Atmos Rewards: Alaska Airlines & Hawaiian Present Joint Loyalty Program (Revamped Mileage Plan)

Last year, Alaska Airlines acquired Hawaiian Airlines. Soon after, they announced that Hawaiian plans to join the Oneworld Alliance, and that Alaska and Hawaiian would use a joint frequent flyer program. Now, the airlines have released the framework for their new program, including the name Atmos Rewards. While it follows the footsteps of Alaska Mileage Plan in many cases, it introduces a few notable changes.

Reaching the Oneworld Emerald status has now been made a bit more difficult, but there are a few positive changes for members flying on Hawaiian flights or those who wish to earn their miles using a credit card.

Option to Choose between Distance or Spend-Based Miles

In the past years, many programs have changed the way they credit status miles from a distance-based approach to a spend-based approach. Atmos Rewards has decided to take a different approach: Let the member decide. Once a year, you get the choice between earning 5 points for each dollar you spend (excl. taxes) or continuing to earn points the old way, based on the distance you fly. There’s actually even a third option: getting a flat 500 points per segment – though this is probably only a good choice for people who exclusively fly very short segments.

There seems to be one negative change, though. As the third option is getting 500 points per segment, it seems logical that the minimum credit of 500 points will be removed if you choose to continue earning points by distance. This could make it more difficult for some members to reach their status.

These choices only apply to flights with Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian. Flights with partner airlines, booked through partner websites, will continue to earn based on the distance, including the 500 minimum points per segment.

Same Ruby & Sapphire Status Qualification, Tougher Emerald Qualification

Now that we covered how to earn status points, let’s take a look at how many you’ll need for each status. Starting next year, these are the new status names and requirements:

• MVP Atmos Silver (Oneworld Ruby): 20,000 status points
• MVP Gold Atmos Gold (Sapphire): 40,000 status points
• MVP Gold 75K Atmos Platinum (Emerald): 75,000 80,000 status points
• MVP Gold 100K Atmos Titanium (Emerald): 100,000 135,000 status points

As you can see, the Silver and Gold status remains untouched. Gold 75K is now renamed to Platinum and requires 5,000 more miles. The biggest change comes to the 100K status, as Titanium now requires 35% more miles than before. However, the Titanium status also comes with a very interesting new perk:

New Free Same-Day Global Upgrades for Titanium Members

Members of US-based frequent flyer programs will be familiar with the concept of frequent flyers being upgraded on the day of the flight, if there’s an available seat in a higher travel class. However, all programs only do this on domestic flights. Atmos Titanium members, however, will now be eligible for upgrades on all routes, even on long-haul flights. The catch: Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian have a relatively small long-haul network. Still, this is a very nice new perk for the program’s most loyal members.

The perk is announced as “starting in Spring 2026”. It’s thus possible that some exclusions may be worked in until then, such as excluding basic economy tickets. This, however, is all speculation at this point.

Free Upgrades on Hawaiian Flights Within North America

While the free global upgrades are limited to Titanium members, all members are eligible for free upgrades on all Hawaiian Flights within North America. Of course, the lower your status, the less likely you are to end up in First Class. However, the chances of getting a seat with extra legroom will definitely be higher. These upgrades will be confirmed at least 48 hours before departure, unless you booked a Saver fare (then it’s 2 hours – and unlikely).

Basically, this perk was already there for Alaska Airlines flights and has been extended to Hawaiian flights. While they’re not exactly life-changing on small island hopper flights within Hawaii, they can mean quite a relief for your legs on Hawaiian’s flights to the continental USA:

Communities for Members

The program is also introducing a new concept, called communities. Members can subscribe to one of 6 communities to receive offers and perks that suit them best:

For Europeans, the “Global Locals” community seems like a wise choice, though we currently have absolutely no idea what exactly these communities will offer. Members can switch communities once every 365 days and have to actively join one.

Earn Uncapped Status Points with Atmos Credit Cards

Alaska Airlines also used this rebranding opportunity to roll out new credit cards. We won’t get into much detail as it’s not available to our European readers, but basically, from next year, you can earn unlimited status points by spending money with an Atmos credit card, earning a status point for every $1-3 spent, depending on the credit card you select. There are three different cards: Ascent Visa Signature for $95/year, Summit Visa Infinite for $395/year, and a business card for $70 per business and $25 per card. They offer different benefits, ranging from free checked bags to waived partner booking fees and lounge passes.

The End of HawaiianMiles

While Mileage Plan gets to live on through Atmos Rewards, HawaiianMiles will cease to exist on October 1, 2025. If you have a HawaiianMiles account, make sure to link it with Atmos Rewards before September 25, through this link. Miles will be converted at a 1:1 ratio.

Conclusion

Alaska Airlines made many changes to its programs at the beginning of this year, especially to the number of miles you’ll earn on flights with partner airlines. Those changes made the program rather unattractive to Europeans. Now they’re changing their program again, extending benefits to Hawaiian flights and giving a unique global upgrade perk to its most loyal members. However, reaching a status seems to be as difficult as before for Europeans. Thus, Atmos may be a pretty good program for people living on the US West Coast, but for Europeans, it remains a niche program.

Cover Picture: Ditmar Lange