Southwest Airlines is making some changes to its reward program, the company said on Monday.
“We’re making our award-winning Rapid Rewards program even stronger by adding new enhancements to our loyalty program, making it even easier for members to earn and enjoy their benefits,” said Jonathan Clarkson, vice president of marketing at Southwest Airlines, per a press release.
“By lowering the tier requirements and making credit card spend count double toward tier requirements, we’re able to deepen engagement with our brand and cobranded credit cards while maintaining the core program values that our Customers know and love — including unlimited reward seats, no blackout dates, and points that don’t expire,” he added.
Earning tier status will become a little faster beginning January 1, 2024.
Members can earn first-tier A-List status by flying 20 one-way qualifying flights in a year, down from the previous requirement of 25. Alternatively, members can achieve A-List status by earning 35,000 tier-qualifying points through revenue flights or spending on their Rapid Rewards credit card from Chase.
Members can earn the next-level tier status, A-List Preferred, by flying 40 one-way qualifying flights in a year, down from the previous requirement of 50. Alternatively, they can achieve the status by earning 70,000 qualifying tier points either through flight revenue or by spending on their rewards credit card.
The qualifying tier points requirements for A-List and A-List Preferred have not changed.
However, members will be able to earn those qualifying tier points faster beginning January 1, 2024, as the earning ratio has essentially doubled. Members using the Rapid Rewards credit card will receive 1,500 tier qualifying points for every $5,000 spent. The current earning ratio is 1,500 for every $10,000 spent.
Another new perk has been added for A-List Preferred members. Beginning November 6, 2023, Preferred members can receive up to two complimentary drinks per flight instead of the current option of one free drink.
Another enhancement to the program is the option to use a combination of cash and points to purchase a flight, starting with as few as 1,000 points. This change will take effect in the spring of 2024. Under the current rewards program, points can only be used when the customer has earned enough points to cover the full flight.
Clarkson told The Points Guy the rewards program enhancements reflected the change in the typical profile of Southwest frequent flyers.
“There’s been a shift from business to leisure travel” following the pandemic, according to Clarkson, “so these changes are more in line with what we’re seeing from those leisure passengers.”
“There’s also more spend[ing] on our co-branded credit cards, so these changes seemed to make sense,” he said.
