Southwest Airlines Announces BIG CHANGES Coming to Rewards Program

Disney4me · October 16, 2023

Some BIG changes are coming to the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Program!

2023-orlando-international-airport-south

Southwest Airlines at the Orlando Airport

Several perks already offered to members of this rewards program are about to get BETTER.

Southwest announced that the program will be getting some major updates starting as early as November 2023. Here’s a look at all of the upcoming changes:

Earn A-List and A-List Preferred Status FASTER

This change starts on January 1st, 2024. Southwest Rapid Rewards Members only need to fly on 20 one-way qualifying flights (or earn 35,000 tier-qualifying points) in order to earn A-List status. Previously, it was 25 flights.

©Southwest

In addition, Rapid Rewards Members only need to fly on 40 one-way qualifying flights (or earn 70,000 tier-qualifying points) to earn A-List Preferred status. Previously, it was 50 flights.

Being A-List or A-List Preferred gets you some extra perks, like priority boarding, earning bonuses, and free inflight internet.

©Southwest

Pay for Your Flights with Cash AND Points

Starting in the spring of 2024, you can pay for flights with a combination of cash and points.

©Southwest

This option was not offered previously.

Earn Points from Your Credit Card Faster

If you have the Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card from Chase, you can earn tier-qualifying points two times faster starting on January 1st, 2024.

©Southwest

With this change, Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers will get 1,500 points for every $5,000 spent instead of every $10,000 spent.

A-List Preferred Members Get Free Premium Drinks

There’s also an entirely NEW perk being added for A-List Preferred Members: These members will get two free premium drinks per flight!

©Southwest

This change starts on November 6th, 2023.

According to PR Newswire, Jonathan Clarkson — Vice President of Marketing at Southwest Airlines — said, “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. 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.”