Originally Posted by
beyounged
me too. 135k BIS can get you status on a lot of programs, no need to fixate on one that does not even have seatback entertainment. Or if one can spend 26k, they can get OWE on a lot of programs as well. US airlines increasingly isolate themselves with expectation that any medium-tier elite would get their most premium cc, while completely ignoring the fact that many do not have the capability/desire to get a premium card. For AS, this is so niche that if you are anyone other than a corporate flyer in SEA it would not be so useful.
But maybe I am still in denial, but I genuinely do not believe anyone would shoot themselves in the foot like this. AS's re-re-relaunch of the program this year is so disastrous that we do not even get the most basic details that I am worried, but I am still cautiously optimistic for the clarifications.
100% agree with your take. Lots of unknowns and sadly while Alaska Atmos Supreme is a great card, they rolled out a half baked program. Not super surprising but also likely makes it a few weeks at least until I can book anything else with them for 2026. If the devaluation takes shapes as some fear, UA will likely get a bunch of my business since I am SFO based and at least they can pretty much get me anywhere in the world I need to go with UA + partners and I can even book those flights on their site haha. Meanwhile I still cannot book 80% of the International flights I need on AS channels.