We recently saw the launch of Atmos Rewards, the new combined loyalty program of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. The program is really well thought out, in my opinion, with some unique features you won’t find with many other programs.
If you ask me, there was one major weak part to Atmos Rewards when it came to the value of crediting flights to the program, and that’s now going to be addressed.
In this post:
Atmos Rewards’ lackluster partner points earning rates
Atmos Rewards has a lot of airline partners, including oneworld as well as non-oneworld partners. As it currently stands, points earning rates differ massively for travel on partner airlines, based on whether you’re booking the ticket through Alaska or directly through the partner program.
Below is the points earning chart when booking partner airlines through Alaska.
Below is the points earning chart when booking direct with partner airlines.
As I’ve said before, while the points earning rates are great if booking directly through Alaska, they’re otherwise pretty uncompetitive. It’s one thing if all partner flights could easily be booked directly through Alaska, but that’s simply not possible.
For example, earning a total of just 150% points for international first class or 125% points for international business class just doesn’t cut it out nowadays. For that matter, there’s a certain irony to the program offering status points on award flights at the rate of 100% across cabins, which in many ways is more rewarding than revenue flights booked through partners.
It’s just strange to earn 125% status points for a business class ticket if paying cash, or 100% status points for a business class ticket if redeeming points. Perhaps that’s one major hesitation that was standing in the way of some oneworld flyers switching to the program. Along those lines, there’s positive news…
Atmos Rewards making partner flights more rewarding
Atmos Rewards has announced that it will be increasing points earning rates for first and business class travel on partner airlines, when booking directly through those partners. The catch is that these changes will only be implemented “later in 2026,” which seems like an awfully long time to wait for what’s a necessary change from a competitive standpoint.
Once these changes are implemented, here’s how points earning will change (and this includes both status points and redeemable points):
- Domestic first & business class tickets will go from earning 125% to 150% points
- International business class tickets will go from earning 125% to 250% points
- International first class tickets will go from earning 150% points to 250% points
As you can see, those are some major changes, especially for business class. I do find it strange that first and business class tickets internationally will earn the same number of points. Just to be clear, the above amounts are before any elite points bonuses, though those don’t count toward qualifying for elite status.
Bottom line
At some points “later in 2026,” Atmos Rewards will be improving points earning rates for first and business class tickets on partner airlines, when booking directly with partners. The changes are considerable, with international business class going from earning 125% points, to earning 250% points.
This is an overdue change, if you ask me, as crediting partner flights to the program largely didn’t make much sense. So this is great, I just hope the changes are implemented as soon as possible.
What do you make of these Atmos Rewards partner points earning changes?
Getting those partner flights credit to your account has, in my experience, been a nightmare. I've had it happen multiple times where credits don't post and then I used the Alaska website to manually add...waited 6+ weeks and the credits still don't post. Going forward, I only use my American account. Truly disappointing.
I've been MVP Gold (now ATMOS Gold) since AS took over VX. This year I qualified for MVP Gold 75K (now ATMOS Platinum) and have this status level through 2026. The changes can't come soon enough for me -- it's very frustrating when I have to book through partner airlines. I'm certainly not the only one who hopes that "later in 2026" doesn't mean December 2026.
Great news, let’s just hope they implement ASAP!
At last: non US members like myself were basically doomed to dismal earnings since the AS search engine basically can't handle non American travels
About time -- the new (current) partner business class earn rates a ridiculous-- a huge disincentive to stay with the program if that's a significant part of your annual status qualification. Implement it now -- or at a minimum on 1/1/26. Otherwise, they're disrespecting their best client base and we'll migrate to AA.
Their credit cards welcome bonus looks good.
I will lose my status next year because the partner business earning is bad and now they want to improve in one year? A very bad move to keep premium customers loyal if they are inconsistent like this ...
I suspect that the reason for the delay in implementing the new earning rates is for Alaska to come out with yet another devaluation (despite solemn promises not to do so as an absolute condition of their merger) to lower any value that members might gain from the changes.
Question - do the 25%-150% bonus points you would earn as an Atmos status member count as status points as well? Or are they just purely bonus miles.
With AA you'll still get an additional 40%-120% miles AND LP on account of status, although that's off of the 100% base miles (not the 250% comprised of 100% base + 150% bonus). So just curious how it works with Atmos.
Of course, while booking with...
Question - do the 25%-150% bonus points you would earn as an Atmos status member count as status points as well? Or are they just purely bonus miles.
With AA you'll still get an additional 40%-120% miles AND LP on account of status, although that's off of the 100% base miles (not the 250% comprised of 100% base + 150% bonus). So just curious how it works with Atmos.
Of course, while booking with partners may usually be ideal, it's still nice that the AA program awards you the 250% for J even if you book with a third party. So you could, if the price was right, book through Chase Travel or whatever (you could even redeem points with Points Boost!), and still get the 250% from AA.
125% on Business Class was normal for many AS partners in the past - QF, SQ, and JL come to mind.
This makes choosing a earning method for 2026 that much more confusing
@ Speedscu -- Well for most partner airlines there's not even an option to earn based on spending rather than based on distance, at least for the foreseeable future. And if anything, I'd say this moves the math more in favor of distance based earning, no?
Completely agree
https://www.alaskaair.com/atmosrewards/content/faq/2026-updates
What flights will be eligible for choice based earn?
Choice based accrual applies to all Alaska, Hawaiian, codeshare and partner tickets booked via AlaskaAir.com and HawaiianAir.com. Partner flights booked direct with partners will continue to earn a percentage of flown miles if either the distance or ticket price earning method is chosen, or will earn 500 points per segment if the segment earning method is chosen.
However...
https://www.alaskaair.com/atmosrewards/content/benefits/2026-updates
By distance traveled
https://www.alaskaair.com/atmosrewards/content/faq/2026-updates
What flights will be eligible for choice based earn?
Choice based accrual applies to all Alaska, Hawaiian, codeshare and partner tickets booked via AlaskaAir.com and HawaiianAir.com. Partner flights booked direct with partners will continue to earn a percentage of flown miles if either the distance or ticket price earning method is chosen, or will earn 500 points per segment if the segment earning method is chosen.
However...
https://www.alaskaair.com/atmosrewards/content/benefits/2026-updates
By distance traveled
1 mile flown = 1 point earned
Earn based on how far you go — the more miles you fly, the more points you rack up. (That's perfect for transcontinental or long-haul international flights.) You'll earn status points for award travel based on distance, too. Please note: If you select this earn choice, you’ll no longer earn class of service bonuses or minimum miles.
So maybe they're talking about Alaska Class of Service bonuses, like when booking in J earning 200%. So booking in J won't earn 200% anymore, but partners will guessing by that language.
Still confusing I guess