We still don’t know when key Atmos Rewards changes will go live

Alaska Airlines rebranded its Mileage Plan program as Atmos Rewards back in August 2025, unifying it with Hawaiian Airlines’ HawaiianMiles into a single program.

Some of the changes that came with that rebrand are already live while others are still waiting to be rolled out and as we approach the middle of 2026 with still no sign of a few of the major changes going live, I’m starting to get impatient.

What’s already changed

Rebranded tier names and currency

The tier names have been updated across the board:

• MVP –> Atmos Silver (Oneworld Ruby)
• MVP Gold –> Atmos Gold (Oneworld Sapphire)
• MVP Gold 75K –> Atmos Platinum (Oneworld Emerald)
• MVP Gold 100K –> Atmos Titanium (Oneworld Emerald)

The program’s currency is now called “points” rather than “miles”.

Elite status thresholds

The 2026 qualification requirements (which determine your status for 2027) have increased at the top two tiers:

• Atmos Silver: 20,000 status points (no change)
• Atmos Gold: 40,000 status points (no change)
• Atmos Platinum: 80,000 status points (up from 75,000)
• Atmos Titanium: 135,000 status points (up from 100,000)

The increase to the Platinum requirement  is modest (7%)  and probably no big deal for most Alaska frequent flyers.

The Titanium requirement increase is a different story. A 35% jump in the qualification threshold is a big ask, and Alaska partially acknowledged this by crediting existing Titanium members with a 20,000 status point boost in February 2026 (Platinum members were given a 5,000 point boost).

That softened the blow for members who already held status, but anyone chasing Titanium for the first time is facing a much bigger challenge than before.

Two originally unannounced changes

As well as what I’ve already covered, Alaska Airlines has pushed through two further changes to its rewards program that were not originally flagged.

Firstly, for tickets issued on or after 1 July 2026, the fee the airline charges for partner bookings is increasing from $12.50 to $20 per person each way (holders of the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® card have this fee waived when booking a partner award with their card).

Secondly, saver fares (i.e. basic economy fares) booked on or after 11 June 2026 and flown on or after 1 August 2026 will no longer earn Atmos points or status points.

Unfortunately, neither of these changes is an improvement to the program and the second is a notable devaluation.

What’s still coming

Right, now that all of that is out of the way, this is what I really wanted to write about.

Choose how you earn

This is the headline change, it still hasn’t launched, and we still have no idea when, in 2026, it will launch.

At some point later this year, Atmos members will be able to choose how they earn points and elite status points when flying on Alaska and Hawaiian. There are three options:

• Distance: 1 point per mile flown – the legacy model and still the right choice for most members flying long-haul on cheaper fares.
• Spend: 5 points per $1 spent on airfare and paid upgrades – the better option for most premium cabin travellers* or anyone regularly buying expensive last-minute tickets.
• Segments: 500 points per flight segment. Designed for frequent short-hop flyers where distance-based earning produces low returns.

The choice members will be given will apply to both redeemable points and elite status points, with members only being allowed to change their selection once per year.

Partner airline earning remains distance-based regardless of which option you choose.

*People who generally book the cheaper business class fares (i.e. deal hunters like me) will almost certainly be better off with the distance-based system.

Boosted earnings on partner flights

Also still pending for some point in 2026 is a significant improvement to partner airline earning rates.

Currently, the earnings rates for partner flights booked through Alaska are fantastic, but the earnings for partner flights booked through partner airlines are poor. Very poor.

If you’re always booking through Alaska, this isn’t an issue for you, but given that most of the best deals we see for flights taken on Alaska’s partners are not bookable through Alaska, the weak earn rates for such bookings has been a notable weakness in the airline’s frequent flyer program.

Fortunately, we’re told that this is changing and when the new earning rates go live, these are the changes we are told to expect:

• Domestic First and Business Class will move from 125% to 150% of miles flown.
• International Business Class will jump from 125% to 250% of miles flown.
• International First Class will go from 150% to 250% of miles flown.

The international Business Class improvement in particular is substantial and should please quite a few readers (it pleases me a lot!)

For anyone who regularly credits British Airways, JAL, Cathay Pacific, or Qatar Airways business class flights to another Oneworld program, these changes to the earnings may be a game-changer – Atmos Rewards may turn out to be the better program for you.

Global upgrades for Titanium members

Complimentary unlimited global upgrades for Titanium members were supposed to roll out in spring 2026 but are still pending.

When live, we’re told that these will clear on the day of departure on long-haul Alaska and Hawaiian flights outside North America, and will extend to one companion on the same reservation.

Titanium members will also gain upgrade eligibility on Hawaiian Airlines-operated flights within North America, including access to lie-flat business class on aircraft equipped with those seats, such as the A330s and 787s Alaska Airlines inherited from Hawaiian.

A few further thoughts

With Atmos rewards, there’s quite a bit to like, and that’s not something you often hear after a rewards program has been “refreshed”.

The global upgrade benefit for Titanium members could be a real differentiator when it arrives (assuming it’s implemented well), the choice-based earning model should give the program more flexibility than any other major US airline program offers, and the boosted earnings on partner bookings will probably make Atmos Rewards a considerably more attractive proposition for a lot of Oneworld fans.

The significant increase to the Titanium status threshold, however, cannot be overlooked, the loss of class-of-service multipliers under the distance-earning option is disappointing, the elimination of earnings from saver fares is harsh (although in line with a lot of other carriers) and we’ve already had significant devaluations to the award charts in recent years, so it’s not all champagne and caviar for Atmos members.

All that aside, however, I really wish Alaska would just get on with introducing these changes. What’s taking so long and why haven’t we been given a start date we can put in our calendars? This feels like it has all the urgency of a British Airways cabin refit.

A lot of people are already making plans and bookings for the last quarter of 2026 and the 2027 elite status year, so it would be nice to actually have all the changes in place as soon as possible.

My situation

I’m in a slightly odd situation right now, because while I don’t know the date from which Alaska Airlines will start rewarding partner Business Class bookings with a decent number of status points, I don’t know whether I need to book another trip for late in 2026 or whether that trip can be taken in 2027.

If I’m going to stick with my current program (Finnair), I have no need to make any more bookings for 2026. I’m fine as I am.

If, however, Alaska Airlines launches the improved partner earnings before the last quarter of this year, I could bring forward one of my planned 2027 trips (on Finnair or Qatar Airways) and together with the other trips that I already have booked, earn enough elite status credits to lock in Atmos Platinum elite status (Oneworld Emerald) by the end of this year.

If the upgraded earnings aren’t going to go live until very late this year, then that trip can happen in 2027 as currently planned, but I need to know sooner rather than later because the good deals that I can see for Qatar Airways and Finnair bookings may not be around for much longer.

Not knowing what Alaska plans to do is aggravating. First world aggravating, but aggravating nevertheless.

Bottom line

The Atmos Rewards changes for 2026 are mostly quite exciting and the program looks promising, but when the changes were first unveiled in August 2025 and we were told that some would be coming “later in 2026”, I didn’t think that half way through 2026 we still wouldn’t know when some of the most major changes would go live.

I’m looking forward to choosing how I earn points and elite status credits. I’m looking forward to earning a respectable number of points and status credits on partner bookings, and I’m looking forward to figuring out if it’s worth aiming for top-tier Titanium status to get access to the worldwide complimentary upgrades.

But what I’m looking forward to most of all is finally knowing when all of this is going to happen.

Dear Alaska Airlines, please get on with it! 😁