FILE - Southwest Airlines plane prepares to land at Midway International Airport, Feb. 12, 2023, in Chicago. On Monday, Oct. 16, Southwest Airlines announced that it is lowering the requirements to qualify for the top levels of its frequent-flyer program, a move aimed at travelers who are unhappy with other airlines that are making it harder to reach elite status.
Southwest Airlines is lowering the requirements to qualify for the top levels of its frequent-flyer program, a move aimed at travelers who are unhappy with other airlines that are making it harder to reach elite status. Southwest said Monday that it will reduce by 20% the number of flights needed to qualify for its “A-List” and “A-List Preferred” levels in its Rapid Rewards program.
The airline said it won’t change the number of spending-based points that customers can also use to qualify for either level, and it will make it easier to get those points using a Southwest-branded credit card.
Under Southwest’s announced changes, which start Jan. 1, it’ll take 20 one-way qualifying flights instead of 25 to hit the A-List, and 40 such flights instead of 50 to make A-List Preferred. The alternate path of qualifying points based on spending will remain 35,000 and 70,000 points.