A couple of months ago, I shared how I’m officially switching my “loyalty” from American AAdvantage to Alaska Atmos Rewards when it comes to pursuing elite status. Well, I’ve now earned Atmos Rewards Platinum status for the year, the second highest tier in the program, which gets me oneworld Emerald status. That’s what I’m really after.
However, I’m seriously considering going for top-tier Atmos Rewards Titanium, because I feel like the math checks out. Let me explain, and then I’m curious to hear what others think.
I earned Atmos Rewards Platinum, and that does the trick
For a little bit of background, let me explain that I don’t actually care all that much airline elite status nowadays, in terms of the perks that I used to value, like free upgrades, since they’re few and far between.
Given that I live in Miami, American is the airline I primarily fly, and I do value having oneworld Emerald status, especially for the amazing lounge access perks. That being said, I’m not married to the concept of going for elite status with American AAdvantage. Last year I earned Executive Platinum with American, and this year I sort of unintentionally switched to Alaska Atmos Rewards:
- I book a ton of award flights through Atmos Rewards, and the program awards status points for award flights, so I’m actually rewarded for many of my flights on American
- I have the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card (learn more), which helps with earning status, as it offers 10,000 bonus status points annually, plus one status point for every $2 spent
- Beyond that, I find the card to be worth spending money on; for example, I decided to spend $60K on the card over the anniversary year to earn the 100K-point Global Companion Award, especially when paired with the card’s great bonus categories, like 3x points on foreign purchases
As a reminder of Atmos Rewards elite thresholds, Silver requires 20K status points, Gold requires 40K status points, Platinum requires 80K status points, and Titanium requires 135K status points.
Basically, between earning 30K+ status points through credit card spending, 10K status points for just having the card, lots of status points for award flights, and crediting some revenue flights to the program, I managed to earn Atmos Rewards Platinum status.
That gets me oneworld Emerald status, which does the trick for me. However, I’m sort of tempted to just go all the way for Titanium status, because incrementally, I can make the math work. Let me explain…
Why I’m considering Atmos Rewards Titanium
When I do the math on deciding on a loyalty and points strategy, I always try to think of it in terms of incremental return and value. In other words, I’m not really concerned with which Atmos Rewards elite tier I qualify for. Instead, I want to spend as efficiently on my credit card as possible, and get as good of a return on spending as I can, so that I’m minimizing the opportunity cost.
I’m now really tempted to go for Titanium status over Platinum status, even though it requires an additional 55K status points. Here’s the thing — if I actually flew Alaska with any frequency, I’d find this to be really worthwhile. After all, Titanium members receive complimentary upgrades globally (including on long haul flights), which is a really cool perk. However, living in Miami, I’m not exactly well positioned for Alaska’s core hubs.
Instead, I’m just approaching this in terms of the direct value I get on spending, and this is where the Atmos Rewards milestone perks program starts to get interesting as you approach Titanium status, and get additional perks for passing certain thresholds.
I’ve already made it to the 95K status points threshold, which lets me choose from several perks. I can pick two benefits, with choices including 15K bonus points, two upgrade certificates, etc. That means I could select 30K bonus points or four upgrade certificates, for example. Incrementally, that’s absolutely worth it.
At this point I’m 30K status points from the next milestone perks threshold, and 40K status points from Titanium. If I put another $60K on my Atmos Rewards Summit Card before the end of the year (I have to see if I can pull this off, but if it’s possible…), I’d earn 30K status points, and that would get me:
- A minimum of 60K points from spending, and more, if some of that spending is on foreign purchases or dining
- Another 100K-point Global Companion Award, since that’s based on the anniversary year rather than the calendar year, and my anniversary year reset a couple of months ago
- I’d also reach the milestone perks threshold at 125K points, and that would allow me to select another 50K bonus points as a benefit
In other words, $60K in spending (if it were possible) would incrementally earn me at least 110K points plus a 100K-point Global Companion Award. That’s pretty tempting, no?
Now, at that point I’d be within 10K status points of earning Atmos Rewards Titanium status. Funny enough, there’s not actually all that much incremental value to me there, as someone who doesn’t fly Alaska often. But it might be fun to give it a try, and report back? I dunno.
I love the idea of complimentary global upgrades, though only clearing an upgrade on a long haul flight at the gate gives me just a slight level of anxiety… though I’m sure some OMAAT members would get schadenfreude out of the situation. 😉
To be clear, if I take this approach, I might switch back to American AAdvantage next year (for qualification for the following year), and once again pursue the “double dip” strategy there. I kind of like this every-other-year status qualification approach, since you really get more incremental value when you get to these higher milestone perks thresholds, and can double dip anniversary year perks vs. calendar year perks.
Bottom line
This year I’ve switched my elite status loyalty from American AAdvantage to Alaska Atmos Rewards, primarily thanks to a combination of the value of the Atmos Rewards Summit Card, plus the ability to earn status points on award flights.
I’ve already earned Atmos Rewards Platinum status, which is great, as that gets me oneworld Emerald status. I’m now tempted to go for Titanium status, though, and if I can pull off the spending, I can do so pretty efficiently. That’s due to the combination of the milestone perks program, plus the ability to earn another 100K-point Global Companion Award for spending, thanks to the calendar year vs. anniversary year distinction.
I’m curious to hear what others think — should I make the effort to go for Atmos Rewards Titanium, or just stick with Platinum?
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