Southwest Airlines offers new promotion for faster path to elite status

- A-List Preferred: 50 flights or 70,000 qualifying points

The primary benefit of achieving status is an earlier boarding number, allowing members to secure their choice of seats. Additional perks include priority benefits, free Wi-Fi, and more points for the higher 'A-List Preferred' tier. However, these benefits may evolve when Southwest transitions to assigned seating, potentially granting elites access to premium seats.

The airline is currently offering four accelerated paths to earn elite status through November 30:

1. Double tier points on flights and triple credit if booked through a business channel such as GDS, SWABIZ®, or direct connect/API partners.

2. Award travel counts as a qualifying flight; each segment booked after registration and flown by November 30 qualifies. Existing awards may be re-booked.

3. Credit card spending plays a larger role in earning status by providing 2,000 tier points for every $5,000 spent on a Southwest co-brand card in addition to normal qualifying points earned via spending.

4. Earn with partner activity; every base point earned through qualifying partners counts as a tier point towards status up to 5,000 qualifying points. Partners include Southwest Hotels, Car Rentals, Rapid Rewards Shopping and Dining, Laithwaites, 1-800-Flowers, NRG including Reliant and Xoom Energy Plus, Harry & David, and Rewards for Opinions.

This promotion is not targeted at specific members but excludes travel booked through Southwest Vacations Packages. Bonus elite qualifying points from flights will post within 72 hours of travel while bonuses earned via credit card will post "within four weeks after the end of each month and by December 30th for November purchases."

Hat tip to Corbitt Burns.