Southwest Rapid Rewards Program Improvement
Southwest Airlines today announced five enhancements to its Rapid Rewards program. These updates reward the airline’s loyal members by making it easier to earn tier status. A-List Preferred Members get up to two complimentary premium drinks, and customers can pay for Southwest flights using a combination of cash and Rapid Rewards points.
“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. “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.”
Updates
Here are the five Rapid Rewards program updates that Southwest revealed today:
Earn A-List Status Faster
Starting Jan. 1, 2024, Southwest Rapid Rewards™ Members only need to fly 20 one-way qualifying flights (previously 25) or earn 35,000 tier qualifying points3 to reach A-List status.
Earn A-List Preferred Status Faster
Starting Jan. 1, 2024, Rapid Rewards Members only need to fly 40 one-way qualifying flights (previously 50) or earn 70,000 tier qualifying points to earn A-List Preferred status.
Tier qualifying flights are revenue flights that you purchase and fly. Tier qualifying points are earned from revenue flights during the qualifying year or through select Rapid Rewards Credit Cards from Chase and are exclusive of bonuses or promotions.
Earn Tier Qualifying Points Faster with Southwest Rapid Rewards™ Credit Cards from Chase
Starting Jan. 1, 2024, Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers will receive 1,500 tier qualifying points for every $5,000 spent (previously $10,000) on purchases using their Rapid Rewards Premier, Premier Business, Priority, or Performance Business Credit Cards from Chase.
Tier qualifying points (TQP) earned through spending will count toward A-List/A-List Preferred qualification based on when they are posted to the Member’s Rapid Rewards account and NOT based on spending date. The points will be posted to the Member’s account after the statement closing date, which will be different for each Customer.
New Perk
Starting Nov. 6, 2023, A-List Preferred Members can receive up to two complimentary premium drinks per flight, added directly to their mobile boarding passes. This applies to flights traveling 176 miles or more. Flights traveling 175 miles or less only serve water.
Redeem with Cash + Points
Starting in spring of 2024, Rapid Rewards Members will have the option to pay for their flight with a combination of cash and points, starting with as few as 1,000 points.
Cash + Points will allow Rapid Rewards Members to combine points with other eligible forms of payment to purchase flights. Not all Customers will see Cash + Points as an available payment option during the initial rollout. Cash + Points bookings will not earn Rapid Rewards points, tier qualifying points for A-List or A-List Preferred status, or Companion Pass qualifying points.
Join Rapid Rewards
The Southwest Rapid Rewards is simple, and makes earning reward flights faster and easier. With Rapid Rewards, every seat is a reward seat, there are no blackout dates, and points don’t expire. Customers can create an account to become a Rapid Rewards Member at Southwest.com.
