I’ve written extensively about the $395 annual fee Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card, which I consider to be the most lucrative airline credit card out there. This card isn’t just for Alaska Airline loyalists. With partners like American Airlines and British Airways, Atmos Rewards points can be extremely useful for booking reward flights across any carriers.
At the moment, the card is offering a massive limited time welcome bonus, which includes 100,000 Atmos Rewards points and a 25,000-point Global Companion Award after spending $6,500 within the first 90 days, plus a 50% flight discount after account opening.
Admittedly we see lots of big welcome bonuses nowadays, so perhaps people are almost desensitized to this, and have a hard time getting excited, since six figure welcome bonuses are hardly out of the ordinary. However, let me explain as simply as possible why you should care about this bonus, and add this card to your wallet.
Link: Learn more about the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card
100K+ Atmos Rewards points can get you lots of flights!
There are many great ways to redeem Atmos Rewards points, including for travel on Alaska and Hawaiian, oneworld partner airlines, and even some non-oneworld partners. But let’s focus specifically on what I’d consider to be the aspect of this currency that has the broadest appeal, which we don’t give it enough credit for.
Atmos Rewards points can be redeemed on American with very attractive pricing, assuming there’s saver level award availability (and in my experience, American releases a lot more saver space in both economy and business than Delta and United do). Below is Alaska Atmos Rewards’ one-way award chart for travel within the Americas:
- A flight of under 700 miles will cost 4,500 points in economy, 9,000 points in business class
- A flight of 701-1,400 miles will cost 7,500 points in economy, 15,000 points in business class
- A flight of 1,401-2,100 miles will cost 12,500 points in economy, 25,000 points in business class
These aren’t just theoretical redemption values, but quite honestly, I probably book 80% of my travel on American using Atmos Rewards points. Is this the world’s sexist redemption? Of course not! But it’s practical.
A vast majority of my redemptions are in the first two distance bands, so either covering up to 700 miles (4,500 points in economy, 9,000 points in business class), or covering 701-1,400 miles (7,500 points in economy, 15,000 points in business class). Below is my Atmos Rewards activity for the month of April alone.
What am I actually redeeming for?
- I redeem all the time for short haul economy awards, like from Miami (MIA) to Nassau (NAS), Providenciales (PLS), Tampa (TPA), etc.
- I also redeem all the time for domestic first & business class awards, like from Miami to Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), New York (JFK), San Juan (SJU), St. Maarten (SXM), etc.
So let’s just briefly crunch the numbers on the 100,000 bonus points. By the time you complete the minimum spending amount, you’ll have a minimum of 106,500 points. That’s enough for:
- 23 short haul one-way economy awards, or 11 short haul one-way business class awards (covering up to 700 miles)
- 14 slightly longer one-way economy awards, or seven slightly longer one-way business class awards (covering 701-1,400 miles)
I think all too often the discussion around redeeming points is too heavily focused on aspirational awards that (quite frankly) are so hard to actually book nowadays. So this is a case where I like to say “screw it, let’s just talk about what’s practical.” Atmos Rewards award tickets can even be changed or redeposited for free, so the flexibility is hard to beat.
By the way, keep in mind the above math doesn’t account for the 25,000-point Global Companion Award (which is worth roughly the annual fee for me), and can get you even more value. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this card’s value proposition, as it also offers things like waived partner award booking fees, 3x points on international purchases, and much more.
Earn bonus points with other Atmos Rewards cards as well
The big welcome offer on the Atmos Rewards Summit Card is only one of the lucrative cards that offers Atmos Rewards points. The card has the biggest bonus, the strongest perks, and the highest annual fee, and I’d argue it’s the most worthwhile.
That being said, there’s a portfolio of Atmos Rewards cards, and they’re not mutually exclusive, so it can be worth picking up more than one card (you can even be approved for two different cards in a day). The two other Atmos Rewards cards have annual fees of under $100, and have publicly available bonuses as follows:
If you pick up two or three of these cards, you could be looking at earning a massive number of Atmos Rewards points.
Bottom line
At the moment, all of Alaska’s co-branded credit cards are offering improved bonuses. The most exciting offer is on the Atmos Rewards Summit Card, where you can earn 100,000 Atmos Rewards points, and more. However, you’re also find great offers on the Atmos Rewards Ascent Card and Atmos Rewards Summit Card.
All the time we talk about the shiny long haul first and business class redemptions that are possible, but the argument here is simple — Atmos Rewards points are super valuable for travel on American domestically, in both economy and premium cabins.
A welcome bonus of 100,000+ points is enough for up to 23 one-way economy tickets, which is a massive amount of value to get. I redeem Atmos Rewards points constantly on American, ranging from 4,500-point awards for flights of up to 700 miles, to 15,000-point awards covering 701-1,400 miles. If you fly domestically with any frequency, picking up the Atmos Rewards Summit Card is very easy to justify.
