Alaska Atmos Rewards – still too many unknowns for us to judge the program

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Atmos Rewards (the revamped Alaska Airlines/Hawaiian Airlines rewards program) was launched a little over a week ago to mostly positive press/blog reviews, but after looking through the official program details and after having thought things through, I’m not sure all of that positivity is warranted. At least not right now.

Yes, the program certainly has a few interesting aspects to it – the ability for members to choose whether to earn status via their flight spending or the distance they travel is unique in the airline rewards world, and global upgrades for top-tier elites looks like a great benefit to offer – but eight days after the program was unveiled, there are still too many unanswered questions for us to be able to make a genuine assessment of its merits.

In the days after Atmos Rewards was launched, I started to wonder whether this could now be the best program for me to use to lock in Oneworld Emerald status in 2026 and beyond (it’s why I’ve been considering the San Diego elite status challenge) and one of the first things that I noticed was that there are few official details surrounding what the program’s earnings will look like in 2026.

Sure, we know what the thresholds to earn elite status will look like in 2026:

• Atmos Silver – 20,000 status points
• Atmos Gold – 40,000 status points
• Atmos Platinum – 80,000 status points
• Atmos Titanium – 135,000 status points

And we know that when it comes to points and elite status earnings the Alaska Airlines press release says you can choose to earn in one of three ways:

Distance traveled: Earn based on how far you go with one point for every mile flown.

Price paid: Earn five points for every $1 spent when purchasing a flight. This includes airfare and upgrades purchased in premium cabins.

Segments flown: Earn a flat 500 points for each flight segment flown.

But that still leaves quite a few unknowns.

I came up with a list of question to which I couldn’t find an official answer on the Alaska Airlines website or in the Atmos Rewards press release (at the time of writing, there are no details on the site surrounding points earning in 2026), and I submitted them to the Alaska Airlines press team early Sunday morning.

I got a swift reply asking when I needed the information (my response was “Tuesday end of day, please”), but as yet the answers have not been forthcoming.

These are the questions I posed (relating to the 2026 elite year):

If choosing the distance-based method of earning elite status points:

1. Will all Alaska Airlines operated flights booked through Alaska Airlines earn 1 point/mile travelled (including Saver/Basic Economy bookings)?
2. Will there be any Premium Cabin bonuses on Alaska Airlines operated flights booked through Alaska Airlines (as there are now) or will the 1 point/mile traveled apply across all cabins?
3. Will partner airline bookings made through Alaska Airlines have the same structure as now (i.e. will they continue to earn bonuses for premium cabins) or will this change in 2026?
4. Will partner airlines bookings made through partner airline sites have the same structure as now or will this change in 2026?
5. Are elite status bonuses staying in place for 2026 and will they apply to elite status points earnings?
6. Is the 500 mile/point minimum earning threshold being kept or will this go away in 2026?

If choosing the cost-based method of earning elite status points:

1. Will there be any elite status bonuses or will all customers earn 5 points/eligible dollar spent regardless of status?
2. Will bookings made through Alaska Airlines for partner operated flights earn points based on the cost of the fare or on the distance flown?
3. Will bookings made through partner sites for partner operated flights earn points based on the cost of the fare or on the distance flown?

Clearly, I can make a few educated guesses when it comes to the answers to some of these questions (e.g. it’s unlikely that Alaska Airlines will be able to offer cost-based status points on partner flights booked through partner sites), but unless we know for sure (and officially) what the answers to all of these questions are, there is no real way to judge how good or bad Atmos Rewards will be (rumors, supposition, conjecture, and reported briefings supposedly given to select sites/blogs are not good enough).

None of these questions should be tricky to answer (presumably they were all considered when the program was being shaped), so I don’t understand why the Alaska Airlines website doesn’t offer the answers.

Why has Alaska Airlines launched a rewards program four months before the start of the 2026 elite qualification year and not published full details of what the points earnings and elite status earnings will look like in 2026?

The cynic in me can’t help but wonder if the answers to some of these questions are going to be disappointing and so the details have been deliberately held back to ensure that in the first few days and weeks following the program launch, everyone is focusing on the positives and not on any of the negatives.

Is there a bundle of bad news that has yet to be released?

Hopefully not, but until the Alaska Airlines website shows exactly what points and elite status earnings will look like in 2026 (for every type of fare purchased and for every elite status level), I don’t think anyone should be jumping to conclusions about how good or bad the Atmos Rewards program is.

What’s more, until Alaska Airlines publishes the earnings charts for 2026, it’s not going to be possible for a lot of us to decide if it’s worth pursuing Atmos elite status next year and, given that fights for next year are already being booked, it’s a little annoying that the airline is still keeping us waiting.