Hi everyone! Welcome to this week’s installment of Tom’s Top 3 Tuesdays, where I highlight three pieces of content (Podcasts/Shows/Songs/Articles/etc.) that I found interesting or noteworthy from the prior week.
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[Credit Card News] Alaska Airlines + Hawaiian Airlines = Atmos Rewards
It was recently announced that the Alaska-Hawaiian lovechild is now called Atmos (like “atmosphere",” get it??). There is a lot going on with this new rewards program, and most of the changes are either positive or neutral.
I won’t go through everything, but a couple notable highlights include:
you can still earn towards status with award flights (flights booked with points), including on partner airlines (as long as you book through the Atmos portal)
starting in 2026, you can choose which way you want to earn miles:
through spend: 1 mile for every $5 spent
through distance: 1 mile for every mile flown
through segments: flat 500 points for every flight segment
complementary wifi coming in 2026
Among the news, Atmos announced a new premium credit card, the Summit Visa Infinite card. This card is getting a lot of buzz, and I think it’s a no-brainer if you’re a frequent Alaska or OneWorld flyer.
Annual Fee: $395
Sign-up bonus: 100K points
Spending categories:
3x Dining
3x Atmos Flights
3x All Foreign Purchases
Perks:
Annual 25K Global Companion Certificate (essentially a 25K point discount off a companion’s award booking when flying together)
8 Alaska Lounge passes (2 per quarter)
Annual 10K status point head start after your first card anniversary
1 status point for every $2 spent on the card
If you are chasing Atmos status, then this card could be very interesting. The sign-up bonus and companion certificate make it a net-positive card for at least the first year.
Me personally, I am definitely planning on getting the card because I am pretty loyal to Alaska/OneWorld. I think their rewards program makes it relatively easy to get status (especially since you get status points for flying using miles), and once you get to a certain status level, you have benefits for flying with other OneWorld airlines. With Bilt remaining a transfer partner, and 3 new Bilt cards on the horizon, I’m all in on Atmost
While I want to get the elevated bonus, I think I will hold off until January. Reason being, since I see this as a keeper card that I will want to hold for the status benefits, I think it’s strategic to sign up for the card at the start of the year so that the 10K status head start kicks in the following January. This will allow me to get to higher levels of status earlier in the year, every year.
As the name implies, this is a quick read. But I think it highlights a very important psychological phenomenon, especially for creatives. The inspiration for the post comes from a quote from Ira Glass (emphasis mine):
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you… We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work.”
I won’t spoil it, but Shaan hooks in the reader with a very compelling story of this taste gap in action, and how it almost robbed the world of a genius.
[YouTube] John Liang - How to Get a PERFECT 850 Credit Score
Now I am not implying that a perfect credit score is the holy grail, or even something to aspire to, but this video does a good job breaking down the components of your credit score and which levers to pull to improve.
His big tip: look at your credit card statements for your closing date and pay your bill off by then. Most people pay their credit card bills on the due dates, but the credit bureaus look at your credit utilization as of your closing date. Pay off your bill before then, lower your credit utilization that the bureaus see, raise your credit score. 👍
That wraps up this edition of Tom’s Top 3 Tuesdays. If you made it to this point, please drop a 1️⃣, 2️⃣, or 3️⃣ in the comments to let me know what you found most interesting/useful. And as always, please like and consider sharing with a friend who you think would enjoy! I’ll be back next week. ✌️
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