Southwest Award Flights Count Toward A-List Status?

Southwest Airlines A-List and A-List Preferred  are elite status levels within the airline’s loyalty program. You can earn status by flying Southwest frequently or by earning Rapid Rewards points.

You need to fly 25 qualifying one-way flight segments booked through Southwest or earns 35,000 tier qualifying points per calendar year to qualify for A-List status. If you fly 50 qualifying one-way flights booked through Southwest or earn 70,000 tier qualifying points per calendar year you qualify for A-List Preferred status.

A-List and A-List Preferred qualification will be based on a calendar year. Once A-List or A-List Preferred status is earned, the Member can begin enjoying the benefits immediately. The Member will maintain A-List or A-List Preferred status for the remainder of the calendar in which the status was earned and for the entire calendar year immediately following. You can read all the details here.

For the qualifying flights requirement, the program terms state that Rapid Rewards reward flights or any travel with any portion of the purchase price paid for with Rapid Rewards points do not qualify for A-List status. That means that only paid flights should qualify.

However, Southwest in recent days is counting these flights and is already showing the progress in your accounts if you have any award flights since the start of the year. It’s possible that Southwest is testing out yet another improvement for it’s Rapid Rewards program after eliminating the expiration for flights credits, and adding an online option for upgrades.

This was first reported on FlyerTalk. One comment says that this is one-time event and only valid for award flights from January 1st through September 19th. This was supposedly confirmed by Southwest media relations. I have reached out to them for more details and I will update the article if necessary.

It’s worth noting that award flights from this year only count for A-List and A-List Preferred qualifications. They do not count toward Companion Pass qualification.

Guru’s Wrap-up

If you’re going for Southwest A-List or A-List Preferred status this year, then your award flights will also count. Check your accounts and let me know if you are affected by this positive development.