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Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Members: Purchase Qualifying Flights, Earn

2x Points
towards A-List or A-List Preferred
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Southwest Airlines offers Rapid Rewards Members (free to join) who Register for Promotion more Ways to Earn and Maintain A-List and A-List Preferred Tier Status through 2023.

NOTE, click here and click "Register Now" under "More Ways to Earn Tier Status has Landed" then click "Get Registered" on next page to qualify.

Ways to Earn:
  • Reward Travel Counts
    • Reward flight segments from Jan. 1 through Sept. 19, 2022, will be applied toward tier status segment requirements so Members can continue to enjoy the benefits and rewards they love and value. No registration is necessary for Members, and qualifying reward flight segments were automatically added to Members' tier progress on Sept. 13. Customers can view changes in the "My Account" section on Southwest.com.
  • Earn With New Reward Travel
    • Rapid Rewards Members who register and purchase Southwest flights using Rapid Rewards points through Nov. 30, 2022, can now earn flight segment credits that count toward A-List or A-List Preferred tier status through 2023. The flight segment will appear in "My Account" within 72 hours after the flight is completed.
  • Earn Double Tier Qualifying Points
    • Register for this promotion and purchase Southwest qualifying flights, and travel through Nov. 30, 2022, to earn double tier qualifying points toward A-List or A-List Preferred tier status for 2023.
About A-List Status:
  • Earn A-List Status by Simply flying 25 qualifying one-way flights or earn 35,000 tier qualifying points in a calendar year.
  • Benefits:
    • Priority boarding
    • 25% earning bonus
    • Same-day fare change
    • Priority Lane and Express Lane
    • Dedicated A-List member phone line
    • Same-day standby
      • No open seats for a same-day change? No problem. Talk to a Southwest Gate Agent at the airport to add you to the standby list for an earlier flight.
    • More Info
About A-List Preferred Status:
  • Earn A-List Status by Simply flying 50 qualifying one-way flights or earn 70,000 tier qualifying points in a calendar year.
  • Benefits:
    • Priority boarding
    • 100% earning bonus
    • Free In-Flight Wi-Fi
    • Same-day fare change
    • Priority Lane and Express Lane
    • Dedicated A-List Preferred member phone line
    • Same-day standby
      • No open seats for a same-day change? No problem. Talk to a Southwest Gate Agent at the airport to add you to the standby list for an earlier flight.
    • More Info
Good Deal?

Original Post

Written by
Edited September 22, 2022 at 01:45 PM by
You must've gotten this email already but if not, here you go....

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Members (free to join) will have to register to have more ways to earn and maintain A-List and A-List Preferred tier status through 2023.

***Must Register*** [southwest.com]
Reward Travel Counts
Reward flight segments from Jan. 1 through Sept. 19, 2022, will be applied toward tier status segment requirements so Members can continue to enjoy the benefits and rewards they love and value. No registration is necessary for Members, and qualifying reward flight segments were automatically added to Members' tier progress on Sept. 13. Customers can view changes in the "My Account" section on Southwest.com.

Earn With New Reward Travel
Rapid Rewards Members who register and purchase Southwest flights using Rapid Rewards points through Nov. 30, 2022, can now earn flight segment credits that count toward A-List or A-List Preferred tier status through 2023. The flight segment will appear in "My Account" within 72 hours after the flight is completed.

Earn Double Tier Qualifying Points
Register for this promotion and purchase Southwest qualifying flights, and travel through Nov. 30, 2022, to earn double tier qualifying points toward A-List or A-List Preferred tier status for 2023.

Terms:
All Rewards flights are subject to availability and taxes, fees, and other government or airport-imposed charges of at least $5.60 per one-way.
Tier qualifying points are earned on flights paid entirely with dollars, LUV Vouchers, gift cards, or travel funds, and with no portion of the purchase price paid for with Rapid Rewards points. Only qualifying activity will be eligible for flight credits.
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Created 09-21-2022 at 09:59 AM by serra | Staff
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Between me and my wife we've held a companion 3 times in the last 8 years, which is good for close to 2 years each if you time it right. We might stop after it expires this year because the prices have gone up so much more compared to other airlines our airport services, and they have not introduced any new routes in many years here, but I've taken probably 20-30 Southwest flights - and probably 2/3 with companions - in the last decade, and it's been a good ride!

The easiest way bar none is to see if you can get a Southwest business card + Southwest Personal card if you qualify for both. If you don't think you have a business, look into applying for business cards on travel blogs, flyertalk, or r/churning for advice. You might be surprised how much easier it is than it sounds. Also ensure you're under the 5/24 rule. If you're close to breaking the rule, apply to the business card first. You don't need to apply for both at the same time either, but you should time them so you're bonuses post as early in the calendar year as possible. Applying now and getting the bonus in Nov/Dec is probably the worst thing you could do, as you'll only get about 13 months out of it, opposed to reaching the CP spend in say March, where you'd get close to two years out of it.

If you're still dubious on business cards after reading about them, get the personal card during an increased bonus promo and put as much spend on your Southwest card as possible and as fast as possible. If you have some money saved you can buy gift cards for future purchases you know you'll make (grocery, gas, etc) ahead of time to hit it sooner if needed. You could look into MS but those tactics can make some people uncomfortable, including myself. Sign up for the Southwest dining portal, and also make as many purchases as possible through the Southwest shopping portal (these cont toward CP).

Just make sure any CP point info you read is recent, as they have dropped some CP qualifying methods - notably the Marriott vacations packages back in the day. Point transfers do not count toward CP. I think referrals still count toward CP but fact check me on that, which can range from 10-20k. Southwest Hotels and Car rentals should as well. I think the shopping portal helps the most depending on your spending habits, but it will be very tough to reach (assuming you don't MS) without at least 1 credit card app.
I know last December they had a deal for new members sign up for for their credit card get 50,000 points, spend 3-5k within 3 months and get another 50,000 points. Spend $12k to get to that 125,000 point companion pass threshold.

I got it last December and it took me maybe 3-4 months to get that spending.

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Joined Nov 2017
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aschweinfest
09-22-2022 at 10:47 AM.
09-22-2022 at 10:47 AM.
Quote from stevwang :
can someone explain the benefit of this promotion to me? I don't really see much value unless you're a very frequent SW traveler, right?

I'm confused as well. I got it in my email and read it over and over and still confused.
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theimage13
09-22-2022 at 11:15 AM.
09-22-2022 at 11:15 AM.
If they put a ukulele in every seat, I am walking off that plane. Even if it means doing so mid-flight.
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Joined Dec 2020
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JCube319
09-22-2022 at 11:55 AM.
09-22-2022 at 11:55 AM.
Quote from aschweinfest :
I'm confused as well. I got it in my email and read it over and over and still confused.

The double points only applies towards award status and not additional member points. The only value is for a frequent flier like myself I only need to take a few more business trips to hit A-List preferred instead of 6 or 7 more trips to round out the year.
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OrangePolice821
09-22-2022 at 12:05 PM.
09-22-2022 at 12:05 PM.
Quote from Mr.Le :
i use to have their companion pass which was pretty good. i had to get both of their CC and then do some work to get that status but it has long been gone and i no longer have the card. would like to get back on that again. anyone know of any tricks or ways to get back on companion pass again.
Watch for card offers, they last offered a card like that in Feb of this year.
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Joined Feb 2007
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Shizam76
09-22-2022 at 03:46 PM.
09-22-2022 at 03:46 PM.
We've held companion pass once, and A list once. This was 4 plus years ago, and nothing since. They must have changed qualifying points because we spend about $65,000 to $80,000 a year on the card and STILL aren't getting A List again. We were thinking of dropping SW cards and getting Chase Sapphire Preferred. How are you people even getting A List??
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DreadPirateWesley
09-22-2022 at 04:21 PM.
09-22-2022 at 04:21 PM.
I fugging love Southwest. Best airline in the US bar none. Anyways, I travel a lot for work. 77 flights in 2019. I've held companion pass and A-list (sometimes A-list preferred) for the last 5+ years.

The best trick I had was booking hotels via Southwest Hotels for work. Often, they'll show 3 to 5 recommended hotels with bonus points in the search results. At times, the bonus points will be anywhere from 1k to 15k if you book that particular hotel! And, cheating your company's expense dept., the Southwest Hotels checkout allows you to pay for additional points (on top of the bonus points I already mentioned) and will tack it onto the nightly hotel rate so expense report auditors won't know you've paid extra for points. Sneaky sneaky. SW Hotels points do count towards companion pass, but not for A-list status. Status is earned and designed for business travelers.
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Joined Sep 2015
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DreadPirateWesley
09-22-2022 at 04:23 PM.
09-22-2022 at 04:23 PM.
Quote from Shizam76 :
We've held companion pass once, and A list once. This was 4 plus years ago, and nothing since. They must have changed qualifying points because we spend about $65,000 to $80,000 a year on the card and STILL aren't getting A List again. We were thinking of dropping SW cards and getting Chase Sapphire Preferred. How are you people even getting A List??
A list is really designed to be earned by those paying for revenue generating flights with money ... Basically flying for business travel. Southwest Hotels points don't count towards status, for example.
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Joined Jun 2006
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nyknicks8
09-22-2022 at 06:20 PM.
09-22-2022 at 06:20 PM.
Quote from swesleyc7 :
I fugging love Southwest. Best airline in the US bar none. Anyways, I travel a lot for work. 77 flights in 2019. I've held companion pass and A-list (sometimes A-list preferred) for the last 5+ years.

The best trick I had was booking hotels via Southwest Hotels for work. Often, they'll show 3 to 5 recommended hotels with bonus points in the search results. At times, the bonus points will be anywhere from 1k to 15k if you book that particular hotel! And, cheating your company's expense dept., the Southwest Hotels checkout allows you to pay for additional points (on top of the bonus points I already mentioned) and will tack it onto the nightly hotel rate so expense report auditors won't know you've paid extra for points. Sneaky sneaky. SW Hotels points do count towards companion pass, but not for A-list status. Status is earned and designed for business travelers.
Doesn't seem sneaky. Sounds like fraud. If the auditors find out in theory you could be referred for criminal prosecution. Just read the news. Granted those who get prosecuted do large amounts but they all start somewhere
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Joined Feb 2007
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Shizam76
09-22-2022 at 08:04 PM.
09-22-2022 at 08:04 PM.
Quote from swesleyc7 :
A list is really designed to be earned by those paying for revenue generating flights with money ... Basically flying for business travel. Southwest Hotels points don't count towards status, for example.

I see. I can't remember what we did to get A list the one year, I don't think we paid for that many flights.
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bowlopho
09-22-2022 at 10:26 PM.
09-22-2022 at 10:26 PM.
Quote from TurtlePerson2 :
They had a deal early this year where you could get Companion Pass (along with some points) for signing up with their credit card and hitting a minimum spend. I've really enjoyed having Companion Pass, as my only child is still under 2, so my whole family flies for the price of one ticket. It's made air travel really reasonable during an otherwise expensive year.

Hopefully they'll run a similar promotion next year and my wife will be able to get companion pass.
Family of 6 here with one under 2. My wife and I signed up for that companion pass deal and have been to Hawaii multiple times!

We also couple it with Costco $500 southwest giftcard for $450. For additional savings. We also got enough points to fly for free this upcoming feb for all of us + companion pass.

Don't forget to refer your SO to the credit card to get extra SW points
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wnat35
09-23-2022 at 01:58 AM.
09-23-2022 at 01:58 AM.
Quote from stevwang :
can someone explain the benefit of this promotion to me? I don't really see much value unless you're a very frequent SW traveler, right?
Normally, points reservations don't count towards A-List status. For this promotion, they do. So this is useful for a niche group of people who are 1) close to qualifying for A-List this year and 2) have points to burn.
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Joined Jun 2009
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dru500a
09-25-2022 at 06:49 AM.
09-25-2022 at 06:49 AM.
Quote from Kbig :
I know last December they had a deal for new members sign up for for their credit card get 50,000 points, spend 3-5k within 3 months and get another 50,000 points. Spend $12k to get to that 125,000 point companion pass threshold.

I got it last December and it took me maybe 3-4 months to get that spending.

I must have missed this! I've been keeping an eye out for the next opportunity for getting a cp without needing to sign up for two different cards
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DreadPirateWesley
10-14-2022 at 03:07 PM.
10-14-2022 at 03:07 PM.
Quote from nyknicks8 :
Doesn't seem sneaky. Sounds like fraud. If the auditors find out in theory you could be referred for criminal prosecution. Just read the news. Granted those who get prosecuted do large amounts but they all start somewhere
You said it yourself: your theory Wink
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