Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards account takeovers have become an increasingly common problem for both the airline and its members.
I’d heard about accounts being hacked and flights being booked with stolen points, and then it happened to me. Fortunately, my points are safe, and getting my account back was surprisingly easy.
My biggest takeaway? Thiscould have been prevented. Let’s take a look at what happened and how you can protect your account.
My Atmos Rewards Account Disappeared
I’m a big fan of Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards. I had recently transferred some Bilt Points to my account in hopes of booking some American Airlines flights for my family this summer.
Although I wasn’t able to get the flights I wanted, I didn’t have any problem leaving the points in my Alaska account. I know how valuable they are, and I already have plenty of backup plans for later this year.
Fast forward a few weeks, and I received an email from Alaska Airlines saying that my password had been changed. Odd, because I didn’t remember changing anything, so I tried to log in, only to find that my email address was no longer recognized. A telltale sign of an account takeover.
Having read plenty of reports of Alaska accounts being hacked, my heart sank. I was already sure that was what had happened, and I would need to put a lot of effort into getting my points back.
Fortunately, it was a relatively painless call to Atmos Rewards customer service to regain control of my account.
After about 5 minutes of the friendly agent verifying my identity, she confirmed that my email had been recently changed, butno points had been redeemed. It felt like this was not her first time dealing with this type of situation.
She quickly updated my email and sent me a link to create a new password. Within minutes, I was back in and relieved to see that my precious points were safe.
How To Protect Your Alaska Atmos Rewards Account
While data breaches have become increasingly common in recent years, Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards members seem to be a popular target. The combination of high-value redemptions and minimal security barriers — until recently — has been popular with hackers.
Fortunately, Alaska finally introduced multi-factor authentication (MFA) this spring, though it’s currently available only to members with U.S. phone numbers.
If you want to keep your Atmos Rewards account safe, you should do these 3 things immediately:
- Update your password
- Turn on MFA
- Monitor your email closely
Bottom Line:
There are many cases where members didn’t even realize their points were missing until they tried to log in to redeem them for a trip. Not only is that frustrating, but the delay while regaining control of an account could be the difference between snagging a hard-to-get award flight and not.
Final Thoughts
Account takeovers pose a real threat to loyalty program members in the points and miles game, and Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards has been a consistent target.
The good news is that if you are vigilant, you can catch it quickly. Plus, Alaska’s customer service team is well-trained and can typically restore your access in a single call. But, to be safe, enable multi-factor authentication, use a unique password, and keep an eye on your emails.