you can reach that lofty threshold, you and a companion could be upgraded to a lie-flat seat when flying Alaska internationally. 🤯
How the new Atmos Summit card changes the game
I signed up for this card immediately, and it was the first time I’ve been genuinely nervous about an approval decision–this card’s benefits are so unique that I wanted to make it the centerpiece of my strategy. While the card is much less valuable for solo travelers, it could be a game changer for many. Let’s break it down.
It looks slightly better in person.
Atmos Summit at a Glance
Annual fee.
The card charges a $395 annual fee, which is modest compared to its competitors ($695 for the United Club, $650 for the Delta Reserve, $595 for the AA Executive, and $499 for the JetBlue Premier), though most of these provide greater access to airline lounges.
The Summit offers many benefits that could offset the annual fee, but the main ones are an annual 25k-point companion discount on an award flight and waived partner award fees.
For me, that single benefit more than covers the annual fee. We typically use Alaska miles for a flight to Japan. Those flights are available–and we’ve consistently booked them–for 75k points round-trip each, with $50 in partner booking fees for two people. I probably wouldn’t pay more than $900 to fly to Japan, but the amazing, fully-refundable JAL flight we actually took last time cost over $2,000. So depending on how you want to do the math, this card’s companion discount and fee waiver alone are worth between $350 and $700 after just a single award flight.
Welcome offer.
The card is currently offering 100k points plus a 25k companion award discount after spending $6,000 in the first 90 days after account opening. If you signed up for the waitlist last year when the card was announced, you can get another 5k miles if you sign up via the link Alaska sent out. With the card earning 1-3x points depending on the category, that $6k in spend will net another 6-18k miles, for a total of 131-148k points toward a trip for two.
With flights to Asia available from much of the US for 75k points each, it would take only a little topping up from further spend on the Summit or Alaska-earning cards for this bonus to translate directly to a trip for two to a destination like Japan–well worth $395 to me!
Note that you only have 90 days to meet the spending target, and the card arrives by default in 7-10 business days. I’m not a huge spender, so I called Citi (800-421-2110) and requested expedited shipping, receiving the card on Friday after getting approved and calling on Wednesday.
Earning.
The card earns:
3x on purchases on Alaska
3x on dining (extra 1 point per $2 spent via Atmos Rewards Dining)
3x on foreign purchases
3x on rent via Bilt (3% transaction fee)
1x on all other purchases
You can earn a 10% bonus on points (e.g. 3.3x on dining, 1.1x on base spending) with a qualifying Bank of America account. I considered opening a free Merrill account and keeping a small account balance, but chose instead to deposit $500 in a SafeBalance. I have been banking digitally for years, but I think the ability to deposit cash and get coins (apparently coin parking meters still exist) at a physical bank might come in handy.
Additionally, if you spend $60,000 in an anniversary year, you’ll receive a companion award discount worth up to 100k points.
Perks
The card comes with an impressive array of benefits:
25,000 companion award discount each anniversary year on renewal
10,000 status points on each account anniversary
1 status point for each $1 spend on the card
Partner award booking fee waiver
Access to the upgrade list and priority over non-cardholders in each elite status tier
Share (send or receive) Atmos points with no fee with up to 10 friends/family members
Two Alaska Lounge passes each quarter (Alaska lounge only, but you can be flying any Oneworld or partner airline)
Free checked bag for cardholder and up to six traveling companions
Preferred boarding (Group C)
$50 voucher when your Alaska flight is delayed by 2+ hours for any reason (redeemable at select merchants within 48 hours)
Waiver of same-day change fees (must keep the same origin, destination, thru, and connection cities; saver fares not eligible)
Receive up to two signature cocktails or elevated bar items in the lounge (through 2026)
Two wifi passes per quarter
20% discount on in-flight food, beverage, and wifi purchases
Visa Infinite Concierge service
Avis Presidents Club status (via Visa Infinite)
National Emerald Club Executive status (via Visa Infinite)
Hertz Gold Plus status (via Visa Infinite)
Statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck every 4 years
Protections
As a Visa Infinite card, the Summit comes with consumer protections near the top of the market, including:
Trip delay reimbursement (6+ hour or overnight delay, up to $500 per ticket)
Lost luggage reimbursement
Baggage delay reimbursement
Travel accident insurance
Extended warranty
Return protection
Purchase security
Roadside dispatch
Unfortunately, the Summit doesn’t include cell phone protection.
Why this is a game-changer
In my opinion, Atmos is the best frequent flyer program in the US, with the most valuable single set of points when considering ease of use, award chart value, award availability, and access to major discounts.
That makes Atmos points extremely valuable—and the Summit makes them dramatically easier to earn than other airline credit cards (none of which offer more than 2x miles in any category besides airline spend), but outpaces almost the entire market. The Summit’s potential 3.3x on dining is higher than all but the Amex Gold (which offers flexible points but no status advantage), the 3.3x on foreign spend is unprecedented (and so outrageously good it is likely to be capped at some point), while even the base earning is competitive with anything else on the market. This is not counting the potential spending bonus–if you spent (exactly) $60k and were able to use 75k of the 100k companion discount, that would be like earning 4.55x. 🤯
And all these points also get you status! With the card’s status point boost and a single award flight of 10k+ miles, you will have Atmos Silver status and benefits like upgrade eligibility, preferred seating, and various forms of priority on both Alaska and American Airlines. With some additional flights or card spending, you could easily hit Gold status, which, among other things, offers access to partner lounges on flights outside the US. Heck, if you take two long-enough flights with your companion, your companion can get elite status too. And with free authorized user cards and fee points pooling, you can tag-team to generate more miles, and maybe even hit the spending requirement for that 100k award discount. 🤯🤯
Lazy Take
Alaska has taken the most consumer-friendly frequent flyer program in America and made it even better with Atmos Rewards.
And the new Atmos Summit card makes it easier than ever to take full advantage of this program. While I can’t really recommend the card if you can’t reliably take at least one Alaska award flight with a traveling companion each year, if you do, this is possibly the most essential card on the market outside of the Capital One Venture X or Bilt Mastercard. And those cards complement this one perfectly! The Venture X can give you additional lounge options beyond the Summit’s limited passes, while the Bilt card can add Alaska points to your balance via no-fee rewards on rent, strong base earning, and Bilt’s many opportunities to supercharge Bilt points via promotions like Rent Day. And this trifecta easily returns its annual fees with real value.
The rest of my card portfolio might be in trouble.
Believe it or not, I have a lot more to say about the launch of Atmos and the Summit. Follow along by subscribing to LazyPoints Weekly.