Alaska Airlines Launches $395 Premium Card, New Atmos Loyalty Program

Bank of America® has added a second Alaska Airlines consumer credit card to its portfolio, targeting flyers seeking a more luxurious experience. At the same time, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines are merging under one loyalty program, Atmos Rewards. The card and new loyalty program launch Aug. 20, 2025.

» MORE: Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines are merging: What it means for travelers

A new premium card, plus a name change for the old one

At $395, the Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite card’s annual fee is exactly $300 more than its little sibling, the Atmos Rewards Ascent — formerly known as the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card. Beyond that new name, the existing card's primary reward rates and perks aren't changing, but the new Summit card offers rewards and perks that you won't get with the Ascent:

Rich rewards

As part of the new loyalty program, both Atmos cards will earn points, not miles, in the also-new Atmos Rewards program (more on that below). As noted, the Ascent's rewards structure isn't changing, but the new Summit card will earn:

• Unlimited 3x points on Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines purchases.

• Unlimited 3x points on foreign purchases, including purchases made in a foreign currency.

• Unlimited 3x points on dining, which includes restaurants, bars, fast food and catering. 

• Unlimited 1x points on all other purchases.

A pile of perks

The new Summit card will also feature a lengthy list of benefits, including perhaps most notably a new "Global Companion Award," which will be applied as a discount on the total points price of a flight. (For example, a 40,000-point flight would cost 15,000 points after a 25,000-mile award is applied.) Crucially, a Global Companion Award may be redeemed for any service class on any flight in Alaska's full network, including eligible international partners.

Here's a fuller look at what the new card offers:

• A rich welcome offer. For a limited time, new cardholders can earn 100,000 bonus points and a 25,000-point Global Companion Award by spending $6,000 or more on purchases within the first 90 days of opening the account. Redemptions start at 4,500 for a one-way ticket, so the bonus could get you at least 20 free flights.

• Up to two Global Companion Awards per year. Each year, cardholders receive one Global Companion Award of 25,000 points or less. Cardholders can get another Global Companion Award of 100,000 points or less by spending $60,000 in an anniversary year.

• Access to five hotel transfer partners. Your Atmos points will transfer to Marriott, IHG and Wyndham at a 1:1 ratio. The ratio for Preferred Hotels is 1:2, while Shangri-La is 8:1.

• Eight Alaska airport lounge passes per year (two per quarter). One pass grants lounge access to one adult and up to two children under 21. 

• $120 credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry every four years. 

• $50 voucher for Alaska and Hawaiian airlines flight cancellations or departure delays of two or more hours. The $50 is automatically credited to the cardholder’s account and must be spent within 48 hours of receipt. Any amount that isn’t spent will be lost. Cardholders who need to reschedule same-day flights receive waived change fees.

• Accelerated path to status. Earn 10,000 status points on every account anniversary, plus 1 status point for every $2 spent on the card.

• Waived award ticket fees. Save up to $25 per person on every round-trip flight. 

• Eight in-flight Wi-Fi vouchers per year. Vouchers will be issued to premium cardmembers until Starlink WiFi is installed on the entire Alaska fleet. Once all planes have Starlink, all Atmos Rewards members will receive free in-flight Wi-Fi.

• Rental car insurance.

Some perks of the new Atmos Rewards Summit — namely, free checked bags for the cardholder and up to six guests on the same reservation, and a 10% rewards bonus for cardholders with an eligible Bank of America® account — are also available on the Atmos Rewards Ascent.

One loyalty program

The new loyalty program — Atmos Rewards — features several important differences from Alaska’s Mileage Plan and Hawaiian’s HawaiianMiles. First, as noted above, the rewards currency is changing from miles to points, but the value of those points is staying the same. (NerdWallet values them at around 1.2 cents each.)

Also, what had been known as elite-qualifying miles (EQMs) are now called status points.

The number of points needed to achieve certain status levels is changing, too:

• Silver: 20,000 status points, the same as Mileage Plan’s MVP level. 

• Gold: 40,000 status points, the same as Mileage Plan’s MVP Gold level. 

• Platinum: 80,000 status points, up from 75,000 EQMs for Mileage Plan’s MVP Gold 75K level.

• Titanium: 135,000 status points, up from 100,000 EQMs for Mileage Plan’s MVP Gold 100K.

Starting in 2026, Atmos Rewards members can choose how they wish to earn points and status points from three options: distance traveled, price paid or segments flown. With the price option, you earn five points for every $1 spent on flights. For segments, you get 500 points per segment. Selections can be changed once a year.

On Aug. 20, 2025, Alaska Mileage Plan members will move to the Atmos Rewards program, and all Mileage Plan miles will convert to Atmos Rewards points. HawaiianMiles members and all of their miles will transition to Atmos Rewards on Oct. 1, 2025. Only HawaiianMiles members who have not linked their HawaiianMiles account to a Mileage Plan account will receive a new loyalty account number.