Best Alaska Airlines Credit Cards for 2026

Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines share one loyalty program, Atmos Rewards, and three Bank of America cards earn into it: the Atmos Rewards Ascent Visa Signature ($95), the Atmos Rewards Visa Business card ($70 for the company, plus $25 per card) and the Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite ($395). All three earn Atmos Rewards points, but at different rates, and they're built for very different travelers.

Here's what each card offers, which one fits which kind of flyer, and what the points are worth on Alaska's own award chart. Every card and program detail below comes from Alaska's Atmos Rewards pages and the three card pages, read on September 29, 2026.

The Program in Brief

Three things are worth knowing before you compare the cards.

First, how points come in. You earn Atmos points by flying Alaska, Hawaiian and their partners, on the credit cards, and through everyday partners. Alaska's program terms also list points arriving from transfer partners, including Bilt. Our Atmos Rewards guide covers the program in full.

Second, how points go out. Alaska publishes a partner award chart by region and distance, with prices listed as "starting at" amounts, and says short-haul awards start "as low as 4,500 points each way." There are no blackout dates on Alaska or Hawaiian flights, and you can change or cancel an award before departure and get your points and taxes back.

Third, status. Atmos Rewards counts status points over the calendar year: Silver at 20,000, Gold at 40,000, Platinum at 80,000 and Titanium at 135,000. All three cards earn status points on purchases, at different rates.

Atmos Rewards Ascent Visa Signature: The Default Pick

The Ascent is the card most people should look at first. It costs $95 a year.

The current offer on Alaska's page is 50,000 bonus points and a $99 Companion Fare (plus taxes and fees from $23) after $1,500 in purchases within the first 90 days. Alaska says it's an online offer that may not be available elsewhere.

Earning:

3 points per $1 on eligible Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines purchases, including airfare and inflight purchases
2 points per $1 on eligible gas, EV charging, local transit, cable and select streaming purchases
1 point per $1 on everything else
1 status point for every $3 spent on purchases

The benefit most people get the card for is the $99 Companion Fare. Each account anniversary, you receive one (plus taxes and fees from $23) if you spent at least $6,000 on purchases with the card that year. It's good on Alaska or Hawaiian-operated flights within North America, including Hawai'i. If you don't reach $6,000, you don't get it, so it pays off only if the card is in regular use.

The Ascent also gives you and up to six guests on the same reservation a free checked bag and preferred boarding when you pay for the flight with the card. It adds 20% back on inflight purchases like Wi-Fi and drinks, and $100 off an Alaska Lounge+ membership paid with the card. If you have an eligible Bank of America account, you get a 10% rewards bonus on points from card purchases.

Best for: anyone who flies Alaska or Hawaiian a few times a year, checks bags, and can put $6,000 a year on the card to keep the Companion Fare coming. Our Atmos Ascent review goes deeper.

Atmos Rewards Visa Business Card

The business card is built around the same benefits, priced for a company. It costs $70 a year for the company and $25 per card.

The current offer on Alaska's page is 70,000 bonus points and a $99 Companion Fare (plus taxes and fees from $23) after $4,000 in purchases within the first 90 days.

Earning:

3 points per $1 on eligible Alaska and Hawaiian purchases, including airfare and inflight purchases
2 points per $1 on eligible gas, EV charging, shipping and local transit purchases, including rideshare
1 point per $1 on everything else
1 status point for every $3 spent on purchases

It has the same yearly $99 Companion Fare after $6,000 in purchases. It also has a free checked bag and preferred boarding for you and up to six guests, 20% back onboard and $100 off Lounge+. If your company has an eligible Bank of America business account, you get a 10% rewards bonus.

Say your business puts $60,000 a year on the card at 1 status point per $3. That's 20,000 status points, which is Atmos Silver from card spending alone.

Best for: a business owner who flies Alaska or Hawaiian and wants business spending, including shipping and rideshare, earning Atmos points.

Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite: Only If You'll Use the Extras

The Summit is the premium card, at $395 a year. The current offer on Alaska's page is 70,000 bonus points and a 25,000-point Global Companion Award after $3,000 in purchases within the first 90 days.

Earning:

3 points per $1 on eligible dining, foreign transactions, and Alaska and Hawaiian purchases
1 point per $1 on everything else
1 status point for every $2 spent on purchases, with no cap, plus 10,000 status points each year

The headline benefit is the Global Companion Award. Alaska says it "covers a companion's ticket when booking award travel for two people on the same itinerary, up to a set number of points," and can be used on Alaska, Hawaiian, oneworld and Alaska's other partners, in any class of service. Cardholders get a 25,000-point Global Companion Award on each card anniversary. You can earn a 100,000-point award after spending $60,000 or more on purchases in a card anniversary year, and up to two awards a year.

The Summit also includes eight Alaska Lounge day passes a year (two each quarter), no award booking fees on partner airlines, and point transfers out to hotel partners including Marriott Bonvoy and Shangri-La Circle. It gives a $50 voucher for a same-day cancellation or a delay of 2+ hours on an Alaska flight, and up to $120 every four years for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.

Best for: couples or travel partners who book award trips together at least once a year and will use the Global Companion Award, plus the lounge passes. If you won't, the Ascent covers bags, boarding and a yearly Companion Fare for a $95 fee.

Picking Between the Three

Most readers should start with the Ascent. The fee is low, the benefits cover bags and boarding on every trip, and the Companion Fare rewards steady use.

Add the Business card if you have a real business with spending to put on it. It has the larger welcome offer of the two lower-fee cards, earns 2x on shipping and rideshare, and costs $70 for the company.

Choose the Summit if the Global Companion Award will fund a trip you'd take anyway, you'll use the lounge passes, or you want the fastest card route to status, at 1 status point per $2 plus 10,000 a year. Our guide to earning status with the Summit card runs that math.

Once you've chosen a card, our guide to which card to use when you pay for an Alaska ticket covers the checkout side of the decision.

What Alaska's Award Chart Says

Alaska's partner award chart lists the lowest price for each distance band, marked "starting at," and says actual prices can vary by route. A few rows from the chart:

Americas, under 700 miles: economy from 4,500 points, business from 9,000.
Americas, 2,101 to 4,000 miles: economy from 17,500, business from 35,000.
Asia Pacific, 3,001 to 5,000 miles: economy from 30,000, business from 60,000, first from 90,000.
Asia Pacific, 5,001 to 7,000 miles: business from 75,000.
Europe, Middle East and Africa, 7,001 to 10,000 miles: business from 85,000, first from 130,000.

Alaska says premium economy awards start at "only 30% more than an economy ticket," and its award page advertises "limited-time award offers of up to 50% off travel to carefully curated international destinations." Award flights also earn status points: one for every mile flown, including on partners.

What I'd Do

If I were starting from zero, I'd open the Ascent, meet the $1,500 spend for the 50,000-point offer, and keep it as my Alaska card for the bags and boarding. If I spent $6,000 a year on it, the Companion Fare would turn one trip a year into two tickets.

If I had a business, I'd add the Business card next for the 70,000-point offer and the 2x on shipping and rideshare.

I'd only move to the Summit if I knew I'd use the Global Companion Award on a trip for two, and the lounge passes, every year.

Updated September 29, 2026: Rewritten against Alaska's current Atmos Rewards and card pages. Corrected the welcome offers, the Business card's fees and categories, the Gold status threshold (40,000 status points), how the Global Companion Award works, and transfers into Atmos (Bilt is a partner), and replaced the award prices with rows from Alaska's current chart.

Sources

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