Atmos Rewards Elite Status: What It Is and How To Earn It
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Written by
Jon Nickel-D'Andrea
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Edited by
Jasmin Baron, CCC™
Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have officially combined their loyalty programs under one new umbrella, Atmos Rewards. Frequent flyers across the West Coast, the Pacific and beyond now have to learn about new earning structures, elite perks, sweet spots and names for their previous elite status levels.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new Atmos Rewards elite status levels and how to get there.
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What Is Atmos Rewards?
Atmos Rewards, the new combined loyalty program for Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, combines the best features of Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan and Hawaiian Airlines’ HawaiianMiles. By signing up and getting an Atmos Rewards number, you can earn points that can be redeemed for flights all over the globe with Alaska Airlines and its partners.
How Does the Atmos Rewards Loyalty Program Work?
Under the new Atmos Rewards program, passengers across both airlines now participate in a single, unified loyalty system, consolidating elite benefits and mileage earning into one account. Existing Hawaiian Airlines members saw their balances converted into Atmos Rewards miles and combined with their former Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan accounts.
Elite members from both legacy programs were automatically merged into the new Atmos tier structure, creating one shared status recognition system and reciprocal benefits are now fully integrated. Lounge access applies to Alaska- and Hawaiian-operated flights, upgrade priority is consolidated into a single list, and elite perks extend across all Oneworld member airlines.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Atmos Rewards is how members qualify for status. Rather than forcing a single pathway, the program allows flyers to choose between distance-based, revenue-based, or segment-based qualification. If you typically fly on cheap long-distance tickets, you’ll likely come out ahead by choosing distance-based earning. If you’re a West Coast-based traveler making short hops up and down the coast or an island-hopper bouncing between Hawaiian islands for work, you’ll probably see a better benefit with the segment-based earning.
Atmos Rewards Status Levels and Tiers
Silver
Requirements:
- 20,000 status points or 40 segments
Key benefits:
- 20% bonus points on flights
- One free checked bag for you and up to six companions
- Preferred boarding (Group B on Alaska, Zone 2 on Hawaiian)
- Premium class upgrades at the time of booking on select fares
Gold
Requirements:
- 40,000 status points or 80 segments
Key benefits:
- 50% bonus points on flights
- Two free checked bags for you and up to six companions
- Preferred boarding (Group A on Alaska, Zone 1 on Hawaiian)
- Free same-day flight changes and standby in Main Cabin
- Free drink or chocolate in Main Cabin
- Premium class upgrades at the time of booking on select fares
Platinum
Requirements:
- 80,000 status points or 160 segments
Key benefits:
- 100% bonus points on flights
- Three free checked bags for you and up to six companions
- Preferred boarding (Group A on Alaska, Zone 1 on Hawaiian)
- Free same-day flight changes and standby in Main Cabin
- Free drink or chocolate in Main Cabin
- Premium class upgrades at the time of booking on all fares except saver
Titanium
Requirements:
- 135,000 status points or 270 segments
Key benefits:
- 150% bonus points on flights
- Three free bags for you and up to six companions
- Preferred boarding (Priority Group on Alaska, Zone 1 on Hawaiian)
- Free same-day flight changes and standby in Main Cabin
- Free drink or chocolate in Main Cabin
- Premium class upgrades at the time of booking on all fares except saver
- First and Business Class upgrades on all global flights
- Free meal when traveling in Main Cabin
Benefits Across All Tier Levels
- Access to first-class upgrades when available
- Preferred seating for all companions (excluding saver fares)
- Priority check-in and security
- Free same-day neighbor island standby
- Priority call routing for customer service
How To Earn Points With Atmos Rewards
Flying With Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines
For every eligible flight that you take with Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines, you’ll earn redeemable points that you can later use for free flights.
Flying With Oneworld Partners and Other Partner Airlines
You can earn points on partner airlines and, depending on the class of service, you can earn a bonus number of points as well.
Credit Card Spending
Three Bank of America credit cards earn Atmos Rewards points: the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature®, Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card, and the Atmos™ Rewards Visa® Business Card.
These airline credit cards also earn status points for spending — 1 status point per $3 spent on the Atmos Rewards Ascent and Business cards, and 1 status point per $2 spent on the Atmos Rewards Summit. The Atmos Rewards Summit also awards 10,000 status points annually, beginning on your first card anniversary.
Shopping and Dining Portals
You can earn hundreds and thousands of extra points every year simply by shopping online and eating out at restaurants near you.
Transfer Partners
Bilt Rewards is a transfer partner with Atmos Rewards, meaning that you can transfer your Bilt Rewards points to Atmos Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. None of the other flexible bank rewards currencies earned from the best travel credit cards are transferable to Atmos Rewards.
How To Redeem Points with Atmos Rewards
Atmos Rewards points are most valuable when redeemed for flights on the program’s wide-reaching network of partner airlines. Nevertheless, most people will want to redeem their points for flights on Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian. Recently, Alaska Airlines has made flight redemption prices dynamic, with more expensive flights requiring more points than less expensive or less desirable flights. This means that high-demand routes or flights during peak travel periods will likely cost you more points than flights during off-peak periods.
Partner airlines still follow an award chart for redemption. Regions are well defined, and the longer the flight, the more points you’ll need to redeem.
In order to find out how many points you’ll need for an award ticket, simply head over to the Alaska Airlines website and search for your flight. Make sure to check the “use points” box, or you’ll be shown prices in cash.
You’ll see the options available to you, with Alaska and Hawaiian flights appearing first, followed by partner flights.
Check out the example above. You can see that while the Alaska flight is listed first and is a nonstop option, the best deal using points is listed with a connection and its partner, British Airways. This is a great example of how pricing can fluctuate dramatically on Alaska Airlines flights, and partner flights follow the partner award chart.
One of the ways I search for flights is by using the flexible date option, since I can often adjust my travel dates by a couple of days in either direction. Alaska offers a calendar that shows the lowest available price and how date changes affect pricing.
While some days cost fewer miles, they may come with higher taxes and fees. Nonetheless, seeing which dates offer the best deal saves me hours on my flight search and potentially thousands of points.
Is Atmos Rewards Status Worth It?
For West Coast travelers, Hawaii-bound vacationers and frequent overseas flyers, Atmos Rewards has positioned itself as one of the most valuable airline loyalty programs in the U.S. The ability to choose how you qualify for status creates flexibility that most U.S.-based carriers have eliminated over the years. This flexibility is unusual in the loyalty landscape, with most airlines moving toward a purely revenue-based system.
Where Atmos excels is in its global reach. Elite status doesn’t just mean upgrades to first class; it unlocks lounge access, priority service and unmatched benefits across an entire airline alliance. While Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines used to be off the radar for most people on the East Coast, the program is now a viable option for trips to Europe, Asia, Australia and beyond.
Frequently Asked Questions About Atmos Rewards Status
Do I need the Alaska Airlines Atmos credit card to get status?
No, you don’t need the Atmos credit card in order to earn status, but your spending on the card can help you earn status faster. For example, the Atmos Rewards Ascent card earns 1 point for every $3 spent on eligible purchases, and the Atmos Rewards Summit card earns 1 status point for every $2 spent on eligible purchases
Can I earn status on award tickets?
Yes, when you redeem your Atmos Rewards for a flight, you will earn status points on that flight.
Does Atmos status reset every year?
Yes, every year on Dec. 31, you’ll stop earning points towards status, while your status itself remains in effect until Jan. 31 of the following year.
