Alaska Airlines rolled out its revamped Atmos Rewards program some time ago, as result of its acquisition of Hawaiian airlines, and the continued integration of the two airlines. There’s a lot to like about Atmos Rewards, but unfortunately there is some bad news that makes the program a little less attractive.

Alaska Airlines cuts points earning on basic ‘Saver’ fares to zero

Alaska Airlines recently updated its miles earning chart, and while the chart itself has not changed itself, an unfortunate note was added just below it:

As you can see, it reads:

Important earning update: Saver fares (X class) earn 30% of miles flown for travel through July 31, 2026, or for trips booked before June 11, 2026. Saver fares booked on or after June 11, 2026 and flown on/after August 1, 2026 do not earn Atmos Rewards points. For eligible travel on/after August 1, please allow 4–6 weeks for points to post.

The Saver fare is Alaska’s ‘basic economy’ fare class, and as you can see it will go from earning 30% of the mileage earned to zero, for flights booked as of June 11 and flown on or after August 1st 2026. With that, Alaska is really just following what most other US airlines are doing, so it’s not too surprising, even if it is unfortunate.

As such, you won’t earn any Atmos points or status points from Saver award going forward, requiring you to ‘buy up’ to Main Cabin fares, which do earn 100% of the distance in both Atmos points and status points.

Partner booking fees on award flights increase by 60%

Another negative change concerns the partner booking fees that need to be paid whenever you book an award flight using Atmos Rewards miles for a flight that is operated by a partner (e.g. American Airlines). Currently that fee is $12.50 per flight, per segment, and it is non-refundable. As of July 1st, that fee will increase to $20. So if you were to book a return flight, you’d now spend $40 in partner booking fees rather than $25.

This makes the Alaska Atmos Rewards Summit card more lucrative

I recently wrote about being approved for the Atmos Rewards Summit card. One of the perks of this card is that the partner booking fee is waived. For those that often book partner award flights through Atmos, this fee waiver by itself can represent a significant amount of money saved, and now that the booking fee is going up, that is even more true.

For example, if you were to use the card’s 25.000 point global companion pass to book round trip flights for yourself and a companion on e.g. American Airlines, the partner award booking fees would increase from $50 to $80, which is quite significant. Of course that doesn’t mean that you should necessarily run and get this credit card just for this reason – have a look at my analysis for the value proposition of this card and my strategy. But I am saying that this changes the math in favor of keeping the card for more than just a year or two.

To get the waiver, keep in mind that you need to use the Summit card to pay the taxes and fees on your award booking.

Summary

Alaska Airlines is introducing two negative changes, the first being the cutting of any points earned (Atmos Rewards points and status points) on Saver fares, and the second being the increase of its partner booking fees for Atmos Rewards award flights operated by partner airlines. While the first will no doubt affect many people, the second is at least buffered by having the Atmos Rewards Summit car, as it comes with a waiver of the partner booking fee.