📝 usncan Note: Alaska Airlines Takes On Capital One, Amex And Chase Credit Cards
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Brett Catlin and I connected early one morning—he in Seattle at Alaska Air Group headquarters before anyone arrived and me in Kansas City, en route to Los Angeles.
Within minutes, it was clear Catlin, Vice President of Loyalty, Alliances and Sales, is determined to reimagine airline loyalty with a product mindset that looks well beyond air travel; and more at what I would call travel need states.
The result is Atmos Rewards, a new loyalty platform Alaska launched alongside a premium co-brand, the Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite card.
Brett Catlin from Alaska Airlines
Photo by Daniel Berman
In our conversation, Catlin shared how Atmos Rewards aims to serve “every kind of traveler,” why Alaska deliberately decoupled parts of the program brand from its airline brands, and how zero-party data will power more relevant partnerships and experiences.
From “programs for elites” to “programs for everyone”
Airline loyalty may have been born in aviation, but Catlin believes innovation has lagged. “Airlines invented loyalty but have been slow to innovate,” he expressed. When Alaska set out “a couple years ago” to create what is now Atmos Rewards, the team benchmarked across hospitality and proprietary card ecosystems rather than simply copying other air carriers.
One foundational choice: design for breadth, not just the most frequent, highest-fare travelers. “Historically, airline programs had been programs for everyone. We wanted a program that would be for every kind of traveler, not just those buying $10,000 business-class tickets to London,” Catlin said. That philosophy shows up in choice-based accrual, communities you can opt into, and benefits that have meaningful value for both families taking one vacation a year and road-warriors chasing status.
Communities: Segmenting by life stage and travel behavior, not just spend
Alaska has long operated “programs within the program” for specific geographies: Club 49 for Alaska residents and, following the Hawaiian acquisition, Huaka’i by Hawaiian for inter-island travelers. Both have performed strongly, with Catlin citing roughly 70% participation among Alaskans in Club 49.
Next up: lifestyle communities that extend the model beyond geography. “One of them will be Families on the Go,” he said. Others include culinary explorers and Global Locals for customers living outside the U.S. Members will select the single community that best fits their needs and, in return, receive targeted perks. The intent is customization—letting customers “choose your own journey”—without over-promising one-to-one personalization.
Why “Atmos Rewards” is on the front of the card
A notable brand choice: the Atmos Rewards name—not Alaska or Hawaiian—takes center stage across the loyalty ecosystem. Even the premium Summit card carries Alaska/Hawaiian marks on the back. Catlin described the move as deliberate “optionality.”
“We see Atmos Rewards as becoming the third front door to the airline,” he said. Outside core West Coast markets, consumers may default to clichés—“lumberjacks to glaciers” or “honeymoons in Hawaii”—rather than recognize that Alaska is the fifth-largest U.S. carrier with 30,000 employees and a growing global network. A distinct loyalty brand creates a clean entry point for those customers and sets the stage for broader travel integration—think hotel, cruise, car and curated experiences—where “no program scales well” today.
The terminology also modernizes: miles are now points, elite-qualifying miles become status points, and elite tiers have updated names. It’s a subtle signal that Atmos Rewards aims to compete across the full travel ribbon, not only on seat-to-seat comparisons. In my experience changing the language is a smart first step to changing consumer perceptions and preferences.
The Summit card: built against Amex, Chase and Capital One—not just airlines
When Alaska designed the Summit premium card with Bank of America, it didn’t start by studying airline co-brand rivals. “It was less about what American, United, Southwest, Delta are doing, and more about what Chase, Capital One, and Amex are doing,” Catlin said. The objective: win the “aspirational traveler” who wants far-flung, Instagram-worthy trips and values flexible, high-utility benefits.
Early traction has exceeded expectations. “In the first couple weeks, we have blown the doors off what we thought would happen in terms of card acquisition and engagement,” he told me. Bank of America—Alaska’s largest co-brand partner—was deeply involved in creating first-to-market optionality.
A quiet $25 million precursor: rebuilding the tech to move faster
One under-the-radar storyline: Alaska invested roughly $25 million modernizing its loyalty tech, migrating off “20–30-year-old legacy systems” and tens or hundreds of millions of records. “That rarely shows up in media coverage,” Catlin noted, but it enabled everything that’s now launching—choice-based accrual, communities, richer benefits and a more nimble roadmap. Laying the technology foundation fueled the innovation roadmap.
Global ambition meets tangible, day-one benefits
Alaska’s network has rapidly globalized—Tokyo, London, Seoul, Rome—and Atmos Rewards is matching pace. For top-tier Titanium members, Catlin previewed a simple, high-impact perk for long-haul flights: “If there’s a seat available in business class day-of-departure and you’re sitting in main cabin, we’re going to put a Titanium member in it.” It’s the kind of benefit that creates visible delight while signaling the program’s new scale.
Experiences, zero-party data and a more relevant ecosystem
On launch day, Alaska debuted “Atmos Rewards Unlocked,” an experiences marketplace built with Austin-based startup Way. Members can redeem points for curated options—culinary journeys, active escapes, family activities—mapped to their chosen communities. Think local walking tours hosted by residents and accessible at “a few thousand points.” Doing this at scale will not be easy but that makes it more interesting.
Strategically, these experiences also power responsibly-used zero-party data: information customers volunteer through their choices. “That’s how you justify the investment in these programs,” Catlin said—by capturing preferences that let Alaska merchandise more relevant offers. He stressed the approach is cohort-based, not creepy: “There might be a million people in Families on the Go and we might work with a financial provider like Greenlight for kids’ financial literacy and market that because we know you have a family.” It’s customization at scale, not surveillance.
What’s next on the Atmos Rewards roadmap
In August the brand launched the card rollout. HawaiianMiles joins Atmos Rewards on October 1, officially retiring the legacy program. In 2026 and beyond, expect staged delivery of the promised features: choice-based accrual, expanded lifestyle communities, and more nuanced incentives inspired by the best in hospitality. Hotels, Catlin believes, are “much better” today at offering differential promotions that genuinely move behavior—another area where they plan to adapt and learn.
Why Hyatt and Sephora, not just airlines, shaped the strategy
Catlin repeatedly pointed to non-air exemplars. Hyatt, a smaller footprint brand versus mega-chains, “has done a phenomenal job at building a really powerful loyalty proposition” that keeps them relevant. Sephora’s ability to engage and segment its community also influenced Alaska’s thinking about education, curation and progressive value. The lesson: category constraints shouldn’t limit loyalty design.
Two closing thoughts
First, Alaska’s “every kind of traveler” mantra is more than slogan work; it’s baked into program mechanics—from community selection to how upgrades clear.
Second, the move to Atmos Rewards is as much about long-term platform flexibility as it is about near-term perks. A loyalty brand that can credibly connect air, experiences and, over time, hotel and cruise, is positioned to earn a greater share of a traveler’s share of wallet —not just their next flight.
Key Learnings
- Atmos Rewards is designed to serve more than elite frequent flyers, with choice-based accrual and lifestyle communities that deliver relevant, low-friction value.
- The Summit premium card was built to compete with leading issuer ecosystems (Amex, Chase, Capital One), not only other airline co-brands; early adoption beat expectations.
- Atmos Rewards functions as a third front door to Alaska/Hawaiian, intentionally de-emphasizing airline branding to enable expansion across the broader travel ribbon.
- Curated experiences generate zero-party data that Alaska will use in cohort-based ways to deliver more relevant partnerships and offers without crossing privacy lines.
