Alaska Atmos Rewards: Buy Miles with Up to a 90% Bonus (From 1.75 cpm)

Atmos Rewards (formerly Mileage Plan) is the frequent flyer program of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian). The program is currently running a sale where you can get up to a 90% bonus on purchased miles. This sounds like a lot, but the price per mile was also recently increased. In any case, the promotion yields prices starting at 1.75 Eurocents per mile.

Buy Miles with a 90% Bonus

The current offer for purchasing miles is valid until July 5, 2026 08:59 CEST. Apparently, there is a 70% to 90% bonus available for everyone. If the offer turns out to be personalized, please leave a comment.

The point amounts listed below represent the total quantity, including the bonus:

• 5,100 to 15,300 miles: 70% bonus (1.96 cpm)
• 18,000 to 34,200 miles: 80% bonus (1.85 cpm)
• 38,000 to 190,000 miles: 90% bonus (1.75 cpm)

What You Need to Know About Redeeming Miles on Mileage Plan

1. Purchase Limit: You can purchase a maximum of 100,000 miles (excluding bonuses) per calendar year. This totals 190,000 miles once the bonus is factored in.
2. Oneworld Member + Many Other Partners: Alaska Airlines has been a member of the Oneworld alliance since 2021. Some partnerships with non-alliance airlines were terminated as a result, but many collaborations outside the alliance remain in place—for example, with Korean Air, JAL, Icelandair, Aer Lingus, Condor, and others.
3. Usually No Fuel Surcharges: Anyone who has redeemed miles with Miles&More is familiar with this issue: a heavy fuel surcharge is often tacked on, which (especially in economy class) frequently exceeds the regular ticket price. Alaska Airlines does not pass on fuel surcharges for most airlines. However, there are two exceptions: flights with British Airways (surcharges up to €1,000) and Icelandair (approx. €100 to €200).
4. Free Stopovers Allowed: Mileage Plan is one of the few frequent flyer programs that allows you to book a free stopover on award tickets—even on one-way tickets! However, there are a few conditions: they are only permitted at the airline’s hub, for a maximum stay of 14 days, and only on international itineraries.
5. (Incomplete) Award Calendar: When searching for award flights, you can check the Flexible Dates box to display the cheapest prices on a calendar. However, the results can be somewhat incomplete. Sometimes, clicking on a specific date reveals cheaper options than initially shown.
6. $13 Booking Fee: Atmos Rewards charges a booking fee of US$12 (~€11) for every partner award booking (excluding flights on Alaska / Hawaiian). Starting July 1, this fee will increase to US$20 (~€18). If you cancel a flight, this booking fee is non-refundable, though all miles and other surcharges will be refunded.

Sweet Spots for Redeeming Miles

In theory, Atmos Rewards still has an award chart. However, more and more airlines have switched to dynamic pricing. The lower prices from the award chart then only apply to a few routes, and in some cases, several times that amount is charged.

Below is an overview of redemptions that can make purchasing miles worthwhile. We have included the effective prices based on purchasing the miles at the best rate of 1.75 Eurocents per mile.

Business Class Across the Atlantic

Due to the distance-based award chart, flights from the US East Coast to Europe are particularly cheap. Officially, the price of 45,000 miles in Business Class only applies to routes up to 3,500 flight miles. However, it also works on slightly longer routes, such as Boston to Frankfurt.

Here are three examples:

• Aer Lingus: Boston → DUB → Frankfurt for 45,000 miles + €21 (eff. €808)
  (very limited availability)
• American Airlines: Charlotte → Frankfurt for 55,000 miles + €17 (eff. €979)
• American Airlines: Philadelphia → CLT → Munich for 55,000 miles + €17 (eff. €979)

Unfortunately, redemptions on British Airways incur hefty surcharges of > €500 each way.

Business Class Within Asia

Arguably the best sweet spots can be found within Asia. For routes under 1,500 flight miles, you pay only 7,500 miles in Economy or 15,000 miles in Business Class. This is enough for up to 5 hours in a lie-flat seat:

• Korean Air: Seoul → Sapporo for 15,000 miles + €25 (eff. €287)
• Korean Air / Cathay: Seoul → Hong Kong for 15,000 miles + €26 (eff. €288)
• Korean Air: Tokyo → Seoul → Shanghai for 15,000 miles + €40 (eff. €302)
• Starlux: Fukuoka → Taipei → Hong Kong for 15,000 miles + €51 (eff. €313)
  (Caution: many phantom awards. See the warning box above).

If desired, a stopover in cities like Seoul or Taipei is also possible.

Short Flights Within North America

Within North America, redemptions on American Airlines and Porter Airlines from Canada are primarily worthwhile. Short flights under 700 flight miles are available starting at 4,500 Alaska miles in Economy Class. However, checked baggage is usually not included by default.

Three examples:

• Porter Airlines: New York → Toronto YTZ / YYZ from 4,500 miles + €17 (eff. €88)
• Porter Airlines: New York → Toronto YTZ / YYZ from 6,000 miles + €17 in Premium including baggage (eff. €112)
• American Airlines: Boston → Philadelphia from 4,500 miles + €17 (eff. €88)

Condor Business Class

Alaska Mileage Plan is one of the few frequent flyer programs through which you can book award flights with Condor. In principle, the pricing is intriguing, but in most cases, finding availability is the hurdle. Only a very limited number of routes are actually bookable at the advertised rates.

For example, a one-way Business Class ticket from the Maldives to Frankfurt is available starting at 60,000 miles + US$270 (~€237), which effectively equals €1,288 when purchasing the miles at 1.75 cpm:

However, that is already quite a steep price. And on most dates, a whopping 190,000 points are required.

A more interesting option would be Business Class from Boston to Frankfurt for 45,000 points. However, we were unable to find an actual bookable example for this.

Our Assessment

In principle, Mileage Plan remains an attractive frequent flyer program. This still holds true, even though earning miles has recently become significantly more difficult and the award chart has been devalued and made dynamic on several occasions.

Even at the somewhat high price of 1.75 cpm, there are still worthwhile redemptions. A year and a half ago, the merger with Hawaiian Airlines provided an opportunity to buy miles for just 1.2 cents. However, this is unlikely to return in the near future.

Mileage Plan is a highly attractive frequent flyer program! This applies both to earning miles across alliance boundaries and to redeeming them. Buying miles makes it particularly easy to benefit from lucrative redemption opportunities.

As always, a standard warning: frequent flyer programs can change their terms at any time, which can also eliminate the remaining sweet spots.