Book a 100,000-point award for your 10-year-old, and Alaska will now hand you 20,000 points back. That’s just one perk of its new family program. Also today: Delta finally lets wine fly free (from a few airports, anyway), and flights to Hawaii for 42K points … roundtrip.
- 🧑🧑🧒🧒 Alaska’s New 20% Rebate on Award Tickets for Kids
- 🏔️ Epic Alaska. All in Anchorage.
- 🤝 Deal of the Day: Delta Flights to Hawaii from 42K Roundtrip!
- 🍷 Delta Finally Lets Wine Fly Free
- 🎙️ On the Pod: Who’s Up & Who’s Down in Airline Loyalty?
- 🥂 Cheers to Our MSP First Class Happy Hour
- ✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
🧑🧑🧒🧒 Alaska’s New 20% Rebate on Award Tickets for Kids
Last week, Alaska rolled out a batch of big announcements, including its new “communities” for Atmos Rewards members. Details were light at launch on what (if any) perks would come with them, but now we know more.
For family travelers, one stands out: “Families on the Go.” Here’s what you get:
- 20% back on award flight redemptions for children 12 and under
- Bonus points and status points for visiting top family vacation destinations
- Exclusive flight deals every quarter
- 20% off family-friendly experiences through Atmos Rewards Unlocked
- Members-only offers with Alaska’s everyday and travel partners
Without knowing what else Alaska has in store for “Families on the Go” travelers, that first perk is the headliner here.
For easy math: Book a 100,000-point award to Europe or Asia for your 10-year-old, and you’ll get 20,000 points back. For a family of four (two adults, two kids) all on that same award, that’s 40,000 points back on a 400,000-point booking. That works out to an effective 10% discount on the whole family’s trip.
It’s not limited to Alaska and Hawaiian flights, either. The rebate covers eligible partner awards, and the published terms say it doesn’t matter what cabin you book in. A 20% rebate on a kid’s lie-flat partner award amounts to real savings.
A few things to know:
- You won’t see the discount when you book. You need the full amount of points up front. The points come back to your account, generally within 24 hours of completing travel.
- Only the adult paying with points needs to join. The kids don’t have to enroll in the community themselves.
- There’s no annual cap. You can rebate up to seven kids on a single reservation, as often as you want.
- Taxes and fees aren’t rebated. You get points back, but not cash.
What if you booked before joining? You’re still eligible as long as you’re a member at the time of travel, and you have to stay enrolled until the trip is complete.
You can only pick one community per calendar year, so choosing Families on the Go means passing on options like “Global Locals,” which awards status points when you transfer Bilt or Marriott points into Atmos. That limit is per person, though, so in a two-adult household, one parent can pick each and you can switch communities starting Jan. 1, 2027.
All this comes on the heels of other family-friendly changes, like being able to add a lap infant to an award for just the taxes and fees, without a cash co-pay or needing to add more points.
Put that together with Alaska’s reasonable award rates and its excellent lineup of airline partners, and Atmos Rewards makes a strong case as the single best program for family travelers right now.
To sign up, log in to your Atmos account and select “Join a Community.”
– Jackson Newman, senior editor
🏔️ Epic Alaska. All in Anchorage.
Alaska adventures are within reach in Anchorage, where rugged beauty meets urban exploration. All in one day, take in breathtaking landscapes, see Alaska’s extraordinary wildlife, immerse in the deep-rooted culture, and indulge in a surprising dining scene.
Whether you’re visiting under the midnight sun or chasing the northern lights, unforgettable experiences await in Anchorage.
Plan your next adventure with local tips and free planning tools today.
🤝 Deal of the Day: Delta Flights to Hawaii from 42K Roundtrip!
Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥
Why we love it: Delta’s long-haul flights to Hawaii from Atlanta (ATL), Detroit (DTW), Minneapolis (MSP), and New York (JFK) are never cheap, but this workaround can land you these flights starting at just 52,000 points roundtrip (or less if you take advantage of a transfer bonus!)
Fly nonstop to Honolulu (HNL) and Maui (OGG) with winter and spring break availability (through April 2027!) from most cities.
Sign up now to get all the details on this deal & don’t miss the next flight deal alert.
Already a member? Log in to see all your deals.
– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst
🍷 Delta Finally Lets Wine Fly Free
Starting tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 6), Delta SkyMiles members can check one case of wine for free on flights departing five Northern California airports:
- Oakland (OAK)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- San Jose (SJC)
- Sacramento (SMF)
- Sonoma County (STS).
The program is called SkyMiles Wine Takes Flight, and it covers up to 12 standard 750-ml bottles weighing no more than 50 pounds, on Delta and Delta Connection flights to anywhere in the U.S.
If you carry a Delta SkyMiles Gold, Platinum, or Reserve card, you already get two free checked bags on domestic Delta flights, and Medallion elites check bags for free, too. But if you don’t, skipping Delta’s $45 first-bag fee is a nice break on the way home from Napa or Sonoma.
There are a few catches:
- You need to be a SkyMiles member (free to join) and at least 21 years old.
- You’ll also have to check your case at the ticket counter, where an agent may ask to inspect it before it’s sealed.
- The benefit only applies to flights departing from those select airports.
If this new program sounds familiar, it should. Alaska Airlines has offered its Wine Flies Free program for years, covering 32 airports across California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
Southwest followed with Sip and Ship, which covers 19 airports and doesn’t require a loyalty account at all.
So Delta is playing catch-up, and five airports is a modest start … though Delta says more airports are coming soon.
My guess is that Seattle, where Delta goes head-to-head with Alaska every single day, is near the top of that list.
– Nick Serati, Thrifty Traveler co-founder
🎙️ On the Pod: Who’s Up & Who’s Down in Airline Loyalty?
✈️ We go through every single airline loyalty program U.S. travelers can access and help you understand if they’re worth your time, effort, and points. To help us decide, we bring in Katie Rollins, one of the foremost points and miles experts in the industry!
Watch it now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
🥂 Cheers to Our MSP First Class Happy Hour
On Sept. 24, we brought the Thrifty Traveler community together at Utepils Brewing in Minneapolis for our sold-out MSP First Class Happy Hour. Some attendees even flew or drove in from out of town to join us!
Huge shout-out to everyone who made the trip!
We connected over our shared love of travel, swapped points-and-miles strategies, and teamed up for The Amazing Race: Thrifty Traveler Edition.
To wrap up the night, Gunnar Olson (Travel Reporter, Flight Deal Analyst & Podcast Host), Kyle Potter (Executive Editor & Podcast Host), Jon Shallbetter (Chief Flight Analyst), and Nick Serati (Co-founder) answered plenty of great questions from the crowd during a live Q&A.
A big thank-you to everyone who came out! Meeting more of you, hearing about your trips, and answering your questions is why we love bringing our Thrifty Traveler community together!
– Kat Erdahl, community marketing manager
✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
- 🇺🇸 American Airlines is rolling out cash and miles bookings, letting eligible AAdvantage members split the cost of a flight between the two with a slider at checkout on aa.com and in the app. (American Airlines)
- 🏨 Chase is doubling the annual fee on the grandfathered IHG One Rewards Select card from $49 to $99 starting in 2027, though the anniversary free night improves to 50,000 points.
- 🇫🇷 The Bank of America Air France/KLM Flying Blue card is offering 70,000 miles plus 100 XP toward elite status after $3,000 in spending in the first 90 days. (Doctor of Credit)
- 🏝️ Hilton’s Waldorf Astoria Riviera Maya and Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya went all-inclusive on Oct. 1, a first for both brands, and the Waldorf will go adults-only on Jan. 10. (The Points Guy)
