Alaska Airlines’ Atmos Rewards was already one of our favorite airline loyalty programs, thanks to a combination of low award rates and a unique (and wide-ranging) partner network. It recently got even better with the introduction of new Atmos Rewards “Communities.”
The pitch is simple: Pick the community that best matches how you travel, and Alaska will reward you for it. Depending on which one you choose, that means bonus points, a faster path to elite status, discounted experiences, exclusive flight deals … and in one case, a 20% rebate on award redemptions.
Alaska and Hawaiian residents have had their own perks through Club 49 and Huakaʻi by Hawaiian for a while now, so this isn’t an entirely new concept. But as of Oct. 1, 2026, Atmos Rewards expanded from two communities to six – and the four new ones are open to every member, no matter where you live.
Best of all? It costs nothing to join.
Atmos points – formerly Alaska Mileage Plan miles – are some of the most valuable on the planet, thanks to sweet spot after sweet spot, like domestic awards from 4,500 points each way and partner business class flights to Europe for as little as 45,000 points. The catch has always been that they’re hard to earn: Bilt Rewards is currently the only major transferable currency that moves to Atmos at a 1:1 ratio. But that’s about to change …
Starting in 2027, eligible Bank of America cardholders will be able to transfer points to Atmos Rewards, and Alaska says more bank partners will follow. We still don’t know which cards will qualify or what the transfer ratio will be. But more ways to earn points, plus more ways to squeeze extra value out of them with Atmos Rewards Communities, is a combination we can get behind.
Here’s how these new Communities work, what each of the six offers, and which one makes the most sense for you.
How Atmos Rewards Communities Work
Every community comes with the same core benefits: quarterly flight deals, 20% off “Atmos Rewards Unlocked” experiences tied to your community, tailored partner offers, and a bonus points challenge. Each one layers on its own set of additional perks from there – you’ll find more specifics in the community breakdown section below.
Here’s how to get started:
- Choose a community: Log in to your Atmos Rewards account and select “Join a Community.” Four of the six are open to everyone, while Club 49 and Huakaʻi by Hawaiian require an Alaska or Hawaii mailing address, respectively.
- Get the benefits: Access to flight deals, discounts, and other community-specific perks.
- Change once per year: You can only belong to one community at a time, and you get one selection per calendar year.
One small detail to note: Joining a community means opting in to Alaska and Hawaiian marketing emails. Unsubscribe, and you may lose access to some benefits – including the flight deals, which are delivered by email.
Bonus Points Challenge
The overarching headline benefit for most members (regardless of which community you choose) is likely to be the Bonus Points Challenge.
Each community has its own list of 10 destinations, and the first time you fly to (or even through – layovers count!) each one between Oct. 1, 2026, and Dec. 31, 2027, you’ll earn bonus points and an equal number of status points. The payout starts at 100 points for your first destination and climbs to 3,000 if you make it to the 10th and final destination.
That’s 10,000 bonus points and 10,000 status points in total if you hit every city! You can find the full list of destinations for each community below.
For status chasers, Atmos Silver requires earning 20,000 status points, so if you’re somehow able to complete the entire list of destinations for your community, you’d be halfway there from this bonus alone. But since you also earn status points for every mile flown, you should have more than enough status points to earn Silver, if not even the 40,000 points required for Gold.
Best of all, this challenge isn’t limited to paid fares. Award tickets and eligible partner flights count, too … so long as your Atmos Rewards number is attached to the itinerary.
One key detail: You need to be in the community on the day you fly, not the day you book. That means flights you already have on the calendar will qualify if you join a community now. But you can only make one community selection per calendar year – switching later resets your Bonus Points Challenge progress, though you’ll keep any points you’ve already earned.
Meet the 6 Atmos Rewards Communities
Global Locals
Global Locals members earn 10% more status points on flights that start or end outside the U.S. That applies to Alaska, Hawaiian, and eligible partner flights credited to Atmos – award tickets included. Just keep in mind, this bonus is for status points only, not redeemable points.
The bigger perk might be this one: Global Locals members earn 1 status point for every 25 Atmos points transferred in from Bilt or Marriott Bonvoy. Transfer 100,000 Bilt points to Atmos, and you’ll pick up 4,000 status points on top of the 100,000 redeemable points. There’s no cap to how many status points you can earn like this, though points from transfer bonuses don’t count.
Alaska says the list of eligible transfer partners may change in the future. Whether Bank of America transfers will earn status when they launch in 2027 is anyone’s guess … but I have to think it’s likely.
The Bonus Points Challenge destinations are all Oneworld hubs: Amman (AMM), Casablanca (CMN), Doha (DOH), Helsinki (HEL), Hong Kong (HKG), Kuala Lumpur (KUL), London-Heathrow (LHR), Madrid (MAD), Sydney (SYD), and Tokyo-Narita (NRT).
Best for: International travelers and anyone chasing Atmos elite status.
Families on the Go
Maybe I’m biased since I have young kids, but this seems like the most straightforward win of the bunch to me. Families on the Go members get 20% of their points back on award tickets booked for children 12 and under.
Say you’re a family of four and you book flights for 25,000 points each way. That’s 50,000 points for the two kids … and 10,000 points back once you’ve flown.
Here are the general rules for this perk:
- The award must be booked from the community member’s account, but the kids don’t need to be Atmos Rewards members themselves.
- The 20% is calculated on the kids’ points only – not taxes, fees, or carrier surcharges.
- It works on Alaska, Hawaiian, Horizon, SkyWest, and partner airline awards.
- It covers up to seven kids per reservation, with no cap on how often you use it or how many points you get back.
- You must stay in the community until travel is complete, with rebated points generally posting within 24 hours.
The Bonus Points Challenge destinations: Atlanta (ATL), Cancun (CUN), Houston-Bush (IAH), Long Beach (LGB), New York-JFK, Orlando (MCO), San Diego (SAN), Seoul-Incheon (ICN), Tokyo-Narita (NRT), and Vancouver (YVR).
Best for: Anyone who books award tickets for kids 12 and under.
Culinary Journeys
Culinary Journeys doesn’t offer any unique perks beyond the core benefits every community receives, aside from the 20% Atmos Unlocked discount applying to food and wine experiences.
The real draw with Culinary Journeys is the destination list, which is packed with big, easy-to-reach cities. If you’re a frequent domestic flyer, you may be able to rack up several of these without going out of your way.
The Bonus Points Challenge destinations: Austin (AUS), Chicago-O’Hare (ORD), Denver (DEN), London-Heathrow (LHR), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), Tokyo-Narita (NRT), and Washington, D.C.-Reagan (DCA).
Best for: Travelers who plan trips around where they’ll eat … I guess?
Active Escapes
Like Culinary Journeys, Active Escapes sticks to the core benefits. The 20% Atmos Unlocked discount applies to outdoor experiences, such as AllTrails (no specifics yet).
The destinations are billed as gateways to U.S. national parks … with a couple of curveballs: Bozeman (BZN), Cleveland (CLE), Jackson Hole (JAC), Kalispell (FCA), Kona (KOA), Nadi, Fiji (NAN), Palm Springs (PSP), Phoenix (PHX), Salt Lake City (SLC), and Fresno (FAT).
Best for: Hikers, skiers, and national park chasers.
Club 49
Club 49 was already one of the most generous resident perks programs around, and it still is:
- Two free checked bags for you and up to seven others on your reservation when your trip includes Alaska
- Two Travel Now discounts per year, worth 30% off a one-way refundable fare booked within four days of travel
- Freight for Less, shipping up to 100 pounds within Alaska for $49 plus tax
- 30% off fares to Juneau during the annual legislative session
- Weekly fare sales
The Bonus Points Challenge is all about escaping the cold: Cabo San Lucas (SJD), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Kona (KOA), Las Vegas (LAS), Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR), Palm Springs (PSP), Phoenix (PHX), Puerto Vallarta (PVR), Santa Barbara (SBA), and Sydney (SYD). That last one is a bit of a stretch.
Best for: Alaska residents … and military members stationed there!
Huakaʻi by Hawaiian
Meanwhile, Hawaii residents get a deep set of inter-island perks:
- 50% more points and status points on interisland flights starting Jan. 1, 2027
- Two free checked bags on Neighbor Island flights – surfboards and golf bags count
- Four discount codes per year for 10% off Neighbor Island flights, or 20% off with a Hawaiian or Alaska co-branded credit card
- Monthly flight deals
- An earlier upgrade window, with upgrade certificates on Hawaiian-branded flights clearing as early as 72 hours out
- 3x Atmos points when redeeming Foodland Maikaʻi points, up to 3,000 bonus points per year
The Bonus Points Challenge destinations: Hilo (ITO), Honolulu (HNL), Kahului (OGG), Kona (KOA), Lanai (LNY), Las Vegas (LAS), Lihue (LIH), Molokai (MKK), Sydney (SYD), and Tokyo-Haneda (HND).
Best for: Are you ready for this? Hawaii residents … surprising, I know.
Our Take
Atmos Rewards Communities are a nice value-add for what was already one of our favorite airline loyalty programs. I guess the best just keep getting better, as they say.
Unless you live in Alaska or Hawaii, Global Locals and Families on the Go will probably be the best options for most travelers. If you book award tickets for young kids, getting 20% back on every one of them is real, repeatable value. If you fly internationally or transfer Bilt points to Atmos with any regularity, the status boost from Global Locals could get you to the next tier faster.
Culinary Journeys and Active Escapes could be useful if any (or many) of those destinations are in your immediate travel plans. Scoring some bonus points – and hopefully a couple of exclusive deals – to select cities isn’t a half-bad deal.
Plus, it’s free to join these communities. So even if you don’t know which one fits best or how useful it will be, there’s no reason not to sign up. You can join now and switch it up in January if another option seems like a better fit.
Just remember that switching wipes out your Bonus Points Challenge progress. If you’ve already knocked out a few destinations in one community, that may be reason enough to stay put.
Bottom Line
Alaska Atmos Rewards now offers six free “Communities,” each with bonus points, status points, discounts, and flight deals tied to how you travel.
For most travelers, Families on the Go (20% back on kids’ award tickets) or Global Locals (a faster path to status) is the pick. Joining costs nothing, and you can switch once a year, so there’s no reason to sit this one out.
