Buying airline points might sound like an unnecessary extra step. After all, if a flight is available, why not just pay for it?
Sometimes there’s a good reason. Buying the points needed to book a flight can cost less than paying for airfare directly.
Alaska Airlines sells Atmos Rewards points throughout the year and periodically runs promotions that lower their cost. There’s little reason to buy just because a sale is happening. But with a trip already in mind, it takes only a few minutes to see whether buying points could save money.
Current Atmos Rewards Buy Points Offer
Alaska Airlines is currently offering up to a 120% bonus when buying Atmos Rewards points through October 19.
There’s a catch with that “up to” language. The offer appears to vary by member, and it’s not clear what determines who gets the full 120% bonus. A 100% bonus appears to be more widely available.
With a 100% bonus, Atmos Rewards points cost about 1.88 cents each after the 7.5% federal excise tax. Members targeted for the 120% bonus can buy them for about 1.71 cents each.
- Current promotion: Up to 120% bonus
- Price per point: About 1.71 cents with a 120% bonus; about 1.88 cents with a 100% bonus
- Offer ends: October 19, 2026
- Purchase limit: Up to 100,000 points per transaction before the bonus
- Annual limit: 150,000 points purchased or received as gifts; no annual purchase limit for Atmos Rewards elite members
Buy Atmos Rewards points directly from Alaska Airlines
Alaska runs points sales periodically, so there’s rarely a reason to buy solely because a promotion is ending. The history below shows how the current offer compares with previous ones. Click the arrow to see past offers.
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More on This: Current Buy Points and Miles Offers
When Buying Atmos Rewards Points Makes Sense
The easiest way to decide whether buying points makes sense is to compare what the flight costs in cash with what it would cost to buy the points needed to book it.
The math is simple:
Points needed × current price per point = cost to buy the points
Say a flight is available for 20,000 Atmos Rewards points. At roughly 1.88 cents each with a 100% bonus, buying those points would cost about $376.
If the same flight costs $500 in cash, buying the points could come out ahead. If it costs $300, paying cash is the easy choice.
Members targeted for the 120% bonus have slightly better math. Those same 20,000 points would cost about $342 at roughly 1.71 cents each.
That’s why the percentage bonus isn’t especially useful on its own. What matters is the price of the flight, how many points it requires, and what those points cost to buy.
More on This: How to Search for Flights with PointsYeah
Don’t Buy Points Just Because They’re on Sale
There’s little reason to stock up on Atmos Rewards points without a trip in mind. Alaska sells points regularly and runs purchase promotions periodically.
Instead, start with the flight. Check the cash price, search how many Atmos Rewards points it requires, and calculate what those points would cost to buy.
Sometimes cash wins. Sometimes points do.
And when buying the points costs less, it can be a straightforward way to save on a flight that was already in the plans.
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