Starting January 1, 2027, Atmos Rewards pays you for flights in one of three ways: 1 point per mile flown, 5 points per dollar of fare, or 500 points per segment. You pick one, it covers both redeemable points and status points, and you get one change per calendar year. For most members the decision comes down to one number: whether you pay more or less than 20 cents per mile flown. Below, we call members by their pick: distance flyers, price paid flyers and segment flyers.

We covered the announcement in our first look at the earn choice. To run your own flights, use our Atmos Rewards Earn Calculator. Alaska has since published the full rules for Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and partner flights. They cover award status points, a partner chart paying up to 250% of distance, and the end of the 500-point minimum.

The short version

  • Price paid flyers out-earn distance flyers when the fare, before taxes, tops 20 cents per mile flown. A 3,440-mile round trip breaks even at $688.
  • Award tickets earn status points only. Distance flyers get 1 status point for every mile flown. Price paid flyers get 1 status point for every 20 points the ticket cost. On a 3,440-mile round trip, a 30,000-point award earns distance flyers 3,440 status points and price paid flyers 1,500 status points (30,000 ÷ 20).
  • Segment flyers get 500 points per flight. That beats price paid flyers only on fares under $100 per segment.
  • Price paid flyers who buy an international business class ticket directly from a partner airline earn 250% of distance in points and status points.
  • Current members who make no choice stay distance flyers. Members who join on or after January 1, 2027 start as price paid flyers.

The three options side by side

Alaska’s choose how you earn page lays out the three methods. The same rate applies to redeemable points and status points on paid tickets.

Distance traveled Price paid Segments flown
Paid Alaska, Hawaiian and American tickets 1 point per mile 5 points per $1 500 points per segment
Partner flights booked on Alaska 1 point per mile 5 points per $1 500 points per segment
Partner flights booked with the partner 1 point per mile 25% to 250% of distance by cabin 500 points per segment
Award flights (status points only) 1 status point per mile 1 status point per 20 points redeemed 500 status points per segment
Best for Long flights, cheap fares, award travel Premium cabins, expensive fares, business travel Short, cheap hops

Three rules apply whatever you pick. Alaska says “Saver and Basic Economy fares don’t earn points or status points.” Our fare drop post covers the other Saver fare limits. Award flights earn status points but no redeemable points, and your choice has no effect on points from the Atmos Rewards Ascent card or other credit cards.

Distance traveled

This is the closest option to how Atmos earns today, with two cuts. From January 1, 2027, distance earning drops the fare class bonuses and the 500-point minimum on flights under 500 miles, per Alaska’s footnote on the choice page.

The fare class bonus loss is the bigger one. Alaska’s 2026 earning chart pays 200% of miles flown in J class First and 150% in full-fare Y and B economy, but in 2027 distance pays 100% in every cabin. Alaska’s own FAQ says “If you’ve been earning class of service bonuses, it may be worth exploring the price paid option.”

What distance flyers keep is status points on awards at full mileage. A 2,600-mile award flight earns them 2,600 status points no matter how few points the seat cost.

Price paid

Price paid earns 5 points per dollar of eligible fare. Alaska’s terms and conditions define eligible fare as base fare plus carrier-imposed surcharges, minus government taxes and fees. On Alaska and Hawaiian, paid seats count too, including Main Preferred, Premium Class and First Class upgrades, but bag fees and change fees don’t.

At the 1 to 1.5 cents our points valuations guide uses for airline miles, 5 points per dollar works out to 5% to 7.5% back on the fare before any elite bonus.

The 5x rate depends on who issued the ticket, and only tickets whose number starts with 027 (Alaska) or 001 (American) earn on price. That covers every partner flight you buy on alaskaair.com, every American flight wherever you buy it, and travel agency or bank portal bookings that carry one of those ticket numbers. A partner flight bought on the partner’s own site earns from a distance chart instead, covered below.

Alaska’s FAQ adds three details:

  • If your company pays for the ticket, you still earn on the price paid.
  • Vacation packages that don’t show the fare, such as some Costco Travel bundles, earn by distance instead.
  • A ticket you change or refund is recalculated, and Alaska says it may remove points already posted.

Segments flown

Segments pays a flat 500 points and 500 status points per segment, on paid and award tickets. Alaska counts a segment by flight number, so a one-stop flight that keeps the same number counts once.

The math is narrow, since a segment earns 500 points on price paid at $100. Any fare above $100 per segment earns more on price paid, and any flight longer than 500 miles earns more on distance. Segments wins only on short flights that cost less than $100 each. Alaska names Neighbor Island travel in Hawaii and flights within California as examples.

Status points on award flights

This rule changes the answer for anyone who books a lot of awards. Through December 31, 2026, every award earns 1 status point per mile flown. From January 1, 2027, that holds only for distance flyers. An award ticket has no cash fare, so price paid flyers earn on how many points the ticket cost instead. Alaska’s choice page states the price paid rule in one line: “Earn 1 status point for every 20 points you redeem on award travel.” Award flights earn status points only, never redeemable points.

Divide the points you paid by 20 and compare the result with the miles flown. A 25,000-point award on a 2,000-mile flight earns price paid flyers 1,250 status points (25,000 ÷ 20) and distance flyers 2,000 status points. The two tie when the award costs exactly 20 points per mile, which is 40,000 points on that flight. Price paid flyers only come out ahead on awards that cost more than that. Most saver-level partner awards cost well under that. Expensive peak-date Alaska awards and premium partner awards sometimes cost more.

The award status points come only from awards booked with Atmos points. A British Airways award booked with Avios earns no Atmos status points, even with your Atmos number on the booking.

The 2027 partner chart for direct bookings

Price paid flyers who buy a paid ticket for a partner flight on the partner’s own website earn from a cabin-based chart. Alaska’s 2027 partner earning page says these flights earn “based on a percentage of the actual distance traveled, if price paid earn is selected.”

Cabin booked with the partner Points and status points
International business or first 250% of distance
Domestic business or first 150% of distance
Premium economy 100% of distance
Economy 50% of distance
Discount economy 25% of distance

That’s a large jump at the top, since today’s chart for partner-site bookings pays 150% in first and 125% in business.

The same page settles a question that confused a lot of people. Distance flyers earn 1 point per mile on partner flights booked anywhere, and segment flyers earn 500 points per segment. Only price paid flyers use the chart, so you have to be a price paid flyer to get the 250% rate, even though the 250% is a percentage of distance.

The page also carves out two airlines. “STARLUX Airlines and Philippine Airlines flights booked via partner sites are not eligible to earn Atmos Rewards status points.” If you fly STARLUX, buy the ticket on alaskaair.com.

Elite bonuses apply on top of every option

Elite status members earn a bonus on redeemable points under all three options. Alaska’s earning FAQ lists 25% for Silver, 50% for Gold, 100% for Platinum and 150% for Titanium. The bonus is “applied on top of base points earned from the distance traveled, price paid, or segments flown earn methods.”

A Gold price paid flyer who buys a $600 fare earns 3,000 base points, 1,500 bonus points and 3,000 status points. The bonus points don’t count toward status, per the terms.

The bonus multiplies whichever option you choose, so it doesn’t change which option wins. Pick the method that earns the most base points and the bonus follows.

Four routes, worked out

We ran each option on four itineraries. The routes come from the October 9, 2026 episode of Frequent Miler on the Air, which walks through the same comparison. We redid the math against Alaska’s published rules. Distances are approximate great-circle miles. Price paid assumes the fare before taxes, and award prices are examples, not quotes from Alaska’s award chart.

1. Seattle to Chicago round trip on Alaska (about 3,440 miles, 2 segments)

  • Distance: 3,440 points and status points.
  • Segments: 1,000 points.
  • Price paid: breaks even with distance at $688 ($688 x 5 = 3,440 points). A $450 fare earns 2,250 points. A $900 fare earns 4,500 points.
  • Award: distance flyers earn 3,440 status points. Price paid flyers tie that on an award costing 68,800 points (68,800 ÷ 20 = 3,440 status points). A 30,000-point award earns them 1,500 status points (30,000 ÷ 20).

Distance wins unless you buy pricey fares on this route.

2. Philadelphia to Charlotte one way on American (449 miles, 1 segment)

  • Distance: 449 points. The old 500-point minimum is gone.
  • Segments: 500 points.
  • Price paid: breaks even with segments at $100. A $250 fare earns 1,250 points.
  • Award: a 4,500-point award earns price paid flyers 225 status points (4,500 ÷ 20), distance flyers 449 status points and segment flyers 500 status points.

Any paid fare above $100 favors price paid, and cheap awards favor segments or distance. On the award the options sit within 300 status points of each other, so short award flights rarely decide your choice.

3. Detroit to London via Chicago on American (about 4,180 miles, 2 segments)

  • Distance: 4,180 points.
  • Segments: 1,000 points.
  • Price paid: breaks even at $836. A $2,000 business class fare earns 10,000 points, which is 2.4 times distance.
  • Award: a 55,000-point award earns price paid flyers 2,750 status points (55,000 ÷ 20) against 4,180 status points for distance flyers.

Price paid wins on the cash ticket by a wide margin, and distance wins on the award.

4. New York to Doha on Qatar Airways Qsuites (about 6,700 miles, 1 segment)

Our post on Qatar’s Avios booking rules covers the other common way to book this flight with points.

  • Distance: 6,700 points, booked anywhere.
  • Segments: 500 points.
  • Price paid, booked on alaskaair.com: breaks even at $1,340. A $2,000 fare earns 10,000 points.
  • Price paid, booked on qatarairways.com: 250% of 6,700 is 16,750 points and status points, whatever the fare.
  • Award: a 150,000-point award earns price paid flyers 7,500 status points (150,000 ÷ 20) against 6,700 status points for distance flyers. Price paid flyers come out ahead on any award above 134,000 points.

This is the one route where price paid wins on an award, and only because the award costs over 20 points per mile. At a lower award price, distance comes out ahead again.

How fast each option earns status

Alaska hasn’t announced new thresholds for 2027. Its status levels FAQ sets Silver at 20,000 status points, Gold at 40,000, Platinum at 80,000 and Titanium at 135,000. Here’s what Gold takes under each option:

  • Distance: 40,000 miles flown, paid or award.
  • Price paid: $8,000 in eligible paid fares ($8,000 x 5), or 800,000 Atmos points spent on awards (800,000 / 20).
  • Segments: 80 segments.

Status points also come from Atmos credit cards (1 status point per $3 on the Ascent card), which this choice doesn’t touch, and from the destination challenges in Atmos Communities. Our Bank of America transfer post covers the other 2027 change to how you’ll collect Atmos points.

How to choose and when to switch

Run your regular routes through our Atmos Rewards Earn Calculator, which takes the fare, the award price, the distance and your status. Then sign in at alaskaair.com and pick “Help me choose.” Alaska’s calculator shows what you would have earned under each option, using your flights through August 31, 2026. A choice made in 2026 takes effect January 1, 2027. From 2027 onward, a change takes effect right away for future trips.

You get one change per calendar year, and it never applies to flights you’ve already taken, so timing matters. If you have a big business class trip in March and mostly awards after that, you’d pick price paid before March and switch to distance after the trip posts. Then you’re locked in for the rest of the year. We read the rules as letting a 2026 choice stand without using up your 2027 change. Confirm it on your account page, which Alaska says shows when you’re eligible to change.

Tip: Members who join on or after January 1, 2027 start as price paid flyers. If you’re opening an account for a family member who books mostly awards, sign them up before the end of 2026 or switch them to distance once they join.

The bottom line

We’d pick distance if you mostly redeem Atmos points for saver-level awards. Distance flyers keep full status points on every award mile, and price paid flyers only beat that on awards costing more than 20 points per mile.

We’d pick price paid if most of your flying is on paid tickets that cost more than 20 cents per mile, and that includes portal bookings and trips your company pays for. It’s also the only route to 250% on partner business class booked directly. Members who earned fare class bonuses on Alaska First fares should look hardest, since distance no longer pays them.

We’d skip segments unless nearly all your flights are under 500 miles and under $100 each. Hawaii interisland commuters are the main group that fits.

If you do nothing, you stay a distance flyer, which is the right answer if most of your Atmos flying is on awards. Check the calculator once before January 1 anyway. See our best travel credit cards guide and the Best Cards page if you’re comparing ways to earn Atmos points outside of flying.

FAQ

How often can I change my Atmos Rewards earn choice?

Once per calendar year. The change applies only to future trips, and from 2027 it takes effect right away. Choices made in 2026 start on January 1, 2027.

Do award flights earn status points under every option?

Yes, but at different rates. Distance flyers get 1 status point per mile, segment flyers get 500 status points per segment, and price paid flyers get 1 status point for every 20 points the ticket cost. Award flights never earn redeemable points.

Does the earn choice affect my credit card points?

No. Alaska says the choice applies only to flights. Points from Atmos Rewards and Hawaiian Airlines credit cards and non-flight partners stay the same.

What happens if I don’t choose?

Members who joined on or before December 31, 2026 stay distance flyers. Members who join on or after January 1, 2027 are price paid flyers until they pick something else.

Do Saver fares earn anything?

No. Saver and Basic Economy fares earn no points or status points under any of the three options.

Do bank travel portal bookings count as price paid?

Price paid flyers earn 5 points per dollar on them when the ticket number starts with 027 (Alaska) or 001 (American). Alaska’s FAQ treats travel agency bookings this way, and portal bookings are travel agency tickets. Other ticket numbers earn from the partner chart.

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