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Atmos Rewards is the newly combined rewards program of Alaska and Hawaiian. Through the evolution from Alaska Mileage Plan to Atmos Rewards, the best uses of Atmos Rewards points today are more practical than aspirational.
To address the elephant in the room, my humble opinion is that this “devaluation” is not actually worse. In the “good old days”, you could book Cathay Pacific First Class for 70,000 miles and Japan Airlines First Class for 80,000 miles, but there was practically no award availability, rendering this sweet spot fairly useless.
Atmos Rewards are hard to earn in Canada ever since the MBNA Alaska co-branded cards ended their run. However, there are two distinctive cases that are so compelling that the points are worth buying (currently selling for 1.88 CPP): short-haul sweet spots like Porter Reserve or partner airlines like Starlux that are only bookable on points through Atmos.
The Logistics of Atmos Rewards
Atmos Rewards is both a zone-based and distance-based program. To calculate the number of points needed, you first look at the zone you’re travelling to/from and then calculate the total cumulative distance of your trip. But I cover all the best sweet spots in this article anyway. 🙂
At this time, Atmos Rewards can’t make redemptions across multiple partners; redemptions are limited to a single partner or to a partner + Alaska Airlines metal.
Atmos Rewards does allow free stopovers, which you can book directly online with the multi-city tool, so you can book something like San Francisco – Taipei (stop) – Manila on a single ticket.
The final important thing to remember is that while changes and cancellations are free, there is a non-refundable $12.50 USD partner fee per ticket.
As always, you can top off your Atmos Rewards balance with Marriott Bonvoy points at a transfer ratio of 3:1 with a bonus 5,000 Atmos points for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.
Short-Haul Redemptions within North America
Remember how I said Atmos Rewards is more of a practical program than before? The proof is in the pudding: for flights in North America under 700 miles in distance, Atmos Rewards charges just 4,500 points in economy class. At the current 100% bonus sale of 1.88CPP, all short-haul flights come out to $84.60 USD.
New York to Ottawa on Porter Airlines? 4,500 points.
Toronto to Philadelphia on AA? 4,500 points.
Up to 1,400 miles in distance, it costs just 7,500 points still.
Fly from Toronto to Miami on AA for 7,500 Atmos points
A great sweet spot is redeeming for Porter Reserve, which is priced as a premium economy product and you can fly from Ontario to Florida for just 2,500 points more than economy. At the current sale price of 1.88 CPP, this Porter Reserve flight costs $188 USD.
Fly from Toronto to Orlando 10,000 points on Porter Reserve
For Canadians travelling domestically and transborder, redeeming on Porter Airlines is my favourite sweet spot. Comparatively, Aeroplan will charge ~$100 in fees for transborder flights and $40 more if you’re flying United Airlines (partner fee).
Short-Haul Redemptions Within Asia, Oceania
Due to the excellent award prices on short-haul redemptions overall, Atmos Rewards has become my go-to award program for flying in both economy and business class within Asia and Oceania. The award chart differs from North America, so it costs 7,500 points in economy or 15,000 points in business class, one-way, for flights up to 1,500 miles.
Both are fantastic price points, and I’ve personally redeemed multiple awards on each, usually on Starlux, for which Atmos Rewards is the only way to redeem points to fly.
Fly Starlux business class from Taipei to Tokyo for 15,000 points
Starlux also serves bubble tea on routes departing from Taipei!
Just last week, I was looking at booking a flight from Tashkent, Uzbekistan to Doha (to connect to Doha-Montreal on Qatar Qsuites) and after debating between 19,500 Avios or17,500 AAdvantage, I realized it was only 7,500 Atmos points since it’s under 1,500 miles in distance.
CPP is not the be-all, end-all, but this flight is selling for a whopping $593 USD.
Or pay $593 USD
Alternatively, buy 7,500 Atmos points for $141 USD. Taking into account the $44 fee, this would result in a respectable savings of $408 USD.
Fly from Tashkent to Doha for 7,500 points
You might know you can redeem Avios on flights within Australia, but remember Avios is charged on a per-segment basis. Atmos Rewards, on the other hand, is priced based on cumulative distance and comes out ahead nearly every time a connection is required.
Melbourne – Perth – Exmouth is a ridiculously low 7,500 Atmos points.
Those familiar with flying to remote parts of Australia would not be surprised to hear that the above flight is selling for $544 USD. If you bought Atmos points today and factored in the $87 taxes/fees, your savings would be $316 USD.
Long-Haul Business Class Partners Only Available to Atmos
You can redeem Atmos points on most Oneworld airlines, but the most exciting propositions are partner airlines, where the only way to book with points is through Atmos Rewards. Here are the long-haul business-class products I’m saving my Atmos for.
Starlux
Fly Starlux between the West Coast and Taipei for 75,000 points or connect on Alaska Airlines all the way to Toronto for 85,000 points (Toronto bumps this redemption into the next distance band).
Fly Starlux between West Coast and Toronto for 75,000 points
Fly to Toronto for just 85,000 points
I won’t calculate the savings by buying points, since most of us aren’t paying cash for long-haul business class flights. Instead, consider that 75,000 Atmos points would cost $1,410 USD. While not a steal, it’s quite a reasonable price, and Atmos Rewards is the only currency you can redeem for Starlux.
Fiji Airways
Fly Fiji Airways from the West Coast to Nadi for 75,000 points or all the way to Australia for the same price.
Fly LAX to Fiji for 75,000 points
Again, this costs $1,410 USD if purchased with Atmos points today, and if you want to redeem points on Fiji Airways, you must do so through Atmos Rewards.
Condor
There’s a funny quirk where flying to Frankfurt costs 55,000 points, but connecting onwards in Europe brings the price down to 45,000 points. Condor also flies to multiple Canadian cities, including Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto.
Fly Toronto to Prague for 45,000 points
45,000 points cost $846 USD at 1.88 CPP, and, as usual, Atmos is the exclusive partner for points redemption. However, note that Condor sometimes has phantom award space.
Takeaway
There are two optimal ways to redeem Atmos Rewards: short-haul awards within North America, Asia, and Oceania, and long-haul awards on Atmos-exclusive partners Starlux, Fiji Airways, and Condor. Atmos Rewards is difficult for Canadians to access, but unique sweet spots like Porter Airlines and Condor make it a program worth dipping your toes into.
For these cases, the redemptions are so good that buying Atmos points (with the current 100% bonus) is a fantastic deal.
There are other awards that are a good use of points, but given how difficult Atmos are to earn, you should stick to the very sweet spots or airlines that you can’t use any other points currencies for.
