Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have been quietly reshaping parts of its customer experience, and if you’ve poked around alaskaair.com recently, you may have noticed some new language popping up around Atmos Rewards upgrades and how upgrades are now processed for elites and customers flying both Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. With new changes that went into effect starting April 22, 2026 when the two airlines merged into a single reservation system, Alaska is telling elites to LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS!
Sure day of departure elite upgrades might be coming to long-haul flights, but really those who pay will be sitting up front. Not elites.
Upgrades Go To Those Who Pay
Alaska built much of its loyalty goodwill on a fairly straightforward upgrade model which was pretty easy to follow. Complimentary upgrades for elites clear between 1 day to 5 day before departure depending on elite status. They also offer Guest Upgrades (GGUs) that could be confirmed in advance when U space was available. Any left over seats would be clear the upgrade list at the gate.
Yet we’ve seen that that simplicity is fading and upgrades are mostly going to the highest bidder or those willing to pay to sit in the front. Taking a card out of the Delta playbook.
Atmos Rewards upgrades are not less often and nearly all upgrade inventory is monetized earlier. This is leaving fewer seats for elites. This doesn’t mean upgrades are disappearing it means they’re being repriced in real time. U space is not available, and more importantly Alaska is now even admitting the upgrade window is basically dead.
Please note: an open First Class seat does not mean that upgrade space is available on a flight. The upgrade windows below show the earliest we clear upgrades.
Atmos Titanium members:
120 hours prior to departure for flights within North America (includes Hawai‘i)
Day of departure only for flights to or from Asia, Europe, and Oceania
Atmos Platinum members: 120 hours prior to departure
Atmos Gold members: 72 hours prior to departure
Atmos Silver members: 48 hours prior to departureMost upgrades will happen on your day of departure, with gate agents handling any last-minute upgrade availability. Saver fare guests will be added to the waitlist 2 hours prior to departure. (Bolding mine, not Alaska’s)
What This Means for Alaska Elites
Let’s be blunt, this trend is not great for elites and has been talked about heavily across reddit and flyer talk. As airlines shift toward selling upgrades earlier and more aggressively, fewer seats remain for Complimentary upgrades and GGU upgrades.
Alaska has already made moves in this direction with marketing and pushing for expanded paid upgrade offers. From emails before departure to reminders in the app, there are more visibility into upgrade buy-ups for non-elites. This has lead to less predictability in upgrade clearing rates and Alaska leaving upgrades to gate agents.
They even have placed reminders on throughout the website to lower your expectations and only expect upgrades at the gate.
Bottom Line
Through the merger of Hawaiian Airlines and in an effort to increase revenue Alaska Airlines is quickly killing the elite first class upgrade. If you want first buy first. Or pay to upgrade base on dynamic pricing. Elite upgrades in advance are dead.
First class upgrades on Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian is much less of a perk today then yesteryear. Pricing is becoming dynamic and demand-based and elites will face more competition for fewer seats while the monitorization continues. If you’ve relied on complimentary upgrades as a key part of the Alaska Airlines flying experience, it’s time to recalibrate expectations. Alaska Airlines is training you for this by new language on their website explaining how the upgrade process works. Upgrades will mostly be processed day of departure shortly before boarding.