Baby on board: Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards just made it much cheaper to fly with lap infants on award tickets
If you're looking to redeem points and miles for airline travel and have a lap infant traveling with you, Alaska Airlines' Atmos Rewards program just made an incredibly generous policy update. The news was first reported by One Mile At A Time.
For long-haul international Atmos Rewards redemptions, including those operated by partner airlines, lap infants will now only be charged government-mandated taxes and fees when the award ticket is issued on "027" stock, meaning issued by Alaska or Hawaiian. Lap infants are defined as passengers under the age of 2 on the date of travel of all flights of the trip who do not require their own seat. They will continue to fly free on Alaska-operated domestic award flights (including Hawaiian Airlines flights) when accompanied by an adult.
Previously, the Atmos Rewards program charged lap infants an industry-standard 10% of the adult revenue fare when the adult passenger redeemed miles for international flights. On short-haul international services where cash rates were just a few hundred dollars, this meant an affordable lap infant cost.
However, it became more expensive for long-haul business-class redemptions. For example, a sweet-spot redemption to fly Aer Lingus business class to Ireland can typically be found for 45,000 Atmos Rewards points, with taxes and fees for an adult passenger as low as $50. If you wanted to bring a lap infant along on that flight under the old policy, you'd need to pay 10% of the cash fare, which can easily exceed $3,000 one-way. Paying $300 was a steep rate for a lap infant who doesn't have their own seat and probably won't eat or drink anything offered on board.
If you are traveling with a lap infant on an award ticket, this 10% fee, which is standard across the industry, can be a significant added expense to your points and miles redemption.
That's why this surprise policy change from Atmos Rewards is so generous and so welcome. It not only covers international flights operated by Alaska (which is steadily adding pins to its route map) but also the impressive roster of Atmos Rewards partner airlines, including British Airways, Japan Airlines, American Airlines, Icelandair and Starlux, giving you more choice to save when you travel with your family.
Bottom line
Atmos Rewards now has the most generous lap infant award policy of any major loyalty program. On long-haul international redemptions, you pay only government-mandated taxes and fees for a child under 2 traveling on your lap, which are usually very low, with no percentage of the adult cash fare and no points payable.
That applies to Alaska and Hawaiian metal and flights operated by partner airlines, and lap infants must be added by phoning Atmos Rewards. Lap infants on international revenue fares are still subject to the 10% charge, so consider redeeming Atmos Rewards points instead.
Related reading:
- 11 lessons I learned flying long-haul business class with my toddler
- Everything you need to know about booking award flights with a lap infant
- Why 7,500-point economy awards are my go-to Atmos Rewards redemption
- Fly to Tokyo and London from 20,000 points with the September Atmos Rewards Global Getaways
- How I've kept traveling — even after having a baby