Alaska Airlines launches $395 card, combines loyalty with Hawaiian

Alaska Airlines is entering into the industry’s race for high-end bank cards and making a combined frequent flyer program, called Atmos Rewards, with Hawaiian Airlines, which it acquired last 12 months.

The $395-a-year Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite card, co-branded with Bank of America, is the carrier’s first premium bank card and includes perks like airport lounge passes, quick $50 vouchers for delays and discounted global companion fares.

Under the brand new Atmos program, travelers can have a selection in how they earn points:

1. By distance: Customers will earn one point for every mile they fly, which Alaska said is healthier for travelers who often fly internationally or cross-country.
2. By price: Travelers will earn five points for each $1 they spend on a flight, which the carrier said is geared toward those that often fly in premium cabins like top quality.
3. By flights: Customers will earn 500 points for every segment they fly, which is geared toward flyers who take numerous short-haul trips, like those inside Hawaii or California.

Elite frequent flyer tiers are also changing, and Alaska would require travelers to earn more points to achieve top levels. Rival airlines have also made those forms of changes routinely.

For the Atmos Platinum loyalty tier, customers might want to earn 80,000 points next 12 months, and 135,000 for the Atmos Titanium tier, up from 75,000 and 100,000, respectively, in 2025. Alaska’s chief industrial officer, Andrew Harrison, told CNBC that miles aren’t being devalued for flight redemptions, nevertheless. There are also silver and gold tiers within the Atmos program, with all levels including upgrades, when available, to free premium-class seats on Alaska and considered one of the carrier’s partners, American Airlines.

Although the frequent flyer program shall be combined, Alaska plans to maintain its brand operating individually from Hawaiian. It’s, nevertheless, planning to launch a number of international routes on wide-body aircraft from its home base in Seattle.

Alaska and its competitors have invested heavily in chasing higher-spending customers and creating sticky business with loyalty hurdles customers must clear to get to perks on the opposite side. Even budget airlines like Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines have turned to more upmarket strategies to attempt to return to profitability.

Airlines “with the premium cabins, with premium experiences, there may be good solid demand there that has not materially modified and is definitely convalescing,” Harrison told CNBC.

Alaska can be attempting to keep advantages and lounges feeling exclusive to avoid an industry problem with overcrowding.

The Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite card comes with eight lounge passes a 12 months, valid for the entire travel day.

“These are your most loyal and frequent travelers. The worst thing you may do to them is invite them into lounges and have lines out front saying you may’t get in and must wait,” Harrison said.

Alaska is constructing a brand new lounge at its base at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport dedicated to international long-haul flyers and planning on one at San Diego International Airport.

JetBlue Airways launched a premium bank card with Barclays US Consumer Bank earlier this 12 months, with an annual fee of $499. Other airlines have also raised fees and added perks and points bonuses to draw more sign-ups and cardholders.

“Our recent premium bank card is on target to double full-year projections for acquisitions, highlighting the tremendous amount of demand by customers for our premium products,” JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty said on an earnings call last month.

Alaska also said it plans to supply Starlink Wi-Fi throughout its fleet, a service that shall be complimentary for loyalty program members. Hawaiian Airlines first signed a deal for the service from Elon Musk’s SpaceX service in 2022.