Alaska Airlines and Bank of America have been teasing a new premium credit card for a year. Back in December they handed out miles for customers to join an ‘early access’ list, and I shared exclusively some of the details of the product.

With the launch of Atmos Rewards, the new combined program for Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, we finally have deails on the new $395 annual fee Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite card.

I spoke with Brett Catlin, Alaska’s Vice President of Loyalty, Alliances and Sales, about the new product.

• Initial bonus offer: The card launches with a imited time offer of 100,000 bonus
  points after $6,000 spend within 90 days of account opening.

  Plus, if you joined the ‘early access list’ last December like I told you to (for the 500 free miles, if nothing else) you earn another 5,000 miles when you’re approved for the card, on top of this initial bonus offer.

  

• Points-earning: 3x on Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, dining and foreign purchases – plus, Bank of American Preferred Rewards customers earn a 10% bonus on their earning (so 3.3 points per dollar on foreign and dining spend, for instance).

  

• Elite status: Alaska hasn’t allowed unlimited credit from credit card spend to count towards elite status – until now, with this card.

  Cardmembers earn 1 status point for every $2 spent in purchases on the card. That means $80,000 spend alone with no other activity is enough for mid-tier Gold status (oneworld sapphire). $200,000 spend earns Titanium, the former MVP Gold 100K – the same amount of spend American Airlines requires for Executive Platinum, and a much favorable rate than Delta or United.

  Plus, cardmembers receive 10,000 bonus status points every year starting with their first card anniversary.

  

• Upgrade Priority: Complimentary upgrades now have this card as a tie-breaker for upgrades:
  • Status level
    
  • Million Miler status
    
  • Atmos Rewards Summit cardmembers
    
  • Corporate travelers
    
  • Status points earned in current and previous year
    
  • Time of booking

• Companion Award Tickets: The card offers Global Companion Awards valid for a credit towards the second passenger on an award itinerary on Alaska Airlines or any of its partners, in any class of service.

  You earn the first one worth 25,000 points when you meet qualifying spend for the card’s initial bonus, and then again each year at card renewal.

  And you earn a second one worth 100,000 points after spending $60,000 or more in a card anniversary year.

  For a 120,000 mile business class roundtrip, you could redeem one award at 120,000 miles and the 100,000 companion award plus 20,000 miles for the second. (Taxes and fees on the award have to be paid with this card.)

  You cannot combine or ‘stack’ the 25,000 and 100,000 point companion awards, but there’s no limit to how many points you can add to top off towards an award ticket for the second passenger.

  

• Lounge access: The card offers 8 annual Alaska Lounge passes, each valid for a travel day (access multiple lounges across different cities on the same day). Each pass allows entry for up to two accompanying children as well. Cardmembers with an Alaska Lounge membership can share the passes with family and friends.

  And through 2026, the card provides premium bar items complimentary in Alaska lounges (“elevated wines, signature cocktails and exclusive curations”) when you show your card.

  

  It’s notable that they introduced their premium card without full lounge membership, but Brett Catlin points out that complimentary lounge membership is a choice benefit at 100,000 status points, and full membership would have meant a higher card annual fee.

  I’d add that if your primary interest in a premium rewards card is unlimited access to Alaska lounges, that already exists: the Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Card, since it offers American’s lounge membership and that membership confers access to Alaska lounges when flying within the alliance. That card has a $595 annual fee, versus $395 for this one.

  

• Points pooling: Hawaiian Airlines cardmembers have long been able to transfer points to and from any HawaiianMiles member for no fee. This new card introduces the benefit to Alaska Mileage Plan members – those with the card can create a sharing network with up to 10 other members to transfer points back and forth for free.

  Brett Catlin told me last year that they liked the benefit, and could see it linked to a credit card in the future. That reduces the chances for fraud, as well (cobrand cardholders are less likely to use the feature to sell points, for instance).

  

• Transfer points to hotel programs: Cardmembers gain the ability to transfer points to hotel partners. This is promoted as “many at a 1:1 exchange rate.” Bear in mind that many hotel currencies are on an inflated scale.

  They launch with 5 hotel partners. Catlin shared that this would be some permanent partners, and other rotating, with launch partners as:
  

  • Marriott
    
  • IHG
    
  • Wyndham
    
  • Preferred Hotels
    
  • Shangri-La

  

  That’s not something you’re going to want to do from a value perspective. A single Alaska mile is worth multiples of an IHG or Marriott point! But as Catlin explained, their members also want to earn hotel points and so offering the ability to transfer their airline points into hotel programs opens up a path to earning 100% of wallet share from those customers – who may not see the need to spend on a separate hotel credit card.

• Additional benefits:
  • Waived partner award booking fees (normally $25 per passenger)
    
  • Instant travel delay credit – cardmembers automatically receive a $50 voucher valid for 48 hours upon an Alaska Airlines flight delay of more than two hours or flight cancellation within 24 hours of scheduled departure.
    
  • Free checked bag and preferred boarding for the cardmember and up to six additional passengers on the same reservation
    
  • Waived same-day confirmed flight change fee

For Alaska Airlines customers who redeem points with a companion once a year, the annual companion award covers the cost of the annual fee completely. And this card is an Alaska Airlines tool – fee waivers, travel delay credits, points flexibility (family pooling, hotel transfers) and credit towards elite status.

3x on foreign transactions is huge. Every U.S. expat living abroad is going to want this card. Indeed, anyone living abroad who can access a U.S. credit card should make this their primary credit card for spend.

I’ve been wanting to see this for years, and telling card execs that this would be valuable, but the economics are hard. Some cobrand agreements, for instance, require the program to subsidize points on foreign spend (charge the bank less, since the bank isn’t passing on foreign transactoin fees).

I view the lounge passes and premium bar as extras, almost a throw-in. Many of the target customers for this card will already be lounge members and the card doesn’t displace an unlimited access membership. For those that aren’t members, it may be a way to get them hooked or at least keep them in the Alaska ecosystem.

The Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite card‘s price point is lower than those that offer lounge membership. In fact, the annual fee more aligned with a mid-tier card (United’s Quest card is now up to $350!) than with a lounge membership card (United is $695, Delta $650). But it’s feature-rich.

And notice something else – a premium card that’s worth the fee without resorting to a single merchant-funded offer. It’s not a coupon book! Just a lot of value, like up to 125,000 miles in savings per year, a truly unique 3% accelerator category, and benefits that ride on the rails of the underlying loyalty program.

I really like what they’ve done here, but would note that there’s still room to bundle lounge and other offerings with a super-premium card in the future and as they grow their cardmember base.