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There has been a lot of change afoot at Southwest Airlines in recent years. We've seen the planned introduction of extra legroom and assigned seating, its first partnership with another airline, and even adding red-eye flights. While this wouldn't be news for most other airlines, Southwest is different, with a unique culture and way of doing business, at least historically. However, with business lagging and an activist investor seizing control of the board, major changes are on the horizon.
Now, major changes have come to Southwest travelers, and without notice. Southwest slashed earning rates on most of its fares overnight, and the adjustments are brutal — with Southwest's cheapest fares earning two-thirds fewer Rapid Rewards points than before!
Here's the latest news on Southwest Rapid Rewards.
Southwest Decimates Earning Rates on Wanna Get Away Fares
Although an all-economy airline, Southwest Airlines sells four fare classes. Each fare has different benefits and Rapid Rewards earning rates. Overnight on March 4, 2025 — and without notice — the airline changed earning rates on three of its four fares, effective immediately.
Here are Southwest's new earning rates:
- Wanna Get Away: 2 points per dollar (was 6 points per dollar)
- Wanna Get Away Plus: 6 points per dollar (was 10 points per dollar)
- Anytime: 10 points per dollar (unchanged)
- Business Select: 14 points per dollar (was 12 points per dollar)
After this was first reported by View From the Wing, I visited the Southwest Airlines website and performed a search to confirm the reports. The visit confirmed the new earnings rate for Wanna Get Away was 2 points per dollar on my fare, pre-taxes and fees.
As you can see, the hardest fares hit were Wanna Get Away fares (67% cut) and Wanna Get Away Plus (40% cut). Anytime fare earning remains the same, and Business Select earning increased 16.67%.
Wanna Get Away fares are Southwest's bread-and-butter and the most popular fare for most travelers. And because Southwest didn't announce these changes, infrequent flyers will be ignorant of these changes if they weren't caught by points and miles blogs.
Indeed, for Southwest's most loyal customers, especially status members, the changes will be immediately noticed.
Elite members are hit hard, too.
If you're an A-List or A-List Preferred member, these changes hurt, too. The reason is that your earning is based on your status level and base earning on the fare class you booked. Elite members earn:
- A-List: 25% earning bonus
- A-List Preferred: 100% earning bonus
Let's take a $100 pre-tax fare. Before these changes, an A-Lister booking Wanna Get Away fares should expect 600 base Rapid Rewards points, plus a 150-point bonus on account of their status, for a total of 750 Rapid Rewards points. With the new changes in place, that same fare would earn only 250 Rapid Rewards points. That's a cut of the same two-thirds — just amplied by the elite status bonus
Why is this happening?
Southwest is in the middle of restructuring its business, led by activist investor Elliott. These activist investors have a history of finding efficiencies and cost-cutting opportunities to streamline the companies they invest in. Unfortunately for customers and employees at those companies, that typically means negative changes.
By cutting earning rates on Southwest's cheapest fares, Southwest is doubling down on encouraging travelers to book more expensive tickets. For example, business travelers who purchase Business Select regularly should be encouraged by this news, as their earnings have actually increased.
I don't expect this to be the only change occurring at Southwest. Its lenient “Bags Fly Free” mantra and no change fees for flyers might be curtailed in the future to continue encouraging flyers to “buy up” to more expensive fares. This is the model of the competition, not Southwest Airlines historically. However, earnings performance indicates the old business model might not work in the ever-changing airline competitive environment.
Final Thoughts
It's tough to see an airline change negatively, seemingly overnight. While this news shocked award travelers, Wall Street predicted significant changes coming to Southwest for months. Still, to do this without notice, from a historically very customer-friendly airline, shows how much has changed at Southwest.
I'll cross my fingers that the benefits that make Southwest unique — like their Companion Pass, remain untouched. But I'm not so hopeful.
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