Southwest is one of the largest domestic airlines in the US, which means a lot of people take to the skies on a Southwest plane. And I'm one of them.
As a huge fan of Southwest, I take dozens of flights each year from my home airport of Denver, where it has a hub. I happen to love the airline's open seating policy, but it recently announced it's abandoning the practice in favor of assigned seats, which it will begin selling in the second half of 2025.
I was scared that I might have to pay additional money for seat assignments or suffer in a middle seat at the back of the plane. As a result, I'm planning on using the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards credit cards to ensure I have elite status and can ride out next year's changes in comfort.
What's going on with Southwest's new policy?
Since the airline started, over 50 years ago, Southwest had uniquely offered open seating. Anyone could take any seat, without paying extra.
In 2009, it started selling Early-Bird seating that lets passengers pay extra to board earlier and snag their preferred seats. I never bothered with Early-Bird seating but was still able to get a decent seat without paying extra.
However, when it announced its policy change in July 2024, Southwest said the majority of its customers hated open seating. In fact, the airline stated that 80% of Southwest customers and 86% of passengers who choose other airlines prefer assigned seats. So starting with flights in 2026, all seats will be assigned, similar to every other major airline. And like other airlines, passengers may have to pay extra to avoid the middle seat.
Other announced changes include the introduction of premium seating. The airline said in its investor call that premium seats will have five inches of extra room without there being a reduction in legroom for economy seating -- but it remains to be seen if that'll feel like it's true.
Southwest currently offers the most generous standard legroom in economy class of any airline in the US. So while it can be quite difficult to work on my laptop sitting in economy with most airlines, I can do so easily when flying Southwest.
That's important considering that I might take 40 Southwest flights a year. With an average length of more than two hours, that's over 100 hours in the air annually.
What's not changing is that bags fly free, and the airlines' most loyal customers -- and those who purchase premium seating -- will be among the first to board.
How the new Southwest rules will change how I use my cards
With the new changes coming to Southwest, I'll be shifting my spending to my Southwest cards to earn Tier Qualifying Points toward elite status in the airline's Rapid Rewards program.
Though the new rules haven't yet been completely spelled out, it's a good guess that having Southwest's Rapid Rewards A-List elite status will allow passengers to choose the best seats, hopefully in the expanded legroom section.
In the past, my strategy with Southwest was to use its credit cards to earn its valuable Companion Pass, but not for much else.
Rather than earn additional Southwest Rapid Rewards Points, I preferred to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points from cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card from Chase. These points could be transferred to Southwest, or to other partners such as Hyatt, United and Virgin Atlantic.
My go-to credit cards for booking with Southwest
The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card from Chase offers 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points toward A-List and A-List Preferred status for every $10,000 spent, as do the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card and Performance Business cards.
You need to earn 35,000 Tier Qualifying Points in a calendar year to reach A-List status, and 70,000 to earn A-List Preferred. You can also qualify for Preferred by flying 40 one-way Southwest flights.
In theory, you could spend $234,000 on your Southwest credit card to earn enough Tier Qualifying Points to receive A-List status. But that's a lot of spending, and most people, myself included, will earn it from a combination of ticket purchases and credit card spending. That means the majority of the required spending will come from those one-way Southwest flights while the rest comes from purchases covered by the Southwest cards.
Other tips for getting the best Southwest deals with your card
For me, the biggest benefit of the Southwest credit cards has always been the bonus points earned toward the Companion Pass. Over the years, I've taught countless friends, family members and readers how to apply for these cards, and earn the welcome bonus as a fast-track to unlimited free companion tickets (just paying government taxes).
But with these new changes coming soon, I'm now going to start using my Southwest Airlines credit cards as a vehicle to earn elite status.
Like many Southwest fliers, I'm a little apprehensive about the new changes next year. But if I can enter the new year with A-List status in hand, I'm confident I'll continue to enjoy my frequent flights on my favorite airline.
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