Alaska Airlines caught travelers off guard in Dec. 2023 with its $1.9B bid for Hawaiian Airlines. At the time, analysts had mixed views about the deal, as competitor JetBlue was in court seeking to close its $3.8B buy of budget airline Spirit. JetBlue was seen overextending itself with the big buy, while Alaska was seen as overpaying.

We now know how this played out: JetBlue’s case got bounced, Spirit went broke, and the Seattle-based carrier closed its merger last year. And since then, it’s been surprising the industry with a foray into international routes. But its biggest move towards uniting the two carriers just landed.

Welcome, Atmos: Nine months ago, we previewed the merger between MileagePlan and HawaiianMiles. Now, frequent flyers will finally earn under the new, joint rewards program — Atmos Rewards. Longtime Rise & Grind readers know we’re not too fond of frequent flyer programs. But Atmos managed to strike a delicate balance that other domestic carriers generally fail at. In fact, most travelers won.

• Atmos will still allow travelers to earn points for each mile flown, but in 2026, travelers can choose to earn points through segments flown or spending instead.
• There is a devaluation, though, for top flyers — Atmos Premium (formerly MVP Gold 75K) and Titanium (formerly MVP Gold 100K) will now be earned at 80K and 135K points instead.

Reaching New Heights

Atmos also promises a few other net-good changes, like free Starlink Wi-Fi and Atmos Communities — which will allow travelers new ways to earn points in ways that better fit their needs. And speaking of new ways to earn points, Atmos has a new credit card, too.

• The Atmos Rewards Summit Visa is the company’s first premium credit card — the $395/yr card pays for itself with a 100K point sign-up bonus and a 25K point “Global Companion Award” which can even be used on partner airlines.
• The sweetener is lounge and Wi-Fi passes, 10K points towards status each year, and travel delay protection (in other words, free money back if your flight is delayed).

Full refresh: The card will also offer 3x points on dining, foreign purchases (a first on a credit card), and Alaska/Hawaiian transactions. It’ll also earn status faster, with one point earned per $2 spent. And for anyone not keen on annual fees, Alaska’s existing credit cards have been rebranded under Atmos as well, commanding some attractive bonuses right now, which might be worth a look.