Alaska

Frequent travelers weigh in on Alaska Airlines’ new rewards program

Published

2 weeks ago

February 15, 2026

Press Room

Frequent travelers weigh in on Alaska Airlines’ new rewards program

I got up early last week to take my own advice: flying to Juneau to visit my legislators.

But in addition to representing Alaskans in Juneau, all of Alaska’s legislators are frequent flyers.

Alaska Airlines Flight 62 was full of sleepy Alaskans on a similar mission. While I was knocking on doors regarding travel issues, there were others who had their own pitch for lawmakers: Future Farmers of America, Alaska’s State School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Alaska Council on Aging and a number of other groups.

It cost me 20,000 Atmos Rewards points for a round-trip ticket. Others who bought their tickets well in advance paid around $400, while last-minute travelers can pay as much as $700 round-trip. There are a couple of plans to carve 30% off last-minute tickets. Every Alaska Airlines frequent flyer gets a Constituent Fare discount off of three- or seven-day advance purchase fares to Juneau, one time only. Every Club 49 member gets a Travel Now certificate for 30% off the walk-up fare, one time only.

Over the course of the day, I had a half-dozen appointments with legislators, with a script to stay on topic for the 15-minute visit.

But Capitol insiders will confess that much of the real action is in the stairwell and the hallways, where you bump into legislators, staffers, lobbyists and media types.

Everybody I bumped into wanted to talk about Alaska Airlines. Specifically, frequent flyers were concerned about the high cost of travel between Anchorage and Juneau. Or, they were confused about Alaska’s new Atmos Rewards program. Or both.

Earlier this month, I asked some readers to give Atmos a report card grade, A through F.

Additionally, I asked for a show of hands at a recent travel-themed party. In between I called some super-frequent flyers to get their opinions.

The results were enlightening.

To review, when the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan morphed into Atmos Rewards, they really shuffled the deck.

All the miles-related jargon was gone. Now, it’s all about the points. There are status points, which determine your elite-level tier: silver, gold, platinum and titanium. Then there are bonus points that you can use to redeem for flights.

Further, the number of status points required to achieve the top tier, titanium, is increasing by 35% this year, from 100,000 to 135,000 points.

In addition to the regular Alaska Airlines credit card with the $99 companion fare, there’s a new Summit Atmos card that costs $395 per year. Alaska has loaded it up with a few bells and whistles, including lounge passes and some rollover points to jump-start next year’s quest for elite status.

There were just two respondents who gave Atmos an A, primarily because of the extra benefits of the Summit card for super-spenders. The biggest advantage for Summit cardholders is the 50% increase in the number of status points you get from your everyday spend.

Regular Alaska Airlines cardholders, now called Ascent Atmos cards, can earn one status point for every $3 spent. Additionally, cardholders still receive one bonus point for every dollar spent.

Summit cardholders get one status mile for every $2 spent.

So if you run a company and charge a lot of stuff on your credit card, it’s easier than ever to charge your way to titanium status without ever taking a flight.

Several — 27 — of the super-frequent flyers who responded to my poll gave the program a B.

Janine Amon has flown more than 2,000,000 miles on Alaska Airlines. She gives the program a B. She’s particularly grateful for the special phone number for titanium-level elites. She’s called the number primarily for securing credit from Alaska Airlines’ numerous partner airlines, including Philippine Air and Royal Air Maroc.

As a super-frequent flyer, Amon has stories of mix-ups and snafus, particularly between Alaska and Hawaiian Air, as well as partner airlines.

Another super-flyer, Bart Parker, gives the program a B+. Even though it’s only February, Parker has amassed more than 85,000 status points.

Parker’s litmus test is upgrades. “My upgrades are still coming through,” he wrote.

Once Parker is able to upgrade to the new 787 lie-flat seats, or into business class on partner airlines, including Hawaiian, he said he’s willing to bump up his grade to an A-.

But upgrades for Alaska’s new 787s to Europe and Asia, or on Hawaiian’s South Pacific flights, are hard to come by.

Alaska Airlines has high hopes that starting in April, titanium-level flyers will be able to stand by for same-day lie-flat business class seats on Alaska, Hawaiian and partner airlines.

Chris Ross is a million-miler on both Alaska Airlines and Delta.

Ross travels around the country working with companies on leadership development, employee engagement and health and safety.

Several super-flyers, including Ross, chimed in with specific operational issues on Alaska: missed connections, mechanical issues, delays and overall reliability. The Atmos game was way down the list for many of these travelers.

Ross gave the program a D.

An A is “Happy Days,” where Atmos is offering everything you expect from a loyalty program, including some “surprise and delight” moments. A B is “High Potential,” reflecting an honest effort to accommodate both Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines in the mix, plus an increasing number of partner airlines. But there’s room for improvement.

I bumped into political pundit Jeff Landfield of the Alaska Landmine in the Capitol. He pulled me aside for a lengthy discussion on Atmos and gave the program a B.

A C or “Curb Your Enthusiasm” reflects a lower score because of delays, frequent IT outages, or struggling with the website/app. Thirty respondents graded Atmos with a C.

Most respondents —38 — chose D or “Work in Progress.” These travelers are suffering through increased costs for point redemption, including high taxes and fees for European awards. There’s a glimmer of hope for improvement after full integration of Hawaiian and Alaska in April.

The F grade reflects “Grounds for dismissal.” These travelers, 16 of them, like most respondents, are “baked in” to the Atmos program with status, points and credit cards. But their view is it will take a shoulder-to-the-wheel effort to bring the program back on course.

Just over 50 respondents is not a huge sample. The respondents all live in Alaska and they are frequent flyers. To me, it reflects the mood of the travelers in the Capitol last week.

Thankfully, the planes in and out of Juneau were operating on time in the midst of a “wintry mix” of snow and rain with a light breeze. Several of my fellow travelers on Alaska 62 in the morning were turning around to fly home on Flight 67 in the evening. That makes for a long day, but underscores the value of face-to-face meetings for constituents in Juneau.

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Alaska

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

Published

10 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Sand Point teen found 3 days after going missing in lake

SAND POINT, Alaska (KTUU) – A teenage boy who was last seen Monday when the canoe he was in tipped over has been found by a dive team in a lake near Sand Point, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Alaska’s News Source confirmed with the person, who is close to the search efforts, that the dive team found 15-year-old Kaipo Kaminanga deceased Thursday in Red Cove Lake, located a short drive from the town of Sand Point on the Aleutian Island chain.

Kaminanga was last seen canoeing with three other friends on Monday when the boat tipped over.

A search and rescue operation ensued shortly after.

Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team posted on Facebook Thursday night that they were able to “locate and recover” Kaminanga at around 5 p.m. Thursday.

“We are glad we could bring closure to his family, friends and community,” the post said.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more details become available.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

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Alaska

Opinion: Homework for Alaska: Sales tax or income tax?

Published

23 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Opinion: Homework for Alaska: Sales tax or income tax?

iStock / Getty Images

This is a tax tutorial for gubernatorial candidates, for legislators who will report to work next year and for the Alaska public.

Think of it as homework, with more than eight months to complete the assignment that is not due until the November election. The homework is intended to inform, not settle the debate over a state sales tax or state income tax — or neither, which is the preferred option for many Alaskans.

But for those Alaskans willing to consider a tax as a personal responsibility to help fund schools, roads, public safety, child care, state troopers, prisons, foster care and everything else necessary for healthy and productive lives, someday they will need to decide on a state income tax or a state sales tax after they accept the checkbook reality that oil and Permanent Fund earnings are not enough.

This homework assignment is intended to get people thinking with facts, not emotions. Electing the right candidates will be the first test.

Alaskans have until the next election because nothing will change this year. It will take a new political alignment led by a reality-based governor to organize support in the Legislature and among the public.

But next year, maybe, with the right elected leadership, Alaskans can debate a state sales tax or personal income tax. Plus, of course, corporate taxes and oil production taxes, but those are for another school day.

One of the biggest arguments in favor of a state sales tax is that visitors would pay it. Yes, they would, but not as much as many Alaskans think.

Air travel is exempt from sales taxes. So are cruise ship tickets. That’s federal law, which means much of what tourists spend on their Alaska vacation is beyond the reach of a state sales tax.

Cutting further into potential revenues, state and federal law exempts flightseeing tours from sales tax, which is a particularly costly exemption when you think about how much visitors spend on airplane and helicopter tours.

That leaves sales tax supporters collecting from tourists on T-shirts, gifts for grandchildren, artwork, postcards, hotels, Airbnb, car rentals and restaurant meals. Still a substantial take for taxes, but far short of total tourism spending.

An argument against a state sales tax is that more than 100 cities and boroughs already depend on local sales taxes to pay for schools and other public services. Try to imagine what a state tax piled on top of a local tax would do to kill shopping in Homer, already at 7.85%, or Kodiak, Wrangell and Cordova, all at 7%, and all the other municipalities.

Supporters of an income tax say it would share the responsibility burden with nonresidents who earn income in Alaska and then return home to spend their money.

Almost one in four workers in Alaska in 2024 were nonresidents, as reported by the state Department of Labor in January. That doesn’t include federal employees, active-duty military or self-employed people.

Nonresidents earned roughly $3.8 billion, or about 17% of every dollar covered in the report.

However, many of those nonresident workers are lower-wage and seasonal, employed in the seafood processing and tourism industries, unlikely to pay much in income taxes. But a tax could be structured so that they pay something, which is fair.

Meanwhile, higher-wage workers in oil and gas, mining, construction and airlines (freight and passenger service) would pay taxes on their income earned in Alaska, which also is fair.

It comes down to what would direct more of the tax burden to nonresidents: a tax on income or on visitor spending. Wages or wasabi-crusted salmon dinners.

Larry Persily is a longtime Alaska journalist, with breaks for federal, state and municipal public policy work in Alaska and Washington, D.C. He lives in Anchorage and is publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel weekly newspaper.

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Alaska

Nome brothers summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, carry Alaska flag to third major peak

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Nome brothers summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, carry Alaska flag to third major peak

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Two brothers from Nome recently stood at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, planting an Alaska flag at 19,000 feet above the African plains.

The Hoogendorns completed the seven-day climb — five and a half days up and a day and a half down — trekking through rainforest, desert, and alpine terrain before reaching snow near the summit. The climb marks their third of the world’s seven summits.

Night hike to the top

The brothers began their final summit push at midnight, hiking through the night to reach the top by dawn.

“It was almost like a dream,” Oliver said. “Because we hiked through the night. We started the summit hike at midnight when you’re supposed to be sleeping. So, it was kind of like, not mind boggling, but disorienting. Because you’re hiking all night, but then you get to the top and you can finally see. It’s totally different from what you’d expect.”

At the summit, temperatures hovered around 10 degrees — a familiar range for the Nome brothers. Their guides repeatedly urged them to put on jackets, but the brothers declined.

“We got to the crater, and it was dark out and then it started getting brighter out,” Wilson said. “And then you could slowly see the crater like illuminating and it’s huge. It’s like 3 miles across or something. Like you could fly a plane down on the crater and be circles if you want to. Really dramatic view.”

A team of 17 for two climbers

Unlike their previous expeditions, the brothers were supported by a crew of 17 — including porters, a cook, guides, a summit assistant, and a tent setup crew.

The experience deviated from their earlier climbs, where they carried their own food, melted snow for water, and navigated routes independently.

“I felt spoiled,” Wilson said. “I was like, man, the next mountain’s gonna be kind of hard after being spoiled.”

Alaska flag on every summit

Oliver carried the same full-size Alaska flag on all three of his major summits, including in South America and Denali in North America, despite the added weight in his pack.

“I take it everywhere these days,” Oliver said. “It’s always cool to bring it out. And then people ask, you know, ‘where’s that flag from?’ Say Alaska.”

When asked about his motivation for the expeditions, Wilson said “I guess to like inspire other people. Because it seems like a lot of people think they can’t do something, but if you just try it, you probably won’t do good the first time, but second time you’ll do better. Because you just got to try it out. Believe in yourself.”

Background and next goals

The Hoogendorns won the reality competition series “Race to Survive: Alaska” in 2023. In 2019, they were the first to climb Mount McKinley and ski down that season. Oliver also started a biking trip from the tip of South America to Prudhoe Bay with hopes of still completing it.

Kilimanjaro is their third summit. The brothers said they hope to eventually complete all seven summits, with Mount Vinson in Antarctica among the peaks they are considering next… all while taking Alaska with them every step of the way.

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