Unlock Travel Benefits with the Atmos Summit Card

Hand holding the Atmos Reward Visa Summit Card

As a Hawai’i resident, we fly Hawaiian for nearly every flight. Therefore, for kama’aina (Hawai’i residents), it makes sense for us to have an Atmos Rewards credit card. This will allow us to gain points for award travel on Hawaiian airlines, which is now under Atmos Rewards. Also, we will get Atmos/Oneworld Gold status through the card, which I discuss below. So why did we choose the Summit card?

Ascent ($95 annual fee) vs Summit ($395 annual fee)

For complete details for each card, visit the following sites:

The primary question: What is our goal with the card? Do I need lounge passes? Will I use the $99 companion fare vs the 25k point annual companion award? Will I hit the bonus $60k spending limit and receive an additional 100k companion award? Am I going for Atmos status (i.e., Silver, Gold, etc.)?

For us, the answer was the latter two (60k spending bonus and status), with status being the primary driver. As of today (May 2026), I think Gold status will be the sweet spot. With the Ascent card, you will receive 1 status point for every $3 spent on the card. For the Summit card, you receive 1 status point for every $2 spent. If we spend $60k on the Ascent card in a year, we will receive 20k status points, which is enough for Silver status….pretty good, but not hitting our goal. If we spend $60k Summit card in a year, we will receive 30k status points PLUS Summit card holders receive 10k status points annually. This means that at that $60k spend, without hopping on a single flight, Summit card holder should receive Gold status. (Refer to https://www.alaskaair.com/atmosrewards/content/benefits for status point requirements)

For this reason, we went for the Summit card and we should be guaranteed to receive Atmos Gold status in a year. Of course, spending $60k just for the sake of spending it for Atmos status ABSOLUTELY does NOT make sense. For our family, we already spend $60k per year total over various cards (bills, discretionary spending, travel, etc.). Therefore, the strategy will be to move all of our spending to just the Atmos Summit card and move all of our bills over to the Atmos Summit card…which we already did as of this post. So the strategy is just continuing with our normal annual spend, but just strategically using the Atmos Summit card.

Summit Card Benefits We Are Most Excited About

Everyone talks about the sign up bonuses. And don’t get me wrong, they are great. For the Summit Card, we will receive 100k points for spending $6500 in net purchases within the first 90 days. We’ve already hit on the first day we received the card after booking tickets to Japan for our summer vacation…stay tuned for that blog post and YouTube video in July 2026.

Atmos Gold Status

For us, with Gold status that we will achieve with our current annual spend through the card, I am most excited to be able to book preferred seating at booking and for Group A boarding. Technically, we are already Silver status from last year and can book preferred seating at booking. This is a good perk as booking preferred seating was usually an extra $29 per person. Family of 5, this means we save $145 per flight on preferred seating if we want/need it. Preferred seating get you higher up in the plane and not stuck in the back, and access to better seating in general when the back of the plane is already mostly booked. Specifically for Gold, Group A will be great. Battling for overhead space and standing in long lines while the rest of the plane when you have the last boarding group is a pain….especially with 3 kids (one being a wiggly toddler). If I’m traveling on my own, I can be the last person to board and be fine. However, with family and kids, Group A will be clutch and make the traveling experience more enjoyable. We’ll be able to settle in, not battle for overhead space, and be more upfront on the plane to get off early….again, important with young kids.

Hertz Five Star Status

Another benefit is being able to become a Hertz Five Star status. Since the Summit card is a Visa Infinite card, the card allows you to be a Five Star Hertz member. Once you receive your card, go to the Hertz Visa Infinite page (https://www.hertz.com/us/en/deals-and-offers/visa-infinite-cardholders) and you just need to enroll in the benefit. This allows you to skip the lines and go straight to your car. We’ve been stuck in so many rental car lines and since we primarily book Hertz, this benefit will be great.

Annual 100k Point Companion Award

We will also receive an annual 25k point companion award. Plus, in our case after $60k spend, we will receive an additional 100k point companion award. We’ll need to strategically use these but living in Hawai’i and traveling on long/expensive flights (unfortunately), I think we can find a way. In the future, we will update you for how we will use the companion awards.

Lounge Access (Honolulu’s The Plumeria Lounge)

Lastly, my oldest son (11 years old) is very interested in airport lounges. We have never been able to go in them. With the Summit card, we will receive 2 lounge passes per quarter. There are not many Alaska lounges. However, The Plumeria Lounge in Honolulu, Oahu appears to be an exception and we can use the passes there. Since we travel to Oahu often, and many flights stop through Oahu for long distance trips, we should be able to use this benefit…and my son finally gets to experience a lounge! A lounge pass allows for one adult and two accompanying children to get in. Since we are a family of 5, this means that we will need to use two lounge passes per visit to get all of us in. Ultimately, this means 1 lounge visit per quarter.

Final Thoughts

Going for the more expensive card made sense in our situation. We already spend $60k on various cards in a year. So, why not take advantage of the Summit Card’s 1 status point per $2 spend, and get Gold status benefits PLUS a 100k companion point award? We’ll save a good amount on preferred seating with Atmos status, receive two valuable companion awards, and be able to get into Honolulu’s lounge.

As you may have noticed, we have not discussed any of the First Class or Premium Class upgrades that comes with Atmos status. This is because upgrades are only for the status holder plus one companion. Since we mostly travel as a family, we will be skipped on the upgrade list. If I’m traveling by myself or with just my wife, then this will be a bonus and hopefully we get upgraded.

We look forward to sharing our journey. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and YouTube!