Alaska Airlines created a lot of buzz last week with the launch of their new, combined loyalty program with Hawaiian Airlines, now called Atmos Rewards. While the program name “Atmos” leaves something to be desired, the new program itself, and in particular the new credit card offers, are quite attractive.
Across the Atmos Rewards ecosystem, there are 4 new public offers to earn up to 340k Atmos Rewards points, with the possibility to earn up to 360k points taking advantage of more specific offers! I applaud the blogs who have already highlighted some of these elevated opportunities…you can draw your own conclusions about the “big sites” who are surely aware but are only pushing the public (affiliate) offers.
Atmos Summit card: 100k -> 105k
Loaded with some interesting perks and features, notably the ability to easily share points across a group of 10 additional accounts, this card debuted last week with a strong 100k offer. However, if you had signed up to be on the waitlist for this card back in December, you would have received an email on 8/20 with a specific signup link for the extra 5k bonus points. Unfortunately, that offer required action in the past, but if you did get on the waitlist and want to apply, make sure you use the link in that email!
Atmos Ascent card 80k -> 85k -> 90k
A refresh of the old Bank of America Alaska personal card, now with a strong 80k offer. However, it is possible to get 85k using what is meant to be an in-flight offer. Check out this post from US Credit Card Guide for the details.
Alternatively, if you have an Alaska card already, you can refer friends to this card and while they receive the standard 80k sign-up bonus, you would receive 10k points for the referral. In 2-player mode, and especially with a Summit card and the ability to combine points, that’s just as good as a single, 90k offer. Tim at Frequent Miler had a nice article on this a few days ago if you want to see more details.
Atmos Business card 80k -> 85k
There is a similar open for the business version of the card, and if you can get approved from Bank of America, it is possible to get this card and a personal card. This is also a refresh of the former Alaska business card with a 80k public offer. Doctor of Credit had this post yesterday on how to access the 85k offer.
Barclays Hawaiian card 80k
There is also a 50k offer on the business version of the card, but it was very surprising to see this offer from Barclays bump up to match the Bank of America public offers on the Atmos Ascent card. It was also surprising to learn recently that these cards would continue on with Barclays even after the full integration of Hawaiian miles into the Atmos Rewards system this October. This is the highest offer I have seen before on this card and gives a nice option to diversify away from Bank of America applications if you wanted to go for more than one of these current offers.
Analysis
While it would be difficult (but not impossible) to get all 4 of these cards if you have Bank of America accounts and the relaxed approval rules that come with it, a more common strategy in a household would be for one person to pick up the Summit card (for the ability to share points) and one of the others and then another person in the household try to get the other two. If you are going to take this approach, make sure you have a good plan on how you can meet all of the minimum spending.
For me personally, everyone in my family already has the Hawaiian cards, so that option is out. I was automatically approved for the Summit card 105k offer but I was declined on the Atmos business card. I don’t have a bank account with Bank of America so that was not a surprise. My wife does have a BoA account, so I think we will try for the Ascent referral offer (90k total) and possibly the Atmos business card if this offer is available next month.
TL;DR: With the launch of the new Atmos Rewards program, now is a great time to boost your balance of these valuable points. There are 4 new public offers for a total of 340k points, but if you use the right approach, up to 360k in total is possible.
