Alaska Airlines has quietly updated its award chart for flights within North America operated by Alaska or Hawaiian, adding a new and higher minimum mileage threshold for longer distance itineraries.
Alaska Airlines Updates North American Award Chart, Adds New Distance Tier
On October 1, 2025, Alaska and Hawaiian merged into a single loyalty program, with HawaiianMiles folding into Alaska Airlines’ Atmos Rewards loyalty program. In rolling out the new combined program, Alaska Airlines has updated minimum pricing on North American awards, adding a new band for one-way flight itineraries of 3,501 miles or more:
For reference, this was the prior chart:
Note that Alaska used to have a separate category for Hawaii, but now all is folded together with a new tier for awards over 3,501 miles.
These “from” prices are just a starting point, not an upper limit or guarantee that a single flight will be available at that price:
Redemption levels are subject to limited availability and may not be offered on all flights or dates. Availability varies by route, travel period, and booking window.
But with awards to/from Hawaii that are greater than 3,501 miles now starting at 60,000 miles in business, that represents a 33% price hike (long-distance economy class awards also went up from starting at 15,000 miles to starting at 20,000 miles one-way). Business class awards to the contiguous USA, Canada, or Alaska that are over 3,500 miles rise from a base of 30,000 to 60,000 in business class, doubling the price.
Is Notice So Hard, Alaska Airlines?
While this news objectively represents a devaluation, since many awards now start at a baseline price that is much higher, Alaska and Hawaiian flights are priced dynamically so it was virtually impossible to find space at that “saver” level anyway.
Even so, would it have killed Alaska to offer a bit of notice before adjusting these rates, especially for its members based in Alaska or Hawaii? Overnight, their miles are suddenly worth much less for the same itineraries, which is the cardinal sin of any loyalty program. It’s rarely about the devaluation itself; it’s about providing notice as a sign of respect to your members.
Sadly, Alaska once again missed the mark.
CONCLUSION
Alaska Airlines has updated its award chart for North America, with higher starting prices for long-distance itineraries operated by Alaska and Hawaiian. While the adjustments themselves are both understandable and reasonable, it is a shame that Alaska felt it did not need to provide advance warning to it loyalty program members.
image: Alaska Airlines // hat tip: Loyalty Lobby
…and it begins.
Time to cash out your Atmos points folks, as this will be the beginning of the downward spiral.
To better prepare for damage settlements from the “mushroom-head” pilot , they ought to triple their award requirement increases , and double the fares . Any pax on the plane when the “mushroom-head” turned off the fuel , deserves a hefty settlement for “after-the-fact” distress , whether the pax knew about it or not .
Also , the “computer-head” customers from SEA might be “gaming” the awards , ya think ?
Too many “mushroom-Head” and “computer-head” fools , and too few “level-heads” .
Good, cheap mileage options to fly Alaska by booking on AA at times. Granted flexibility is the key but I’m getting coast to coast trips for 7500 miles flying through SEA. Adds an extra stop at times but when you have the time it’s hard to beat.
I think there’s still good value to be had from Atmos. But it’s no great surprise that they were going to devalue after they made a new program and flooded the market with Atmos credit cards with big SUBs. Likewise there is still good value to be had from AA but certainly many more expensive redemption opportunities post-ThankYou point transferability. Both programs still much better than Delta and United in my opinion.
But always a bit of a bait and switch feeling on these types of things. Notice periods should be a minimum requirement. South Korean regulators protected their citizens. I suppose many in America prefer regulation by way of the wild west.
Death by a thousand cuts for the former Hawaiian Pualani Elites
Go easy on them. It’s not like they solemnly swore to not devalue the program as a condition of the merger. Oh wait…
This is Exhibit A why I’ve never really trusted Alaska/Atmos, and hesitate to spring for the card even with the blogger hype and some decent perks. This is at least the third time I can recall that AS has sprung a significant no-notice devaluation on its members. It’s really quite remarkable to me that so many people still give Atmos a pass even with this history of bad behavior in that regard.
Hey Matthew – didn’t you get the memo that was sent to the other bloggers? Atmos is the BEST program EVER! The credit cards are AMAZING! SIGN UP NOW!!!!
LMAO
@ Matthew — I booked a 600-mile one-way first class award on AA metal for 9,000 AS miles today, so at least those haven’t changed. Alaska awards have been over-priced for a long time already. Furthermore, the new OneWorld award chart published last year was a amassive devaluation that bloggers somehow thought was a good change. It baffles me how no one has called out Alaska for the never-ending cuts.