AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Offers for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card are not available through this site. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers
Southwest Airlines is in the midst of a big overhaul. Aspects of the airline that its fans know and love, such as no checked bag fees, are changing. When it comes to elite status, some people think that since Southwest Airlines doesn’t offer some of the typical benefits associated with it — such as upgrades and airport lounge access — it’s not worth pursuing. But for the right traveler, it absolutely is.
Here’s how to earn Southwest A-List and A-List Preferred status, and some tips on how it can improve your travels. This can help you determine if it's still worth it to chase elite status with all of the changes happening.
Page Contents
Four Ways to Earn Southwest Elite Status
Southwest has two tiers of elite status: A-List and A-List Preferred. There are four main ways to earn this status:
Take qualifying flights or earn tier-qualifying points
You can earn elite status by taking a specific number of flights on Southwest or by accumulating tier-qualifying points. In 2024, Southwest permanently reduced the number of flights required to qualify for elite status.
Rapid Rewards members can earn A-List status after 20 one-way qualifying flights or 35,000 tier-qualifying points in a calendar year. The requirement for A-List Preferred status is 40 one-way qualifying flights or 70,000 tier-qualifying points in a calendar year.
Unfortunately, only revenue flights (as in, flights you pay for) qualify. Flights booked with Rapid Rewards points do not count toward the requirement.
Tier-qualifying points can be earned from your purchased flights or through credit card spending. We’ll discuss more about credit card spending below.
Credit card spending
Rapid Rewards members with any of the four Southwest credit cards below can spend towards elite status. These cards earn 1,500 tier-qualifying points for every $5,000 spent annually (can be done an unlimited number of times).
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
- Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card
- Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card
- 3X points per $1 spent on all Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on all Rapid Rewards® Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
- 2X points per $1 spent on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming services
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent on all Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on all Rapid Rewards® Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
- 2X points per $1 spent on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming services
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- 4X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car partners
- 2X points per $1 spent on social media and search engine advertising, Internet, cable and phone services
- 2X points per $1 spent on rideshare
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Related: How to Choose the Right Southwest Airlines Credit Card
Status match
You can earn A-List status through status match opportunities. If you currently hold status with pretty much any other U.S. airline, you can match it to Southwest A-List. To take advantage of the match, you’ll need to email proof of your current elite status with a U.S.-based carrier.
You’ll be bumped up to A-List right away and have it for three months. In order to extend your status to 12 months, you’ll need to either fly three round-trip qualifying flights or six one-way qualifying flights booked after your airline status match is approved and within 90 days from enrollment.
You can only do this status match promotion if you have not received A-List status in any other promotion in the last 12 months.
Promotional opportunities
Southwest sometimes offers promotions to help Rapid Rewards members earn elite status faster. Or, these promotions let you bypass some of the standard flying or tier-qualifying point requirements for elite status.
For example, in late 2024, this promotion offered double tier-qualifying points on flights, triple tier-qualifying points on business travel, bonus tier-qualifying points on Southwest credit card spending, and counted reward travel as qualifying flights toward elite status.
Keep an eye on your email account for opportunities from Southwest Airlines, and also regularly check out our frequently updated post on reward program promotions.
Benefits of Southwest A-List and A-List Preferred Elite Status
The table below lists the benefits of A-List and A-List Preferred status. This includes the new seat selection and free checked bag perks:
| A-List | A-List Preferred | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Benefits |
How Southwest Elite Status Can Improve Your Travel Experience
Let’s talk about some of the benefits that offer significant value and explore how you can make the most of them.
In the past, the sweet spots for maximizing Southwest elite status could be obtained by just having A-List, as the best benefits were offered on both tiers. However, with Southwest's planned changes, A-List Preferred may be worth considering for travelers who need to check in two bags or who want to guarantee an extra-legroom seat.
Current benefit: automatic check-in and A group boarding
As part of the current priority boarding benefit, which is expected to continue through the end of 2025, A-List or A-List Preferred members, along with everyone on your reservation, will be checked in automatically and have their boarding position assigned, beginning 36 hours before departure. And unlike EarlyBird Check-In, you don’t have to pay any extra for the privilege of doing so.
Southwest's no-assigned-seating boarding process is ordered by group (A, B, or C) and position (1–60), which means you have to check in exactly 24 hours ahead of your scheduled flight to get a good boarding position.
The automatic check-in for elite members eliminates the need to watch the clock and check in precisely on time.
With priority boarding, you are nearly always assigned in the A group. And, frequently, this is somewhere between A16 and A30, depending on the number of elite status members on your flight (A1–A15 is guaranteed for Business Select fares and customers who purchased Upgraded Boarding).
And, if for some reason you are not in the A group (for example, you made a flight change less than 36 hours before departure), you can board after the A group, no matter which group is listed on your boarding pass.
Future benefit: seat selection at booking
Have a favorite seat on the plane? Always go for an aisle (or a window) seat? Beginning with bookings in the third quarter of 2025 for flights starting in the first quarter of 2026, Southwest will implement assigned seating.
A-List and A-List Preferred members will be able to select preferred or standard seats at booking for no cost. A-List Preferred members will have the added benefit of selecting an extra legroom seat at booking, while A-List members will only be able to select an extra legroom seat on a space-available basis within 48 hours of departure.
Being able to select your seat at booking for no charge will eliminate the anxiety of getting stuck in a middle seat or being separated from your travel companions.
New benefit: free checked bags
For Southwest loyalists, the announcement of checked bag fees felt like Southwest lost its biggest advantage over other airlines. But if you have A-List or A-List Preferred status, you can check a certain number of bags for free. Here's the breakdown:
- A-List
- Domestic and international flights: Check one bag for free for yourself and up to eight passengers on the same reservation.
- Interisland Hawaii flights: Check one bag for free for yourself and up to eight passengers on the same reservation.
- A-List Preferred
- Domestic and international flights: Check two bags for free for yourself and up to eight passengers on the same reservation.
- Interisland Hawaii flights: Check two bags for free for yourself and up to eight passengers on the same reservation.
Bottom Line
So you can’t get upgraded to a fancy lie-flat seat (Southwest doesn’t have them), and you don’t get access to international airline lounges (Southwest doesn’t have airport lounges and is not part of any alliance that does have them). But that doesn’t mean Southwest elite status isn’t worth holding.
Granted, you’re not getting thousands of dollars of value, but the benefits of A-List and A-List Preferred do go a long way toward improving the travel experience and can even help you save money in some cases.
Whether you’re a regular Southwest flier or an infrequent customer thinking about switching your loyalty, don’t overlook the perks of Southwest elite status.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.