Atmos Rewards Will Let You Choose How You Earn, Starting October 1

Starting October 1, 2026, Atmos Rewards, the loyalty program Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines share, will let you pick how your flights earn. Whichever option you pick sets both your points and your status points:

• Distance: 1 point per mile flown.
• Price paid: 5 points per $1 spent, excluding taxes and fees.
• Segments: 500 points per flight segment.

Your choice applies to Alaska, Hawaiian and partner flights from January 1, 2027. Credit card and non flight partner earning stays the same. Members who never choose stay on distance. New members who join from January 1, 2027 start on price paid instead. You can change your choice once per calendar year, and a change only counts for future trips, never travel you've already completed.

So which one is yours? It comes down to how you actually fly. Long flights on cheap fares tend to favor distance. Pricey tickets on short routes lean toward price paid. And if your year is a string of short hops, segments may be the one that works for you. Look back at your recent trips before you switch, because the right answer is whatever your real travel looks like, not what sounds best on paper.

Two more changes are on the way. Alaska plans to enable transfers from eligible Bank of America card products into Atmos Rewards in 2027. The announcement doesn't name the eligible cards or a transfer ratio, so don't build plans around it until those details land. And from November 2, 2026, Platinum and Titanium members can bring eligible children and one companion into Premium Class free when space is available.