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Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have officially unveiled Atmos Rewards, the new loyalty programme that will replace Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles. While the two airlines will continue operating as separate brands, Atmos Rewards is now the unified scheme for frequent flyers – and it comes with some genuinely interesting twists.

The programme is live for Alaska members immediately, while HawaiianMiles will be folded in from 1 October 2025.

Why this matters

Alaska Mileage Plan has long been a favourite among savvy travellers thanks to distance-based earning and a quirky mix of partner awards. The fear, of course, was that a merger would water things down into another revenue-based programme. That’s not what’s happened – in fact, Atmos Rewards manages to combine the best of both worlds.

• Choice of earning style: members can pick distance, spend, or segments each year.
• Elite rebrand: MVP tiers become Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Titanium (aligned to oneworld Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald for Plat/Titanium).
• Global upgrades: top-tier Titanium members will receive unlimited complimentary day-of-departure upgrades worldwide.
• Hawaiian upgrades: elites will enjoy upgrades on Hawaiian flights within North America, including A330 routes with lie-flats.

What’s changing

The biggest shift is flexibility. Atmos Rewards lets you decide how you earn. Each year, you get to choose one of the following tracks for earning redeemable points and status points:

• Distance: Earn at least 1 redeemable point per mile flown
• Spend: 5 redeemable points per US$1
• Segments: 500 redeemable points per flight

Elite status points work similarly:

• Distance: At least 1 status point for every mile flown (including award redemptions!)
• Spend: 5 status points per US$1. You can also earn status points when redeeming mile – 1 status point for every 20 points you redeem.
• Segments: 500 status points for each segment flown (including award redemptions)

Elite thresholds remain unchanged until 2026, when Platinum rises to 80,000 status points and Titanium jumps to 135,000. That’s steep, but the trade-off is unlimited complimentary global upgrades – a first for a US airline.

From a UK perspective, there’s an interesting reference to something called “Global Locals”, which suggests the status requirements might be less challenging for members outside the US:

Any downsides?

As with any new programme, the devil will be in the detail and we’ll learn more in the weeks ahead. On the face of things though, there aren’t any massive red flags.

The one potentially significant area of concern in the medium-term is changes that might be made to redemption rates. Alaska/Atmos executives have been making reassuring noises about that for now, but with the caveat that things are always subject to review.

The logical thing to do with a new programme is to keep the members happy, so it’s possible that the re-brand will actually delay any changes. Hopefully…

Bottom line

So far, Atmos Rewards looks much better than might have been feared. The choice of earning method, status miles for award redemptions, and global upgrades make this one of the most innovative airline programmes we’ve seen in years.

What do you think about Atmos Rewards?