Alaska and Hawaiian's combined loyalty program, Atmos Rewards, only launched in August 2025, but it's already fixing its biggest flaw. When the program debuted, one thing stood out as weak: the rates for earning points on flights taken with partner airlines. Booking an international business class ticket directly with a partner airline earned just 125% of miles flown as points, while first class managed only 150%. For a program whose partner earning was historically one of its best features, that was a noticeable step backwards — and a real obstacle for frequent oneworld flyers deciding where to send their flights.
From 1 January 2027, that changes. First and business class tickets on partner airlines, booked directly with the operating carrier, will earn significantly more: domestic premium cabins go from 125% to 150%, while international business and international first both jump to 250%. That's effectively a doubling for anyone flying long-haul business, and it applies to both redeemable points and status points. The rates are also calculated before elite bonus points, which sit on top.
Now the catch — and it's a significant one. These improved rates only apply if you've opted into earning based on how much you paid for your ticket. Atmos Rewards lets members choose how they accrue: fare paid, distance flown, or segments flown. Under the distance option, every flight earns a flat one point per mile with no premium cabin bonus; under segments, each leg counts the same whether it's a hop or a long-haul. So if you're a mileage runner or someone who values earning by distance on cheap long-haul economy tickets, the shiny new premium rates simply won't reach you.
There's a second, quieter wrinkle: American Airlines is excluded. Under the fare-paid earning option, American flights already credit based on money spent rather than miles flown, so they don't get the boosted percentages at all. If your premium cabin flying happens on American, nothing changes for you.
Why does this matter to travellers? If you're deciding whether to shift your international premium cabin flying from another oneworld program to Atmos Rewards, the maths just got a lot more attractive — 250% earning on a business class fare is genuinely competitive. But you'll need to set your earning preference to fare paid, and understand you're giving up flat per-mile earning on everything else. It's a choice between predictability and premiums, and frequent flyers will want to pick deliberately before the 2027 switch-on. Ironically, the program still awards 100% status points on award tickets across all cabins, which in some cases earns more status than paying cash on a partner flight — a quirk worth remembering when planning redemptions.
The bottom line: a real upgrade for premium cabin flyers on partner airlines, provided you opt into fare-based earning and your flights aren't on American.
Story first reported by One Mile at a Time.
