The Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® credit card is the mid-range personal credit card of Atmos Rewards, which is the loyalty program of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. This card is issued by Bank of America, and represents a great value. If you fly Alaska or Hawaiian with any frequency, this is a card you’ll probably want to pick up.
There are many reasons to consider picking up this card, especially if you fly Alaska or Hawaiian with any frequency. This post is my in-depth review of the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card, so let’s take a look at the card’s value proposition, for anyone who may be considering applying. This is an especially good time to apply, given the welcome offer that’s currently available.
Link: Learn more about the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® credit card
Atmos Rewards Ascent Card summary & key details
Before I get into my Atmos Rewards Ascent Card review, here’s a brief summary of the key details of the card:
- Atmos Ascent Card annual fee: $95
- Atmos Ascent Card welcome offer: Up to 80,000 Atmos Rewards points plus a $99 companion fare upon completing minimum spending
- Atmos Ascent Card rewards earn rate: 3x Atmos Rewards points on Alaska & Hawaiian purchases, 2x points on eligible gas, EV charging stations, cable, streaming services, and local transit purchases (including rideshare), and 1x points on all other purchases; also earn one status point for every $3 spent, with no cap
- Atmos Ascent Card benefits & credits: First checked bag free on Alaska & Hawaiian, preferred boarding on Alaska & Hawaiian flights, a $99 companion fare with $6,000 in annual spending, and more
- Atmos Ascent Card foreign transaction fees: None
- Atmos Ascent Card best for: Someone who flies Alaska and/or Hawaiian occasionally, and values perks like a free checked bag and preferred boarding
Below are what I consider to be the pros and cons of the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card.
| Atmos Rewards Ascent Card pros | Atmos Rewards Ascent Card cons |
|---|---|
| Generous welcome bonus | No airport lounge access |
| Ability to earn $99 companion fare | Not the best card for everyday spending |
| Solid perks for travel on Alaska & Hawaiian | No useful travel protections |
Atmos Ascent Card bonus, eligibility, & fee basics
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card is the more basic personal card in the Atmos Rewards ecosystem. To start, let’s cover the welcome bonus, eligibility rules, and annual fee, since these are things that many cardmembers may be considering.
Welcome bonus of up to 80K points & $99 companion fare
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card is offering a limited time welcome bonus where you’ll receive up to 80,000 bonus points and a $99 companion fare (plus taxes and fees from $23) with this offer. You’ll get 60,000 bonus points plus a $99 Companion Fare (plus taxes and fees from $23) after spending $3,000 or more on purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account. You can then earn an additional 20,000 bonus points after spending a total of $5,000 or more on purchases within the same 90-day period.
Based on my latest miles & points valuations, Atmos Rewards points are worth 1.5 cents each, given all the great uses there are of them. That means the 80,000 points are worth $1,200 for me. That doesn’t even account for the value of the companion fare, which could save you hundreds of dollars.
Atmos Rewards credit card eligibility rules
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card is issued by Bank of America. The good news is that eligibility for this card is unrelated to having any other Atmos Rewards card, so you’re eligible for this card (including the bonus) if you have the business version of the card, the Atmos™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business Card (learn more), or the premium version of the card, the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card (learn more).
Bank of America doesn’t have too many consistent restrictions when it comes to getting approved for cards. The most consistent rule is that you can typically only be approved at most two Bank of America card in a two month period, three Bank of America cards in a 12 month period, and four Bank of America cards in a 24 month period (this applies to personal cards, not business cards).
There’s no consistent credit score you need in order to get approved for the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card. In general, I’d hope to have a score in the “good” to “excellent” range, ideally 700+ points. However, people with lower scores have been approved, and people with higher scores have been rejected.
$95 annual fee & $0 authorized user fee
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card has a reasonable $95 annual fee. At right under $100, that’s in line with the annual fees you’ll find on many co-branded airline credit cards. You can add authorized users to the card at no extra cost (and there’s a reason you may want to do so, as I’ll cover below).
Atmos Ascent Card rewards structure
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card has some bonus categories that can help you rack up points faster. Furthermore, spending on the card can help you earn Atmos Rewards elite status. Let’s talk about how the bonus categories on the card work.
3x points with Alaska & Hawaiian purchases
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card offers 3x points on Alaska and Hawaiian purchases. So if you fly either of those Alaska Air Group carriers with any frequency, that’s a solid return on that spending.
2x points in select categories
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card offers 2x points in a variety of categories, including on eligible gas, EV charging stations, cable, streaming services, and local transit purchases (including rideshare). It’s always nice to earn bonus points, though in fairness, 2x points isn’t exactly the biggest return on spending that we’ve seen, as some other cards offer that return on everyday spending.
1x points on all other eligible purchases
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card offers 1x points on all other eligible spending. As you might expect, there are more exciting cards for everyday spending, as that’s not a terribly exciting return.
One status point per $3 in purchases
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card can help you earn elite status in the Atmos Rewards program. Specifically, the card offers one status point for every $3 in eligible spending on the card. There’s no cap on how many status points you can earn with the card.
If you are serious about earning Atmos Rewards elite status with spending, I’d recommend instead considering the Atmos Rewards Summit Card, which offers one status point for every $2 in eligible spending.
Earn annual $99 companion fare with spending
In addition to the companion fare offered as part of the welcome bonus, the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card offers a $99 companion fare when you spend $6,000 per anniversary year on the card.
The companion certificate is one of the most valuable airline credit card companion ticket for revenue travel, in my opinion. You’ll pay $99 plus taxes and fees (which start at $23), so you’re looking at paying $122+ for your companion.
What makes this companion fare so exceptional is that it’s valid on all Alaska and Hawaiian economy fares within the Americas (including Hawaii), you can use it for one-ways or roundtrips, the companion even earns points and is eligible for upgrades, etc. So whether you want to go to Hawaii or Mexico, it gives you a lot of flexibility.
Bank of America 10% relationship bonus
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card also offers a Bank of America relationship bonus. If you have an eligible consumer Bank of America checking or savings account, you’ll receive a bonus equal to 10% of the base points you earn on each dollar spent. This is a way to earn even more rewards.
No foreign transaction fees
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card has no foreign transaction fees, so it’s a decent card to use for purchases abroad, since you can rack up rewards without paying a fee.
Atmos Ascent Card benefits & savings
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card offers a variety of benefits and perks that can help offset the annual fee. Many of these perks are offered just for having the card, while one requires completing a certain amount of annual spending.
I’d argue that these benefits are especially useful for those who fly Alaska or Hawaiian once in a while, and would benefit from things like free checked bags, and more.
Before I talk about what is included, let me mention what isn’t included — the Ascent Card doesn’t offer perks like baggage delay or lost luggage protection, trip cancellation or interruption coverage, purchase protection, etc. So if that’s something you value, consider another card.
First checked bag free on Alaska & Hawaiian flights
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card offers a free checked bag for you and up to six guests on the same reservation when flying on Alaska or Hawaiian. In order to be eligible for this perk, you need to charge the cost of the ticket to your card. Another great thing is that authorized users on the card can also receive this benefit, as long as their ticket is purchased with the card.
This is a great benefit that could save you a lot of money — Alaska and Hawaiian ordinarily charge $30-45 per checked bag, so that’s a savings of up to $90 per person roundtrip, if checking bags. If you fly Alaska or Hawaiian fairly often but don’t have elite status, that alone could quickly more than justify the annual fee.
That free checked bag benefit for authorized users makes this a great card for families. You could add family members as authorized users, and then they could receive a free checked bag even when not traveling with you.
Preferred boarding on Alaska & Hawaiian flights
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card offers preferred boarding for you and up to six guests on the same reservation. In order to be eligible for this perk, you need to charge the cost of the ticket to your card. Another great thing is that authorized users on the card can also receive this benefit, as long as their ticket is purchased with the card.
This is a valuable benefit that help you ensure that there’s space in the overhead bin for your bags. It’s also an awesome authorized user perk, so that you can share this benefit with family members.
20% inflight savings on Alaska & Hawaiian flights
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card offers 20% back on Alaska and Hawaiian inflight purchases when paying with your card. This applies for the purchase of food, beverages, and Wi-Fi onboard flights, and the statement credit should post to your account within seven days. There’s no limit to how often you can take advantage of this.
$100 Alaska Lounge+ membership discount
If you’re looking to get an Alaska Lounge membership, the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card offers $100 off an Alaska Lounge+ annual membership when you pay for the purchase with your card. An Alaska Lounge+ membership ordinarily costs $795 annually, and offers access to all Alaska Lounges, plus nearly 100 partner lounges around the world (including American Admirals Clubs).
Being able to get this lounge discount could prove to be a good value. Of course that assumes that you’d actually buy a membership — if you wouldn’t, then this perk isn’t worth anything.
The value in earning & redeeming Atmos Rewards points
When talking about an Atmos Rewards credit card, it’s worth acknowledging the general value in earning and redeeming Atmos Rewards points. Alaska & Hawaiian are both in the oneworld alliance, and Atmos Rewards partners not only with oneworld partner airlines, but also with all kinds of other unaligned airlines. I consider Atmos Rewards to be one of the most valuable points currencies out there.
Atmos Rewards has a distance based award chart, which varies a bit by region. For example, below is the one-way award chart within the Americas.
| Distance (miles) | Economy points cost | Business points cost |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 700 | 4,500 | 9,000 |
| 701–1,400 | 7,500 | 15,000 |
| 1,401–2,100 | 12,500 | 25,000 |
| 2,101–4,000 | 17,500 | 35,000 |
| 4,001–6,000 | 25,000 | 50,000 |
| 6,001 and above | 30,000 | 60,000 |
I constantly redeem Atmos Rewards points for travel within the United States, particularly on American. For example, all the time I redeem 4,500 points to fly one-way economy from Miami to Tampa (when cash fares would often be $200+), or 15,000 points to fly one-way business class from Miami to Chicago or New York (when cash fares would often be $500+). You simply can’t beat these redemption rates.
The icing on the cake is that with Atmos Rewards, you earn status points for award flights, so those flights even count toward elite status, and that’s also why I’ve switched my business to Atmos Rewards.
Of course there are lots of other opportunities with Atmos Rewards points as well. For example, I love the ability to redeem 75,000 points for one-way business class from the United States to many parts of Asia on carriers like Japan Airlines or Starlux Airlines — those are both awards that I’ve booked for myself in the past, and they were a great value.
What makes this an even better value is that you can have a free stopover on a one-way award when traveling long haul. One thing worth being aware of is that Atmos Rewards has a $20 per person per direction partner award booking fee. However, that can be waived if you have the Atmos Rewards Summit Card.
Is the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card worth it?
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card is the most basic personal card in the Atmos Rewards ecosystem, so how valuable is this product? A few thoughts…
First of all, I think there’s a lot of merit to picking up this card for the excellent welcome bonus, which includes a lot of points and a $99 companion fare.
Bank of America cards are generally quite easy to get approved for, and many people are even eligible if they’ve had this card in the past. Given the value of the Atmos Rewards ecosystem, there’s no reason not to pick up this card, if eligible.
What about the long term value proposition of the card, though? If you fly Alaska or Hawaiian with any frequency and don’t have elite status, the basic perks add up, including a first checked bag free, preferred boarding, and more.
Beyond that, I think there’s merit to putting $6,000 of spending per year on the card, so that you can pick up the $99 companion fare, which is super valuable. However, I’d say there’s also merit to picking up one (or both) of the other Atmos Rewards cards…
Atmos Rewards Ascent vs. Atmos Rewards Business comparison
The Atmos Rewards Business Card is the business version of the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card, as you may have guessed based on the name. I’d say the business card can also be worth having.
The Atmos Rewards Business Card has a lot of overlapping benefits, including offering a $99 companion fare on the account anniversary when spending $6,000, a first checked bag free, priority boarding, 20% savings on inflight purchases, savings on an Alaska Lounge+ membership, the same status points earning potential, and more. So where do the cards differ, other than one being a business card and one being a personal card?
- The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card has a $95 annual fee, while the Atmos Rewards Business Card has a minimum of a $95 annual fee, as it’s $70 for the company and $25 per card, meaning that each authorized user will cost you extra
- One of the 2x points categories on the two cards differ — the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card offers 2x points on streaming services, while the Atmos Rewards Business Card offers 2x points on shipping
Otherwise these cards are virtually identical. You could even pick up both the personal and business card, to really maximize the points and companion certificates that you can earn, you could earn two companion fares per year, etc.
Atmos Rewards Ascent vs. Atmos Rewards Summit comparison
The $395 annual fee Atmos Rewards Summit Card is the more premium personal card than the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card. If you ask me, this card is really easy to justify, thanks to the incredible perks. I’d take it a step further, and say that it’s my favorite airline credit card.
Among other things, the card racks up status points at the fastest rate, the card allows you to earn Global Companion Awards, offers Alaska Lounge passes, enables free points sharing, waives partner award booking fees, offers 3x points on foreign purchases, and much more.
If you fly Alaska or Hawaiian with any frequency, then getting this card is an absolute no-brainer. As I see, it the anniversary 25K-point Global Companion Award alone basically justifies the annual fee, and that says nothing of all the other amazing perks.
Best Atmos Rewards Ascent Card alternatives
If you’re looking for a card at a similar general price point to the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card, but it doesn’t quite seem like the best pick, let me share a few other recommendations. In general, if you want to maximize your return on spending, I’d consider getting a card earning a transferable points currency.
At a similar price point, consider the following cards:
- The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (learn more) is probably the most compelling and well rounded card at this price point, in terms of rewards structure, travel and rental car protection, etc.
- The Citi Strata Premier® Card (learn more) is another card with excellent bonus categories and a reasonable annual fee, and points can be moved to American AAdvantage, which is another oneworld frequent flyer program with valuable rewards
- The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (learn more) has a reasonable annual fee, and is one of the best cards for someone looking to earn a great return on everyday spending, without having to worry about bonus categories
- The Bilt Obsidian Card (learn more) earns transferrable points, has a great rewards structure, and points can even be moved to Alaska’s Atmos Rewards program (Rates & Fees)
- The American Express® Gold Card (learn more) has a higher annual fee, but is tough to beat for those who spend a lot on dining, and also offers credits that can help offset the fee
Atmos Rewards Ascent Card FAQs
Bottom line
The Atmos Rewards Ascent Card is a valuable co-branded airline credit card. The card has an excellent welcome offer, and offers perks that should prove worthwhile for those who fly Alaska Airlines with any frequency. If you don’t yet have this card but are eligible, this would be a great time to apply. However, also consider the Atmos Rewards Summit Card, which I personally think is the most lucrative airline credit card out there.
If you want to learn more about or apply for the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card, follow this link.
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.
There are currently no responses to this story.
Be the first to respond.