The Guide to Southwest Elite Status: A-List and A-List Preferred

Southwest Airlines offers two levels of elite status: A-List and A-List Preferred. However, its elite status is a bit unlike most major airlines. There are no upgrades to first class (that’s because Southwest first class isn’t a thing), and there’s no access to premium airport lounges (Southwest doesn’t have any).

However, Southwest’s elite status is worth pursuing if you find yourself taking advantage of its cheap fares to over 100 destinations in the U.S. and 10 other countries.

Whether you’re a Southwest regular or you are new to the airline and its elite status program, here's everything you need to know about Southwest A-List and A-List Preferred status, including how to earn it, what benefits come with it, and whether it’s really worth all the hype.

» Learn more: The complete guide to the Southwest Rapid Rewards program

How do you earn Southwest elite status? In short: Fly frequently, spend a significant amount of money with the airline, or both.

Here’s an overview of Southwest’s status levels, and what you'll need to do to reach them (you'll need to do either of these things, not necessarily both):

Tier qualifying points (TQPs) are earned for flights booked on Southwest (the pricier the flight, the more points you earn) and by spending on Southwest’s credit cards.

(Editor's note: Southwest recently announced some significant changes coming to the Rapid Rewards program, including lower requirements for A-List status in 2024. Read more on that here.)

Can I buy A List status on Southwest?

You can't buy A List status on Southwest outright, but spending on co-branded Southwest credit cards can help you earn status more quickly.

You earn 1,500 TQPs for every $5,000 spent using the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card and the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card. You earn the same TQPs for every $10,000 spent on the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card. See card details below.

With Southwest elite status, you get benefits like a dedicated customer service phone line, bonus points earning and same-day standby benefits.

And even though the Southwest boarding process is quite unconventional, elite status holders get one of the best benefits you could possibly ask for while flying the airline: priority boarding. With it, Southwest automatically reserves your boarding position for you early, all but guaranteeing an A boarding group — and maybe even that coveted window seat in the emergency exit ro

Southwest A-List status benefits

A-List is the lower of the two tiers of Southwest elite status. Benefits of A-List status include:

• Access to Fly By priority check-in and security access lanes (where available).

• A dedicated A-List phone line.

• A 25% earning bonus on all eligible revenue Southwest flights.

• Same-day confirmed changes with no difference in base fare (if there is a seat available on the same calendar day).

• Same-day standby benefits free of airline charges.

• All passengers included on your reservation will receive priority boarding (meaning Southwest will automatically reserve a boarding position 36 hours prior to the flight, though you and passengers on your reservation will still need to check in within 24 hours of scheduled departure to retrieve your boarding passes).

Southwest A-List Preferred status benefits

The biggest difference between A-List and A-List Preferred is with the latter, you earn way more points per flight booked with Southwest, which means you’ll rack up points toward future flights even faster. Additionally, you’ll get free in-flight Wi-Fi.

In addition to all of the above the benefits provided by A-List status, A-List Preferred status includes:

• Free in-flight Wi-Fi.

• A dedicated A-List Preferred phone line.

• A 100% earning bonus on all eligible revenue Southwest flights.

• Two free premium beverages (beer, wine, spirits) on eligible flights.

» Learn more: How to get airline perks without elite status

With both A-List and A-List Preferred status, qualification is based on a calendar year, so get started on your mission in January.

Once you’ve earned status, you’ll get it immediately, and you’ll hold it for the entire calendar year immediately following.

You don’t necessarily even have to fly Southwest to automatically earn Southwest elite status. Just spend a lot on its credit cards.

Certain Southwest credit cards grant you 1,500 TQPs for each $5,000 spent in purchases annually. So rather than having to earn 35,000 points for A-List status, you could do a combo of earning 33,500 points plus spending $5,000 on an eligible credit card.

The Southwest credit cards that include the benefit of granting you 1,500 TQPs for every $5,000 spent are:

» Learn more: Is Southwest’s credit card worth it?

However, while Southwest credit cards can seem like an enticing chance to earn A-List status, it may not be worth it to most travelers. Read about why you shouldn't try spending your way to Southwest A-List.

Value can vary by type of traveler. If you prefer to be the last to board (after all, it’s less time cramped in a human tube), then you won’t find value in priority boarding. If you spend a lot on Southwest, then the bonus points might be even more valuable to you than someone who doesn’t fly quite as frequently.

Like pretty much any elite status program, the more you fly, the more valuable your status is in earning more Rapid Rewards points toward your next flight.

» Learn more: Here's how much your points and miles are worth

The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the most coveted perks in the budget air travel world. It’s essentially a buy-one-get-one-free deal, where you buy a ticket for yourself, and you can buy a ticket for your designated companion for only the cost of taxes and fees (which is typically just $5.60 each way for flights within the U.S.).

Earning it is a similar process to what you undergo on your quest to earn Southwest elite status:

How to earn a Southwest Companion Pass

To qualify for a traditional Companion Pass (i.e., one not included with a Southwest card's sign-up bonus), you'll need to either:

• Fly 100 qualifying one-way flights in a calendar year, or;

• Earn 135,000 Rapid Rewards points in a calendar year. Qualifying points can be earned through spending on Southwest airfare, spending on Southwest credit cards, and by earning points through Rapid Rewards partners.

Upon meeting either of those criteria, you'll earn the Companion Pass for the rest of the year in which you qualified and the following calendar year. So if you earned the Companion Pass in, say, September 2023, it will be valid through the end of December 2024. You'll need to re-qualify every year after to hold on to your status.

With an earning rate of between just 2% and 8% when you factor in the cost to earn, it’s generally not worth the effort to go out of your way to try to earn Southwest elite status. Unless you fly Southwest anyway, don’t go out of the way to get to elite status, as it’s likely not worth the minuscule cost of other benefits like priority boarding that you can just pay for in cash anyway.

The best benefit of Southwest elite status? Bonus points. When it comes time to redeeming Rapid Rewards points, consider using them for a tropical vacation. Southwest flights to the Caribbean provide among the best value for budget travelers looking for a beach getaway. Southwest flights to Hawaii continue to expand on the West Coast as the airline adds more routes beyond California, where service initially launched.

With that said, Southwest’s most valuable type of elite status for most people isn't elite status at all — it’s the Southwest Companion Pass. In most cases (assuming you frequently fly with a friend), that’s a benefit worth having.