Big News from Southwest
Southwest made a big announced for it customers who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline said it will extend the benefits earned by current tier status Members and Companion Pass holders. In addition to this extension, Southwest is also making it easier to earn them going forward. It is also extended expiration date for travel funds and adding the option to convert them into Rapid Rewards points. So let’s look into the details.
Update 1/15/21 – Southwest Has Extended the Companion Pass & Reduced Elite Status Requirements For 2021
Here is what Southwest’s email had to say that was sent out today:
Tier Status & Companion Pass Benefits
- For our current Companion Pass Members who received an extension of their earned Companion Pass benefits through June 30, 2021, we are extending your benefits another six months.* You can now enjoy Companion Pass through December 31, 2021!
- This does not apply to Members who earned a promotional Companion Pass or did not previously receive an extension through June 30, 2021.
- For all Rapid Rewards® Members with a Rapid Rewards account opened by December 31, 2020, we know travel may be limited early this year, but we still want to give you more opportunities to earn A-List, A-List Preferred, and Companion Pass so we’re giving you:
- 15,000 tier qualifying points (TQPs)
- 25,000 Companion Pass qualifying points (CPQPs)
- 10 qualifying flight credits toward A-List and A-List Preferred 25 qualifying flights toward Companion Pass
You’ll automatically see these adjustments within a week in the My Account section of your Rapid Rewards account.
Cardmembers in 2021 will have uncapped spending toward A-List and A-List Preferred status.
- Our Premier, Priority, Premier Business, and Performance Credit Cardmembers can earn 1,500 tier qualifying points toward A-List or A-List Preferred for every $10,000 spent using their Rapid Rewards Credit Card from the first day of the January 2021 billing cycle through the last statement of 2021 (the “promotion period”) without the cap on how many TQPs you can earn toward A-List and A-List Preferred during the promotion period. That means you can earn A-List or A-List Preferred purely by using your Rapid Rewards Credit Card.
Companions Pass
Companions Pass is one of the best deals in travel. You can select a person to fly with you, free of airline charges (does not include taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way) every time you purchase or redeem points for a flight.
Now current Companion Pass Members, will have their earned Companion Pass benefits extended through June 30, 2021. People that earned the Companion Pass early this year don;t get anything out of this extension.
Elite Status
For current A-List and A-List Preferred Members, Southwest is extending your current earned status through December 31, 2021.
Boost of Qualifying Points and Credits
For all Rapid Rewards Members, we recognize that your normal flying behavior has been interrupted, limiting progress you may have been making toward qualification for A-List, A-List Preferred, and Companion Pass. For that reason, we are giving all Rapid Rewards Members a “boost” of 15,000 tier qualifying points and 10 flight credits toward A-List and A-List Preferred status, and 25,000 Companion Pass qualifying points and 25 flight credits toward Companion Pass status.
Travel Funds
Customers’ travel funds that have expired or would have expired between March 1 – June 30, 2020, or travel funds that were created because of a cancellation between March 1 – June 30, 2020, had an expiration date of June 30, 2021. We are now expanding the window of funds eligible for extended expiration dates and extending the expiration date of these funds. Funds that are set to expire or funds that are created between March 1, 2020 and September 7, 2020, will have an expiration date of September 7, 2022.
Additionally, members who have travel funds that are set to expire or funds that are created between March 1, 2020 and September 7, 2020 will have the option to convert those travel funds into Rapid Rewards® points at the same rate you would be able to purchase a ticket with points today.
You can read the full announcement here.
Lower Spend - Chase Ink Business Preferred® 100K!
Chase Ink Business Preferred® is a powerful card that earns 3X Ultimate Rewards points in a broad range of business categories on the first $150K in spend per year. Right now earn 100K Chase Ultimate Rewards points after Learn more about this card and its features!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
