No Southwest Airlines Status? No Worries With this Workaround

Having airline status is excellent, with perks often, such as seat upgrades and lounge access. Some fliers, including myself, have or will go out of their way to qualify for these ‘exclusive’ tiers. After years of requalifying for Southwest A-List status, we let the status expire at the end of last year. However, it does not matter that we have no Southwest Airlines Status. Here’s why:

Southwest Airlines Status Perks

Southwest Airlines has two status tiers (a third if you include the elusive Companion Pass, but that is a tier of its own): A-List and A-List Prefered. As Southwest is fundamentally more straightforward than its legacy carrier counterparts, its status and perks are also simple. 

A-List status requires flying on 25 Southwest flights or earning 35,000 qualifying tier points, while A-List Preferred requires 50 flights or 70,000 tier qualifying points. Both offer priority lines and express lanes, reducing waiting time in lines at the airport. In addition, both offer free same-day changes and standby. The main difference between these two tiers to me is that A-List Prefered includes free wifi on Southwest flights and 100% bonus points, rather than the 25% with A-List. 

Finally, the most significant perk of Southwest’s status, with either tier, is that it includes priority boarding for flights. If you have ever flown Southwest, you know of their unique boarding style without any assigned seats, instead being first come, first serve. Hence, boarding early is essential, and both forms of A-List essentially guarantee an A-boarding group (funny how that works, isn’t it). 

Southwest Status Workaround

Giving up our A-List status meant we would have to board the plane in a later group, making it harder to sit together as a family. It also meant that we would need to check in the minute it hit 24 hours in advance to get the best boarding group. 

Luckily, one credit card perk alone allowed us to work around this issue. The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card has four free A1-15 boardings per year. This is even better than the typical A30 or so that we received with A-List status. All you need to do is tell the gate agent you would like to pay to upgrade your boarding group. If an upgrade is available, charge (typically about $40) it to this Southwest credit card, which will be reimbursed. Other cards come with perks such as free EarlyBird Check-In, however, this guaranteed upgrade will almost definitely get you a higher group.

Other status perks are less beneficial to us personally than priority lines in the airport, if they exist, and are often slower than using TSA PreCheck and Clear. Further, because Southwest offers two free checked bags to everyone, the status will not help with bags. 

The Last Point

We abandoned our chase for Southwest A-List status thanks to the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card. The four annual upgrades cover two round-trip tickets, often enough to cover our travel habits with Southwest. With this perk, we are able to have no Southwest Airlines status and still board early.

What do you think? Is this the fix to not having Southwest A-List status?