I can’t help but feel that when Alaska Airlines replaces Mileage Plan with “Atmos Rewards” when it combines loyalty programs with Hawaiian Miles, the result for consumers will not be positive. But it’s not too late to ensure that Alaska Airlines remains an outlier in the world of frequent flyer programs.
Alaska Airlines Plans To Replace Mileage Plan With “Atmos Rewards”
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, the long-standing loyalty program of Alaska Airlines, will merge with Hawaiian Miles, the longstanding loyalty program of Hawaiian Airlines, on October 1, 2025. View From The Wing reports that the name of the new program will be Atmos Rewards.
We’ll get into the program specifics in a moment, but first, the name. All I can think of is whether venerable aviation consultant Henry Harteveldt had anything to do with this…his own company is called Atmosphere Research Group. And while that company name works well for him, I do wonder why Alaska Airlines would choose such a generic name for its combined loyalty program.
I look back on loyalty program name changes and see two glaring mistakes over the last decade: Marriott and Hyatt. After its merger with Starwood, Marriott took Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) and created Marriott Bonvoy, a name that has become the butt of many jokes (to be “bonvoyed” means you had a negative or problematic experience with the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program or a Marriott hotel). We may have become accustomed to the Bonvoy name, but it still strikes me as a foolish brand progression.
The same is true with World of Hyatt. Gold Passport was such a recognizable and cherished brand. Why muck it up by changing to World of Hyatt, with all those odd tiers like Explorist, Discoverist, and Globalist? I still dislike it.
Mileage Plan is not only widely recognized, but it is also widely beloved. Alaska Airlines should really think twice before changing it.
Alaska Airlines Must Continue to Distinguish Its Loyalty Program From Others
But ultimately, the name is tertiary to the program itself. Until now, Alaska has offered a unique and compelling loyalty program. It has excellent redemption partners and competitive pricing and in what has become almost archaic, still awards miles based on miles flown…what a concept!
This should not be altered.
I don’t have a problem with a revenue alternative…rewarding high spenders is not bad business (although rewarding business travelers who spend other people’s money does not strike me as nearly as valuable). But the fundamental value of rewarding people who go out of their way to fly great distances on Alaska Airlines is a appealing to those customers on the margin…exactly the sort of discretionary flyers Alaska is smart to court.
Offering published redemption charts, partnerships beyond the oneworld alliance like Singapore Airlines, Condor, and Icelandair, and continuing to improve technology on the website and app and will ensure that this “boutique” loyalty program will be a customer-favorite.
Finally, I’d love to see Alaska Airlines team up with its bank partner, Bank of America, to offer a more compelling card product (I also think it’s a great chance for B of A to introduce a Chase Sapphire-type card that allows transfers into the new Alaska Atmos Rewards program).
CONCLUSION
Alaska Airlines is preparing to unveil its rebranded loyalty program called “Atmos Rewards.” I’m against the name change, but the name of the program is far less important than the substance of the program.
Competitive flight redemption options with published award charts and earning miles based on how far you fly will continue to ensure that Alaska offers a meaningful alternative in a crowded space of loyalty programs.
image: Alaska Airlines
Your dislike of the Hyatt program change seems to be just about the name/branding? (The explanation was much more detailed for your dislike of the Marriott changes.) Perhaps I came into the points/miles hobby and started paying attention to loyalty perks too late because I never experienced Gold Passport and have really enjoyed the benefits of intentionally choosing to stay at Hyatt properties, direct business lodging and event needs to Hyatt, and carrying the Hyatt credit card. Though I did find the removal of dual accrual with AAdvantage a disappointment.
The name change is part of an overall plan. Alaska Airlines (and Hawaiian) will eventually unveil a combined new brand. This is the lead in to the rebranding. That’s my bet.
They can’t build a global brand based on regional names. Alaska’s new livery for the 787 is also a preview. Honoring its legacy but starting the removal of Alaska from its name. Why? Patrizia in Roma is not going to book a flight on an airline called Alaska. Especially with Bob Marley on the tail.
It’s a delicate balance and we are seeing how they are managing defending the hometown aspect with introducing a new airline to the world.
@ Antwerp — Of course an airline can build a global brand using a regional identity. Would you not consider Air France, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Turkish Airways, etc, to be global brands?
But those are named after countries…
Thank you, someone finally gets it.
People are quick to point out “what about Air France, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Turkish Airways etc.?” in building a global brand with a regional identity, so why is “Alaska” any different?……except the aforementioned airlines carry regional names of countries that have territories, colonies, etc. spread beyond their physical location and have existed as “global” brands for many, many years. Alaska only became a state in 1959, and their still is a common perception that Alaska is isolated, and oh by the way still considered the “last frontier” because of the large amounts of land that are unexplored or uninhabited. The France, Singapore, the UK, and Turkey? Not so much.
Look I’m all for preserving airline legacies, but America West, Ozark, AirCal, PSA, Texas Int, Air Florida, New York Air, etc all had names that would have limited their brand recognition if they survived to today.
Even for the majority of people living in the Midwest USA; you say Alaska (or I’m sure most people here would refer to it as Alaskan anyways), if they live in OMA, MCI, STL, BNA, etc…..they probably have no clue AS can fly them all over the west coast or even to Hawaii…..they are going to think “Alaskan” will fly them nonstop to OMA and no realize they can fly OMASEA onwards to GEG, BOI, LAS, etc.
Right?! Imagine someone flying Southwest from Chicago to Baltimore. Never going to happen!
From the FAQs in https://www.alaskaair.com/content/about-us/alaska-hawaiian/loyalty: They are continuing to award miles based on distance. (Though whether or not it’s still at 100% miles flown for all econ fares remains to be seen. A bit suspicious to me that they didn’t make that claim here.)
Re: credit card, Alaska is working on a premium credit card soon. See https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/how-to-earn-miles/financial-partners/premium-card.
I suspect we will end up seeing some changes on elite qualification requirements. Having a long haul network now means it’s a lot easier to get oneworld status with not that much flying.
Isn’t Alaska like 1000 times larger by land mass than puny Singapore?
It might come as an absolute shock to someone who has never been to Europe but Europeans are very aware of Alaska and make up an increasing percentage of the visitor market and the majority of the winter visitor market. Alaska has a much broader recognition than Missouri or Indiana does. Unfortunately Americans being the dumb people they are seem to be less aware of Alaska than your average German or French person. I think Alaska Airlines, like Iceland Air will capitalize on the allure of the name and the perception of what Alaska is. When I travel and tell someone I’m from Alaska I rarely get a blank stare, one could probably not say the same for, “I’m from Nebraska”, no offense Nebraska.
Yep the name is stupid. However, to be perfectly honest while I ofc hope they keep mileage & status earning tied to distance travelled, it makes less sense than it used to. Until the merger Alaska’s longest flights were 3.5k miles ANC-JFK or like 2.7k SFO-Boston, with max fares a lot less than intercontinental Biz. Now they’ll have longhaul flights & expensive J fares on them
Alaska Airlines benefits are what keep it alive.
The Atmos name is simply weird. However, if it keeps being better than Delta Skymiles, the airline will survive in Seattle. If it becomes Atmost Pesos, then Delta would be a better airlines. Actually Delta Skymiles is crappy. I just booked a winter transatlantic flight and DL wanted significantly more miles than AS, AA, or UA for a similar flight. So At most, Atmos has some room to work with in the fight to last place.
Hawaii will be an attractive destination for decades to come so why not make it aspiration and honor Hawaiian Airlines? Call the new program HawaiianMiles!
@ Matthew — I think it is safe to say that earnings based on distance flown will be eliminated sooner than later. And, yes, it will cost Alaska lots of customers, especially in the Eastern US. We’ve held MVP, MVPG, MVPG 75k, and MVPG 100k at various times over the past decade. We would never have attempted to attain/maintain that status under a traditional program, and we will almost certainly walk away from Alaska’s program if they eliminate status earned on distance flown.
No. Not only will it not change soon, they are required by DOJ to keep distance based through 2031 as a condition of merger approval.
Atmos literally means ‘steam’, are they turning to railways too?
Well said. I think the name is awful but my primary concern is that the program keeping what people love. Alaska has done a wonderful job, particularly since Delta decided to demand control over Alaska or would destroy them by running a competing hub in Seattle. Unfortunately for Alaska, they’re not in a position to turn MileagePlan into the worse programs that the competition offer. Hopefully they’ll recognize that very basic fact and keep the basics intact, along with offering multi-partner awards that they’ve been promising for so very long.
Personally, I’ve never gotten all the hype with Mileage Plan. Sure, the mileage-based accrual system is nice, but as for those “reasonably priced” awards, when was the last time anyone was actually able to find availability? They’re just as bad in that regard as everyone else.
In my experience there’s one really good award through Alaska and that’s Condor flights to or from FRA for 55K in business.
I often see some really interesting deals on it (e.g. on AA for USA-Carribean redemptions at a much lower rate than AA’s own programme, or for routes within Europe during peak season) when searching pointsyeah. I invariably have to filter out most of what’s being shown as I don’t have any meaningful points balances on the thirdworld alliance.
*Caribbean, not Carry Bean or whatever
I’ve used reasonably priced reward tickets this year on Alaska Air. I’ve had one way segments where the mileage cost is so low it’s hard not to redeem miles–think Alaska to east coast for 12,500 miles–yes, those redemptions still exist! Infrequent, but they exist. And at least for now one accrues EQM for travel on award tickets on Alaska Air (that didn’t used to be the case). Hopefully that won’t change.
Concerning name changes–
1. Atmos is a silly name for an airline loyalty program. Worse, though, it’s already in use by more than one entity, including Dolby Labs and the Jaeger-LeCoultre watch company (for a line of clocks). Why change to a name that could lead to a trademark infringement lawsuit?
2. The discussion about regional airline names omitted Delta, one of the most regional names of all time. Alaska has a marketing job any time it adds new destinations but so did Delta, United, etc. The names haven’t hindered other airlines. AS will make it or not based on perceived value and service, not other factors. And AS has a solid track record expanding nationwide and to international destinations–they haven’t really been a regional airline for decades, always using the Alaska name. I don’t see them changing that.
At least Delta also happens to be a Greek letter (often used to signify change in science fields). But for a whole host of reasons, the association with “the delta” is, frankly, tangential to most people.
There are specifics when it comes to TM’s, and many can trademark the same name under different classifications. But of course that doesn’t nullify potential lawsuits. Looks like Alaska has a pending TM application: https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98761824&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch
Mileage Plan is the most unimaginative name ever. Anything else is an improvement, even Atmos.
Alaska will continue to devalue their loyalty plan until they are as useless as Delta or United. I’ll be 100k this year and 800k lifetime it’s getting hard to stay loyal to Alaska
“Bonvoy”, in addition to sounding like something you’d expect out of a Rodney Dangerfield routine (maybe it’s the implicit New York accent, maybe it’s the “I don’t get no respect” sense of things), became the butt of jokes because of the rest of the mishandling over at Marriott (which around that time essentially decided that brand standards were optional – witness the various breakfast antics and abuses of “destination fees” – and that they’d rather have a bunch of franchisees playing stupid games in the name of footprint).
But the problem with Bonvoy wasn’t the name – the problem was everything else around it.
I’m going to guess that with the name Atmos, they won’t be using Avios. “Atmos Avios” would sound weird.
That being said, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if Atmos could be converted to Avios.
I kept getting a fluke popup in my Alaska App back in June that Mileage Plan was going to change. Did anyone else get this? https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lMsk-XmKyrNN9PpKJ2eROjIDgFP_X4FC/view?usp=drive_link
It would pop up and quickly disappear, but would happen every time I opened my app for about a week. Anyway, excited to see what the changes are, I always hope that they’re for the better, but must not forget the mighty dollar always wins.