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Southwest Airlines Overhauls Rapid Rewards with New Elite Tiers and Credit Card Changes
WHY IT MATTERS
These changes will impact Southwest flyers and loyalty program members, offering new incentives to earn status and redeem points. The overhaul aims to simplify the program and provide more benefits to loyal customers.
What happened
Southwest Airlines has announced a major overhaul to its Rapid Rewards loyalty program, introducing new elite tiers, changes to credit card earning, and the launch of partner awards. The airline will replace its current 'A-List' and 'A-List Preferred' tiers with 'Silver' and 'Gold,' and introduce a new top-tier 'Platinum' level.
Credit card spending will count more toward earning status, and new milestone perks will be available with 'one-off' Companion Passes.
Partner awards will unlock Rapid Rewards redemptions to Europe, Asia, and beyond.
PRIMARY SOURCES
Southwest overhauls Rapid Rewards with new elite tiers, credit card changes and companion passes
The Points Guy · Sean Cudahy · Discovery and factual synthesis only; publisher copyright terms apply
CORRECTIONS & UPDATES
- Revision 1 · Initial ingestion · Oct 15, 2026, 4:46 PM
- Revision 2 · Source update detected · Oct 15, 2026, 4:46 PM