How To Redeem Alaska Atmos Rewards Points For Best Value

Alaska Atmos Rewards (formerly Alaska Mileage Plan) has long been a favorite points currency among miles & points geeks, given the carrier’s unique array of airline partners, generous stopover policy, and attractive redemption rates. The program has undergone some major changes in recent times, so in this post, I’d like to take an in-depth look at this points currency.

How do you earn Atmos Rewards points, what are the rules around redeeming them, and what are the best uses?

More from OMAAT I Earned Atmos Rewards Platinum Status: Is Going for Titanium Worth It? Read more

How to earn Alaska Atmos Rewards points

There are several different ways to go about earning Alaska Atmos Rewards points, from credit cards, to outright buying points, to transferring them from other cards.

Earn Atmos Rewards points with co-branded credit cards

The Atmos Rewards program has three co-branded credit cards, issued by Bank of America, and they all have excellent welcome bonuses with limited eligibility restrictions:

• The Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite^® Credit Card (review) has a $395 annual fee, and there are so many reasons to get this lucrative card, ranging from the fastest pathway to earning status, to Global Companion Awards, to great bonus categories, and much more
• The Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® credit card (review) has a $95 annual fee, and it offers valuable basic perks for travel on Alaska & Hawaiian, including the ability to earn a $99 companion fare
• The Atmos™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business Card (review) has a minimum of a $95 annual fee ($70 for the company and $25 per user), and offers useful benefits for travel on Alaska & Hawaiian

What’s so great is that you can potentially qualify for all of these cards, so that’s an opportunity to earn lots of points. For example, I recently picked up both the Atmos Rewards Summit Card and Atmos Rewards Business Card.

Earn Atmos Rewards points with other credit cards

The Atmos Rewards program is transfer partners with Bilt Rewards, so you can transfer Bilt Points to Atmos Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. This could be a great reason to pick up a card from Bilt, given how lucrative the card is. You can even pay rent with an Atmos Rewards card and earn 3x points while paying a 3% fee, which could be a useful deal, especially if you’re pursuing elite status.

The program also partners with Marriott Bonvoy, so you can transfer over Marriott points. The ratio is that 60,000 Bonvoy points convert into 25,000 Atmos Rewards points (if you convert in different increments it’s a 3:1 ratio).

This can be a solid value, and there are lots of credit cards that can earn you Bonvoy points, including the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (review), Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card (review), and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (review).

Buy Atmos Rewards points

The Atmos Rewards program is pretty aggressive about selling points, and the program seems to offer promotions on purchased points every couple of months. When we see these offers, you can expect bonuses in the range of 40-70%. This is often an opportunity to acquire Atmos Rewards points for under two cents each.

It doesn’t cost anything to join the Atmos Rewards program, so I generally recommend signing up ahead of time — you have to be a member for at least 10 days in order to take advantage of one of these promotions.

Earn Atmos Rewards points by flying

Not only are there great ways to earn Atmos Rewards points either through credit cards or by buying them outright, but Atmos Rewards is also a good program to credit flights to.

For one, Atmos Rewards is the last major US frequent flyer program to give members the option to earn points based on distance flown rather than dollars spent. Atmos Rewards allows mileage earning on a variety of airline partners, ranging from Condor to Cathay Pacific. Atmos Rewards lets you earn points for travel on the following airline partners:

• Aer Lingus
• Air Tahiti Nui
• American Airlines
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Condor
• Fiji Airways
• Finnair
• Hainan Airlines
• Iberia
• Icelandair
• Japan Airlines
• Korean Air
• Malaysia Airlines
• Oman Air
• Porter
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Ravn Alaska
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• SriLankan Airlines
• Starlux Airlines

Basics of redeeming Alaska Atmos Rewards points

Alaska Atmos Rewards has some great redemption opportunities, though there are also quite a few rules to be aware of. Let’s cover some of those basics.

Atmos Rewards points redemption partners

Alaska Airlines belongs to the oneworld alliance, though the airline has an array of partners beyond oneworld. It’s possible to redeem Atmos Rewards points for travel on the following airlines:

• Aer Lingus
• Air Tahiti Nui
• American Airlines
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Condor
• Fiji Airways
• Finnair
• Hainan Airlines
• Hawaiian Airlines
• Iberia
• Icelandair
• Japan Airlines
• Korean Air
• Malaysia Airlines
• Oman Air
• Porter
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• SriLankan Airlines
• Starlux Airlines

All Atmos Rewards award redemption partners can be booked online at alaskaair.com. If you have a complicated itinerary or are having issues with the website, you’ll want to call the Atmos Rewards partner award desk, which can be reached at 800-252-7522.

Atmos Rewards has region & distance based award charts

When it comes to redeeming points, Atmos Rewards has three simple award charts that are a combination of zone and distance based.

There’s the Americas award chart, which covers any travel from the United States to anywhere in the Americas, including North America and South America.

Then there’s the Europe, Middle East, and Africa award chart, which includes travel from the United States to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and travel within Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Lastly, there’s the Asia-Pacific award chart, which includes travel from the United States to Asia-Pacific, within Asia-Pacific, and between Asia-Pacific and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

The most significant thing to understand here is that the “starting at” prices are actually what you’re going to pay if there’s saver level award availability. All partners have the same award pricing assuming there’s saver award availability.

There are a few other important things to mention:

• Award pricing is based on the cumulative distance of one-way travel
• As you can see above, there’s a hierarchy of award charts, so the Americas chart only applies if you’re traveling within the Americas, the Europe, the Middle East, and Africa chart applies if traveling from the United States to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific chart applies if traveling within Asia-Pacific, or between Asia-Pacific and any other regions
• This is very specific, but for travel in Icelandair Saga Class (business class), pricing is based on premium economy rather than business class, given the type of product that Icelandair offers; however, this is a moot point, since Icelandair rarely releases premium availability

Atmos Rewards status points for award flights

The Atmos Rewards program awards status points for award travel booked through the program. This applies for travel on Alaska, Hawaiian, and all other partner airlines.

Just book using Atmos Rewards points and have your Atmos Rewards number on the reservation, and you’ll earn one status point per mile flown, regardless of the class of service (this assumes you select to earn Atmos Rewards points based on distance flown).

This is a massive point of differentiation for the program, and if you ask me, it’s a contributing reason that many American loyalists might want to consider Atmos Rewards.

Atmos Rewards allows stopovers on one-way awards

One of my favorite things about the Atmos Rewards program is that you are allowed a stopover on a one-way award ticket when traveling between regions. This is possible regardless of which partner you redeem with.

So if you book a roundtrip as two one-ways, this means you can potentially get two stopovers on a roundtrip ticket. To book a ticket online with a stopover, just use the multi-city function, and you can search each portion of the ticket individually.

Now, admittedly with the program being distance based, you are in some cases potentially paying more for itineraries with stopovers, but it’s still a useful feature.

Atmos Rewards award inventory discrepancies

On the surface, Atmos Rewards should have access to the same award availability as other partner airlines do, though in some cases Atmos Rewards inexplicably doesn’t have access to the same space. Most commonly:

• Atmos Rewards often has access to one less first and/or business class award seat on Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines than other programs do
• Qantas awards sometimes don’t show up, though there’s not much rhyme or reason to that
• Atmos Rewards often has access to one less business class award seat on Aer Lingus than other programs do

This won’t be consistent, but it is something to be aware of, and it sure can be frustrating. There’s generally not any way to get around this.

Atmos Rewards partner non-saver award pricing

When searching award availability on some partner airlines, you may see award pricing that’s way above what the chart suggests. This includes for some flights on Aer Lingus, Icelandair, Qatar Airways, and Starlux Airlines. In those situations, what’s happening is that there’s no saver level award availability, but Atmos Rewards has negotiated to have more award availability at a higher cost.

I know this kind of pricing frustrates some people and makes them think the program doesn’t offer good value. However, in these situations, other partner airlines simply wouldn’t have access to the award space. So I wouldn’t view it as a negative, but rather just as an opportunity you probably don’t want to take advantage of.

Atmos Rewards blocking partner awards close to departure

Atmos Rewards blocks many many partner awards within 72 hours of departure. I’ve been told that this policy won’t stick around, though I don’t have a timeline for when it will change, and it continues to be live. It’s certainly something to be aware of when it comes to last minute redemption opportunities.

Atmos Rewards award ticketing fees

There are a couple of fees associated with redeeming Atmos Rewards points:

• There’s a $12.50 partner award booking fee, which is charged each way per passenger, and applies for new partner award bookings, and it’s non-refundable, so if you cancel your ticket, you won’t get that fee back; however, this fee is waived for those with the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite^® Credit Card (review)
• If you book by phone, there’s a $15 service fee, which is waived for Atmos Rewards Gold, Platinum, and Titanium member

Atmos Rewards award ticket change & cancelation fees

Atmos Rewards no longer has any change or cancelation fees for award tickets, which gives you lots of flexibility to speculatively lock in awards, or even change them if a better routing opens up. The only exception is that the $12.50 partner award booking fee can’t be refunded.

Atmos Rewards award ticket fuel surcharges

Atmos Rewards passes on carrier imposed surcharges (often referred to as fuel surcharges) for travel on some partner airlines. Specifically, these apply for travel on British Airways, Hainan Airlines, and Icelandair. Fortunately they don’t apply for travel on other partner airlines.

Atmos Rewards award ticket hold policy

Atmos Rewards doesn’t allow award tickets to be placed on hold. To book an Atmos Rewards award ticket you need to have sufficient points in your account, though you can always cancel it for free.

Atmos Rewards points expiration policy

Atmos Rewards points don’t expire. However, if you don’t have any account activity for over two years, your account may be locked for security reasons, and your points may be accessed by contacting Atmos Rewards and verifying personal details.

Best ways to use Alaska Atmos Rewards points

We all have different travel goals, so there’s never going to be a one size fits all answer as to what the best use of points is. Broadly speaking, my favorite way to redeem points is for aspirational redemptions in first and business class, since that’s where you’ll get the most outsized value.

However, nowadays I’d argue that the redemption sweet spot with Atmos Rewards is largely for shorter awards, given the distance based pricing. In some way, the Atmos Rewards award charts are almost a competitor to British Airways Club, in terms of the great value of short haul redemptions. Since you can redeem Atmos Rewards points for flights globally, I figured the best way to share some sweet spots would just be to take a look at each award chart individually.

Before I do, let me acknowledge a new reality of the miles & points hobby. The reality is that airlines are getting savvier when it comes to how they release award space, and in many cases, they open fewer award seats to members of partner frequent flyer programs. This is beyond any carrier’s control, but it does limit the arbitrage opportunities by using great frequent flyer programs.

Redeeming Atmos Rewards points within the Americas

Below is the Atmos Rewards award chart for the Americas, which applies exclusively if traveling within the Americas (including North and South America).

Here are some of the sweet spots, as I see it:

• Short haul redemptions on both Alaska and American are incredibly cheap, as in economy you can redeem just 4,500 points to fly a distance of up to 700 miles, and you can redeem 7,500 points to fly a distance of 701-1,400 miles; business class award prices are also attractive for these distance bands
• Awards between North and South America on American can also be a good value, as in business class you can redeem 35,000 points to fly a distance of 2,101-4,000 miles (like Miami to Lima), and you can redeem 50,000 points to fly a distance of 4,001-6,000 miles (like Miami to Sao Paulo)

Honestly, I think this is the chart with the most consistently good pricing, whether traveling short haul or long haul. So if you can find award availability within the Americas, you should be pretty happy with the pricing. I redeem Atmos Rewards points constantly for travel on American, as it’s a way to get a good deal on domestic flights, especially in a premium cabin. It might not be the most aspirational thing on earth, but it sure is practical.

Redeeming Atmos Rewards points to & from Europe, Middle East, Africa

Below is the Atmos Rewards award chart for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, which applies if traveling within or between any of those regions, and also applies if traveling between the Americas and any of those regions.

Here are some of the sweet spots, as I see it:

• Short haul redemptions are a phenomenal deal, whether in economy or business class; for 7,500 points in economy or 15,000 points in business class, you can fly a distance of up to 1,500 miles within Europe or the Middle East, on carriers like British Airways, Royal Jordanian, Qatar Airways, and more
• Flights from the Northeast of the United States to London clock in at just under 3,500 miles, so you could redeem 45,000 points in business class for those flights
• The longer distance awards are less exciting of a deal, unless you can take advantage of a stopover opportunity to maximize your value

Redeeming Atmos Rewards points to & from Asia-Pacific

Below is the Atmos Rewards award chart for Asia-Pacific, which applies if traveling within Asia-Pacific, and between Asia-Pacific and any other regions. Note that Asia includes the Indian subcontinent, since some other award charts put that in the same region as the Middle East.

Here are some of the sweet spots, as I see it:

• Short haul redemptions are a phenomenal deal, whether in economy or business class; for 7,500 points in economy or 15,000 points in business class, you can fly a distance of up to 1,500 miles within Asia-Pacific, on airlines like Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Starlux Airlines, and many more
• Long haul awards could also be a great deal, especially if you value a stopover; for example, you could fly from the United States to anywhere in Asia (distance of up to 10,000 miles) for 85,000 points in business class, with a stopover along the way

Bottom line

Alaska Atmos Rewards is one of the most useful programs for redeeming points. Given the zone and distance based award chart, you’ll generally find the best value with the program for shorter distance itineraries, where pricing can be very attractive.

I’d say Atmos Rewards is a program that has become practical more than aspirational, and that’s something that I don’t mind, at least at this point in history. It’s not like there are many Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, or Qantas, ultra long haul first class awards to snag, so we’re not missing out on that much.

Atmos Rewards is my go-to program for most awards covering a distance of up to 1,500 miles, give or take.

What’s your favorite use of Alaska Atmos Rewards points?