We recently saw the launch of Atmos Rewards, the loyalty program of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. This includes changes to the credit card portfolio, including a new premium credit card. Well, all of these cards are actually even more generous than we thought.
Forget about earning 3x points on all foreign purchases… how does 3.3x points sound, instead? This is all almost sounding too good to be true, no?
It’s time to open a Bank of America checking account!
If you look at the applications of the three co-branded Atmos Rewards and Bank of America credit cards, you’ll see mention of a 10% rewards bonus.
On the two personal versions of the card, the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® credit card (review) and Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card (review), you’ll see the following marketing bullet:
Earn a 10% rewards bonus on all points earned from card purchases if you have an eligible Bank of America account.
Meanwhile on the business version of the card, the Atmos™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business Card (review), you’ll see the following marketing bullet:
Earn a 10% rewards bonus on all points earned from card purchases if your company has an eligible Bank of America small business account.
I’ve written in the past about the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program, which offers bonus credit card rewards for having a certain amount in assets with the bank. However, that doesn’t apply to co-branded cards. What’s being offered on the co-branded Atmos Rewards credit cards is different, as simply having an open checking account unlocks this bonus.
For the two personal cards, the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card and Atmos Rewards Summit Card, the requirement is to have an active qualifying consumer (non-business) checking, savings, or CD account, with Bank of America, or an investment account with Merrill.
In order to qualify, the Bank of America account must have a deposit or withdrawal within 90 days, while the Merrill account must maintain an average daily balance greater than $0. Note that upon opening a new qualifying account, it could take up to 60 days to begin earning the relationship bonus points.
For the business card, the Atmos Rewards Business Card, the requirements are virtually identical, except you need a business account rather than a personal account.
While I’ve already applied for the Atmos Rewards Summit Card, I haven’t yet signed up for a Bank of America account that would trigger the 10% bonus. So if anyone has any experience or thoughts as to the easiest way to do this, I sure would appreciate it (and I imagine many others in the OMAAT community would as well)!
Practical implications of Bank of America 10% bonus
If you have an eligible Bank of America account, you earn a 10% bonus on the rewards earned for your spending (meaning the points earned from the welcome offer won’t get a 10% bonus). However, it’s better than you might expect (and I’ve confirmed this with Alaska contacts).
You don’t just get a 10% bonus on the points earned from base spending, but instead, you get a 10% bonus on the bonus categories as well. For example, the Atmos Rewards Summit Card offers 3x points on all foreign purchases, on dining, and on Alaska and Hawaiian purchases. This means that those purchases would actually earn 3.3x points. That’s… really, really good, especially when you consider the great uses of these points.
If you were eligible for the 10% bonus, spending $60,000 on foreign purchases on the Atmos Rewards Summit Card would earn you 198,000 Atmos Rewards points, a 100,000-point Global Companion Award, and 30,000 status points. Ugh… as in, Alaska is making it impossible not to switch loyalty.
Bottom line
The three Atmos Rewards credit cards offer a 10% relationship bonus on points earned from spending if you have an eligible Bank of America account. This doesn’t require depositing some massive amount of money, but even a basic checking account qualifies.
The Atmos Rewards Summit Card was looking pretty compelling already, but it’s even more compelling when you consider that you can ultimately earn 3.3x points on foreign purchases, dining, and Alaska and Hawaiian spending, plus 1.1x points on everyday spending.
What do you make of this Bank of America 10% relationship bonus?
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