Members of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines’ shared Atmos Rewards program can now pick how their flights earn points. Alaska Air Group says the choice opened October 1, 2026, and it applies to flights departing on or after January 1, 2027.
The three options are distance, price paid and segments. In the company’s September 29 announcement, members can change the setting once per calendar year.
How each option earns
Atmos Rewards combines Alaska’s Mileage Plan and Hawaiian’s HawaiianMiles. When the airline introduced the program, it laid out the earning rates: one point per mile flown, five points per dollar spent on flights, and 500 points per segment. A company fact sheet describes the same three methods for earning both points and status points.
The distance option comes with trade-offs. According to the travel site One Mile at a Time, it pays one point per mile flown with no class bonuses and no 500-point minimums. A short hop earns only its mileage under that setting.
What happens to members who do nothing
Members who never make a selection do not lose anything. Current members who do not select will continue earning based on distance traveled, the company says. New members who join from January 1, 2027 default to price paid instead.
For frequent flyers the practical question is which of the three options pays the most on their own routes and fares. The answer depends on the trips: how long the flights are, how much is paid for them, and how many separate segments a typical trip has. Because the setting can be changed only once per calendar year, the pick carries through the full year of flights it covers.
The choice is one of several changes in the program, and The Retirement Money Brief will cover the next step in plain English when it happens.
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Comparing the three on a few trips
Using the published rates, a few simple examples show how far apart the options can land. A 1,000-mile flight earns 1,000 points by distance. The same flight earns 500 points by segment, whatever its length. By price, a $300 ticket earns 1,500 points at five points per dollar, while a $120 ticket earns 600.
That arithmetic points in a few directions. Long flights on modest fares tend to favor distance. Short flights with expensive tickets favor price paid. Itineraries that stack many short segments, such as connections through a hub, favor segments. A traveler who mostly flies one long route a few times a year may find the options land close together, and a traveler with many short hops may find they do not.
Status points follow the same earning method, according to the company’s fact sheet, so the pick affects progress toward elite tiers as well as the points balance. Members close to a status threshold have a second thing to weigh.
One more case is a round trip with a connection each way. That is four segments, or 2,000 points under the segment method, before counting the miles or the fare. A nonstop round trip of the same total distance is two segments and 1,000 points. The same trip can look very different depending on which setting is switched on, which is why the numbers are worth running before the setting is chosen and not afterward.
Other changes announced with the choice
The same announcement lists other items. Platinum and Titanium members get complimentary Premium Class access for eligible children and one companion starting November 2, 2026. A co-branded debit card is planned for early 2027 with no foreign transaction fees, with pre-registration open, though the bank behind it is not named. The program’s communities expand from two to six on October 1, with 20 percent off select Atmos Rewards Unlocked experiences.
Settling on an earning method before January 1
The decision can wait until the end of the year, since the setting applies to flights departing on or after January 1, 2027, but the earlier it is made the less likely it is to be forgotten. The details live in the member account on Alaska’s site, and the company’s newsroom posts program announcements.
A useful way to decide is to pull the last 12 months of flights: route, miles, fare paid and number of segments. Run each trip through the three rates above and add up the totals. The method with the highest total on past travel is a reasonable guide for next year, unless travel plans are about to change. Anyone with a status goal should run the same exercise for status points.
The company’s September 29 announcement is the source for dates and defaults, and any change to them would show up there first.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
