Alaska Airlines' combined loyalty program, Atmos Rewards (the merger of Alaska Mileage Plan and Hawaiian's scheme), has finally put a date on its most talked-about feature: from October 1, 2026, members can choose how they earn points, with the choice applying to flights departing from January 1, 2027.
There will be three earning styles. Earn by distance and you get one point per mile flown. Earn by dollars spent and you get five points per dollar. Earn by segments and you get a flat 500 points per flight. Your choice applies to both redeemable points and status points, and you can switch once per calendar year for future travel.
The defaults matter if you do nothing. Existing members keep distance-based earning — no action required. New members joining from 2027 will be defaulted to revenue-based earning, so it's worth setting your preference explicitly.
A few things aren't changing: status points earned via co-branded credit card spending stay as they are, and the elite thresholds remain 20,000 status points for Silver, 40,000 for Gold, 80,000 for Platinum and 135,000 for Titanium.
Which option should you pick? For most travellers, distance remains the winner. The maths roughly breaks even when your fare costs more than 20 cents per flown mile. Take a 2,500-mile transcontinental one-way ticket: at $500, distance-based and revenue-based earning both net you about 2,500 points. Alaska's own average revenue per available seat mile sits around 15 cents, so the typical passenger earns more under the distance system.
The segment option is really only sensible for a niche: people who take lots of very cheap, short hops — inter-island Hawaii flights being the obvious example, where 500 points per segment can outearn either of the other methods.
Alaska has also promised better earning rates for premium cabin tickets on partner airlines booked directly with those airlines. That was slated for later in 2026, but no updated timeline has been confirmed yet, so watch this space.
Why does this matter to travellers? Because it's a rare bit of good news in loyalty programs. Most airlines have marched in one direction — away from distance-based earning towards revenue-based, which typically hurts anyone who doesn't buy pricey fares. Alaska is swimming against that tide by letting members choose. If you already hold Alaska or Hawaiian miles, you essentially need to do nothing and keep earning the generous way. If you're a frequent short-haul flyer, a one-time settings change could meaningfully boost your haul.
One caveat worth remembering: the choice window opens October 1, 2026, so don't expect to log in and toggle anything before then, and earnings under your new preference only start with flights from January 1, 2027.
Story via One Mile at a Time
