Alaska Airlines' Atmos mileage program is a new mileage program launched when Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines merged.

Along with the launch of the new mileage program, we also launched/updated our affiliate cards last fall.

• Atmos Ascent card (Atmos™ Rewards Ascent), a generic personal card
• Atmos Summit Card (Atmos™ Rewards Summit), your personal premium card
• And business cards (Atmos™ Rewards Visa Signature® Business)

All three of these cards are popular and are currently on promotion.

In today's post, we've broken down the features and how to redeem the 25,000-point Global Companion Award, arguably the most important feature of the Atmos Summit card, our premium personal card.

Before we get started, a reminder about the Hilton offer, which ends 4/15. 

There's a promotion going on for one extra Amex Hilton Card night.

• The no-annual-fee personal card (Hilton Honors American Express Card) earns 70,000 points + 1 night after spending $2,000 in 6 months.
• Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: $150 annual fee + 130,000 points + 1 FNR after spending $3,000 in 6 months.
• The Business card has the same 6-month spending period, but it's worth noting that the spending threshold is $8,000, which is pretty high.

The basic card with no annual fee has no annual fee, a $2,000 spending threshold, and no foreign spending fee. I'd recommend this card to anyone who's just starting to build a credit history in the US and is looking for a solid first card. 

The Passport Card costs $$150 for the first year, but there are enough benefits to more than offset the annual fee.

• I get a $50 quarterly Hilton credit, so that alone covers the annual fee and is a $50 profit.
• You'll automatically get Hilton Gold status (which is becoming less valuable these days, but still better than nothing), and you'll get
• You can earn another night after spending $15,000 within a calendar year, making it a great card to use beyond spending.

A single hotel room voucher can be worth $500 if redeemed poorly, or $1,000 if redeemed well, so it's not an exaggeration to say that the cashback rate on a $15,000 spend ranges from 3% to 6%.

Therefore, If you're planning a trip to Hilton, we think the Passport Card could be a good option for youin the file.

1. Compare card key features

Before I get into the features of the 25K Companion Miles offer, I think it's important to outline the most basic features and differences between the individual cards, the Ascent and Summit cards.

1) Atmos Ascent Card

Ascent is a $95 annual fee card, which is the Explorer card position for United cards and the Delta Gold card position for Delta cards.

• With the current promotion 120 days (4 months) $80,000 miles for $4,000 spendin the response.
• You will also receive one $99 Companion Fare coupon when you meet your spending. This coupon entitles your companion to one additional ticket for $$99 + tax for a cash ticket for two. You'll also receive one as an annual benefit when you renew your card each year. (Companion Fare coupons have a spending requirement of $6,000 or more in a card membership year.)
• Finally, you'll receive a single 50% discount coupon immediately after your card is approved, but there are so many restrictions that I think it's safe to say it's worthless ;);
• There's also a waived foreign spending fee and a free bag on Alaska/Hawaiian flights, which is pretty standard for an airline partner card with an annual fee.

2) Atmos Summit Card

Ascent is a premium card position with an annual fee of $395.

• With the current promotion 90 days (3 months) $100,000 miles for $6,500 in spendin the response.
• You'll receive a single 50% discount coupon immediately after your card is approved, but it's probably safe to assume that it's the same as Ascent's, with many of the same restrictions.
• Once every four years, you may be eligible for a refund of the $$120 application fee for TSA PreCheck® or Global Entry.

This card is designed for frequent flyers, so there are plenty of perks for flying with Alaska Airlines.

• First, you'll get two Alaska Lounge Passes and two Wi-Fi Passes per quarter, or eight per year.
• You can also get a $50 voucher if your Alaska flight is canceled or delayed by more than 2 hours.
• When you redeem miles for flights on partner airlines like AA, Korean Air, or Japan Airlines, there is a $12.5 fee per ticket, which is waived when you calculate taxes with your Summit card.
• I get 10,000 Alaska Elite status points when I renew my card every year, and I get 1 status point for every $2 spent on the card, which is great if you're aiming for elite status.

There's another benefit for those who travel internationally.

• Right away Earn 3 miles per $1 spent internationallyis the answer. I'd say this is a great deal because you get 3 miles for every dollar spent abroad, regardless of category.

2. What is the 25K Companion Mile Discount Ticket?

Now, for the final and most important benefit of the Summit card: the 25,000-point Global Companion Award.

The 25K Companion Miles discount ticket is , 

• After issuing the card and fulfilling the spending requirements, you will receive one in the form of a coupon code.
• Then, when you renew your card, you automatically get one every year. It's like a retention bonus.
• As the name companion implies, it can be used for two-person bookings, and the
• How to save up to 25,000 miles off one person's ticket when booking for two.
• The 25,000 miles is a one-time use, and you don't get any leftover miles back, which means you have to squeeze the 25,000 as much as possible.
• Tickets can be used not only on Alaska flights, but also on partner airlines such as Korean Air.
• Applicable to Economy as well as Business/First Class.
• Also, the cardmember doesn't need to be on board, just two or more family members or friends.
• The discounted tickets are valid for one year, and as long as they are ticketed within that time, the itinerary is good to go.

To summarize,

• You have the constraint that you can't travel alone, but you can travel for two.
• If you use the full 25,000 miles well, you'll get 25,000 miles each year as a retention bonus, so it's a great way to make up for Summit's expensive annual fee.

3. Guide to the actual booking process

We've explained the basic concepts.

We'll start with how to find a discount code, and then explain how to actually book.

1) First, go to the Alaska Airlines homepage and click on the snowman in the top right corner to log in.

2) Once logged in, click on the snowman again to bring up the menu and click on Discounts / Companion Fare at the bottom.

3) You can see the various discount codes you received on your card. The 25,000 companion discount code says Global Companion Awards Ticket 25K. Click Use to book on the right.

4) You'll then be taken to the main search page, where you'll see your code automatically entered in the Discount code field.

5) Now let's search for a ticket, please select one way, check the Use points button, and search by departure city, arrival city, and 2 passengers. The departure is LA and the arrival is NY.

6) It says there are non-stop seats available for 5/29, which is 27,500 miles per person one way in economy. It says one person would pay the full fare of 27,500 miles, and the companion would pay only 2,500 miles because of the 25,000 mile discount.

7) International routes are of course possible.

When Alaska merges with Hawaiian, they'll be flying Seattle-Incheon nonstop, and if you look at September in the off-season, it's LA-SEA-ICN for 35,000 miles for the first person + 25,000 miles for a companion at a discount of 10,000 miles.

8) I mentioned partner airlines.

I've searched for Incheon-Osaka and it's 7,500 miles each way, so it's 7,500 miles for the first person + no mileage deduction for a companion. In this case, I would be using a coupon valid for 25,000 miles for 7,500 miles, which is a big waste ;;

9) Can I fly first class? Of course you can. Alaska is now a oneworld member, so I can fly AA on domestic US flights.

I search Austin, TX to New York and see a nonstop first class one-way for 25,000 miles? This is perfect. 25,000 miles for the first person + 0 miles for a companion. I see a segment that would cost 50,000 miles total solved for 25,000 miles.

10) Now, let's talk about one important point here.

If we just ticketed an itinerary from Austin to New York, we would add a Partner award booking fee of $12.50 per person because AA is a partner airline. See that $12.50 in the image below?

This partner airline ticketing fee is a non-refundable amount that you can't get back once it's charged.

These days, whether it's AA, UA, or Delta, mileage tickets are free to cancel, right? Alaska is no different, allowing you to cancel the ticket itself with no fees.

Except for the exact amount, which is non-refundable.

11) Here's a benefit that's only available to Summit members. It's that ticketing fees for these partner airlines are waived.

It doesn't happen automatically, but if you enter your Summit card information where you enter your card information to pay taxes + fees, you'll see that amount deducted as shown in the image below.

It's important to remember that you'll need to enter your actual card number, not the one automatically linked to your Miles membership information.

4. perk for bosses: 100K companion discount voucher 

There's one final benefit of the Summit card that we'll talk about.

For the Summit Card, you'll earn an additional 100,000-point Global Companion Award when you spend $60,000 in a calendar year based on your card membership year.

I'm told it works exactly the same as the 25K companion discount.

This means that if you're ticketing miles for two or more people, you'll get 100,000 miles off for the first companion instead of 25,000 miles.

For example, a one-way business from LAX to Incheon in September might be decided in the 150,000 miles per person range.

If you want to ticket 2 people on a saver, it's 15 * 2 = 300,000 miles, which is a lot of money, but if you get a 100,000 mile discount, it's 200,000 for 2 people = 100,000 for 1 person, which is a lot less expensive.

Of course,

• You'll have to think about whether it makes sense to spend $60,000 a year on Alaska Airlines or whether it's better to get a bunch of new cards.
• My companion discount ticket is valid for 1 year after issuance, can I plan my trip within 1 year?

and so on, and so forth.

5. Ascent vs. Summit? 

Which card should I pick between Summit and Ascent?

In my personal opinion, the availability of the 25K companion discount is a key variable. 

The Ascent and Summit cards are only $300 apart in annual fees.

If you can make good use of the 25K companion discount, I'd go with the Summit card, which has a better sign-up bonus.

If you can't guarantee you'll use the 25K companion discount in a year, I think the Ascent card is the way to go.

Let's wrap up today's post.

Alaska Airlines is a long-standing and popular program with a wide range of partner airlines across airline alliances.

It's also true that Korean Air seats are harder to see these days, and Japan Airlines seats are harder to see, so the mileage bang for your buck isn't as good as it used to be.

Luckily, there's a direct Seattle-Incheon route, and AA flights also have domestic US economy/first class ticketing, so I'm sure you'll be able to make good use of it.

There are a lot of good offers out there these days, so it's a good idea to think about it.

Great card offers in April: Alaska Atmos 100K, United up to 110K, and more.