Atmos Rewards will soon let members choose how they earn points—by distance, price, or segments flown. Here's the rollout timeline and which option makes the most sense.
"I should also mention that Atmos Rewards promised to improve points earning rates for premium cabin tickets on partner airlines when booked directly with those airlines."
But will Alaska bump up earn rates for premium cabins on Alaska metal or when booked with Alaska?
you highlight a very clear loophole in why you should not pay for J class on AS...but AS ticketed and partner operated J class fares are insanely high to get the 250 percent....so they should just put everything long haul J to 250 percent.
Again, Alaska knocking it out of the park, lately. See, this is actually giving consumers a choice (not the fake 'choice' of unbundling fares, but really just charging more, like DL and UA have done recently, even for business class. Lame.) I'm glad they're keeping distance-based; and that even point redemptions on partners earn status with AS. That was a very pleasant surprise when I flew JFK-EZE in F on AA metal (before they retired 773 F cabin) using AS.
Does the cost paid include seat upgrade? I’ve got a 200 mile flight I bought with points, then paid $80 for a seat upgrade. Which option is best in this case? Thx and yay Alaska!
@ Tm -- Yep, if you choose the revenue based model, then seat upgrade fees do earn you points (both redeemable points and status points).
Ive been hearing anecdotes that J class partner ticketed and operated are now posting at 250percent..but others not.
I have a BA J class ticket later in October.....would love to have clarity on when this actually starts.....
What’s the bonus for elites and business fares if one chooses points per dollar?? Under the current scheme, 99.9 % of the people including business travelers will get more points and status miles with distance than ticket value.
This is just a stop gap until they fully switch to revenue based.
@ Davisson -- The elite bonuses are the same across methods, while there's not really the concept of class of service bonuses anymore.
Is the 500 mile minimum going away if you choose distance?
Ben, I'm curious on your take for how award trips and status points via the BoA Alaska Summit and Ascent credit cards might affect the distance vs. spend method to earn status.
@ rww -- I would say it shouldn't materially change things. The status points earning on the credit card is the same, regardless of the method you choose. Meanwhile for award flights it comes down to whether one would be better off earning one status point per flown mile, or one status point for every 20 points redeemed. Looking at most of my saver level award redemptions, the math is more favorable for the distance based system, even when redeeming for premium cabin tickets.
Note that Alaska previously confirmed that distance-based earning will not receive any class of service bonus. So if you fly transcon or similar in J, you wouldn't get any bonus vs if you had flown economy.
Also, they said when they announced initially that paid for seat assignment and class-of-service upgrades will earn points under the revenue-based option.
@ clb -- You're right, I forgot to include that in the post, so I just added it. Thanks!
"A majority of passengers spend an average of under 20 cents per mile (Alaska’s average passenger revenue per available seat mile is around 15 cents), so I tend to think the old system continues to make the most sense for a vast majority of people."
does this math hold up, though? that's *available* seat mile, and not all seats are occupied, which means that those empty seat miles are subsidized by the seats actually occupied by pax, which would seem to suggest that those ticket sales are at something of a higher cost basis than the average seat mile revenue in order to balance out the empty seats which earn zero cents per mile
@ digital_notmad -- That's a totally valid point. We're still talking about an average load factor of 80%+, so on *average* people will come out ahead with the distance based system. I guess everyone will have to crunch the numbers for themselves, based on their own situation.
It'd be useful to know what the plan is for Saver fares. This seems to have been left out of the conversation even though main cabin fares are considerably more expensive.
Are they going to provide tracking for all methods of status qualification before we have to choose? It would be helpful to understand where things shake out this year in order to assess whats the best method for next year.
@Lucky, which is better for long-haul J + domestic Y travelers? On the one hand, fare-based could be better, since a $4k (pre-tax/fee) 5k mile r/t ticket would net 20k vs 10k. But, given AS's small long-haul network (and seemingly subpar product), it might be better to choose distance-based and buy partner J directly for 250%, while maximizing awards and domestic AS Y. Any "losses" from occasional domestic F or upgrade purchases would be minor. Thoughts?
Buuuuut, as I read the the article the class bonus, it 250% for J purchases will no longer be offered. So, it seems Status points are only earned for miles flown no mater where you sit or how much you pay!!
What about Saver Fare purchases???
Still questions needing answers!
@GLCTraveler, while I agree they need to answer A LOT of questions, they seem to be pretty clear on the partner earnings (at least for now). International F/J on partners will earn 250% when booked directly with the partner.
From the FAQs ( https://www.alaskaair.com/atmosrewards/content/faq/2026-updates), which they may change: "Partner flights booked direct with partners will continue to earn a percentage of flown miles if either the distance or ticket price earning method is chosen, or will earn 500 points per segment if the segment earning method is chosen."
One thing I'm curious about is a partner-booked, AS flight. For example, if you book BA JFK-LHR and AS LHR-SEA on BA.com or JL LAX-HND & AS NRT-SEA on jal.co.jp, what would the AS flights earn under the different choices?
@Tennen for your case, which is similar to my case, I'd say price based is at least worth much more consideration, if not an outright nobrainer.
I may have some paid domestic Y in us on AS or AA too so I'd sacrifice earning on those to earn 30-50k redeemable and status miles each time I fly partner J l/h. atmos Titanium could be had w/ about 3-4 of those plus some nominal domestic us travel, which fits what I'd want to credit to atmos. I suppose the specifics of the l/h routes one may really matter much more for the math than what this article has implied.
Though this system is different to what AA, UA, and DL offer, for a particular type of user, it's certainly not worse.
I'm totally ok with a program that doesn't offer widespread international partner award availability but offers excellent domestic award availability at great rates, which DL and UA definitely don't, often even with status and cc. The more atmos allows easy accrual of far more points though (transfers from cc partners are biggest risk by far) , the more downside risk there is to this availability for the customer.
How will the revenue method work with partners? Will AS be able to see the fare details of tickets booked on partner airlines?
In the article it says this will be for flights post Jan 1st. I have a trip already book for next April. Will the points I earn off of it be based on what my selection is at the time I purchased the tickets. Since I purchased these tickets months ago will I get distance flown or if I switch to points per $ spent will I earn it based on the price I paid?
I know for any new bookings it would be based on my selection just not sure how it works for flights already booked. For the first year knowing this could have a huge impact on what I end up selecting.
Thanks
@Jeff W., I'd imagine that ticketing date won't matter. IME, when airlines change earnings structures, the flight date is usually the decider. So, if you change to $ before April, that's how your flights will be calculated.
How is this more "flexible"???????????????
The current program offer basically all 3 without you having to choose. That's called flexible.
The new program forces you to choose 1 of 3 routes. The only people who benefit are those traveling on company dime and always pay full fares. Everyone else loses. Everyone else get a lot less flexibility
That's also by far and away the worst by-segment earning in the aviation industry requiring 40 segments for silver and 80 for gold. It's insane how bad it is
One additional point that I want to point out is that selecting earn-by-price does not give you an edge in earning the Million Miler status, which is still distance based. Million Miler status plays a critical role in complementary first-class upgrades, and with the lie-flat seats on 737s being rolled out next year, this will only become more valuation.
Just seen this on the Atmos Rewards Update page regarding the enhanced status points rates for partners:
“New partner earn rate
We're making it even more rewarding to fly Business and First Class when you book directly with our partner airlines. Based on your feedback, we're boosting earning rates, beginning when choice earn launches later in 2026.”
I take this as confirmation that the new rates will be effective as of 1 Jan.
Ben-
Do companion passes also accrue status miles via the same 1 point per 20 point rate?