Atmos Rewards Will Let Members Choose How They Earn Points: Which Option Is Best?

In August 2025, we saw the launch of Atmos Rewards, the new loyalty program of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. At the time, the program announced how it would eventually introduce the “choose how you earn” feature, whereby Atmos Rewards members can choose to earn points based on distance flown, price paid, or segments flown.

Well, the wait for this feature is now over — the new system for earning points launches as of January 1, 2027, and you can make your selection as of today (October 1, 2026). Let’s go over all the details, and talk about which points earning option is the best. Separately, I’ve covered how Atmos Rewards will introduce a cool new “communities” concept, and also plans to partner with more transferable points currencies.

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Atmos Rewards offering three points earning methods

We’ve seen so many airline loyalty programs go from awarding points based on distance flown to awarding points based on price paid. In most cases, this has resulted in a reduction in points earning, especially for those who don’t typically book very expensive fares.

Atmos Rewards (and Mileage Plan, as it was previously known) has long been committed to continuing to award points based on distance flown. However, the program is giving members more choice. With the new Atmos Rewards “choose how you earn” system, members can elect to earn points (both redeemable points and status points) based on distance flown, dollars spent, or segments flown. Specifically:

• If you earn based on distance traveled, you’ll earn one point per mile flown; note that if you select this option, you’ll no longer earn class of service bonuses or a minimum of 500 points per segment
• If you earn based on price paid, you’ll earn five points per dollar spent (including carrier imposed surcharges, but excluding taxes and fees); with this method, paid upgrades and seat fees also earn points and status points, and you’ll earn one status point for every 20 points you redeem toward award flights
• If you earn based on segments flown, you’ll earn a flat 500 points per segment, for both revenue and award travel

Note that regardless of which option you select, you’ll continue to earn elite bonuses of 25-150% based on points earned. Furthermore, this system in no way impacts how members earn status points for credit card spending, as that’s remaining unchanged. As a reminder, Atmos Rewards elite requirements are as follows, and remain unchanged:

• Silver status requires 20,000 status points
• Gold status requires 40,000 status points
• Platinum status requires 80,000 status points
• Titanium status requires 135,000 status points

Atmos Rewards members can now indicate which points earning style they prefer at this link:

• Current Atmos Rewards members who do not make a selection will continue to earn based on distance flown
• Future Atmos Rewards members who join the program as of 2027 will default to earning based on price paid
• All Atmos Rewards members can change their earning choice once per calendar year for future travel

One other thing worth mentioning is that if you choose to be rewarded based on price paid, this only applies to flights on Alaska, Hawaiian, and American, and as well as partner flights booked directly through Alaska or Hawaiian.

If you book any partner airline other than American directly through the partner site, you’d earn according to the partner earn rate chart. That’s because Atmos Rewards doesn’t necessarily have the fare information for all partner tickets, when booked directly with the partner.

This is where Atmos Rewards is getting sneaky. We knew that the program would improve points earning rates for premium cabin tickets on partner airlines when booked directly with those airlines. That will be implemented as of January 1, 2027, though the catch is that you’ll only get the better earnings rates (shown in the below chart) if you choose to earn points based on price paid rather than based on distance flown. Otherwise you’ll earn one point per flown mile.

In other words, premium cabin partner tickets will be significantly more rewarding if you choose the price paid method rather than the distance flown method.

Which Atmos Rewards points earning option is best?

I commend Atmos Rewards for adding this kind of choice, as we’ve never seen a program offer so much flexibility. Admittedly, there is some downside for those who choose to continue to earn points based on distance flown, as there will no longer be a minimum number of points earned per segment; there will also no longer be class of service bonuses, and premium tickets on partner airlines won’t be as lucrative.

Those changes are negative, and not awarding a class of service strikes me as being rather counterproductive in terms of trying to encourage people to buy more expensive fares.

Which of the points earning options is best? Let me start by saying that the segment method of earning points only makes sense if you frequently book very inexpensive short haul tickets, like inter-island Hawaii flights. I imagine that covers only a very small percentage of people (especially OMAAT readers, who tend to travel globally), so I won’t analyze that too much further.

Between earning points based on distance flown and earning points based on price paid, which is better? When you compare the math on distance based earning and revenue based earning, the breakeven point is essentially when you’re spending more than 20 cents per flown mile. Just to give a breakeven example, say you have a one-way transcontinental flight that covers a distance of 2,500 miles and costs $500:

• With distance based points earning, you’d earn 2,500 miles
• With revenue based points earning, you’d earn 2,500 miles

A majority of passengers spend an average of under 20 cents per mile (Alaska’s average passenger revenue per available seat mile is around 15 cents — admittedly not every seat is occupied, but even when you factor that in, the average person is paying under 20 cents per mile), so I tend to think the old system continues to make the most sense for a lot of people.

The three exceptions are that purchased upgrades earn rewards under the revenue based system, but wouldn’t earn you additional points under the distance based system. Furthermore, if you frequently buy premium cabin tickets, the lack of class of service bonuses under the new distance based system is less than ideal, as that applies not only on Alaska and Hawaiian, but also for travel on partner airlines.

Bottom line

Atmos Rewards is giving members the option of three different ways to earn points. With this, members can choose to earn points based on distance flown, dollars spent, or segments flown. Members can now set their earnings preference, and it’ll then apply for flights as of January 1, 2027.

I think the segment based earning option will make sense for very few people. So the choice comes down to whether you want to earn based on distance flown or price paid. In theory, the breakeven point is if you’re spending an average of 20 cents per flown mile, though that doesn’t factor in seat fees and upgrades (which are only rewarded based on the price paid system), as well as frequent premium travel on partner airlines (which is more rewarding under the price paid model).

I do have to say, it sure feels like there’s a Bilt Cash-level of complexity to this system, in terms of understanding all the nuance. Of course I get it, but I also do this for a living. But for the average person, this could be hard to follow.

What do you make of the new Atmos Rewards points earning options?