Atmos Rewards is the loyalty program of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, and there are lots of things that make the scheme unique and compelling. Among other things, it’s possible to earn elite status with credit card spending, in a pretty compelling way. In this post, I’d like to go over the details of that, as it can potentially be done pretty efficiently.
In this post:
Earn Atmos Rewards elite status with credit cards
Nowadays the major US carriers generate a large percentage of their profits from their loyalty programs. That’s ultimately good for consumers, since in a way, our airfare is being subsidized by credit card companies.
Nowadays it’s possible to earn elite status exclusively through credit card spending with all of the “big three” US carriers:
- American AAdvantage has the Loyalty Points system, whereby you can earn any published elite tier exclusively through credit card spending
- Delta SkyMiles has the Medallion Qualifying Dollars system, whereby you can earn any published elite tier exclusively through credit card spending
- United MileagePlus has the Premier Qualifying Points system, whereby you can earn any published elite tier exclusively through credit card spending
We’ve seen Alaska increasingly start offering elite status through credit card spending, and that has really been taken to the next level in recent times. With that in mind, let’s go over the opportunities to earn elite status with the Atmos Rewards co-branded Bank of America credit cards.
Let me emphasize that the number of status points that you earn is based on the number of dollars spent, and not based on the number of points earned per dollar spent. In other words, for the purposes of earning status points, it doesn’t matter whether you’re spending in a category eligible for bonus points.
Earn one Atmos Rewards status point per $2 spent
If you’re looking to earn Atmos Rewards elite status through credit card spending, the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card (review) is the card you’re going to want to have. It offers one status point for every $2 spent, with no caps, and that’s the best rate at which you can earn status points with credit card spending. Furthermore, the card offers a boost of 10,000 status points annually on your card anniversary.
There are lots of reasons to get this $395 annual fee card, as it offers excellent ongoing value, including 3x points on all foreign purchases, the ability to earn Global Companion Awards, free points sharing with others, and more.
This is a card I’ve applied for, and it’s one that many people should be eligible for. If nothing else, the card is worth getting for the excellent welcome bonus plus the ongoing perks just for being a cardmember.
Earn one Atmos Rewards status point per $3 spent
The Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® Credit Card (review) and Atmos™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business Card (review) are the mid-range Atmos Rewards cards in this portfolio. They offer one status point for every $3 spent. For 2025, these cards are capped at earning 30,000 status points this way, while as of 2026, there will be no cap anymore.
The personal card has a $95 annual fee, while the business card has a minimum of a $95 annual fee ($70 for the company, and $25 per card). There are several reasons to consider picking up these cards, including the ability to earn a $99 companion fare.
Obviously if you’re largely going to be pursuing elite status through credit card spending, then you ideally won’t want to use these cards, given that you earn status at a faster pace with the Atmos Rewards Summit Card.
Is it worth earning Atmos Rewards status with spending?
How do I view the value proposition of spending toward Atmos Rewards status? As I see it, it doesn’t make much sense in isolation, but rather it makes sense as part of a much larger credit card strategy. As a reminder, Atmos Rewards has four elite tiers, with the following annual elite qualification requirements:
- Atmos Silver (oneworld Ruby) requires 20,000 status points
- Atmos Gold (oneworld Sapphire) requires 40,000 status points
- Atmos Platinum (oneworld Emerald) requires 75,000 status points (80,000 status points as of 2026)
- Atmos Titanium (oneworld Emerald) requires 100,000 status points (135,000 status points as of 2026)
To state the obvious, if you’re serious about earning elite status through credit card spending, you’ll want to use the Atmos Rewards Summit Card, given that it earns status points at the fastest pace.
Based on 2026 qualification requirements, and factoring in the 10,000 status points bonus on the anniversary of the Atmos Rewards Summit Card, you’d need to spend $60,000 to earn Atmos Gold (which gets you oneworld Sapphire status), while you’d need to spend $140,000 to earn Atmos Platinum (which gets you oneworld Emerald status).
On the surface, that’s not actually that exciting, though I think there are two things that potentially make this more interesting than you’d assume at first glance.
First of all, Atmos Rewards counts award flights toward elite status, at the rate of one status point per mile flown, regardless of which airline or class of service. This assumes you use Atmos Rewards points, and have your Atmos Rewards number on the reservation.
That’s incredibly compelling, since it means you’re rewarded not only when you earn points through credit card spending, but also when you go to redeem those points. This presents a pretty awesome opportunity to earn elite status through a combination of credit card spending and redeeming points, which is something you won’t find to be possible with many programs.
Second of all, what makes earning Atmos Rewards elite status with credit card spending compelling is how efficiently you can do this. With American AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles, and United MileagePlus, I’d argue that there’s a material opportunity cost to earning elite status through spending. That’s because the cards don’t otherwise earn points or offer additional perks at an efficient rate, so you’re forgoing quite some rewards by using those cards.
I’d argue that’s not the case with Atmos Rewards. The Atmos Rewards Summit Card offers 3x points on foreign purchases and on dining, and that’s before the 10% Bank of America relationship bonus you can earn, boosting rewards to 3.3x points per dollar spent in eligible categories.
On top of that, if you spend $60,000 on the card in a cardmember year, you can earn a 100,000-point Global Companion Award. So I’d argue that spending $60,000 on the card is a sweet spot. On an ongoing basis, spending that amount would you earn 40,000 status points (accounting for the 10,000 status points you get just for having the card).
That’s enough for oneworld Sapphire status, which is pretty awesome. Then when you actually redeem points you earn more status points, which could pretty easily boost you to oneworld Emerald status. I’d say this could even be a good strategy for those who primarily fly with American.
While I’m not suggesting everyone should go for elite status with Atmos Rewards, I do think this is the most compelling case to be made for spending your way to elite status with a US airline, in terms of lack of opportunity cost of spending. I really like the “oneworld Sapphire with credit card spending, and then oneworld Emerald with award flights and other activity” approach.
Bottom line
The Atmos Rewards program allows members to earn status points with credit card spending. With the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card and Atmos Rewards Business Card, you can earn one status point for every $3 spent, while with the Atmos Rewards Summit Card, you can earn one status point for every $2 spent, plus you can receive an anniversary boost of 10,000 status points just for having the card.
While it’s not for everyone, I do think there’s a case to be made for partly qualifying for elite status through spending on the Atmos Rewards Summit Card, given the other incentives to spend money on the card. I’d consider this to be the lowest opportunity cost way to earn elite status with credit card spending, so that’s great.
Where do you stand on the ability to earn elite status with Atmos Rewards’ credit cards?
You have written a lot about the Atmos credit card and rewards program. In one commentary you even discussed switching from the AAdvantage program to Atmos. I enrolled in Atmos and got the credit card. Then, I looked at the redemption rates and I was in for a shock. I priced a ticket from the west coast to MIA. I got AA for 16k round trip. Alaska, on the same flights was 35k! From this...
You have written a lot about the Atmos credit card and rewards program. In one commentary you even discussed switching from the AAdvantage program to Atmos. I enrolled in Atmos and got the credit card. Then, I looked at the redemption rates and I was in for a shock. I priced a ticket from the west coast to MIA. I got AA for 16k round trip. Alaska, on the same flights was 35k! From this perspective, Atmos points are much less valuable!
I have redeemed awards tickets before but always for the same carrier (i.e., AA points for AA flights, UA points for UA flights, etc.) So, it this par for the course or particular to the Atmos program? Would you care to comment on this?
Do you plan to use the miles primarily for flights on American? If so, how confident are you that will remain a good option? I’ve recently been using Atmos over Aadvantage for flights on AA at a great rate. On the other hand, I’m still sitting on many BA Avios because they used to be very valuable for me on American.
I’m feel it’s still easier to get one world emerald status with AA via edit card spend. Between the boosts with the executive card , the loyalty points that are accrued at an accelerated rate on the shopping portal and the aa hotels , the actual spend on AA is much less
@ John -- That's correct, with two exceptions, as I see it. First of all, Atmos Rewards is hugely advantageous if you redeem a lot of points for award travel, since those earn you status points. Second of all, if you pay rent or an HOA via Bilt, you can rack up a lot of status points that way with Atmos Rewards. But if you're looking at status purely through credit card spending, yes, AAdvantage is better.
Thanks for the reply. Speaking of status points on Alaska , when do we get to pick how we want to be rewarded ( flight segments , points , miles ) ? Is that in 2026?
What’s the default now ?
In all my years of travel, I’ve never seriously considered shooting for elite status with AA (or any other OneWorld carrier) as a PHX based flyer, mainly because I did not travel enough on paid flights to be anywhere close to getting there, and, more recently, I didn’t think it was worth spending on a credit card, since I’d rather earn transferrable points to book business class tickets.
This year, my mindset changed a bit,...
In all my years of travel, I’ve never seriously considered shooting for elite status with AA (or any other OneWorld carrier) as a PHX based flyer, mainly because I did not travel enough on paid flights to be anywhere close to getting there, and, more recently, I didn’t think it was worth spending on a credit card, since I’d rather earn transferrable points to book business class tickets.
This year, my mindset changed a bit, due to booking long-haul flights with Mileage Plan (and the ability to earn EQM on award flights). Now, with the Summit card, achieving OW Ruby should be pretty easy for 2025, with the goal of getting to OW Sapphire in 2026 (and maybe that 100K companion award too).
Probably too soon for me to consider OW Emerald, as I don’t think that level of CC spend is worth it.
@ Samar -- Hey, congrats on the plan, I think that's a sound strategy. Before you know it, you might even be oneworld Emerald. :-)
Thanks Ben. It’ll probably be a year or two before I consider if it’s worth the effort for Emerald. The two trips I booked for 2026 so far weren’t booked with Atmos points. Maybe my company will finally send me on an international trip or two (after working there for 10 years, it’d be about damn time!)
AA Advantage gives you 1 status loyalty point for $1 spent.
To reach AA Platinum, which appears to be equivalent to Atmos gold, you need to spend $75,000. With Atmos on its most expensive card, the card with the highest annual fee, you would need to spend $80,000. With the other cards you would have to spend more like $120,000.
I guess if you own your own business, it is easy to wrack up $6K+ of expenses monthly...
@ Justindev -- But elite status through credit card spending is only half of the equation. What makes Atmos Rewards great is the ability to earn status points for award flights. If you're not going to redeem a significant number of points for award travel, then yeah, Atmos Rewards isn't as exciting.