The $395 annual fee Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card (learn more) is the premium personal credit card of Atmos Rewards, which is the combined loyalty program of Alaska & Hawaiian.
There are lots of reasons to get this card, from a huge welcome bonus, to the great perks and rewards for spending on an ongoing basis. It’s a card I’ve already applied for. In this post, I’d like to talk about how the Atmos Rewards Summit Card offers eight Alaska Lounge passes per year. The details of this perk can cause some confusion, so let me explain how this works.
Link: Learn more about the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card
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Earn eight Alaska Lounge passes annually with card
Airport lounge access has become a popular credit card perk. The Atmos Rewards Summit Card is Alaska’s most premium co-branded credit card, and it does offer a lounge perk. However, it’s not a full lounge membership, but instead, it’s a set number of lounge passes.
Specifically, the card offers eight Alaska Lounge passes annually. Here are the basic terms to be aware of:
- You receive two Alaska Lounge passes at the beginning of every calendar quarter, and each pass expires at the end of the quarter in which it’s issued
- There’s no registration required, and the passes will automatically be deposited in the account of the primary cardmember
- If you newly open your account, your first passes will credit within 30 days, though typically much faster than that, within days of opening the account
- Passes are each valid for one adult and up to two accompanying children under the age of 21
- Each lounge pass is valid for one individual for single travel day access to Alaska Lounge locations; so that means you can use multiple lounges on a single day of travel
- You must have a boarding pass for a same day flight operated by Alaska, Hawaiian, a oneworld partner airline, or any global partner airline, and that boarding pass must be departing from or arriving at the airport in which the lounge is located
- The benefit only applies at Alaska Lounges, and not at partner lounges, and also not at Hawaiian Lounges (not that Hawaiian currently has a robust lounge network)
- Lounge passes can be used by the cardmember, or can be gifted to friends and family
Do note that just like the Alaska Lounge day passes that the airline sells directly, lounges may at times limit the number of day passes that they’ll accept due to crowding.
Let me also mention that having the Atmos Rewards Summit Card gets you access to the elevated bar program in Alaska Lounges. Just present your card to the bartender, and you and a companion can enjoy access to premium drink selection.
This includes the Summit Sunset cocktail, a Woodford Reserve Bourbon-based cocktail, designed in partnership with professional mixologists. It’s only available to those with the card and their guests, so others accessing the lounge can’t even pay for it.
Where to find the Alaska Lounge passes in your account
The Atmos Rewards Summit Card Alaska Lounge passes are issued electronically. To find them, just log into your Atmos Rewards account, and click on the “Rewards” section.
On that page you’ll see all the rewards that are in your account (including things like the 25K-point and 100K-point Global Companion Awards, the $99 Companion Fare, etc.), and if you scroll down, you should see a section that lists all your active lounge day passes.
If you click the “Use your Lounge day pass” button, you’ll be brought to a page that shows the codes for each of the lounge passes. Each has a unique code that can be used to access an eligible lounge. If you’re gifting these to others, just send them the code, or a screenshot of the code, or whatever.
If you’re the primary cardmember and are accessing a lounge directly, there’s even an easier way. Just present your eligible flight boarding pass with your Atmos Rewards frequent flyer number on the reservation, and say you want to redeem one of your lounge passes. They’ll then be able to admit you that way.
My take on the value of the Alaska Lounge passes
The way I view it, the eight Alaska Lounge passes offered by the Atmos Rewards Summit Card are more an “icing on the cake” perk than a fundamental part of the card’s value proposition. Admittedly there are cards with more robust lounge access perks, but for the most part, they have much higher annual fees. For that matter, most of us miles & points enthusiasts don’t need another Priority Pass membership, so it’s an area where they can save, as I see it.
If you’re a frequent flyer who values Alaska Lounge access, odds are that this perk won’t cut it. For one, there might be merit to getting the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® credit card (learn more) or Atmos™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business Card (learn more), as each of those cards offers a $100 discount on an Alaska Lounge+ membership, which is the most comprehensive kind of Alaska Lounge membership you can get.
Alternatively, there’s merit to getting the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard® (learn more), which is the best card for getting an American Admirals Club membership, and that also gets you Alaska Lounge passes. The card has a $695 annual fee and offers lots of other great perks, so you could still come out ahead by getting that.
But if you’re just the occasional Alaska flyer, or would only benefit from Alaska Lounge access a couple of times per quarter, then this is obviously ideal. For me, I’ll just be giving away these passes, since I otherwise have lounge access by having an Admirals Club membership.
But as I said earlier, I don’t view this as being a core part of the card’s value proposition. I love this card for the anniversary Global Companion Award, waived partner award booking fees, 3x points on international purchases, free points transfers, potential easy pathway to earning Atmos Rewards status, and strong rental car and travel purchase protection.
Atmos Summit Card Alaska Lounge pass FAQs
Bottom line
The Atmos Rewards Summit Card offers quite a few perks, including up to eight Alaska Lounge passes annually. The way this works, you receive two lounge passes each calendar quarter, which expire at the end of the quarter.
Obviously this isn’t comprehensive lounge access if you’re a frequent flyer with the airline, but it does go a long way to helping the occasional Alaska flyer elevate their travels. Worst case scenario, you can gift these passes to others. Also keep in mind that you get access to a special bar program if you have the card.
What has your experience been with the Atmos Rewards Summit Card Alaska Lounge passes?
My biggest issue with the lounge passes is their restrictiveness. If the card offered 8 passes annually that are valid for 12 months, that wouldn't be a problem. But, giving only 2/quarter and having a 3-month validity period is absolutely ridiculous.
As I have the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card, which -- as I'm sure everyone knows by now -- 1) gives you access to both Admirals Clubs and Alaska Lounges, and 2) is less expensive than buying a membership for either one, I've been giving my passes away to my kids and friends who are flying Alaska. /so, for me, it's a great benefit.
The Fees just came Due for the 2 Cards above (One for me & one for wife). cost almost $800.00 plus $100.00 due for another Alaska Air Business Card. That is almost a Grand. Hmmm I know they are keepers But the Devalued points is making me think twice. Are the Certificates worth it?
Wow did not know it officially allows guest passes to be gifted. I thought I was doing some work around when I gave them to my brother. Good to know!
@lucky and those who have this card, what are your experiences in trying to use these passes? Have you ever been turned away? I would primarily use these at LAX. TIA!
@ PhilBob -- Since I have an Admirals Club membership (which offers Alaska Lounge access), I haven't actually directly used these. Instead, I've gifted them to others, and I haven't received any reports of issues with using them. For what it's worth, the Alaska Lounge LAX seems to be one of the better ones when it comes to not having crowding issues, so I doubt you'd run into any problems.
Thanks @lucky!
My husband and I flew business class the few times we traveled last year, so we didn't need the passes for ourselves. But I was able to give away 4 of my 10 passes to friends and relatives. (I ended up with 10 passes in the first year since I got the Summit card in August.) My 22-year-old daughter and a friend flew British Airways out of Portland, and they loved their time in the...
My husband and I flew business class the few times we traveled last year, so we didn't need the passes for ourselves. But I was able to give away 4 of my 10 passes to friends and relatives. (I ended up with 10 passes in the first year since I got the Summit card in August.) My 22-year-old daughter and a friend flew British Airways out of Portland, and they loved their time in the fancy new PDX Alaska lounge--their first lounge experience. My sister had an unexpected 3 hour layover in Anchorage and enjoyed her time in the lounge there. And finally, my daughter just used a pass in PDX and LAX en route to Costa Rica on Alaska. LAX was actually the only lounge with a waiting list--she had to wait about 30 minutes to get in there.
In all cases, I just texted the code to the person using the pass, but I also gave them my Alaska number, and that's what the agent actually used, since the codes are super long strings of characters. It would be easier if Alaska would use QR codes.
I've never been turned away, used them 2x per quarter since last fall. You generally need to tell the staff on check in that you want to use a summit day pass.
Difficult to use with limited lounge network and HNL lounge not allowed yet. But it’s nice that we can give the pass to others and those flying partner airlines such as KE can access the lounge regardless how the ticket was purchased (no need to buy through AS website). We could give the pass to relatives and friends who fly KE back to Korea.
$ 395 annual fee for a credit card ? The Mob in NYC wouldn't pay it .
@Alert Seems like you're gunning for the September award, and since Tim is apparently on a break (yay!), I'm going to help move you along...LOL
Yes I'm in NYC and paid for it because it includes primary car rental insurance for residents of NY state, while the Chase cards exclude NY.