Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards New Summit Card

About a year ago, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines merged into one company. They’re maintaining the two separate brands but operations are being managed primarily by Alaska Airlines from Seattle. As part of this merger, Alaska Airlines is trying to position itself as the U.S.’s 4th global carrier (much like what JetBlue was trying to do with its Europe flights). This goal means that they’re trying to compete more with United, Delta, and American (who is also their partner). In August 2025, they officially unveiled their new, combined Alaska/Hawaiian loyalty program: Atmos Rewards, and as part of the new program, their new premium credit card: the Atmos Rewards Summit Visa card with a $395 annual fee.

This blog is for entertainment purposes, and I provide the information here just to give readers a vague idea if the rewards offered by the card might make sense for them to consider the card.  The information on this page has been collected independently, and all information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.

Welcome Offer

At the time of posting, the Alaska Airlines card has a strong introductory welcome offer of 100 000 bonus points and a 25 000-point Global Companion Award (GCA) voucher after spending $6 000 in the first 90 days. The GCA voucher is worth 25 000 points toward a second ticket on a single redemption (i.e. for 2+ people on the booking). I’ve been using Alaska Airlines and their rewards program more than previously, and I feel comfortable putting their points value as being worth about 1.4 ¢/pt. That makes this welcome offer worth at least $1 400 for the points and $350 for the voucher (but that’s harder to use). Over $1 700 in value (in theory) for a $395 annual fee card is amazing, but I’m not sure how easy the GCA voucher will be to use.

Earnings

On the surface, this card has a simple two-tier structure, but it gets more interesting in the details. It offers 3x points/$ on Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines purchases, dining purchases, and all spending in foreign currency. That 3x points/$ on foreign purchases is fascinating and very unique. That’s the perk that caught my attention the most on this card, and it’s a weird situation where you’d earn more points for going to a grocery store in the UK than in the US. They’re really trying to lean into being a global airline with this perk. All other spend (in the US) earns 1x point/$. You also earn 1 status point per $2 spent on the card.

Additionally, if you are able to pay your rent through Bilt, you have the option to pay a 3% processing fee and then earn 3x points/$. With a valuation of 1.4 ¢/pt for Atmos points, this could actually make sense for some people, especially when combined with the 1 status point per $2 spent on the card.

Benefits

For its $395 annual fee, this card provides many benefits to justify the annual fee.  First, it offers 2 Alaska lounge passes and 2 WiFi vouchers per quarter. It also offers a free checked bag and preferred boarding for you and up to 6 guests per reservation (as long as you pay with the card). It also offers a TSA PreCheck/Global Entry credit and travel, baggage, and rental car insurance as you’d expect.

In addition, it offers some very specific Alaska Airlines travel benefits: no change fees for same-day changes on Alaska Airlines and an instant $50 voucher if your flight is delayed 2+ hours on the day of. You can also show the card to get a free cocktail at Alaska lounges. And you can get 20% back on other WiFi, drinks, and meal purchases on Alaska and Hawaiian flights.

Each year on renewal, you get a 25 000-point GCA and 10 000 status points. If you spend $60 000 in a year, you get a 100 000-point GCA (which would make most saver awards on Alaska free).

Having the card waives the $12.50 partner booking fee that Alaska Airlines imposes, and the card is also eligible for a version of Bank of America’s bonus rewards if you have “an eligible” (non-credit card) account.

How to use the points

The main use for Atmos Rewards points is to redeem them for Alaska Airlines, Oneworld, and other partners’ flights.  Atmos often has good deals on American Airlines domestic flights and transpacific flights, but saver award availability can be hard to come by. They also have some interesting partners, like the German Condor Airlines, that make their program more interesting/unique. You also earn status points on Alaska from award travel.

Examples of using the card

These examples assume you spend all your airfare budget on Alaska, that your hotel expenses are domestic, and that your general travel expenses are all local transit outside the US.

Spend per month

	Example A		Example B		Example C		Example D
Groceries (1x)	$300	300	$200	200	$600	600	$400	400
Gas (1x)	$0	0	$100	100	$200	200	$100	100
Airfare (3x)	$700	2 100	$200	600	$0	0	$400	1 200
Hotels (1x)	$1 000	1 000	$200	200	$0	0	$300	300
Gen Travel (3x)	$400	1 200	$0	0	$300	900	$100	300
Dining (3x)	$600	1 800	$300	900	$300	900	$0	0
General (1x)	$1 000	1 000	$500	500	$500	500	$400	400
Total	$4 000	7 400	$1 500	2 500	$1 700	3 100	$1 700	2 700
Average points/$		1.85		1.67		1.82		1.59

The two-tiered earning structure means that the average points earned strongly depends on what (and where) exactly you spend your money on. The points/$ earning rate has a solid range of 1.59 – 1.85 points/$, which is worth 2.23 – 2.59 ¢/$.  That’s a great return for an airline co-branded credit card, but it really comes down, in my opinion, to how much money you spend abroad each year to reap the full benefits. I will also note that earning 3x points/$ at restaurants is one of the best co-branded card dining offers available.

Specific examples

Card	Alaska Airlines IAD-SFO (First Class) ($750)  (% return)	Domestic Marriott Hotel night ($230/night)	Points values (Alaska/Hotel)
No rewards card	3 630 AM (7.3%)	2 200 MP (7.3%)	$54.45 / $11.00
General 2% cashback card ($0)	3 630 + $15.00 (9.3%)	2 200 MP + $4.60 (9.3%)	$69.45 / $15.60
Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95)	3 630 + 1 500 UR (10.3%)	2 200 MP + 460 UR (10.3%)	$76.95 / $17.90
Amex Green Card ($150)	3 630 + 2 250 MR (11.5%)	2 200 MP + 690 MR (11.5%)	$83.95 / $21.35
Atmos Summit Card ($395)	5 880 AM (11.8%)	2 200 MP + 230 AM (8.7%)	$88.20 / $14.45

Is this credit card right for you?

This card is extremely interesting, not just because it’s brand new, but also because of the 3x points/$ on foreign purchases (with no forex fee). It’s a Visa card, so it will be widely accepted outside the US, and even reward you for using it. I’m not sure how many large purchases I make in foreign currencies any more that aren’t already covered by dining/hotel/travel categories, but I’m very interested to find out. If you don’t fly Alaska Airlines much, this card won’t make sense, but the lounge access and points/status earning potential could make sense for those who fly Alaska/Hawaiian with any frequency. I just wish Alaska hadn’t canceled its SFO-IAD route.