Why an East Coast Traveler Loves His Alaska Airlines Credit Card

As a frequent traveler who lives on the East Coast, it might come as a surprise that my favorite airline credit card is from a West Coast carrier.

But I love Atmos Rewards points, the joint loyalty currency of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. That’s why I applied for the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card on the day of its release in August 2025.

Since then, it’s become not just my favorite airline card but one of my favorite credit cards overall. I can redeem rewards on Alaska’s extensive network of partners, including American Airlines, and the card’s Global Companion Awards (which can also be used on partner airlines) have already saved me thousands of dollars. I also earn bonus rewards on international spending and dining, and get a fast track to elite status with Alaska Airlines and the broader Oneworld alliance.

Less than a year in, the value I’ve received has well exceeded the card’s $395 annual fee. And that’s without stepping foot on an Alaska Airlines flight.

Here’s why the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card deserves a spot in your wallet.

» Learn more: Is the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card worth the $395 annual fee?

The massive welcome offer

A credit card sign-up bonus is the easiest way to quickly earn a pile of points. And the pile you’ll earn with the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card is massive. The card currently comes with a limited-time offer: Get 100,000 bonus points and a 25,000-point Global Companion Award with this offer. To qualify, spend $6,000 or more on purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account.

NerdWallet values Atmos Rewards at 1.4 cents each, making that a generous offer — even before accounting for the value of the Global Companion Award and other perks like free checked bags for the cardholder and up to six guests on the same reservation on any Alaska and Hawaiian flight, waived award ticket fees and eight Alaska lounge passes per year (two per quarter).

» Learn more: 12 benefits of the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card

Global Companion Awards

The 25,000-point Global Companion Award you’ll receive each year you pay the card’s $395 annual fee can be extremely lucrative for travelers who jetset with a friend or family member. This award is applied as a discount on the points price of a flight, allowing you to "top-off" the award with additional points, and may be redeemed for any service class on any flight in Alaska's full network, including eligible international partners. Terms apply.

Last year, I used 10,000 Atmos points plus the 25,000-point Global Companion Award for my partner's round-trip first class ticket from the U.S. to Turks and Caicos to celebrate my birthday. My ticket was another 35,000 points. Those two tickets, which were on Alaska’s partner American Airlines, would have otherwise cost almost $3,000. The savings from that trip alone covers the card’s annual fee for more than seven years!

And for big spenders, it gets even better. Each cardmember year that you spend $60,000 or more on the card, you’ll earn an additional 100,000-point Global Companion Award. That’s enough to cover an international business class flight for your companion on world-class partners like Starlux, Finnair, Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways. Spending $60,000 on the card will also qualify you for Atmos Gold and reciprocal Oneworld Sapphire elite status (more on that below).

Unique bonus rewards categories

A unique feature of the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card is the ability to earn 3 points per dollar on all foreign transactions. No other card we’ve covered offers bonus rewards on international purchases, making the card a great option when you travel abroad. You’ll also earn 3 points per dollar on dining purchases and 1 point per dollar on everything else.

On a recent trip to Mexico, I used my Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card for every purchase I made. In the screenshot below, you can see the “foreign purchase bonus” netted an extra 1,537 Atmos points for the bonus category spending, and an extra 260 Atmos points for the Bank of America® relationship bonus.

Save on best-in-class partner award bookings

Access to partner airlines is my favorite part of earning Atmos points. The program offers redemptions for flights operated by many Oneworld alliance airlines, as well as other partners, such as Condor and Starlux. As an added benefit, cardholders receive a waiver of the $25-per-person award ticket booking fee when you redeem points on a partner airline.

From the East Coast, I redeem Atmos points on American Airlines’ extensive network of domestic flights. Some American flights are actually cheaper when you redeem Atmos Rewards than if you were to use AAdvantage miles.

I also take advantage of Oneworld partner redemptions for international flights. In 2025, I redeemed 70,000 Atmos Rewards for a business class flight on Oneworld partner Finnair from Chicago to Amsterdam. Thanks to the generous stopover rules when you redeem Atmos points (including on partner airlines), I was able to book a free stopover in Helsinki (Finnair’s main hub). That allowed me to experience an amazing four days of sauna culture in Finland. I also took the ferry over to Estonia for a day, allowing me to visit two extra countries without spending more points.

A fast track to elite status

The Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card gives you a fast track to elite status by offering 1 status point per $2 spent on all transactions, plus 10,000 status points every account anniversary. The anniversary bonus alone gets you halfway to the 20,000 status points required for Atmos Rewards Silver status, which includes potential first and premium class upgrades, preferred boarding and reciprocal Oneworld Ruby elite status.

I’m already halfway to spending the $60,000 required to earn a 100,000-point Global Companion Award. Once I spend the full $60,000, I’ll earn a total of 40,000 status points for the year, including 30,000 status points from spending and 10,000 status points from the anniversary bonus. That will also let me qualify for mid-tier Atmos Gold and reciprocal Oneworld Sapphire elite status, which includes business class lounge access when I travel outside of North America, preferred boarding and free seat selection.

» Learn more: The complete guide to Atmos Rewards benefits and elite status

Get paid for trip delays

A standout benefit of the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card is the $50 credit provided for delays exceeding two hours and flight cancellations within 24 hours of takeoff when you fly with Alaska. This protection applies regardless of the cause — including weather or mechanical issues — and serves as a supplement to any standard compensation you’ll receive for controllable disruptions. I haven't used this benefit yet, but it could be a nice-to-have feature when I fly with Alaska Airlines this summer.

Why you should get the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card

The Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card effectively bridges the gap between a standard airline card and a luxury travel tool, making it a compelling choice even for East Coast travelers like myself. The combination of unique perks and flexibility through partner airline redemptions makes it one of the most rewarding credit cards in my wallet. While the $395 annual fee may seem steep, the massive welcome offer, annual Global Companion Award and ancillary perks like flight delay compensation ensure that the card more than pays for itself.