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If you want to make it onto Southwest’s A-List, things are looking up. The airline recently launched three promotions making it easier than ever to reach Southwest elite status in 2023.
The offers earn you double Tier-Qualifying Points on revenue fares and a percentage of points redeemed as Tier-Qualifying Points on award bookings. Plus, Southwest co-brand credit cardholders have an even easier time and can pick up a ton of Tier-Qualifying Points for everyday spending on their cards. These three promotions run through May 31, 2023.
Southwest A-List Promotion Key Terms
- Reach A-List faster with three Southwest elite status promotions.
- You only need to register once to enroll in all three promotions.
- Log into your Southwest Rapid Rewards account and browse to the Southwest promotions page to register.
- Rapid Rewards members must register for these promotions before booking.
- The promotion period runs from March 1 to May 31, 2023.
- All bonus Tier-Qualifying Points earned with these promotions will post prior to June 30, 2023.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Elite Status Requirements
Earning Southwest A-List or A-List Preferred status is relatively straightforward. All you need to do is either meet a minimum threshold of tier qualifying points or flight segments. The current qualification requirements are as follows:
- 25 one-way flights or 35,000 tier qualifying points to earn A-List status.
- 50 one-way flights or 70,000 tier qualifying points to earn A-List Preferred status.
The good news for award travelers is that reward flights count toward the total number of segments flown.
Related: A Complete Guide to Southwest Rapid Rewards
Earn Double Tier-Qualifying Points on Southwest Revenue Flights
- Earn 2X tier qualifying points for revenue flights paid for with cash, Southwest LUV Vouchers®, gift cards, or travel funds through May 31, 2023.
- Allow up to 72 hours after the flight for the Tier-Qualifying Points to post to your Southwest account.
- No portion of the price can be paid for using Rapid Rewards points.
- To qualify for 2X tier points, members must register for the promotion prior to booking and taking a flight.
- Southwest Vacations packages do not qualify as revenue flights for this promotion.
- Companion Pass, charter flights, reward, and group travel flights are excluded from the promotion.
It's important to note that if you already have a bunch of flights booked, they won’t qualify for the promotion. You must cancel them, register for the promotion, and then rebook your flights to earn 2X tier qualifying points. While this may be a hassle and pain, it is the only way to take advantage of the promotion.
This promotion can let you rack up a substantial amount of Southwest Tier-Qualifying Points, especially if you tend to fly on higher tier fares like Anytime or Business Select. This double points promotion boosts the standard 6 to 12 points per dollar spent to 12 to 24 Tier-Qualifying Points per dollar, before elite status bonuses!
For reference, here are the standard Southwest Rapid Rewards points earning rates by tier level:
| Southwest Point Earnings by Fare Class | Rapid Rewards Member | A-List | A-List Preferred |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wanna Get Away | 6 points / dollar | 7.5 pts / dollar | 12 pts / dollar |
| Wanna Get Away Plus | 8 points / dollar | 10 pts / dollar | 16 pts / dollar |
| Anytime | 10 points / dollar | 12.5 pts / dollar | 20 pts / dollar |
| Business Select | 12 points / dollar | 15 pts / dollar | 24 pts / dollar |
Earn Southwest A-List Status Through Award Bookings
- Southwest reward flights count towards Southwest A-List elite status qualification with the promotion.
- Receive 10% of the points you redeem as Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs).
- Award flights must be completed by May 31, 2023.
- To qualify for the promotion registration must be completed prior to booking your reward.
- Allow up to 10 days after the flight for the segment credit to post to your account.
- Reward flights are subject to taxes and fees of at least $5.60 per one-way trip.
Already have award flights booked? Fortunately, Southwest has a very generous flight refund policy. When canceling an award, you will receive all your points back, and you can choose whether to have your taxes and fees payment refunded or given as a flight credit towards your next flight.
If the price of your award is the same or cheaper, register for this promotion, cancel your existing award, and then quickly rebook your flight before prices go back up. If the price is more expensive than when you booked, you'll have to decide if the TQP are worth paying a premium.
Earn Southwest Elite Status Credits through Credit Card Spending
- Earn 3,000 bonus Tier-Qualifying Points per $5,000 spent on your Southwest cobrand credit card.
- The earning via credit card promotion is only available for members receiving the Southwest Airlines offer.
- The promotion is valid for purchases made through May 31, 2023.
- Qualifying purchases exclude balance transfers, cash advances, travelers' checks, foreign currency, money orders, wire transfers, and other cash-like and betting transactions.
- Allow up to 4 weeks for the bonus Tier-Qualifying Points to post to your account.
- Your credit card account must be open and not in default.
There's a bit of confusion about this part of the promotion. Per the email Southwest sent out to members, the credit card promotion fine print states:
“Only the Rapid Rewards Member who received this offer from Southwest Airlines® is eligible for this promotion.”
But then in the FAQ about this promotion, Southwest clarifies:
“All Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers are eligible for this offer after registration during the promotional period.”
Either way, we recommend taking a screenshot after you register. Making sure you're registered is doubly important before committing thousands of dollars of spending on your co-brand credit card. Finding out later in the year that all this spending was in vain would be a disappointment to say the least!
Southwest Rapid Reward Credit Cards
Southwest offers a total of 5 co-brand credit cards: 3 consumer and 2 small business cards. From the wording of the terms and conditions, all Southwest co-brand credit cards seem eligible for this elite status promotion. Therefore, targeted holders of all the following cards can earn 3,000 bonus Tier-Qualifying Points for every $5,000 they spend on their card.
Southwest consumer cards
- Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 3,000 anniversary points each year.
- Earn 2X points on Southwest® purchases.
- Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
- Earn 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming.
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year.
- Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Member FDIC
- 2X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases and 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
- Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 6,000 anniversary points each year.
- Earn 3X points on Southwest® purchases.
- Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
- Earn 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming.
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Member FDIC
- 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
Southwest business cards
- Earn 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
- 9,000 bonus points after your Cardmember anniversary.
- Earn 4X points on Southwest® purchases.
- Earn 3X points on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car partners.
- Earn 2X points on rideshare.
- Earn 2X points on social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable, and phone services and 1X points on all other purchases.
- 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available.
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® Fee Credit.
- 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
- Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- 6,000 bonus points after your Cardmember anniversary.
- Earn 3X points on Southwest Airlines® purchases.
- Earn 2X points on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car partners.
- Earn 2X points on rideshare.
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year.
- Earn unlimited tier qualifying points towards A-List status.
- 3X points per $1 spent on Southwest® purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on Rapid Rewards® Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases
- 2X points per $1 spent on rideshare
- 1X point per $1 spent on all other purchases
Our Take
If you are an aspiring Southwest A-List elite, registering for this promotion is a no-brainer. It will take you a couple of seconds to log into your account and register, and you are ready to go!
Although this promotion is similar to Southwest's accelerator offer that ran in late 2022, this trifecta of promotions is a much-improved proposition. After all, what's not to like about double Tier-Qualifying Points on revenue fares, a 10% TQP kickback on awards, and bonus TQP on card spending?
The only disappointing news with this set of promotions is that they don't apply to already booked travel. You'll need to cancel and rebook any flights that you already have booked to take advantage of these promotions.
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